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The opportunity to hunt wild pheasants in Pennsylvania might become a reality for those able to gain access to private property wtihin a Wild Pheasant Recovery Area.
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval recently to a measure that allows the Game Commission's executive director annually to decide whether a Wild Pheasant Recovery Area will be open to rooster-only pheasant hunting, and if so, the season lenghth and bag limit that applies.
That's not to say there will be such a season in the coming year. The decision will be based on data collected wtihin the state's two WPRAs in the coming months. But if a season is put in place, it will be open to all hunters eligible to hunt pheasants.
Within WRPAs, wild ringnecks translocated from other states have established populations. There has been a limited opportunity in recent years to hunt pheasants within the Central Susquehanna WPRA, with young hunters selected by drawing for their chance to take part. Now, all eligible pheasant hunters will be able to take part if a season is held.
Those seeking to hunt wild pheasants likely will find themselves asking for landowner permisssion, given the WPRAs largely are comprised of private farmland. But the opportunity could be there.
If a WPRA is opened to pheasant hunting, limiting harvest to roosters would adequately control the biological impacts of hunting on the wild population, the Game Commission has determined.