Game Commission Announces Pheasant Releases for Northwest Region

FRANKLIN, Pa. – Yesterday Pennsylvania Game Commission Northwest Region Director Richard T. Cramer announced agency employees began releasing ring-necked pheasants throughout the 10-county region. Agency-raised birds will be released for the junior pheasant hunt scheduled for October 8 to October 15.

Cramer noted that the Game Commission’s statewide pheasant stocking effort will be approximately 240,000 birds for the upcoming small game season. The Northwest Region’s total share of pheasants is 42,360 (12,850 males and 29,510 females), which includes 2,760 birds (830 males and 1,930 females) for the junior season. A listing of stocking locations for the junior hunt can be found on pages 52 to 54 of the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest, which is provided to each license buyer.

The regular pheasant season begins Saturday, Oct. 22 and concludes on Saturday, Nov. 26. Late season pheasant hunting dates are Dec. 12 to 24, and Dec. 26 to Feb. 28. Pre-season stocking of pheasants will take place prior to Oct. 22, followed by four in-season stockings, as well as a late season stocking.

As part of the agency’s Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan, the Game Commission is taking steps to restore self-sustaining and huntable populations of wild pheasants in suitable habitats called “Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas” (WPRAs). For the 2016-17 seasons, WPRAs are defined as the Somerset, Central Susquehanna, Hegins-Gratz Valley and Franklin County WPRAs. To give these wild pheasants the best opportunity to establish naturally reproducing populations, the Game Commission has banned the release of any artificially propagated pheasants, including Game Commission-raised pheasants, in these areas, and pheasant hunting is closed in these WPRAs. Also, to limit disturbances to nesting hen pheasants, dog training of any manner and small game hunting, except for groundhog, crows and waterfowl, is prohibited in these WPRAs from the first Sunday in February through July 31 each year.

Hunters are reminded that pheasant harvest is restricted by sex in the various Wildlife Management Units (WMUs). Please check the seasons and corresponding WMUs on page 48 of the 2016-17 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest. WMU maps can be found on pages 25 to 30 of the digest, and also on the Game Commission’s website at www.pgc.pa.gov (choose “Wildlife” on the top of the homepage, then click on the “Habitat Management” and select the “Wildlife Management Units” of interest). Pheasants are stocked on state game lands and other lands open to public hunting with suitable pheasant habitat.

The Game Commission has an updated publication titled “Pheasant Management Program,” which identifies state game lands, and those state parks and federal lands with suitable habitat that receive pheasant stockings. This publication can be found on the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.pa.gov), and can be viewed by putting your cursor over “Hunt/Trap” in the menu bar at the top of the page, clicking on “Hunting,” clicking on “Pheasant” in the “Small Game” listing and then choosing “Pheasant Management Program” in the “Programs” listing. Click on “Northwest” for a listing of stocking locations.

The following are the pheasant releases for the fall 2016 small game season in the Northwest Region.

Pheasant Distribution for 2016-17 

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