Pheasant stocking cut in half

The Pa. Game Commission has cut its pheasant-stocking program in half, from 200,000 birds to 100,000, and is inviting sportsmen's clubs, 4-H chapters and other groups to help fill the gap.

More than 75 years have passed since the agency began raising ringneck pheasants and releasing them on property open to public hunting.

For many years, dozens of cooperative partners supplemented the Game Commission's stocking by raising and stocking upwards of 100,000 pheasants. More recently, that figure has slipped to between 3,000 and 4,000.

PGC provides, free of charge, day-old pheasant chicks to clubs entering into an agreement to raise birds and release them on lands open to public hunting. The agency will provide plans for a brooder building, covered pen, technical assistance and advice.

The pheasant is native to Asia. Their introduction to Pennsylvania occurred in the 1890s, when citizens purchased pheasants from English gamekeepers and released them in Lehigh and Northampton counties.