The net used to capture gallinaceous birds and cot- 
tontails had a 10-foot handle of 1l-inch, thin-walled 
conduit, and a 30-inch hoop (diameter) of rolled 
34-inch, thin-walled conduit. The bag of the net was 
constructed of 1-inch heavy cord mesh and had a depth 
of about 15 inches. Nets with handles of lightweight 
materials or with bags of less than l-inch mesh were 
ineffective because they could not be quickly forced 
down to the ground in heavy vegetation. Bags of fine 
cord, particularly those with mesh sizes larger than 
1 inch, were unsatisfactory because netted birds often 
became entagled in the mesh and suffered wing abra- 
sions. 
To give the driver good visibility, the netter rode on 
the right fender of the vehicle. He was provided a de- 
tachable bumper platform on which to place his feet 
(Fig. 2). A safety rope, which the netter could grasp 
in his left hand, was attached across the hood of the 
vehicle. The platform and safety rope were essential 
to the safety and performance of the netter. 
A two-man crew was adequate for the effective op- 
eration of this nightlighting rig. One man drove the 
vehicle, controlled the floodlights, and operated the 
spotlight, which he held out of the window of the 
vehicle. The other man netted the animals. 
TECHNIQUES AND EFFICIENCY OF CAPTURE 
Pheasants 
Pheasants were located at night by cruising, with the 
floodlights in operation, through fields of relatively 
flat terrain that offered roosting cover, such as hay- 
fields, small-grain stubble fields, and pastures (Fig. 4) . 
Such cruising was done at about 5 mph. When a roost- 
ing pheasant was observed in the arc of the floodlights, 
the driver simultaneously switched on the hand-held 
spotlight, pinpointed the bird with the spotlight beam, 
and switched off the overhead floodlights. He then 
drove toward the bird, keeping it centered in the spot- 
light beam until the netter could leap from the vehicle 
and make his netting attempt (Fig. 5). Inasmuch as 
the spotlight was held in the driver’s left hand, the 
vehicle had to be maintained to the right, or right rear, 
of the bird, which normally moved away from the 
source of light and noise. Consequently, the most ef- 
fective vehicle maneuver in nightlighting was a coun- 
terclockwise circling action. 
To net a pheasant, or other bird, the netter ap- 
proached only from the rear or from the spotlighted, 
or “blinded,” side of the quarry. In the capture at- 
tempt for pheasants, the netter usually made a head- 
long dive from a running approach. He placed the’ 
net swiftly over the bird by a forceful, forward thrust 
in such a manner that the hoop passed only a few 
inches over the bird; the hoop was kept essentially 
parallel to the ground at all times. This method of net 
placement allowed the netter to adjust for sudden, 
last-instant reactions of the bird, thereby increasing 
trapping efficiency and lessening the chances of injur- 
ing the bird. The action of the driver and the netter 
had to be closely coordinated to achieve a high degree 
of efficiency in capturing pheasants. 
Most pheasants were captured at distances of 25-50 
feet from the vehicle. Long chases, away from the ve- 
hicle, of elusive birds by a netter on foot were usually 
unsuccessful; they not only tired the netter but also 
wasted time and flushed birds that otherwise might 
have been captured. Although some birds were taken 
at or within a few feet of their roosting sites (Fig. 5), 
most birds either ran or flushed from their sites when 
they were disturbed (Fig. 1). The latter pheasants 
were spotlighted and pursued until they were captured 
or reached an inaccessible area. When a_ pheasant 
flushed, it could be “knocked down” at distances up 
to 150 yards by the spotlight beam if the bird was 
oriented in flight so that the light reached one of its 
eyes, temporarily blinding the bird. When a group of 
pheasants was flushed at one time, several birds could 
often be “knocked down” with the spotlight before 
they flew very far. In such cases the driver mentally 
noted the positions of the downed birds and subse- 
quently pursued them one by one. 
When pursuing running or flying pheasants, speeds 
of from 15 to 20 mph were often necessary to put the 
vehicle (and netter) in position to attempt capture; 
such chases often covered distances of several hundred 
yards. Under these circumstances, the driver had to be 
well acquainted with the terrain because his only light 
source was the spotlight beam which was directed at 
the fleeing bird. 
Adult, or essentially full grown, pheasants were cap- 
tured more easily when they were found roosting 
singly or in groups of two or three than when they 
were found in larger groups. If a single member of a 
large group flushed, several of the other pheasants in 
the group usually flushed also, some of which often 
flew into nearby fields that were inaccessible to the 
nightlighting rig. Many of the pheasants that flushed 
flew only short distances before alighting and were 
available for subsequent capture attempts. Young 
pheasants, still in broods, were very easily captured. 
Pheasants were usually easier to capture after they 
had been roosting for a few hours than they were 
shortly after sunset or immediately before sunrise. 
Repeated nightlighting within the same field caused 
pheasants to become skittish, which made them in- 
creasingly difficult to trap, but did not markedly alter 
their nighttime use of the field. 
Although there were never nights during which a 
worthwhile number of pheasants could not be cap- 
tured by nightlighting, nighttime conditions influenced 
the susceptibility of birds to capture. Strong wind 
