Bob Gwizdz

Results from the annual mail carrier pheasant brood survey show that southern Michigan still has pheasants and they’re still reproducing, but drawing any further conclusions from the survey is almost impossible, said Adam Bump, upland game bird specialist with the Department of Natural Resources.
The number of broods observed was up slightly and the number of chicks per brood is about average for recent surveys. The survey has been conducted in its present form for 19 years, Bump said.
“We’re seeing more broods than we have in the 19-year survey average, but smaller broods,” Bump said.

Grouse hunters should expect average to slightly below average flush rates this fall based on spring drumming surveys, said Adam Bump, the upland gamebird specialist with the Michigan DNR. But Bump acknowledges that he’s got thin data to make that prognostication.
“Keep in mind that we didn’t do these surveys for five or six years,” he said. “It’s a little hard to do a direct comparisons without more data points.”