To prepare the famous pheasant under glass dish, you first have to get a pheasant.
Well, that’s been a problem for me this fall. I went bird hunting with my son a couple of times. The dogs did their job and put up the birds, but I just couldn’t hit them. I guess I’m a little out of practice.
Anyway, did you know that pheasants are not native to America? The ring-necked pheasant, which is the most common of these colorful birds, is native to China, Japan and other eastern Asian countries.
Several attempts were made to introduce these birds into this country over the years, but they failed. Some finally survived on Gardiner’s Island off Long Island in 1892 and on the Wadsworth Estate near Geneseo in 1903.
Pheasants expanded their territory throughout central and western New York and reached their peak in the late 1960s and early 70s. Today, wild pheasant numbers have dropped significantly due to the loss of habitat and land use changes.
In recent years, New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation has established a Pheasant Release Program. This “put and take” program was not started to restore wild pheasants in the state but to provide upland game bird hunting opportunities to the public.
This year they will release around 50,000 adult birds across the state on nearly 200 public and private lands that are open to the public for hunting in all regions of the state. And that’s where we come in.
There are several release sites right here in the area, but all sites can be found on DEC’s HuntFish NY website along with the number of birds released. We hunted on a farm near Milford, but there are other sites close by and in nearby counties.
A couple of years ago we showed up at the Milford site. Two hunters were walking back to their truck when we arrived.
“They didn’t release any birds here,” one of the guys said with a disgusted attitude. “You’re wasting your time.”
He was wrong. Birds were released, but they didn’t have a dog. We headed out along the wood line and had a bird flush before they got to Route 28. In fact, we each shot our limit that morning.
Pheasants aren’t like grouse which will flush if you get close. These birds sit tight and don’t move unless you nearly step on them. But a dog picks up their scent and puts them up for the hunter. There’s nothing like hunting behind a good dog.
My son has two labs: a black and a yellow. They were bred to hunt. It’s in their genes.
When we let them out of the truck, they know why they are there. It’s a joy to watch them work along the hedge rows and into the brush. When a bird flushes, they rush after it and retrieve it after the shot. A good, well-trained dog makes all the difference.
Up until last year most of the pheasants released were raised by the state on the Reynolds Game Farm near Ithaca. The thousands of birds raised there had to be euthanized, however, because they somehow contacted avian flu. So now they buy their birds from growers in other states.
But the program is alive and well. The birds are out there and it’s a lot of fun even if you can’t hit your target.