OUTDOOR NEBRASKA  PAt tyq73 (0 
 
 
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Ninth Annual Pheasant Open 
 
 
 
                                     Season Begins Oct. 25th 
 
 
N      enraska  hunters are   already 
       getting out the old   shotgun 
       and putting it in order for an- 
other quest for the wary chink. Last 
minute reports reaching    the Game 
Commission's   office  indicate  that 
hunting should be good in a number 
of counties. 
  Conservation officers and farmers 
report a large number of pheasants 
along the Platte river valley west of 
North Platte. Reports also are favor- 
able for good hunting in Knox, Cedar, 
Dixon and Dakota counties.     Dundy 
county, the extreme southwest county 
of the state, is said to have a good 
crop, not only of pheasants but also 
of various cover. 
  The season this year will be very 
much like that of former years, though 
there are not as many counties open 
and the bag is smaller.    Last year 
a total daily bag 
 
 
or p os sessi on 
limit   of  five 
birds was allow- 
ed; this year the 
bag is four 
birds.   One of 
these may be a 
hen. 
  The season 
opens   from   7 
A. M. October 
25th and contin- 
ues until 6 P. M. 
each   day until 
the e vening of 
November 1. 
  Flunters a r e 
 
 
warned to be very careful to hunt only 
in territory that is open.    Officers 
have been Instructed to arrest every 
man found hunting in closed terri- 
tory, and to ask for heavy fines. Birds 
killed in open counties when brought 
into closed counties should be tied 
together and placed in a car where 
they can readily be seen or inspected. 
No tags are required on such birds, 
but the heads should be left on the 
carcass where same has been dressed. 
  Hunters are also    cautioned  that 
the Platte river in all counties except 
 
 
Scotts  Bluff, Morrill and  Garden 
county is closed to afternoon hunt- 
ing of all kinds. The river in Garden 
county is closed at all times 
  Pheasant hunting is a sport enjoy- 
ed by thousands of Nebraskans annual- 
ly. Because of the program of con- 
servation carried out by the state, 
with the financial support of sports- 
men and cooperation of the public gen- 
erally, Nebraskans can find the best of 
pheasant hunting right in their home 
state. 
  The pheasant now so common in Ne- 
braska was unknown here at the turn 
of the century. Our pheasant is a hy- 
brid developed from the Chinese and 
Etiglish pheasant with a bit of the 
Mongolian pheasant thrown in. Chin- 
ese pheasants were first brought to 
this country in 1880 and stocked in 
Oregon.   The English pheasant fol- 
 
 
lowed in 1887, when it was introduc- 
ed in New Jersey. Through private 
efforts birds of both species were 
brought west, to Colorado and Kansas. 
About 1900-04 the first pheasants 
were noted    in  southern  Nebraska. 
Later a few dozen birds were intro- 
duced here, and from these beginn- 
ings grew Nebraska's estimated 3,300, 
000 pheasant population. 
  Prior to 1915 all pheasant stock- 
ing was done privately. In that year 
the state took up the work, but it was 
12 years before the state had its first 
 
 
open season on pheasants. In October 
of 1927 all of Wheeler county, and 
all of Sherman county save three town- 
ships were opened to pheasant shoot- 
ing for three days.    The take was 
small, because of a bag and possess- 
ion limit of five cocks, the shortness 
of the season and the limited area 
open. 
  In 1928 nine counties in central 
Nebraska were opened for 10 days, 
and an estimated 25,000 birds were 
shot. Shooting was limited to cocks 
that year, as it was in 1929, when an 
estimated, 50,000 birds were taken in 
eight counties in a 10-day season. 
  Through careful conservation and 
propagation work in the years since 
the pheasant has been introduced Into 
every Nebraska county, although they 
have not increased In some localities, 
such as the southeastern    area, as 
                     they have else- 
 
 
where.   This is 
due to soil and 
vegetation  con- 
ditions not the 
best for breed- 
ing.   Neverthe- 
less, the pheas- 
ant now is found 
in every county 
in the state, al- 
though there are 
many    w h i c.h 
have never been 
opened to hunt- 
ing.   Prospects 
are, with one or 
two years of fa- 
 
 
vorable weather conditions, southeast- 
ern Nebraska will provide Its share of 
sport for pheasant. 
 
 
  Some complaint is received by the 
Nebraska Commission about the small 
number of birds that can be secured 
on a non-resident permit which costs 
from $10 to $15. However, it has been 
the policy of the Commission to serve 
the home hunters rather than attempt- 
ing to attract outside hunters as some 
other states have done.