It can be said the wild pheasants found in Indiana today are remnant wild pheasants. The birds we hunted on the Reserve Pheasant Hunt were ancestors of a species that once prospered on a grander scale in Indiana. Of course, wild pheasants still do prosper where there's good habitat, and it's not limited to just Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property. There are many landowners who have put property into the Crop Reserve Program (CRP), and this has provided a boost to pheasant habitat in Indiana and other states as well.

A question that often comes up, though, is: Are there enough remnant wild pheasants and quail left in Indiana to withstand hunting pressure? The answer to that question is yes, but it is a "yes" with explicit regulations.

The DNR roots the basis for hunting regulations in sound conservation-management techniques. However, the burden of responsibility to ensure stable levels of wild pheasants will remain in Indiana is not wholly up to the DNR, it is also up to you and me.

All individuals who hunt these magnificent birds should have a sense of stewardship for the sport of pheasant hunting. Each of us must do our part to make sure these game birds will still be around next season and for generations to come. Joining organizations like Pheasants Forever or Quail Unlimited are good ways to exercise this stewardship, and get involved with habitat restoration.

The DFW studies wild pheasant and quail population levels and sets the daily bag limit and season lengths appropriately. The daily bag limit for wild pheasants is gender specific, and it is two male birds (i.e., two ringnecks). Moreover, the season is a short one at about six weeks in duration.

An extenuating factor that directly affects remnant Indiana pheasant populations is the amount of hunting pressure that is applied. Even if there is high-quality habitat, and good numbers of pheasants in the high-quality habitat, this natural resource must not be shot down to the point where there are not enough birds left to sustain adequate population levels. This is why the Game Bird Habitat Areas are not hunted every day, and all of the hunting on these areas is strictly regulated by the DFW.

Aside from the Reserved Pheasant Hunts, or being lucky enough to know a landowner who has property with wild pheasants and quail on it, and allows you to hunt there, are the put-and-take hunts.

The put-and-take hunts give everyone an opportunity to get out and hunt pheasants with a guarantee that pheasants are going to be where you're hunting. The birds used in these hunts are not wild birds, but they are good fliers and they will provide you with a genuine hunting challenge.

"The put-and-take hunts help to keep people interested in pheasant hunting," said DNR staff specialist Mark Reiter. For 2005, Reiter notes that an online (Internet) registration process would be used.

"This process will make the hunts more accessible to everyone. In the past, those hunters who could show up at 'dark-thirty' were the ones who got to hunt," Reiter said. Please visit www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild for details.

For 2005, there will again be about 20,000 birds purchased for the program, and these birds will be distributed to the DNR properties that participate in the put-and-take hunts.

The properties that are participating this year are Atterbury, Glendale, Pigeon River, Tri-County, Willow Slough, Winamac FWAs and Roush Lake. This means each property will receive about 2,850 birds, but this can vary depending on the size of the property, and the demand for birds.