-More birds- other states run this type of program as well, but seem to release more birds. I think more birds are necessary to make for a better hunt and better to get new hunters excited and involved in hunting. This year they released 13,000, if we could get it to somewhere between 20,000-30,000 birds and release them throughout the hunt it would make for better experience.
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I would think based upon the number of hunters, I have seen 300,000 should be a better number for the amount released.
Anything that the DWR does to help the pheasant population is fine by me.
So should we do the same with fish? I mean if they can't naturally sustain themselves in area why are we wasting time with opportunity of any kind? There are many lakes that kill off every year, do we stop that to, and accept fish don't naturally occur there?Two easy steps:
1. Accept who you are.
2. DWR get out of the pheasant business and end the program.
If you want to hunt pen raised non-native birds on a put and take basis, go to a pay-to-shoot place and have a great time.
Utah DWR should get out of the pheasant pharming business. That is how you improve it. Get rid of it.
I agree with you on many fronts, and I also would like to see chukars really invested in from this point forward. They are a fun bird to hunt and we have the habitat for them. The problem is they'll run you up hills and into country many won't or can't follow them to. Pheasants are a good way to get people excited again and future hunters involved in upland hunting. Upland hunting is very important and we have been losing ground on it here.Can't compare it to fish. Planted fish last more than 5 days. Fishing season is year round. Fish can be caught and released multiple times, no such thing as catch and release hunting. Cost per fish is a fraction of the cost per pheasant to produce.
Don't get me wrong #1-I. I love pheasant hunting more than any other kind of hunting. I've hunted wild birds and pen raised birds. I've hunted private lands and public lands, and walk in access lands. If I had to choose only one thing to hunt the rest of my life, I'd gladly drop all big game hunting in favor of pheasants.
That said, Utah just doesn't have it when it comes to habitat. And the cost of running the program for a 3 day shoot at a bunch of pen raised birds is just something I don't support for a publicly funded (read subsidized by other outdoorsmen) agency. If you want to pheasant hunt in Utah, great. Several great pay to shoot places where only the pheasant hunters absorb the costs. Have a great time. Or, if you'd rather hunt wild birds, then South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and central/eastern Montana are less than a day's drive.
As I see the natural resources Utah as to offer, it is an absolute heaven for chukars for upland birds. I'd rather see money for upland hunting invested in more guzzlers for chukars, than a 3 day pheasant shoot. The Utah pheasant shoot in my view is the same thing as the tarps turned into fish ponds that show up at the outdoors shows. Sure, a kid can catch a stupid pellet head fish on a stick with a chunk of power bait tied to the end, but it isn't fishing. The DWR sponsored dump and shoot is like that. With guns.
Pheasants are a great introduction to youth and new comers to hunting. Pheasant releases give an avenue to hunting where there are birds to hunt and from there that person or youth may have a pathway into hunting without it they may not have. Pheasants live in easy terrain and are a fun and exciting game bird. If something was created to help bolster the amount released and create new walk in access/release sites to spread out hunters $15-$20 a year to support the program is much cheaper than spending a bunch to go out of state or pay to play on a game it's farm. It's not perfect but the amount of wild pheasants we have now and into the future will continue where they are or become less, so I'm the future this is about all there is for pheasants in this state for those who can't afford to go to a farm or another state. This program has gotten thousands of people put participating, if you don't believe so, hit a WMA on a weekend. Theres still excitement over pheasants in Utah, and the more upland game hunters in this state the better future the rest of our upland game have.I agree on the value of the portable fish pond for events. But it is not intended to be THE fishing program for the State. It is to generate interest. And it does a fine job of that. But when your only pheasant hunt requires what Utah's does, without follow up opportunities, then that is problematic.
Utah already has a program to help support these types of programs. It's not specific to Pheasants, it's supposed to help all upland game species. It's called the Upland Game Slam program, there's one for waterfowl as well.$15 stamp/tag fee a year to support the program
I know, I've bought 3 vouchers for each to do my part. The slam programs are for habitat projects and a few other things. They are not used to fund the pheasant release program. I like the slam program and encourage everyone to purchase one for upland and waterfowl and participate. It is a voluntary program.Utah already has a program to help support these types of programs. It's not specific to Pheasants, it's supposed to help all upland game species. It's called the Upland Game Slam program, there's one for waterfowl as well.
I would like to think that if more hunters participated in these programs it would provide additional funds for this and other upland game improvements.
