Vol. 4, No. 12 
Page 2 
deceiving because it primarily reflects the first 2 days of the season. It took hun¬ 
ters 1„9 hours to bag a bird during the opening 2 days but 5.1 hours to bag a bird 
during the remaining 23 days of the season. It appears that hunters became dis¬ 
couraged with the amount of time needed to kill a cock and thus stayed at home. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
Project inactive in December. 
3. Extension of Pheasant Range J. A. Ellis, W. L. Anderson, J. A. Harper 
Hunters killed 60 cock pheasants on the Neoga area during the 1961 pheasant 
season. This kill was 46 per cent less than the 111 cocks harvested on the area 
during the 1960 season. Hunting pressure on the area during both seasons was 
approximately the same. 
The decline in kill from 1960 to 1961 does not necessarily indicate a decline 
in the population level. Prior to the 1961 pheasant hunting season, 61 cocks were 
captured on the area and marked with back tags. During the hunting season, 13 of 
these tagged cocks were harvested. The prehunt cock population was estimated by 
means of the Lincoln Index to be 282, or 15 per cent less than the 1960 prehunt 
cock population. It is believed that the large amount of standing corn in 1961, 
60-70 per cent of the total corn acreage on the area compared with 20-30 per cent 
during the 1960 season, provided cover for the birds and made then inaccessible to 
hunters. 
4. Rabbit Management R. D. Lord, D. A. Casteel, Ann Holmes 
Analysis of data concerning the effect of weather on cottontail activity—over¬ 
all, general activity—has shown some surprising correlations. The passage of 
weather fronts, particularly cold fronts, caused a statistically significant in¬ 
crease in the activity of rabbits. There was a positive correlation between 
activity and wind speed in the winter and spring when the windier it was, the more 
active the rabbits became. There was no such correlation during the summer or fall. 
In the winter, spring, and fall there was a positive correlation between temperature 
and rabbit activity. The warmer it was, the more active the rabbits became, except 
in the summer when there was no relationship between temperature and rabbit activity. 
A negative correlation between barometric pressure changes and rabbit activity 
was noted in the winter and spring. When the barometer was falling, rabbit activity 
increased and when the barometer was rising rabbit activity decreased. No relation¬ 
ship between barometric pressure and rabbit activity was evident in the summer and 
fall. Another analysis of the relationship between barometric pressure and rabbit 
activity was based on the pressure in inches of mercury rather than the rise and 
fall of the barometer. This analysis showed a negative correlation only in the 
winter when the low pressure was related to high rabbit activity and the high 
pressure to low activity. There was no correlation for other seasons. No relation 
between sky cover and rabbit activity was noted. Likewise, there was no relation 
between rabbit activity and the phase of the moon. 
