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 Wise County Pheasants?
#3875476
12/22/12 09:05 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,943
Ben Lilly
OP
Veteran Tracker
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OP
Veteran Tracker
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,943 |
We were rabbit hunting after going after ducks this morning and saw a pheasant. Honestly I was very surprised to see it. I saw movement on a fence row and closed in thinking it was a rabbit. It ran then took off...
Is there a Pheasant farm near Alvorde maybe?
Last edited by TravelSports1; 12/22/12 09:14 PM.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Ben Lilly]
#3875565
12/22/12 09:30 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119
Coldwind
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119 |
We were rabbit hunting after going after ducks this morning and shot a pheasant. Honestly I was very surprised to see it. I saw movement on a fence row and closed in thinking it was a rabbit. It ran then went to take off...
Is their a Pheasant farm near Alvorde maybe? I have been keeping up with the wild Texas pheasant range for years. Wild pheasants have been seen below and east of the the Panhandle for years. There are a few wild pheasants around Vernon in Wilbarger county but not enough to hunt. When healthy pen raised pheasant survive and escape shooting preserves they don't always fall prey to predators some will survive and reproduce. There are hunting preserves all around the Fort Worth and Dallas area, a number of hens and roosters escape every year. If we get a wet spring and damp summer some of those Wise county pheasants can hatch in that area. Thats how pheasants got started in the Texas panhandle. Fifty or sixty years ago no one thought that we would have wild pheasants around Lubbock. The TP&WD also stocked wilder strains of pheasants in farming country north and northeast of the Dallas area about 30 years ago.
Last edited by Coldwind; 12/22/12 09:38 PM.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Coldwind]
#3884370
12/26/12 01:34 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,836
SweetTea
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,836 |
OMG, this is the best slumber party ever!
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Coldwind]
#3884402
12/26/12 01:45 AM
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 162
Gadget Bob
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 162 |
Hi Coldwind,
Very interesting information on pheasants in Texas. We see a lot on the high panhandle when chasing PD's and jacks up there in the summer.
I hunt outside of Alvord and see jacks, bobcats, coyotes, minks, deer, hogs, skunks, turkeys, armadillos and cottontails. But not a pheasant as yet. Your hunting preserve escape theory makes a lot of sense.
Regards,
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Gadget Bob]
#3884467
12/26/12 02:16 AM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 273
D Miles
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 273 |
I saw a wild pheasant about 10 years ago in Boonsville, which is Southern Wise County.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: D Miles]
#3888168
12/27/12 11:56 AM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119
Coldwind
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119 |
Wise county could easily support a colony or pocket of truly wild pheasants. I have looked at the dry land wheat crop and and other crops in that area and for the last four or five years they have appeared just as healthy as the wheat in the best part of the Kansas pheasant country. Wild pheasants need nesting cover and summer moisture more than they need grain. With lakes, creeks and man made lakes wild pheasants can survive. If wilder strains like the Bianchi Pheasant or White Winged pheasant ( aka Afghan White winged pheasant) or the Manchurian Pheasant (predator wary and predator alert pheasants) of pen raised pheasants were released in that area it might increase the wild population. The article below give good background information on how wilder strains of pheasants were used to get wild pheasants started in the Texas panhandle years ago: http://amarillo.com/stories/120201/whe_legionsofspo.shtmlOne other observation, the Heat Island Effect may have something to do with the good crops north of the Dallas, Fort Worth area. Look it up, the theory is that as summer moisture move north out of the Gulf and the tall building and growth in the cities will lift the air and cloud and cause rain downwind.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Coldwind]
#3888302
12/27/12 01:36 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill ![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/usergals/2017/07/full-3669-105539-full_16668_105507_image.jpg)
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: bill oxner]
#3888476
12/27/12 02:41 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953
TF Panther
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953 |
When I was a kid early 80's There was a field with a creek IN Garland TX, yes that garland. Field is now a neighborhood. We used to take our BB guns in there to shoot at what nots. I know, illegal but statue of limitations is up. We found a ringneck pheaseant in it and chased that bird for a week with our BB guns. Yes we were kids and yes it was a full grown [censored] pheaseant for sure no doubt 100% verified through the encylopedia Brittanica, ha. Told our dads back then and they about laughed us to death. Hence why we spent a week after that bird, which we never collected.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: TF Panther]
#3888625
12/27/12 03:25 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 149
super
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 149 |
I know that we have released NAVHDA some pheasants in the LBJ grasslands for training and field tests. I also went to the springer field trail last year and the released quite a few up there. May be they will adapt an multiply.
Jason
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: super]
#3889345
12/27/12 07:14 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 976
rdh1
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 976 |
back in the 80's they (TPWL) released Pheasants at Granger Lake and to this day you still see a bird now and then
Zeva,Buck & Sandy ![[Linked Image]](http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy300/rdhinze/50910da2-4dec-41f9-909d-f0a2fb097aec_zps170f101c.jpg)
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: bill oxner]
#3889463
12/27/12 08:09 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,700
bobcat1
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,700 |
That is what most people don't realize. Chiggers are the killer.
Bobby Barnett
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: bobcat1]
#3889532
12/27/12 08:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 61
lonestar45
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 61 |
When was the last time you saw a pheasant at granger?
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: lonestar45]
#3889726
12/27/12 09:52 PM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 7,028
HuntnFly67
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 7,028 |
I have seen pheasants in Johnson County with regularity. It was probably the same brood south of Cleburne near the lake.
Two years ago we flushed a hen on the north side of town near some tanks we duck hunt.
They're out there.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: lonestar45]
#3890494
12/28/12 01:55 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 976
rdh1
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 976 |
It has been about 5or6 years for me
But I am going to be there Sat I will ask around to see if they are still there
Zeva,Buck & Sandy
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: rdh1]
#3890760
12/28/12 03:06 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 127
Taylor Everett
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 127 |
I know some people around here buy pen birds and turn them out on there place to hunt. Probably an escapee if i was guessing.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: bill oxner]
#3919605
01/05/13 09:27 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119
Coldwind
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 119 |
Chiggers or Red Mites are everywhere in North America, even the best Kansas and N. Dakota pheasant country is loaded with chiggers. The chigger theory limiting pheasant expansion southward could not be absolutely true simply because in the last 40 years pheasants in the counties just south of the Kansas border in Oklahoma have increased by 10 fold. Wild Oklahoma pheasants are now seen south of Enid and have been seen as far south as Kingfisher, it took those wild pheasant over 40 years to expand southward. Years ago they had that same chigger theory in the Texas panhandle, now a few wild pheasants are seen south of Lubbock. I think it just takes a long long time for the truly wild pheasants to adapt to new areas. And it takes even longed pen raised pheasants to be lucky enough to survive the predators and reproduce but it is not impossible it can happen. Each generation that hatches in the wild gets wilder and more wary of predators and people. It may take another 15 or 20 years for truly wild pheasants to take root in Wise county. So that area south of Enid was pheasant country all the time even when people thought chiggers would slow down the southern expansion of the wild pheasant range.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Coldwind]
#3920183
01/06/13 12:50 AM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: bill oxner]
#3920340
01/06/13 01:37 AM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 183
rater1979
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 183 |
Dad hit one with his truck as it was flying across the road between Sunset & Forestburg about 10 years ago.
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Re: Wise County Pheasants?
[Re: Coldwind]
#5141400
06/03/14 09:40 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,700
bobcat1
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,700 |
Chiggers or Red Mites are everywhere in North America, even the best Kansas and N. Dakota pheasant country is loaded with chiggers. The chigger theory limiting pheasant expansion southward could not be absolutely true simply because in the last 40 years pheasants in the counties just south of the Kansas border in Oklahoma have increased by 10 fold. Wild Oklahoma pheasants are now seen south of Enid and have been seen as far south as Kingfisher, it took those wild pheasant over 40 years to expand southward. Years ago they had that same chigger theory in the Texas panhandle, now a few wild pheasants are seen south of Lubbock. I think it just takes a long long time for the truly wild pheasants to adapt to new areas. And it takes even longed pen raised pheasants to be lucky enough to survive the predators and reproduce but it is not impossible it can happen. Each generation that hatches in the wild gets wilder and more wary of predators and people. It may take another 15 or 20 years for truly wild pheasants to take root in Wise county. So that area south of Enid was pheasant country all the time even when people thought chiggers would slow down the southern expansion of the wild pheasant range. Tommy Hailey a wildlife biologist here in Texas in the mid 90's told me that chiggers were the number one killer of baby quail in Texas. I assumed it to be true with pheasants.
Bobby Barnett
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