How to Catch a Pheasant?

Omniskies

Songster
11 Years
Mar 7, 2008
1,064
31
191
Missouri
Hypothetically speaking, let's assume that someone was dumb enough to not pay attention when rushing out of the pen this evening, startled the male Ringneck Pheasant that resides there, and watched him shoot off in a circle over the barn and out of sight.

How would you get the little devil back?

He's been in the same pen for a few months now and has left behind his three hens. This is a Jumbo Ringneck who, from what I can tell, doesn't have any sense about him and is planning on spending the night out in the middle of nowhere, nice and brightly colored, on a moonlit night with lots of snow on the ground.

I roamed the property a few times but I didn't see or hear him.

Any suggestions?
 
Hypothetically Speaking I Would Have An Animal Containment/ Recovery System For Just Such An Occurance That Would Consist Of A Yellow Female Lab And A Male Choclate Lab That I Would Immediately Dispatch After Him Before His Lil Spurs Ever Hit Terra-firma
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Ok So Now That #1 Is Obviously Not Going To Work...

He's Not Going Far From Home... His Dinner And His Harem Are There... He Will Likely Stray But Come Back. Anyway You Can Coup The Ladies Up In The Back Of The Pen So They Cannot Escape And Perhaps Leave The Door Open For Him To Return? Say Maybe Put The Girls In A Dog Kennel In The Back Of The Pen And Leave Dinner Out And The Door Propped Open Maybe 8 Inches Or So? This Would Be The Easiest Way To Go About Recapture. Otherwise You'll Have To Chase Him Down And Attempt Physical Capture, Or In A Last Ditch Effort To Prevent Total Loss Make It So You Eat Him Instead Of Your Local Predators If You Get The Chance--- I Know Thats An Unsavory Thought But In Worst Case Scenario Its At Least A Tiny Victory..
 
Important Info=== I Would Secure Any Domestic Predators( Pet Dogs And Cats) Until He Is Reacquired #1 For Added Safety, #2 To Control Any Distractions That May Prevent His "homing" Instinct, #3 To Avoid Frightening Him Away Or Stressing Him Out Further, #4 To Avoid Something From Interfering With Or Ruining Your Plan
 
Quote:
DIFFERENT STATES HAVE DIFFERENT RULES... SINCE THEY DONT NORMALLY HAVE WILD PHEASANTS IN MISSOURI I DOUBT THE THEY WOULD NEED ANYTHING OF THE SORT. FLORIDA F&WC WOULD LOOK AT YOU WITH PERPLEXION AND GO "HUH?" NOW Y'ALL HAVE WILD PHEASANTS IN KS...SO I WOULD EXPECT THEM TO BE LEARY OF JOE-BOB THE WANNA BE SNATCHING BIRDS FROM THE WILD TO GET HIS STARTER STOCK... AND THUS MAKING A RULE OF THAT SORT. BASICALLY EVEN THO MANY STATES HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING OR DOING THINGS ALOT OF RULING ARE RELEVANT TO THE NATURAL WILD SPECES THEY CONTAIN




OMNI DID YA GET YOUR BOY BACK YET?
 
I spent all night and all morning off and on looking for him with no luck, which meant I had sat down and was on the verge of posting up a bunch of frustrated whining about a lot of hard work thrown away. Then my neighbor called and asked if I was missing a pheasant (to answer someone - that's how rare pheasants are in this area; they're considered ornamental). So I pulled down a cane of bamboo reed grass that was roughly 20' long and walked a half mile down the road (uphill both ways!) to bring him home.

I learned many things while catching this pesky bird.

1. I have fantastic neighbors who likely got a huge kick out of seeing me trapsing about in the snow for two hours getting my clothes ripped to shreds.

2. Their property is lovely. It is full of brambles and fallen trees that pheasants really dig. This includes thorny wild raspberries/blackberries. If his property wasn't also full of poison ivy I'd go back this summer and pick so much fruit I'd never want to see another berry again.

3. 20' long hollow false bamboo canes may be pretty, and may be sturdy, but are a hassle to maneuver around brush (also, wild thorny plants dig long hair tied up in a ponytail: plants have no respect for a clumsy lady).

4. So difficult, in fact, that the pheasant (who was no more than 10' away from me the whole time just relaxing), wasn't afraid of it at all and decided to peck at the brushy head from time to time to see if it had become edible yet.

5. Jumbo Ringnecks are fearless and herd about as well as cats. You have no hope of getting them into the barn at the top of the hill. Especially when they have no fear and they're busy checking out everything in sight to see what is tasty.

6. Jumbo Ringnecks also handle defeat pretty well. I found an old fence and bent it into a makeshift V, covered the top with brush, and casually herded him into that (it wasn't really herding, he was following the fenceline and then it Ved on him). Once he was caught he calmed down and accepted his fate for the long walk down the slippery hill to the road, and back up another hill to get home (I wasn't kidding - uphill both ways). He was even gracious enough to not say anything about my near-falls when trying to navigate my way down muddy, melting snow.

He is now safe and sound back in his pen. Tonight or tomorow I am going to put a divider in my largest pen and make him a home in there. That way if he escapes he will be flying into another pen - not trying out this whole au naturale thing.
 

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