There is a charge for put-and-take hunts, and it is $15 per person. The daily bag limit is two birds, and this is where a deviation from the normal pheasant-hunting rules comes into play. The two birds can be of either sex. In other words, hens and ringnecks can both be taken.

Only males can be legally killed when hunting wild birds, but during the put-and-take hunts, hens are fair game as well. This may seem like a conservation dilemma on properties where wild hens exist, but since the "put-and-take" birds are raised in captivity, there is, at least for the most part, no additive mortality to the wild pheasant population.

Nevertheless, on properties that do have wild birds, like Willow Slough, a wild hen could accidentally get shot; hence, the elimination of the extended season hunts. The extended season hunts were held on certain FWAs, and this management policy was designed to extend the normal upland season for pheasants by about another month. This practice has since been eliminated not only because of the risk of additive mortality for hen pheasants, but also because of the pressure it put on other types of wildlife that are trying to make it through winter.

Typically, the wild pheasant population on properties like Willow Slough is pretty small as compared with the Game Bird Habitat Areas; therefore, the risk of mistakenly shooting a wild hen is low.

The put-and-take hunts start on the first Saturday before Thanksgiving, and typically run for nine days. After the supply of pheasants runs out, "cleanup" hunts are conducted to give hunters an opportunity to take birds that got away during the put-and-take hunts. There is no charge for cleanup hunting, and the limit of two birds (either sex) per day is still in effect.

Counterbalancing the risk of additive mortality is the fact that thousands of hens are released during the put-and-take hunts, and some of them could survive and breed in the following nesting season, although it is unlikely. Hunters who take part in the cleanup hunts could decide not to shoot hens with the hope that "released" hens would become part of the wild bird population or contribute to it during the breeding season; it's a personal decision.

With the preceding words on habitat, management techniques and pheasant-hunting choices as a backdrop, let's now take a look at five options for pheasant hunting this season.

WILLOW SLOUGH FWA
Located in Newton County just outside of Morocco, Willow Slough FWA contains 9,956 acres. This makes it one of the larger FWAs in the state. Willow Slough is a participant in the put-and-take hunts, and because of its size, it can handle a lot of pheasant hunters.

"We can accommodate 200 hunters per day, and we utilize four distinct areas," said property manager Spitznagle of the put-and-take hunting at the Slough. Spitznagle notes that the four areas used at Willow Slough, "are the best looking for pheasant hunting," in terms of a natural setting. By releasing the pheasants in these areas, hunters will get a more realistic pheasant-hunting experience.

Typically, pheasants are found in fields with plants that are indigenous to the prairie, like big blue stem, little blue stem, switch grass and foxtail. The fields that are used at Willow Slough for the put-and-take hunts have these or similar types of plants.

By concentrating the put-and-take hunts into four areas, Spitznagle said the return rate on hunting effort is also better. To get an even better return on your hunting effort, this writer advises the use of a pheasant-hunting dog.