Scent Block Pheasants

1pheas4

1pheas4

Moderator
I know this is going to sound silly:rolleyes: but I was looking at some pheasants (for release) last week. Their pens had a very strong smell to them. I'd say typical for a hot summer day with many birds running around. Obviously once released into the wild those birds take the smell with them, and would be easier for predators to find/kill.

So anyway, I was thinking of trying scent block on those buggers to see if that would eliminate the strong smell, hence giving the birds more time to get conditioned to the wild.

I know this is a shot in the dark but what the heck:D
Has anyone ever tried this before releasing birds to hunt? If so, was it harder for your dog to locate them?

Nick
 
I'm just totally guessing here, but I doubt it would make a difference.

Our dogs can find wild pheasants by scent, but what keeps them alive is their wariness and the bag of tricks they have developed by evading other predators, hunters and dogs. Pen raised birds don't have that natural wariness and fear. They just don't try as hard to hide or escape because they don't know they should. When the hawk or owl or coyote comes by, the pen raised birds don't realize the danger so they just stand around in the open waiting to be eaten... Just my personal opinion.

If you decide to go through with it and try an experiment, you might look into buying the basic ingredients of scent killing spray and mixing your own batch. It might save you over buying little squirt bottles of branded product... Good luck either way.
:cheers:
 
Another thought...

It's going to be really hard to do an effective job of applying scent killer to birds. The birds have probably been taking dust baths in their own dried feces, and the dust will be in their down feathers, all the way down to their skin. Anything you attempt to spray on them would probably be stopped by the show feathers and not make it to the down. Unless you were to really hose them down and massage that stuff in there... and at that point, why not just wash them?... :laugh:
 
Toad said:
Another thought...

It's going to be really hard to do an effective job of applying scent killer to birds. The birds have probably been taking dust baths in their own dried feces, and the dust will be in their down feathers, all the way down to their skin. Anything you attempt to spray on them would probably be stopped by the show feathers and not make it to the down. Unless you were to really hose them down and massage that stuff in there... and at that point, why not just wash them?... :laugh:
Click to expand...

LOL....I suppose I could dunk them in a buck full of scent block.

Anyway, this stems from a sportsman's club I belong to. They used to plant birds the night before a hunt. By morning they were all gone--tracks in the snow showed they were added to the foxes menu. They had too much scent from their pens.

I figure if I can cut back on the amount of scent they're giving off it my give the birds I release (in the wild) a better chance of surviving more than one night:rolleyes:
 
interesting

if you are really bored, give it a try, we all need to entertain ourselves once in awhile, don't give you much hope though, might try putting something over the dog's nose though

cheers
 
1pheas4 said:
LOL....I suppose I could dunk them in a buck full of scent block.

Anyway, this stems from a sportsman's club I belong to. They used to plant birds the night before a hunt. By morning they were all gone--tracks in the snow showed they were added to the foxes menu. They had too much scent from their pens.

I figure if I can cut back on the amount of scent they're giving off it my give the birds I release (in the wild) a better chance of surviving more than one night:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

How are you releasing the birds? I raise birds for a local club as well. When I release them I set the box in good cover and let them walk out on their own. I think this helps them stay in the area longer. I just saw a rooster and hen yesterday that survived from the fall.
 
small munsterlander owner said:
i think the foxes were eating the pen raised birds due to them being stupid not the smell to be honest???
Click to expand...

Well, yeah. But in this case they were placed individually in the grass (late evening). They would stay put until the next morning. The foxes nailed them right where they were placed-. The club didn't practice releasing birds like that for long. It's no wonder why.

Bauerline, the birds I'm going to release will be on their own right from the create. I'm gong to place their creates in the middle of (each) property and let them fly/land where they they want.

They won't be hunted though. These birds will (hopefully) be for reproduction in the wild. If successful I'll hunt their offspring when the time comes (if it comes at all:rolleyes:)

The stock I'm taking the birds from are raised with very minimal human interaction so they tend to have wild like characteristics compared to most pen birds. We'll see how they do.:)
 
Honestly, You REALLY do need to at least try to control predation.
Wild pheasants are gone why would you think pen raised birds can survive?
 
Pen raised

we all need a project, go for it but don't expect much, think mnm is trying to tell you something. if stocking was easy, everybody would do it and we would need pheasant catchers in front of our trucks. most studies have shown that if the pheasants were not raised by a smart mother hen, they don't stand a chance, barely being exposed to humans doesn't go very far, how ya gonna expose them to hungry critters. good luck anyway

cheers
 
Something you guys need to know.
OK, almost all of the North American Ringneck populations were accomplished with pen raised birds.
The very few live trapped wild birds were descendants from pen raised birds, just a generation or two from the original transplants. Good thing, but not significant, VERY small percentage, just to costly.

Back in those day, Game bird managers had few if any restrictions. Take out whatever posses a threat to the released pen raised pheasant.

So, WE can't do that anymore. But you can take out unprotected critters.
Where your wild birds have disappeared expect your pen raiesed birds to have a tough time.
 
I'm sure Nick knows the challenge that his birds will face and is just trying to give them an extra edge. If pen raised bird survives the first few days they are on the right track. Good luck with the birds Nick.:cheers:
 
i agree with wayne wear wild pheasants died off restocking birds wouldnt do much the wild birds died for a reason??? little human contact makes for wild acting birds but release them they die very fast we tried for years around my home no dice it is a waste of time and money best u can hope for is to see birds for a yr at most after that they die off in my experience???

i seen guys in sd who sell pen raised birds to hunt clubs pens and set up they have 10-15 ft high fly pens in my experience they lack of flight f ability is also a killer a coyote or fox or dog can simply flush the dumb bird repeatedly till they tire and get caught they will keep killing these birds till there dead or in a tree etc. if u can help strenthen there flying skills u mite have a chance??? the guys with the higher fly pens insomewhat real habitat mite do better i doubt it but it mite help you??? they typicaly have the birds fly pens in grass and corn stubble i asdume to help them relate to there future homes???

did u ever try any of the more wild species of pheasant like the white wing or manchurian etc? or any crosses of the 2???

like wayne said back in the old days game and fish would catch wild pheasants and move them around to add wild pheasants that was ti much time and $ plus not so legal now so pen raised birds from the hatchery in wi are the norm...

its ur time and $$$ go for it but dont hold ur breath my bantum chickens would last longer in the wild then my wildest pen raised pheasants they prove it every yr the chickens dint need my help they fly like grouse or quail go in trees etc when chassed by yotes my pheasants die at about a rate of 1 every other day or so either hawk owl yote or fox we have it all the bantums could adopt the pheasants and teach em a thing or 2 we tried to imprint hatched pheasant chicks on the bantum chicken that hatched it has not worked yet but a hen peacock does think a quail sized chicken is its mom u go figure???
 
1pheas4 said:
Well, yeah. But in this case they were placed individually in the grass (late evening). They would stay put until the next morning. The foxes nailed them right where they were placed-. The club didn't practice releasing birds like that for long. It's no wonder why.

Bauerline, the birds I'm going to release will be on their own right from the create. I'm gong to place their creates in the middle of (each) property and let them fly/land where they they want.

They won't be hunted though. o.:)
Click to expand...

im sure u realize the fox would of got them birds if dipped in scent killer or not also the birds u release at let land wear they please still have to make it tgrough the nite with the fox yote owl hawks etc. as i think about it wet birds stink more then dry birds guys dip pheasants in water on dry days to help teach there dogs to track birds etc. so i highly doubt scent killer would work kind of reminds me of the guys that wear there scent lock clothes into a bar then expect the gear still to perform in the fields???

the best edge u can give these birds is excellent habitat and preditor control biologists say it does little to remove preditors from ur area cuz new 1s just move in ok whats the other option let the preditors take over and overpopulate the area??? best coyote is a dead coyote same with coons and opposum... fox i dont mind but they are sneaky killers once they find ez food source ive had to pop 3 at my farm and im not in a rual country area more yotes get lead poisioning around my place then fox... wish there was a hawk season they kill loads of chickens each yr they met a paintball gun a few times lol

if fox and yotes can locate and kill released birds that quick on the property then there are to many pheasant eaters on that property plain and simple... i wish u the best of luck... l
 
Last edited:
small munsterlander owner said:
if fox and yotes can locate and kill released birds that quick on the property then there are to many pheasant eaters on that property plain and simple... i wish u the best of luck... l
Click to expand...

I've had great success with trapping around my coop. If I didn't do it, we would have no more chickens. Once a varmint realizes there is an easy meal in a certain area, they will set up shop there until it is totally cleaned out. The first season I trapped, I got a crazy number of predators. Now I don't even set the traps until there is evidence of trouble. I catch one or two and then the problem goes away for probably 6 months. It really works.

If you're planting birds daily, or a few times a week in the same field, you will attract and grow the healthiest herd of coyotes, foxes, raccoons, etc... They're no dummies. Just like deer live in corn fields and pheasants live in wheat and milo, when they find an easy meal they go there whenever they get hungry.
 
The birds will not be released on the hunting club property;) That experience was more or less a lesson on how fast pen birds with a strong scent can be picked off by predators.

There's some predator control on the properties where birds will be released. Obviously there will still be predation. I'm sure a lot of it. My goal is to some how cut down on it. I hope:rolleyes:

Anyway, a friend released 10 hens within an area around here. They survived and bred the next season. It seemed as if their offspring changed the gene pool which changed his wild bird breeding behaviors, brood sizes increased, and other behavioral characteristics changed in a positive way. Could the changes be directly related to changing the genes? Maybe.

That's basically what I want to accomplish with some other properties, one of which is a second property owned by the same gentleman I'm speaking of.:) Observe what happens to the wild stock--and will they too show positive changes as did the first batch:confused:
 
Nick, keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

Ever think about putting some cheap perfume or after shave, something real human like for a scent when you release the birds. :confused:
 
mnmthunting said:
Nick, keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

Ever think about putting some cheap perfume or after shave, something real human like for a scent when you release the birds. :confused:
Click to expand...

Your going to laugh at this but, in a way yes! I found that mammals hate the smell of Ivory soap:eek:. I was thinking about placing two identical cuts of meat in my back yard. One without Ivory soap scent, the other with it:rolleyes:. I'm curious if the foxes back there would leave the one with the Ivory scent alone.

Why not give it a try right? It would be interesting to know if the Ivory smell repels predators.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top