fi. /a 
. I 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
January, 1 967 
Vo 1. 10, No. 1 
Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L. Etter 
J °'J rln 9 the opening weekend of the 1964 hunting season, hunters on the Sibley 
Study Area bagged 28 percent of the available cocks, as indicated by band returns. 
The remainder of the 362 -day season added only an additional 7 percent, resulting 
in a harvest of 35 percent for the entire season. In contrast, during the 3-day 
were'kilTed^^hwV 1he . ! , hunt 1 n 9 season - ° nl V 8 percent of the available cocks 
were killed. The low kill during the opening weekend in 1 966 was partially 
compensated for by the harvest of an additional 16 percent of the available cocks 
during the remainder of the 29 i-day season, giving a total of 24 percent for the 
S6d son• 
The above data suggest that a longer hunting season in 1966 might have 
resulted in nearly as high a proportionate harvest as in 1964 in spite of the low 
1 I on the opening weekend in 1 966 . The low overal1 proportionate kill in 1964 
on the other hand, suggests that below a certain level of abundance, few additional 
would %s SP ' te ,° f l ° n ? er Thus ' ^ appears that longer seasons 
wou d result in more nearly equal proportionate harvests from year to year, and 
would prevent low harvests such as occurred in I 965 and 1 966 when late corn 
harvests prevented good hunting during the early part of the seasons. More liberal 
hunting regulations, therefore, appear to be highly desirable for both the 
increased recreation which could be provided and the sound management of the 
available resource. 
2. Manipulatio n of Pheasant Habitat „ „ 
” —______ u. d< Joselyn 
For the past several years, land-use trends on the Sibley Study Area have been 
toward increased acreages of row crops at the expense of tame hay, pasture and 
is the 9 rpH nS ‘rf ° f part,c ^^ r s ' 9 nificance from the standpoint of pheasant production 
roJ^V dUC6d acreage of ha y and Pasture on the study area; the reduction of this 
cover type raises the question of whether the pheasant will be able to maintain 
itself at levels acceptable for hunting in the future. About 44 percent of study 
area is made up of the Sibley estate which is tenant-farmed under the supervision 
of two farm managers. Since 1964 hayfields (harvested and unharvested) and 
7 3nd 9ra2ed bluegrass) have annually constituted less than 2 
t n ha ° n th Y State farms * As a of the nearly complete 
use on r^ H V - a ! u 6 r ° m eState farm5 ' lt has a PP ea red that land- 
tht r p * he . St Y an f a ^'? ht be more advanced in the trend toward row crops than 
the remaining farm land in the prime range of the pheasant in east-central Illinois. 
fFnrH Da | ta f r0 "\ th<2 S ‘ De P artment of Agriculture on land-use in the four counties 
ibundanrp V ' n9 M? n ' McL f an ' and ,roc l uois ) constituting the major center of pheasant 
the r°' S haVe bee " ana,y2ed ’ These data show that the proportion of 
the land in the four counties in hay and pasture has decreased from about 18 per- 
