With the corn finally cut, hunters find pheasants aplenty

[Skunk]

With the corn finally cut, hunters find pheasants aplenty

By Karl Licis, Special to the Denver Post

12/23/2009


The pheasant hunting season across eastern Colorado is in full swing, and conditions are considered good.
Fields of tall wheat stubble provide excellent cover for ringnecks. (Karl Licis photos, Special to The Denver Post )

YUMA COUNTY — Winston, an enthusiastic albeit inexperienced golden retriever, was about to run headlong into an accelerated learning curve.

Two rooster pheasants had risen nonchalantly from a strip of weeds bordering an uncut cornfield, glided across a county road and landed just inside the tall grass of a federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) field on the other side. With any luck, the birds would hold there rather than running deeper into the cover, where they might vanish as fish into the sea.

With a light wind blowing from left to right, Winston could enter the field crosswise to the breeze, downwind of where the long-tailed birds had landed, and not be noticed. He could work straight ahead, pick up theirs cent to his left, move toward it and . . . A ringneck burst from the cover amid a frantic rustling of feathers and the trademark chattering of a rooster pheasant. Moments later, it fell to the ground, brought down by a blast.


A pair of rooster pheasants offers a table treat during the holiday season.  (Karl Licis photos, Special
to The Denver Post )

Winston had flushed the pheasant but, with his view obscured by the tall grass, had not seen it go down. He raced past the fallen bird and seconds later flushed another — then another. One after another, pheasants popped from the cover, like a row of snap fasteners opening up an extra-tall Western shirt front. By the time the flurry ended, a dozen, maybe two dozen assorted roosters and hens had flown from the field, all bound for the standing corn beyond shooting range.

The dog gave chase to the fliers but soon returned, appearing a bit confused. The ground loaded with fresh pheasant scent, he had to be directed to the dead bird but eventually made the retrieve. Bird in hand, Winston was ready for the next, hopefully somewhat less frenzied, adventure in eastern Colorado pheasant country, where the prospects entering the second half of the season remain exceptionally good.

Good comes with the bad

"We've seen two underlying factors in the season so far," said Ed Gorman, small-game manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife and coordinator of its popular Walk-in Access Program. "We've had an excellent number of birds but some difficult hunting conditions."

Gorman believes pheasant numbers are up statewide and the overall population might be the highest in 20 years. As a rule, the best numbers are in the northeast, with Phillips, Yuma and Sedgwick counties leading the way. Population growth rates are lower along western fringes of the pheasant range and in the southeast corner of the state, where numbers are rebounding from the severe drought of early 2008 but have not yet returned to 2006 levels.

Pheasants find cover

An abundance of pheasants has not necessarily translated to bountiful hunting, however. A late corn harvest left most fields off-limits to hunters early in the season, but not to ringnecks.

"They'd be in the last corn standing, where you couldn't get to them," Gorman said.

Snow on the second day of the season turned back roads into quagmires, further delayed the corn harvest and most likely reduced the number of hunters venturing afield. After Thanksgiving, conditions improved significantly. The corn harvest is almost complete. Roads have dried out, though new snow or rain could again turn them to mud. The prevailing weather pattern has produced a series of cold spells, followed by interludes of warmer days, and pheasant routines might be fairly predictable.

"In general, look for pheasants to spend the night in CRP or wheat stubble and move out to feed during the day," Gorman said. "They should be fairly well spread out, probably not in big bunches when the weather is mild. When we get a cold snap, they'll bunch up and move right back to the heavy cover."

Late-season hunters might enjoy the best of both worlds. Pheasants remain plentiful, and unless wintry weather has concentrated them in thick cover, they might be almost anywhere. Hunting patches of moderately thick cover near feeding areas may well produce a rooster or two. Some hunters prefer the period shortly after a cold front has passed. Groups of ringnecks still might be in the heaviest available ground cover, where they appear to be at relative ease. Often as not, they will hold tight while hunters slowly approach, then burst from the weeds when least expected.

With the eastern Colorado season extending through Jan. 31, hunters have plenty of time. The birds are still out there, and conditions are favorable.

"Hunters might be pleasantly surprised at what they find," Gorman said. "It's just a matter of being in the right field at the right time."


Abandoned homesteads in Colorado with ample ground cover might yield a pheasant in hand for hunters
with permission to hunt there. Pheasants remain plentiful, and some hunters prefer the period shortly
after a cold front has passed. (Karl Licis photos, Special to The Denver Post)

Next season, hunters get sweet walk-in deal

An already-attractive deal for small-game hunters will become even sweeter next fall.

The Colorado Wildlife Commission recently eliminated the special-permit fee for the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Walk-in Access Program, starting with hunting seasons that begin in 2010.

Started in 2001, the walk-in system provides access to approximately 200,000 of acres of private lands by payments to landowners enrolled in the program. Walk-in fields are identified with prominent signs and mapped in an atlas provided by the DOW. Hunters with a $20 permit, in addition to a regular small-game license and habitat stamp, have been able to enter the walk-in fields without acquiring additional permission, thus saving time locating the appropriate landowner.

Beginning next fall, the $20 fee will no longer be required to enter the walk-in properties. The DOW hopes to make up the lost revenue from other sources.

The change is intended to encourage participation in small-game hunting, especially among young hunters, and is consistent with other states that do not charge extra fees for similar programs.

Karl Licis, Special to the Denver Post

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