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

 

[BenimusPrime]

Given the choice between the 2, definitely prefer wild birds. Although, my family always started the season going to a place that raised birds. It was more fun than shooting clays to get your aim back from the off season.

 

[longtail55]

I am also originally from Sodak and still live right on the border IA/SD. was fortunate enough to hunt wild birds growing up. When I was just out of college I won a guided pheasant hunt with an outfit lodge here also in Sodak. I kind of debated on even going but i didn't want it to go to waste and it was a day off work. Well lets just say I experienced the commercial side of pheasant hunting and it did open up my eyes. The other guys that were there couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. You could instantly tell the fields were overhunted because the wild birds would flush the moment you stepped out of the vehicle but yet then you could tell right away they planted birds because the dogs would be able to have the birds in their mouth before they would even flush. Then for the fun part...... you remember when I said the other guys couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, well yah I ended up shooting like a bunch of the birds and little did i know the guides are counting who hits what, etc. We get back to the lodge at the end of the day after the hunt and the guide is calling me over and telling me I owe $30 per bird for every bird i killed over my limit of 3. i was surprised because that wasn't explained before hand. He said something along the lines of its pretty standard on these hunts you can kill more than 3 but then you have to pay for each bird and that we were hunting their "preserve" land that day where they can plant birds but then for every bird that gets killed they have to replace it with another bird.
i was use to always party hunting with a group.... I should of probably asked more questions before hand
Lets just say i will never hunt pen raised birds with an outfitter ever again.

 

[MNElkNut]

I equate pen raised birds to preseason football.