Would you agree to pay another $25 to hunt pheasants?

[hockeyman474]

I feel like the fact that you used to just go ahead and get a deer license for like $15-25 on it's own, once they implemented all these other licenses and more fees, that should be enough. I pay like $120 a year to hunt deer, turkey and waterfowl alone. Prove there is a population worth hunting and then maybe I would pay a fee. Better yet, the topic was brought up last year about Sandhill Cranes and found that Michigan surveyed over 3 times the necessary population to consider allowing a season for those birds. I would rather see that added for a decent fee, if any, and then use a small portion of that money to siphon over into pheasants.

[Jackam]

Prove there is a population worth hunting and then maybe I would pay a fee.

Right..... but the thing is.... they would release THOUSANDS of huntable birds, hundreds each week of the season. I watched em do it this year.

That's what the question revolves around. The other places you hunt may or may not benefit from habitat improvement, depending on where you hunt, and the rest is up to Mother Nature.

[Jackam]

Posted on Monday, March 23, 2020

Contact: Nick Buggia, Upper Midwestern States Manager

On March 17, Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Gary Howell introduced House Bill 4313. This bill would require anyone 16 years-of-age or older to purchase a pheasant stamp to hunt pheasants in the state. The $25.00 stamp would be in addition to the base license required for small game hunting in Michigan. Revenues generated from the stamp would be used to benefit pheasant hunting in the state, with 75% dedicated to support the Michigan Pheasant Hunting Initiative and 25% dedicated to maintaining and expanding pheasant habitat.

Established in 2019 by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Pheasant Hunting Initiative releases pheasants on a weekly basis at several game areas across the state during the months of October, November and December. The DNR’s Pheasant Hunting Initiative also hosted two released-pheasant youth/novice hunts, one on each of the east and west sides of the state.

The legislature designated $260,000 in 2018 to fund the Pheasant Hunting Initiative program in 2019-2020. This program is intended to assist with recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) efforts and encourage pheasant hunting in the state. Preliminary results indicate that the program was successful. The creation of the pheasant stamp would ensure the program becomes self-funded by pheasant hunters and would not interfere with funding designated for the Pheasant Restoration Initiative, a separate and successful program that creates pheasant habitat across the state. HB 4313 passed out of the House on March 17 and is now in the Senate.

[Smokepole]

For $25.00, I can shoot a round of Clays.
I know the "birds" will be there,there's no limit,or size restriction,I don't need a license,and I can shoot any time that I want to.

I remember decades ago,when Michigan had a "Put n Take" season in certain spots of the state.
We found birds dead in the field,without their heads.
Apparently,they weren't smart enough to avoid predators in the wild.
"IIRC" we even had some birds that were alive,but that just stayed on the ground,looking up at us.

Might have made good pets,but game birds they weren't.

[Jackam]

I remember decades ago,when Michigan had a "Put n Take" season in certain spots of the state.

These were birds that the DNR raised and they had no idea what they were doing.
The birds that are released now are strong flyers.
There are no expectations that these birds will evade predators. The breeders cannot train this into the birds like they can flight.

I can say that when I hunted them at Crow Island, I was transformed back to the first day I ever pheasant hunted. Great cover, lots of birds, the cackle as they took flight... I never wanted it to end (my body, however, said "end it" after 3 hours. The next morning, my body said "see, I told you so!")


I read a letter from the Prez of Pheasants Forever. The guy had some VERY valid points on why this bill isn't close to perfect. He offered amendment changes, but unfortunately, the bill will be debated on its merits as it is written.

I don't think it's fair for every pheasant hunter in the state to have to pay for the State Game Area pheasant initiative, but selfishly, I hope the bill passes. If I were a legislator, I'd have to vote no.