# What to plant for pheasants?



## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

What would be a good thing to plant that would keep coming back that wouldn't require much water? Preferably not to expensive.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Shrubs. They'll attract pheasants because of cover, as well as insects for the birds to eat. Plant them one row each year, with some space in between for natural grasses to grow. They provide shelter from everything from predators to driving snow.


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## Fishrmn (Sep 14, 2007)

Plant water. Ringneck pheasants earn the nickname of puddle ducks. They need water, and with sprinkling systems they don't get it.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

russian olive trees are supposed to be beneficial for pheasants


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## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

What kind of shrubs and any links to what look like good mixes.... We do ditch irrigation where I would be planting waters not a problem.


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

Here's a seed mix put together by Pheasants Forever. Not sure what exactly your trying to do, but this is a food and cover seed mix. 
http://www.pfstore.org/index.php?main_p ... 01dbde6478


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## Matt B (Sep 10, 2007)

I would think milo would also work. You would need to plant every year, but a corner patch would give food and cover.


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## RoosterKiller (May 27, 2011)

+1 on the milo. We took 25 pheasants out of one milo field last year. They love it.


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## hemionus (Aug 23, 2009)

Sprig Kennels said:


> russian olive trees are supposed to be beneficial for pheasants


You are right that russian olive do provide some benefit to pheasants and other wildlife but I would NOT plant it on purpose. To many other negative ecological implications come with RO. There are other native or less invasive trees/shrubs I would plant.

PM your address and I could email you some info on building phez habitat.


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## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

In my teens I raised pheasants, and allot of other birds. One of the old boys that I bought pheasants and chukars from, hated pheasants forever, and the chukar orgs. Habitat and all other factors aside, his claim was that we are using the wrong pheasants. He also claimed that in many cases, simply releasing birds was detrimental to existing populations. He said that the "Chinese" ring neck pheasants that were originally introduced, were much better suited to Utah, thats why they flurished. We now use pheasants from different parts of South East Asia, not to mention all the crosses. This was done in some cases intentionally. These pheasants are from drier climates, and were thought to be more compatible with our climate. You can see the difference between these strains by looking at their backs. Old strain Chinese ring necks have a very green colored plumage on their rumps(the fine plumage just before the tail). The strains of pheasants more commonly encountered now have light blue plumage, or a mix, in this area. Anyway, take a look at mounts and capes from the old days, and today, you'll see the difference. The "Chinese" birds we bought from this guy, always did better than modern strains. And the green plumage looks much better on your cowboy hat.  

Aside from the strain of bird, pen raised birds are diseased. They may appear healthy, but they carry bugs that wild birds are just not equipped to deal with. So you release pen raised birds that are going to get killed by predators anyway, because they dont know how to cope with them, and on top of that, they kill the wild birds when they make contact with them. Its a compounding, and losing cycle.

Fortunately the chukar orgs figured some of this out. When establishing new areas with birds, the preffered method is to translocate "wild" chukars. These birds know how to cope with predators, and should they encounter other birds, the disease issue should be all but moot. In the 90s there were allot of well intentioned people releasing chukars. Most times this happened in areas that already had birds. They thought that this would "enhance" those existing populations. Just the opposite occurred, and bird numbers were decimated(actually worse).


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## bigthree (Nov 28, 2009)

The treeline is great cover for the birds,a row of evergreens, Russian olives,apple trees.10 yard gap between each row.if you put those rows in half way threw a field let the grass grow between them.and then plant Milo grain.And this will blow you're mind find a spot on you're property to grow tumble weed,salsola weed.it will keep you're wild birds on you're property.and get you're natural grass tall for nesting.


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## bigthree (Nov 28, 2009)

Plant a row of evergreens, Russian olives trees, and apple trees 15 yards apart and let the 
grass grow between the rows.about half way through the field,then plant Milo,and then a strip of trees on the other side of it.And then grow Salsola or tumble weed.That will keep you're wild birds on you're property.and get your native grass tall for nesting.Tumble weed is a pain but it is good for soil. :lol:


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

Before you plant you need yo consider what you are trying to provide. Feed? Winter cover? Nesting and brooding cover?... you should be able to find a fair amount of literature on the subject. I don't know a ton about it, but I have observed these three things in all areas I have been to where pheasant populations are self sustainable. If I can help in any way let me know. Good luck! I love the effort.
I love hunting pheasants. I have had a very good season by utah standards this year.


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## blackdog (Sep 11, 2007)

Cheat grass!


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## flyfitch (Sep 22, 2007)

Bret said:


> Before you plant you need to consider what you are trying to provide. Feed? Winter cover? Nesting and brooding cover?


I agree.
Pheasants don't nest or roost in the fields where they eat. For best results, I would plant tall grasses and shrubs for cover, and then some type of grain for feed. When hunting out of state, the best hunting I find is usually around the wheat and corn fields. Depending on the time of day, we hunt in the grain fields while they are eating, or hunt the thick cover that they will move to after feeding time.


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