Hullett Marsh 2016 Pheasant Release Program

Hullett Pheasant Facts:

-the Hullett Provincial Wildlife Area (HPWA) is open to the public 365 days of the year with no admission fees for all types of users including hikers, hunters and bird watchers.....WMU # 85

-the HPWA is operated entirely by the Friends of Hullett (FOH) a registered non profit volunteer organization

-volunteers are the key to maintaining this 5400 acre property, trails and access points(20 parking lots)

-hikers help maintain the trails and waterfowl hunters take care of Zone A and the 200 plus nesting structures

-the Ontario Bird Dog Conservation Association (OBDCA) funds the mowing of hunting trails in Zone B upland habitat spending $1500 to $2000 each year as they use the mowed areas to conduct their dog trials

-pheasant hunters are the most consumptive users of the property with a $8000 cost to purchase the pheasants plus licences, fuel and labour to release the pheasants.....this financial burden weighs heavy on FOH resources

-pheasants are hunted in prime upland habitat located in Zone B and 10% are banded for prizes

-the Hullett PWA is the only public property in Ontario where you can hunt pheasants for free including Sundays and also no township licence is required

The Good News:

-the FOH Board of Directors has approved the spending of $8000 once again in 2016 to release 1000 pheasants for public hunting opportunities as we have done for the last 4 years

The Bad News:

-for the first time in over 30 years OBDCA will not be holding dog trials in September 2016 and therefore FOH has lost funding to mow trails in Zone B pheasant habitat, they also release 200 pheasants for training purposes in early September each year

How Pheasant Hunters can help:

-this is easy...simply purchase $10 "Pheasant Challenge" tickets! Ideal Supply donates a generator for the main draw prize at the end of pheasant season as well as small prizes for the banded birds.

-the Pheasant Challenge was created to help fund the release program and sales were only just over 200 tickets in 2015

-tickets are now available (cash sales only) at Ideal Supply in Wingham, Exeter, St Mary's, Stratford, Goderich and Mitchell as well as Hunters Haven Gun shop in Wingham

-you can also order your tickets directly from Friends of Hullett via email and we will mail them to you if you purchase 3 or more simply include your name, address and telephone # ...our office also has tickets but quite often we are in the field working

-INTERAC email transfer is the best payment option but you can also mail us a cheque

If 150 tickets are purchased between now and September 10th we will have enough funds to mow the Zone B uplands for your hunting enjoyment before the Sept 24th opener.

Thanks for your support!

Friends of Hullett

Contact info for FOH:

[email protected]

www.hullettmarsh.com

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/Hullett-Marsh-279870435685766/

An email to our membership Sunday night generated the sale of 17 tickets which is a great start to fund the mowing program!

These sales were all made via INTERAC email transfers and the supporters have been mailed their tickets already.

If you hunt pheasants at Hullett we could use your help ASAP. We would like to have the habitat mowed for you to the level you have come to expect the last few years.

We look forward to the support from the OOD upland community!

Many thanks.

a request for 3 tickets is in the mail. :) Thanks for all your work Scott.

Thanks Sharon, we look forward to your letter.

We are now at 25 tickets sold for this request...125 more to go to reach our goal.

You don't have to be a pheasant hunter to buy a ticket folks. Think of it as supporting a great wildlife conservation area in our province.
I spend more than $30. on coffee each week :)

37 tickets sold now. Thank you!

Keep the orders coming pheasant hunters as we do want to mow the property for you.

As Sharon has said anyone can buy a ticket for a chance to with the portable generator that Ideal Supply kindly donated!

Received your check Sharon....many thanks!

Sales are now at 41 tickets. If you hunt Hullett Pheasants...109 more to reach our goal before Sept 10.

Please keep the orders coming for tickets!

Thank you.
FOH

I don't hunt Hullet, but maybe I'll make the trip this year. If I do get down, my gas cost will be far more than the $30 for the tickets. Sign me up for 3 tickets ... INTERAC payment and personal details are on the way.

Thanks to to the volunteers who do all the work .... we all need to step up and help.

Thank you NorthernGrouse...we just processed your transaction and your tickets are in today's mail!

105 more tickets to reach our Sept 10th goal!

As an update we now have sold 58 tickets for an income of $580.

Hullett Pheasant Costs - paid for by Friends of Hullett (FOH)

- $8000 to purchase the birds.
- $2000 to mow the upland habitat
- Wages (to release), fuel, administration and MNRF licence fees = approx. $1000

Therefore at this point in 2016 we are incurring over $10,000 in costs to keep this program going!

Pheasant hunters are the most financially consumptive users of the property when compared to hikers, photographers, small game, deer and waterfowl hunters.

September 10th is coming soon....please help us fund the mowing program and purchase your tickets! A big thanks to those who have purchased already.

FOH

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Originally Posted by FOH

As an update we now have sold 58 tickets for an income of $580.

Hullett Pheasant Costs - paid for by Friends of Hullett (FOH)

- $8000 to purchase the birds.
- $2000 to mow the upland habitat
- Wages (to release), fuel, administration and MNRF licence fees = approx. $1000

Therefore at this point in 2016 we are incurring over $10,000 in costs to keep this program going!

Pheasant hunters are the most financially consumptive users of the property when compared to hikers, photographers, small game, deer and waterfowl hunters.

September 10th is coming soon....please help us fund the mowing program and purchase your tickets! A big thanks to those who have purchased already.

FOH

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Going to be blunt. The cost of mowing should be recouped from hikers, dog walkers, photographers, and horse back riders. At least for me I tend to avoid manicured areas just hunts better.

FFF, I agree with you. I was there today and....don't want to sound like a jerk, but I like it just the way it is now. When it's mowed really low, my dogs range too far. I kinda like it when the cover is rough and tall. I tend to hunt those spots anyway.

One question I have...if we raise half the funds for mowing, will it be mowed half as much?

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Originally Posted by dilly

FFF, I agree with you. I was there today and....don't want to sound like a jerk, but I like it just the way it is now. When it's mowed really low, my dogs range too far. I kinda like it when the cover is rough and tall. I tend to hunt those spots anyway.

One question I have...if we raise half the funds for mowing, will it be mowed half as much?

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Ya for me money raised for the pheasant hunt would be best used buying pheasants. Trail maintenance should be trail user responsibility. As you said I like the rough too if not than would take up golf.

Thanks for the input Dilly and FFF. We appreciate your points and maybe others will chime in as well. The point we are trying to make is that OBDCA paid $1500 - $2000 each year to fund the mowing of their dog trial course. We do not want pheasant hunters to be surprised if they do not see this type of mowing done this year.

We must mow fallow fields as part of our Habitat Management Plan with MNRF to control timber and shrub growth whether native or not such as Autumn Olive and try to maintain and restore grasslands.

Access points, dykes, parking lots, roadsides and agricultural access will always need to be mowed to control timber growth.

Maybe we do not need to mow the cover this year if it does not have timber growth?

This will free up resources and put the Pheasant release cost down to $9000.

It would be nice to see the tickets sales at 400 this year to cover 50% of the bird purchase costs.

We welcome opinions from pheasant hunters to understand your concerns, please keep them coming!

FOH

Surprised there are no mandatory fees to hunt pheasants at Hullet (as far as I know there are no other places in Ontario where it is optional to pay and hunt pheasant). We are very lucky to have a place like Hullett, why not charge some sort of pheasant hunt permit fees ? Anywhere else fees are pretty high to hunt phez, which is understandable considering the cost of birds ... Just a thought.
Lorenzo

I think there is a charter in place that forbids the charging of fees, but I could be wrong. It certainly is a gem when you consider there are no charges to use the space. No charge, but it ain't free either. For the number of people that hunt there, it should be easy to cover the costs. Just gotta shame some folks into digging into their pockets.

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Originally Posted by Lor79

Surprised there are no mandatory fees to hunt pheasants at Hullet (as far as I know there are no other places in Ontario where it is optional to pay and hunt pheasant).

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Fingal.

As to mowing, I don't agree this is a horseback rider/hiker/etc. problem -- they use the trails, and we're talking about all that work to mow the grassy cover into little patches. For my part, I'm equally happy if that mowing isn't done. We might see more birds using the open grassy areas as a result.

It wouldn't bother me if the fields didn't get mowed. Especially if that means more money for the pheasants.

Thank you all for your input to this thread. As Dilly stated we are not allowed to charge fees to hunt pheasants on the property. That is why the "Pheasant Challenge" was created 16 years ago. It allows concerned hunters a chance to show support for the pheasant release.

In 2014 157 tickets were sold and 212 in 2015 so we are moving in a good direction. The 6 Ideal Supply locations where tickets are available have helped with this.

It seems that all who have posted here so far would prefer not to have extensive mowing in the uplands. Perhaps a few cuts connecting fields and maintaining openings between fields for access will work well for 2016? There will be habitat restoration targets mowed in 2016 to control timber growth in shrubby areas.

We have also received a $125 donation this month towards the pheasant program. Donations can be allocated to the program and charitable tax receipts are issued.

200 birds will be released before opening day with the other 800 released during the season this year as in past years. Bird #'s will be lower for the opener due to OBDCA not hosting their trial in early September and releasing their 150-200 birds of which some would survive until the opener.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Ya for me money raised for the pheasant hunt would be best used buying pheasants. Trail maintenance should be trail user responsibility. As you said I like the rough too if not than would take up golf.

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The 13 kms of marked hiking trails are pruned and marked with paint blazes by volunteer "Trail Rangers" who take responsibility for the trails other than chainsaw work unless they are certified to operate a chainsaw.

Since there is no manditory hunting fee, nothing prevents a hunter from purchasing more than one draw ticket to support the pheasant program. The more we put in to the program the more we will get out.

imo only:

Don't mow the cover this year if it does not have non native timber growth... especially that ............buckthorn!

PS But will this affect the spring trials mowing?

Thanks to everyone who provided support and input in this thread!

It seems like the mowing is not a concern to most so now it is time focus on the "Pheasant Challenge" ticket sales and support for the 2017 season.

We have started a new thread for this:

http://www.oodmag.com/community/show...easant-Release

I would like to offer a counter to the no-mow movement.

In my opinion the mowing is a fairly valuable asset for us pheasant hunters. There is an expanse of good upland cover at Hullet that we are all very thankful for and as it is (with the mowed sections) the birds can be spread pretty thin. My opinion is that the mowing is more cost effective than the purchase and care of more pheasants to get hunters on more birds. To create an equal amount of flushes without mowing, I think that the amount of birds released would have to be much higher, making it less cost effective.

In short, I believe that the mowed areas make for a better chance to encounter birds as it limits the areas of good cover. Find the good cover and you have a better chance at finding a bird.

Use a pointer and they can range far without flushing a bird out of shotgun range;)

Just an opinion without anything to back it. I could be very wrong.

not to mention there is lots of other game to hunt in zone B other than pheasants. how would you differentiate between guys going for rabbits/hares/turkeys and jump shooting ducks. all are in the same area and all use some of the same equipment/ firearms.
if you hunt hullett often you should really pay up and donate.
it is a gem of a place to hunt, canoe and explore, and it would be a shame if the level of service was compromised in any way. i dont have any comment on mowing, since i dont hunt pheasants often (just while rabbit hunting) but i have only ever flushed pheasants out of those mowed areas before the season opened.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by northernympher

I would like to offer a counter to the no-mow movement.

In my opinion the mowing is a fairly valuable asset for us pheasant hunters. There is an expanse of good upland cover at Hullet that we are all very thankful for and as it is (with the mowed sections) the birds can be spread pretty thin. My opinion is that the mowing is more cost effective than the purchase and care of more pheasants to get hunters on more birds. To create an equal amount of flushes without mowing, I think that the amount of birds released would have to be much higher, making it less cost effective.

In short, I believe that the mowed areas make for a better chance to encounter birds as it limits the areas of good cover. Find the good cover and you have a better chance at finding a bird.

Use a pointer and they can range far without flushing a bird out of shotgun range;)

Just an opinion without anything to back it. I could be very wrong.

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I'm reading this as a little tongue and check humor. Quite honestly feel the mowing makes for too easy of a hunt. Give the pen birds a chance to stretch their legs and wings it will surely enrich the hunting experience more than shooting a couple of glorified chickens. One of the reasons don't hunt the opener as birds are too fresh and easy. Often poor fliers and don't hunt well. Surprising what a few weeks and hitting the heaviest cover you can find will get you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

I'm reading this as a little tongue and check humor. Quite honestly feel the mowing makes for too easy of a hunt. Give the pen birds a chance to stretch their legs and wings it will surely enrich the hunting experience more than shooting a couple of glorified chickens. One of the reasons don't hunt the opener as birds are too fresh and easy. Often poor fliers and don't hunt well. Surprising what a few weeks and hitting the heaviest cover you can find will get you.

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X2
my dogs will work rough cover and hunting is better in there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilly

X2
my dogs will work rough cover and hunting is better in there.

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X4
Agreed !

Thanks for the comments and opinions guys. Single and double swaths will be cut through most of the fields this fall connecting travel routes for all users, staff and volunteers. The checkerboard cutting will not be done. Some fields will receive habitat mowing to control timber encroachment as per habitat management plan.

We have updated the financial support in the Pheasant Challenge thread.

Very good points...again. I cannot wait to get there and check it out without the mow. I do hope that the support for the program continues to increase, and if its decided that mowing is not needed, it would be great to see the budget for pheasants increase!
My only wish is that the place was closer to home.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by northernympher

Very good points...again. I cannot wait to get there and check it out without the mow. I do hope that the support for the program continues to increase, and if its decided that mowing is not needed, it would be great to see the budget for pheasants increase!
My only wish is that the place was closer to home.

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We will attempt a little bit of mowing this week with flow through cuts to connect some fields and give us trails to release pheasants.

We may be able to increase the # of birds released for 2017 if over $5000 is raised from the sale of "Pheasant Challenge" tickets and direct donations towards the pheasant program.