237,000 pheasants headed to Pa.'s fields, forests. What hunters need to know to find them.

DISTANT, Pa. ― Thousands of birds feed, fly, cackle and roost in large enclosed fields at the Southwest State Game Farm in Armstrong County. The birds are ring-necked and hen pheasants that have been growing over the summer.

The process of raising pheasants is key to keeping pheasant hunting alive in Pennsylvania.

Pheasants are not native to Pennsylvania and there are few wild pheasants for hunters to find. The Pennsylvania Game Commission provides for this put-and-take resource.

“The birds we raise and stock at the Game Commission are the only game in town,” Ian Gregg, Wildlife Operations Division chief, said.

The agency plans to release 237,300 pheasants across the state throughout the upcoming hunting seasons and has resources to help hunters find them.

The birds for eastern Pennsylvania are raised at the Loyalsock State Game Farm, in Lycoming County, and the birds for the western half of the state grow at the Southwest State Game Farm.

The number of birds released will be similar to last year, when 237,700 were stocked.

Michael Booher, superintendent of the Southwest State Game Farm, said his operation received 134,000 birds this past spring. “This year we had a very good growing season. The birds are very healthy. We’re hoping to meet our quota this year and put out a good healthy bird for the hunters,” he said.

Challenges of raising pheasants

Ryan Toth, wildlife maintenance propagator, said each April the agency receives chicks that are a day old to raise. This year, he said, “The birds have done really well. We had a few storms this year that kind of set things back, but other than that it’s been a pretty good year.”

Production numbers at the facility have stayed the same in recent years. The birds receive a feed mixture and older birds can feed on corn in the large holding pens. There are more than 30 enclosures on the State Game Lands 137 property in Armstrong County.

Challenges of raising pheasants

“One of the biggest things is the weather. When birds are small they are susceptible to rain,” Toth said.

Last year, the agency had a windy snowstorm hit the Southwest State Game Farm the week leading up to the start of the regular hunting season. The weather knocked down some of the fencing and the agency estimated about 10,000 birds escaped. Through trapping and corralling efforts, Booher reports they recovered about 6,000.

The staff has since improved some of the netting areas with support wire to strengthen them for future weather events. The crews are also working on making more pens (netted fields) on the grounds.

Gregg said they are planning other improvements at the site with a new brooding area where the hatchlings are raised. The improvements will include more computerized automation to make the operation more efficient. “It should be better for the pheasant survival,” Gregg said. “In the longer term, that would increase our capacity to do some additional birds.”

It takes space to grow birds in the netted fields on the property. “We take a lot of pride in stocking a high-quality bird,” Gregg said about making sure the birds have plenty of space and feed to grow over the summer months.

Where to hunt

“The way to know where and when to go pheasant hunting is pretty much driven by information that’s available on the Game Commission’s website,“ he said.

Hunters should check pgc.pa.gov to see where birds will be released compared to the previous years as changes are sometimes made.

There is a list for each Game Commission region that shows where the birds are released among the seven to nine stocking weeks. “Most sites get a release before the (Oct. 7-14) youth season,” Gregg said.

There are releases before the regular hunting season, and four in-season stockings up to Thanksgiving. “There’s a release shortly before Christmas, and not all of the sites, but many of them get two additional releases, one in late December and one in early January to extend that opportunity,” Gregg said.

The website, with an interactive map, provides a two- to four-day window of when each release will happen.

There are birds in most places days after they are released. “There gets to be a perception that you have get to the field right after the stocking truck leaves or you are not going to have a chance. That’s not necessarily true,” Gregg said.

The birds are raised in large enclosed fields that help them learn basic survival. “They will be there several weeks,” he said.

When to hunt

Pheasant season in Pennsylvania starts Oct. 7-14 for junior hunters. For all hunters, the seasons run Oct. 21-Nov. 11, Nov. 13-18, Nov. 20-24, Dec. 11-23 and Dec. 26-Feb. 29. There are two Sundays, Nov. 12 and 19, that are open to pheasant hunting.

Hunters are permitted to take two birds, male or female, a day.

A pheasant permit is required. The fees help the agency offset the cost of raising birds for the four-month season. Adults pay $26.97 for the permit in addition to their general license. The pheasant permit is free to junior license holders ages 12-17.

The agency estimates it costs about $15 to $16 for each stocked bird. “That’s comparable to the private sector,” Booher said.

“The number of permits we’re selling and the free permits we are issuing to junior are going up each year. From that standpoint, the demand is there,” Gregg said. In 2022, the agency sold 56,632 adult pheasant permits and awarded 18,915 junior permits. The number of both permits has increased every year since the permit program began in 2017.

Tips for success

“If you have a bird dog, that certainly helps. We’ve done some surveys finding that hunters using a bird dog tend to be more successful than those who don’t but it’s not an absolute requirement,” Gregg said.

Hunters should target thick cover with a stop-and-go pace that helps make the birds flush.

Gregg said the agency encourages pheasant hunters to consider non-toxic alternatives to lead shot. Predators, like raptors, get lead poisoning from eating animals that were shot with lead ammunition.

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Safety tips

• Be aware of your surroundings.

• Never get in front of anyone else or work too far ahead of your hunting crew. If you see other hunters, work the field in a direction away from them.

• If you see a stocking crew where you are hunting, it is suggested that hunters wait until the birds are all released and the crew leaves the area.

• While it’s legal to shoot a pheasant that’s on the ground, most hunters feel that’s not ethical. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you see the sky around the bird before shooting.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors , X @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Where are pheasants being stocked for hunting in PA this fall?