MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Wendy Patton, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
March, 1962 
Vol. 5, No. 3 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use J. E. Warnock 
The harvest of the prehunt population of cocks on the Sibley area has averaged 
63.4 per cent for the past 6 years, table 1. The greatest harvest occurred in 1961 
when 77.1 per cent of the cocks were removed by hunters; the poorest harvest oc¬ 
curred in 1957 when only 27.6 per cent of the cocks were removed. The illegal kill 
of hen pheasants averaged 10.2 per cent of the prehunt population of hens in 1959, 
1960, and 1961. 
The harvest of available cocks averaged 54.8 per cent during 1956, 1957, and 
1958, when a daily limit of two cocks was permitted. In 1959, 1960, and 1961, when 
the daily bag was increased from two to three cocks, an average of 71.9 per cent of 
the available cocks was harvested. It is suggested that the increase in the harvest 
of cocks during the past 3 years was not only the result of an increase in the daily 
bag of cocks but also the result of the influence of such variables as weather, 
habitat, and intensity of hunting. 
Table 1.—Harvest of cock pheasants on the Sibley study area, 1956-61. 
Year 
Season 
and Bag 
Per Cent Cocks 
in Population 
Per Cent 
Illegal Kill 
of Hens* * 
Per Cent 
of Cocks 
Harvested $ 
Prehunt 
Posthunt 
1956 
20 days; 2 
cocks 
46.8 
19.0 
10.2** 
75.3 
1957 
20 days; 2 
cocks 
41.5 
36.1 
10.2** 
27.6 
1958 
20 days; 2 
cocks 
40.7 
22.8 
10.2** 
61.1 
1959 
20 days; 3 
cocks 
44.3 
21.1 
13.2 
70.3 
1960 
20 days; 3 
cocks 
45.3 
21.7 
6.7 
68.2 
1961 
25 days; 3 
cocks 
39.3 
14.1 
10.8 
77.1 
Average 
43.0 
22.5 
10.2** 
63.4 
f Prehunt and posthunt sex ratios obtained by nightlighting and roadside counts, 
respectively. 
* Based on fluoroscopic examination of hens captured by night lighting during post¬ 
hunting period. 
$ Based on change between pre- and posthunt sex ratios, and adjusted for illegal 
kill of hens. 
** Average of statistics for 1959, 1960, 1961; no fluoroscopy data for 1956, 1957, 
1958. 
