Pheasant Season Opener

Saturday is the opening day for Pheasants in Wisconsin. There are two types of hunting for those who like to stalk these beautiful birds. The most common is the put-and-take type of hunting. There are many Public Hunting areas where pen-raised birds are released for hunters to hunt. These birds are often raised by local hunting groups and a huge number of them are raised by the DNR. This year State birds will number 51,000.

The second type of hunting is for birds that are natural breeding birds. These birds were stocked many years ago in areas with prime Pheasant habitat. The birds are from stock brought from China and Iowa, can withstand Wisconsin winters and are self-sustaining.

In either case the bag limit is 1 rooster per day this weekend and then the bag limit doubles to 2/day for the rest of the season. There are certain areas where hen Pheasants are also legal. To hunt for them you need a special permit and tags. Both of these things are free from the DNR.

It’s pretty crowded and hectic the first weekend but then if you go during the week you can have some pretty quality hunting. Pheasants provide some good hunting opportunities and a great wild game dinner for those lucky enough to bag a couple.

by: Dan Bomkamp
author & host of "How's Fishing?"