Wisconsin
The Pheasant Stamp costs $10, and is required for all hunters pursuing pheasants. It can be purchased separately, but is also included in the purchase of our Conservation Patron combination license, so the number of stamps sold per year isn’t always clear-cut. Please see the table below for the most recent revenue figures I have:
Fiscal Year 2016
Pheasant Restoration
(40% of revenue)
Stamp sales
$138,216.06
Patron allocation
$83,729.00
Total
$221,945.06
Pheasant Stocking (60% of revenue)
Stamp sales
$207,324.08
Patron allocation
$125,593.00
Total
$332,917.08
GRAND TOTAL
$554,862.14
It’s broken down by Restoration and Stocking because 60% of the revenue from stamp sales goes toward the state game farm to support pheasant stocking on public hunting grounds. The remaining 40% is allotted by the DNR Pheasant Advisory Committee on a 2-year funding cycle. For the most recent funding cycle, we allotted $440,000. Most of this money is used for habitat work directly benefitting Wisconsin pheasants and pheasant hunters, but the stamp account also supports program coordination here in the central office as well as occasional research or educational projects that pop up.
Fiscal Year 2016
Pheasant Restoration
(40% of revenue)
Stamp sales
$138,216.06
Patron allocation
$83,729.00
Total
$221,945.06
Pheasant Stocking (60% of revenue)
Stamp sales
$207,324.08
Patron allocation
$125,593.00
Total
$332,917.08
GRAND TOTAL
$554,862.14
It’s broken down by Restoration and Stocking because 60% of the revenue from stamp sales goes toward the state game farm to support pheasant stocking on public hunting grounds. The remaining 40% is allotted by the DNR Pheasant Advisory Committee on a 2-year funding cycle. For the most recent funding cycle, we allotted $440,000. Most of this money is used for habitat work directly benefitting Wisconsin pheasants and pheasant hunters, but the stamp account also supports program coordination here in the central office as well as occasional research or educational projects that pop up.
The pens here are 30,000 square feet and we house 750 birds in these pens. This gives each bird 40 square feet.
Each of the pens have crops planted for cover and late feed source- corn is the primary crop but we also plant sorghum savanna grass. The past few years we have had great cover crops and have also had a lot of positive comments on the quality of the pheasants we release.
There are always a few pens where the crops don’t do as well and tails aren’t quite as nice as well as days we have to stock when it is damp due to previous rain. These days the tails do not do so well through transport. We do not transfer on rainy days because of the tails tangling. The State also enlists two correctional facilities to help rear pheasants for stocking. We have noticed that some of these birds do not develop as nice of tails. This could be for a variety of reasons but since we stock pheasants across the state, having two satellite facilities helps really helps with efficiency.
The State Game Farm retains our own breeder flock. Each year we select 8,000 hens and 800 roosters from that years hatch stock for the next years breeders. These birds are split into indoor and outdoor flocks. We have done this for two reasons. We are able to lengthen the egg laying season by lighting the indoor flock to start egg laying several weeks before the outdoor flock. When the indoor flock egg numbers start to decrease, the outdoor flock is kicking in. The other reason is for disease control and safeguards. Having two flocks in different areas decrease the likelihood of losing the entire breeding stock if a disease comes through. I am happy to say we have not had a problem with this but it is a good safe guard.
The breeders are only kept for one year. These birds molt after breeding, get colored up by fall and can be stocked later that season.
Each of the pens have crops planted for cover and late feed source- corn is the primary crop but we also plant sorghum savanna grass. The past few years we have had great cover crops and have also had a lot of positive comments on the quality of the pheasants we release.
There are always a few pens where the crops don’t do as well and tails aren’t quite as nice as well as days we have to stock when it is damp due to previous rain. These days the tails do not do so well through transport. We do not transfer on rainy days because of the tails tangling. The State also enlists two correctional facilities to help rear pheasants for stocking. We have noticed that some of these birds do not develop as nice of tails. This could be for a variety of reasons but since we stock pheasants across the state, having two satellite facilities helps really helps with efficiency.
The State Game Farm retains our own breeder flock. Each year we select 8,000 hens and 800 roosters from that years hatch stock for the next years breeders. These birds are split into indoor and outdoor flocks. We have done this for two reasons. We are able to lengthen the egg laying season by lighting the indoor flock to start egg laying several weeks before the outdoor flock. When the indoor flock egg numbers start to decrease, the outdoor flock is kicking in. The other reason is for disease control and safeguards. Having two flocks in different areas decrease the likelihood of losing the entire breeding stock if a disease comes through. I am happy to say we have not had a problem with this but it is a good safe guard.
The breeders are only kept for one year. These birds molt after breeding, get colored up by fall and can be stocked later that season.