Thousands of pheasants will be released this fall and winter in state game areas across the southern Lower Peninsula, providing ample opportunity to hunt the popular upland bird.
The pheasant release program, now in its seventh year, is a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Association of Gamebird Breeders and Hunting Preserves, which supplies the birds. The $25 pheasant license funds the program.
Pheasant hunting was wildly popular in Michigan in the mid-1900s, but the wild pheasant population declined dramatically over the years due largely to loss of grassland habitat fueled by large-scale agriculture practices and suburban development. The pheasant release program gives hunters the chance to experience the excitement and camaraderie associated with pheasant hunting.
“For many hunters, the program gives them a chance to relive the good old days of pheasant hunting, which at one point was more popular than deer hunting,” said Adam Bump, the DNR’s upland birds specialist. “It also gives younger people the chance to go hunting on public lands and exposes the next generation to pheasant hunting.”
Pheasant releases will occur Oct. 20 – Nov. 14 and again Dec. 1 – Jan 1 at 13 state game areas stretching from the southwest corner of the state through the Lansing area and into the Thumb and Metro Detroit.
A total of nearly 7,300 pheasants will be released in the fall and winter, coinciding with pheasant hunting seasons in the southern Lower Peninsula.
Pheasant release locations
Here are the locations of the state game areas for pheasant releases for fall and winter. Note one change this year: Birds will be released at the Gagetown State Game Area instead of at the nearby Cass City State Game Area.
Fall hunting season for ring-necked pheasant throughout the Lower Peninsula is Oct. 20 – Nov. 14, coinciding with the pheasant releases. In parts of the Upper Peninsula (all of Menominee County and parts of Delta, Dickinson, Iron and Marquette counties), fall hunting for pheasant runs Oct. 10 – Oct. 31.
In the winter, a pheasant-hunting management season is open only in the southern Lower Peninsula, Dec. 1 – Jan. 1, coinciding with the winter pheasant releases.
