# How come pheasants won't thrive in Georgia?



## Arrow3 (Feb 13, 2012)

Id love for us to have a huntable population around here...It's something that I have never done...Is there just not enough agriculture anymore to support them? Has the dnr ever tried to release any? Where is the closest state to Georgia  that has them ?


----------



## maker4life (Feb 13, 2012)

Some say that it's a calcium defficiency in the soil below the 39th parallel . I don't really know though .

You're going to have to head north and west for pheasants .


----------



## GAbuckhunter88 (Feb 13, 2012)

I believe it has to do with the humidty and their eggs. The high humidty level we have makes the shell on the eggs soft and they wont hatch.


----------



## Hunter Haven (Feb 13, 2012)

You can go hunt them at Pope Plantation....

Washington, Ga.


----------



## huntchesies (Feb 13, 2012)

well for starters we have never had them here. we don't have the food, weather, and well georgia just ain't made for them.  I have always wanted to know the same thing.  I always go to kansas for them myself.  I wished we just had quail like we used to but we don't have those anymore either.  To many fire ants, coyotes, foxes and other predators.  To many houses as well.  I used to have two coveys on my place but they have been gone for about three years now.  Even when i had them on the place i still put out pen raised to keep from killing my wild ones.


----------



## Nicodemus (Feb 13, 2012)

Once in a while you`ll run up on a vagrant from a plantation around here, but they don`t make it long. I remember about 20 years ago when close to a thousand got loose from a pen. For 2 years we would see some, but they went the way of the passenger pigeon.

Keep in mind that the ringneck pheasant is not native to the North or South American continent anyway.


----------



## BirdNut (Feb 13, 2012)

maker4life said:


> Some say that it's a calcium defficiency in the soil below the 39th parallel . I don't really know though .
> 
> You're going to have to head north and west for pheasants .



I have heard the same thing.  Heat, humidity, parasites, who knows?

Regardless of if there is a biological reason pheasants have not been successfully transplanted in GA as in other parts of the US, there is not the level of agriculture in most places to sustain them.


----------



## BirdNut (Feb 13, 2012)

Interesting read on pheasant habitat

http://www.wildlifehc.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Ring-necked-Pheasant.pdf


----------



## JimDraper (Feb 13, 2012)

Hawks are a huge problem with pheasant down here, they probably get more of the plantation birds than any other predator. I would say the biggest reason they wouldn't make it would be the lack of food source, they mainly rely on planted crops for survival.


----------



## jkoch (Feb 13, 2012)

The real problem is the amount of acid in the soil. It will eat up Pheasant eggs. They can survive down here but they can't reproduce!


----------



## leemckinney (Feb 13, 2012)

I lived in SD for two years and got to hunt them all season long.  We had a hunting lodge.  I sure do miss getting to hunt them.


----------



## Arrow3 (Feb 13, 2012)

Hunter Haven said:


> You can go hunt them at Pope Plantation....
> 
> Washington, Ga.



No interest in hunting pen raised birds....quail included.


----------



## Coach K (Feb 13, 2012)

Arrow3 said:


> No interest in hunting pen raised birds....quail included.



I'll drink to that! ;-)


----------



## dawg2 (Feb 13, 2012)

They thrive in areas with large agricultural areas (Midwest). We just don't have that here.


----------



## gtfisherman (Feb 13, 2012)

huntchesies said:


> well for starters we have never had them here. we don't have the food, weather, and well georgia just ain't made for them.  I have always wanted to know the same thing.  I always go to kansas for them myself.  I wished we just had quail like we used to but we don't have those anymore either.  To many fire ants, coyotes, foxes and other predators.  To many houses as well.  I used to have two coveys on my place but they have been gone for about three years now.  Even when i had them on the place i still put out pen raised to keep from killing my wild ones.



They are not native to the North American Continent. But it simple terms yes they have a very hard time somewhere around the 39th and below.


----------

