# New addicition



## Hunter_17 (Mar 15, 2008)

I went out saturday and killed my first rooster, I have been pheasant hunting before but just got hens up. I now have been out 2 days and killed 4 birds, 2 on public and 2 on private. One of the ones I shot today is a lot bigger than the others, has a pretty long tail( pic below) 20 inches, what is a good size of tail for a full grown mature bird?


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## coolgunnings (Sep 8, 2007)

The longest tail feathers that I have off of a rooster is 24". 20" is a good bird!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

As a bird taxidermist I get to see lots of pheasant tails. 20 inches is a good mature bird. When you start getting into the 24-26 inch range is when you've got a real trophy. The longest tail I've seen or had anything to do with belongs to non other than Franken****. A bird I mounted for my buddy using the cape from one, the feet and spurs from another, and the tail from a third bird. This brute had a 27 inch tail. :shock: See for yourself. 

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u263/tex-o-bob/franken****.jpg


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice mount TEX.

Don't think I've seen one over 26"


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## idiot with a bow (Sep 10, 2007)

I always hold out for at least a 24" tail....


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

> I always hold out for at least a 24" tail....


Don't get greedy! :twisted:


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

I usually try and get any tail I can. :mrgreen:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Size Matters said:


> I usually try and get any tail I can. :mrgreen:


Amen brutha! There's no such thing as bad tail, only varying degrees of good tail. :wink:


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

I once shot a rooster that came off a hunting club that had a 28" tail. Used to have pics of him, but they were in the same box as the tail, and aparently that particular box fell off the truck during one of my moves. Packed it, loaded it, and never saw it again. :evil: Bunch of cool mementos disappeared during that move. :x  

Hunting that particular club was the funnest three years of hunting that I have ever had. 

A buddy of mine managed the club and used to call me and a bunch of other guys to clean up after party shoots. Groups would buy 10-50 birds and hunt for a couple of hours and leave with maybe half what they paid for, then we would go out and clean up the leftovers. Awesome. Great flyers, and some of them had spectacular tails. 18-22 was average, with a few exceptional ones like my 28 incher.

Turpin was also flooded, and I shot so many ducks that I finally just started breasting them out to save space, and HUNDREDS of pheasants off the club, MAN was that good eating for a few years. Two to four birds a week eaten, gave a bunch away, and STILL had a full freezer come end of season. :mrgreen:


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## tigerpincer (Dec 5, 2009)

"Amen brutha! There's no such thing as bad tail, only varying degrees of good tail."


> Wait a minute are we still talking about pheasants here??


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Like the others said, a 20" tail is a pretty good bird. The first year I could carry a gun, my dad shot a rooster that had one 24" feather, and one at 23 inches. We still have them. Last year my dad got one that had a tail that was 22 inches. They're around, but I can tell you this, next one I shoot with a tail over 22", he's going straight to Tex. Won't be too long before wild pheasants in Utah are history. ANY wild pheasant shot in Utah is a trophy these days.


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