Members received the chicks when they were only 1 day old.  They cared for the birds for about 9 weeks after this time the birds are banded and released all over McLeod County.  McLeod Fish and Wildlife purchases the birds and feed for the people who volunteer to take care of them. The first year of this project 1,500 pheasants were purchased by them and they estimated that 1,200 were released.

A year later the project grew and the word was out about the pheasant project and 3,100 birds were purchased and 9 weeks later 2,800 birds were ready to be released.  We also have learned a lot from the previous year that we applied to this year which made this year turn out not only bigger and better but also produced much healthier birds.  There have been about 70-75 hunters that have reported bands last year.  The hunters said that the birds acted very wild and had the same instinct of wild birds.  The project is attracting statewide interest according to Dave Dammann who heads up the Pheasant Project.  Austin, Baudette and Delano have made inquires about starting chapters in their Minnesota Communities.

August 2022 – MFWA

The last batch of pheasants released today we had very good luck this year with raising pheasants we released about 1000 birds out of these cages that are put into the field.