IL. Pheasants Forever /DNA testing

[1pheas4]

Anyone in the McHenry County (IL) area willing to help us work with the DNR on testing WILD ROOSTER DNA this fall that would be great. All I would need is some feathers from the freshly harvested pheasant. I'll be posting more details about the study as they come avalible.

Fist step is that I need a few guys able to harvest wild roosters within McHenry county. Once I have some commitments I'll let the DNR know it's a go and well go from there.

Hit my personal email if interested. Thanks much!!--1pheas4

[UplandHntr]

Ill keep it in mind

[1pheas4]

Sorry about the delay on posting more info about this study.

If anyone shoots a wild cock pheasant in Illinois you can help. If your interested here's a link with more info.

If you're not sure how to tell if a bird in wild or not just PM me anytime for some help. --1pheas4

http://www.illinoispf.org/page/1700/Illinois-Home.jsp

[1pheas4]

Just a quick update. The DNA research is still underway. This is what's being discovered about IL wild pheasants thus far.

--IL pheasants are similar to one another genetically but, for example, are very different genetically from wild pheasants from Iowa and SD.

--wild IL pheasants may need genetic diversity introduced in the coming years.

--What is keeping our birds from intermixing/diversifying with other gene pools within IL? Expressways, large sections of wooded areas, and rivers.

It turns out our birds don't like to cross expressways and rivers, nor are they willing to cut through sections of forests to get to another breeding population of birds.

Again, if IL pheasant hunters can continue to get the word out on this study that would be wonderful Wild (fresh) pheasants found dead on roadways are good for the study too. Just pull 10 to 15 breast feathers from the bird and place into a zip-lock back. Just be sure it's a wild specimen. PM me with questions

[oldandnew]

So like quail, we now are finding that isolated and fragmented pheasant populations cannot survive perpetually without ability to comingle across a fairly large area of ground.

[1pheas4]

Originally Posted by oldandnew

So like quail, we now are finding that isolated and fragmented pheasant populations cannot survive perpetually without ability to comingle across a fairly large area of ground.

Correct. It comes down to habitat fragmentation. As we already know, this is what's killing our bird #'s.

[oldandnew]

Primary objective should focus on connecting habitat which joins one large tract with another, river courses, power and utility right of ways, even roadside easements. Looks like this may be the most important habitat we have. I have thought about this further and now begin to question the here-to-for assumption that hunting pressure has no long term impact on populations. Seems likely that hunting pressure on isolated and fragmented populations may in fact be a significant factor, and one which may be a difficult and politically charged subject to address.

[1pheas4]

I don't understand something about our genetic issue and wild pheasants.

The Japaneses Green pheasant has little genetic diversity in Japan yet it's doing fine (genetically) in the wild. These birds have been inter-breeding for God only knows how many thousands of years.

(Quick video showing a Japanese Green) http://youtu.be/TPvkiRKiZNw

Why are our wild birds any different? Perhaps the size of our breeding populations/areas are too small?

A side note; I attended a seminar where this study was discussed. It was mentioned that Illinois long term wild pheasant harvest goal is 1.5 million birds a year. Maybe there's some insider (habitat) information I don't know about. LOL

[oldandnew]

I like the optimism! When was the last time Illinois harvest topped 1 Million? Historically it should be possible. Somebody must have an Ace up their sleeve!

[1pheas4]

Originally Posted by oldandnew

I like the optimism! When was the last time Illinois harvest topped 1 Million? Historically it should be possible. Somebody must have an Ace up their sleeve!

I believe 1 million was reached back in the early 1970's. Not sure exactly which year was the last before the big drop in #'s. Mid 1970's?

Yeah, it would be nice to see those kind of #'s again. One can only dream at this point in the game.