m6nthly Wildlife research letter 
HltfliRAl HISTORY SURVEY 
MAR 17 19159 
USURY 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
February, 1969 
Vol. 12, No. 2 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter, R. E. Greenberg 
To determine the distribution of hunting effort and kill during the pheasant 
hunting season in 1968, questionnaires were sent to 199 hunters who responded to 
similar questionnaires in 1967* Responses to the questionnaires sent to hunters in 
1968 totaled 139 (70 percent). Of the respondents, 32 (23 percent) reported that 
they did not hunt pheasants in 1 968 . The 107 respondents who hunted pheasants in 
both 1967 and 1 968 reported a total hunting effort of 810 days in 1968 , a decrease of 
8 percent from the 882 days reported in 1967- Their reported kill in 1968 was 672 
cocks, compared with 509 cocks in 1967 an increase of 32 percent. 
Thirty-two percent of the reported hunting effort and 34 percent of the reported 
kill in 1968 occurred during the last 16 days of the 45j-day season. In 1967, 29 
percent of both the reported hunter-days and the kill occurred during the 14-day 
season extension which followed the regular 29i~day season. With the additional 2 
days of the 1 968 season taken into account, the proportionate hunting effort during 
the latter part of the season was essentially equal in l 967 and 1 968 . The proportion 
of the reported kill that occurred during the latter part of the season in 1 968 was 
slightly higher than that in 1967, even when the 2 additional days were considered. 
These data indicate that hunters have responded favorably to the longer hunting 
seasons by taking advantage of the additional opportunity for hunting. However, the 
hunting that occurred during the period provided by the longer season in 1 968 cannot 
necessarily be considered as additional to the hunting that would have occurred during 
a shorter season. Hunting trips during the latter part of the longer season may have 
substituted for earlier trips rather than representing an increase in the total number 
of hunting trips. Consequently, data from earlier years would be necessary to deter¬ 
mine whether the longer seasons have actually resulted in a significant increase in 
total hunting effort. 
2. Manipul ation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
The ultimate success of the roadside seedings on the Ford County Management Unit 
may to a great extent be determined by the growth of the seedlings between the time 
of planting late last summer and the end of the growing season in mid-October. Pre¬ 
cipitation is the most important factor in the early growth stage of the seedings. 
Rainfall at Gibson City (near the Ford County Management Unit) was normal or above 
normal during the spring and summer months, resulting in the presence of adequate sub¬ 
surface moisture when the seeding operations began on August 13; however, a period of 
hot dry weather began at almost the same time. 
