Wild vs planted pheasants, wow....

[BrentD]

You might ask how a beginning hunter is going to find and shoot a Phelon Pheasant. Likely no trained dog to find the bird. If the bird hides and is hesitant to fly, what are the odds the beginning hunter will find it? Perhaps offering a shot as it walks down a road looking for a feeding trough.....just before a hawk grabs it? BTW, I believe there are only 11 prisoners working on Phelon Pheasants.....what will be their employable skill when they get out?

Lots of beginners, including myself hunted pheasants, just fine with untrained dogs
I'd argue that it's the best way to learn to hunt.

As for the prisoners, iowa, turkey farmers will snap them up. They can't hire Americans, and now all the hispanics are being boxed up and shipped out of country.

 

[Hunter2.0]

Grew up in New England ruffed grouse, woodwork and occasional pheasant. Spent pretty much every afternoon chasing them. Lost touch with birds as I grew and lately focused on big game. Last fall with the help of a friend, and his dog, got back into birds, mostly stocked pheasant. What a blast. Never hunted over a dog before

This year , just got back from ND after 4 days of pheasant hunting. All wild birds, but LOTS of them. What a difference wild birds are. Run from the dog and LOTS of wild flushes, but we got almost our limit every day, not thanks to shooting but sheer number of birds.

We actually shot good day 1. Both got limit of 3 and we didn't start huntimg til noon. Days 2, 3 and 4 wind kicked up to 20+ mph and our shooting dropped with it. Man those birds hit the wind and are GONE. When you add in the slight hesitation of roosters only, any bird that flushed at 30 yards, at best gave you 1 shot before being gone.

Dog saved our bacon on a few retrieves that ran and hid. He was amazing!

Yep wild birds are so much more fun

 

[17remhunter]

My neighbors all go to utah every year for planted birds They shoot 100 birds at $40. $4000 between two guys. They come home with pictures and brag about their success. They tell me how easy pheasant hunting is. I ask then if they have ever hunted wild birds. There reply is “ why would you want to hunt that hard when this way is so much easier “. They rent a dog from the lodge and get all their birds processed. Personally I dont think they would have any desire for wild birds