The ODNR posts their stockings of pheasants so everyone knows when and where. Hate to say but be ready to duck from a few BBs. The action may not be as great on day 2 or 3 after stocking, but it's a lot safer. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say Salt Fork since it's so big and you can get away from people.

 

I have Labradors that I run for upland game, primarily pheasant and grouse. I actually very rarely take the time to hunt Ohio anymore. Their stocking program is very sub-par and there are so many guys out there with or without dogs, it's almost not even enjoyable. As Spaniel235 said, you are playing dodgeball with BB's. I have actually completely switched over to PA for hunting birds. They stock an outrageous amount of birds throughout PA and the hunting is much better. They stock a couple of times beginning of october for the youth and mentor hunts and then starting the opening week of regular season, they stock every tuesday or thursday for about 5 weeks straight and then again the week before christmas. The program dumps somewhere around 230+k pheasants statewide compared to Ohios numbers that are nowhere near that .For the extra drive, and a few extra bucks, hunting over that way in my opinion is much more beneficial. PA does require a pheasant stamp these days which runs 26.90 but for the amount of birds you harvest and the opportunities that are there, it's a small price to pay to keep you and your dogs safe from the warzone that is Ohio. The areas I primarily focus on are near Forest County, PA. depending on where you're at in ohio, it is not a bad drive. I'm near cleveland area and my drive is about 2.5hrs

 

Thanks for the great Info i will check into PA for sure sounds way better. I am live in Cleveland so doesn't sound far

 

The only area near me that I know of is Spencer wildlife area. But as LabRunner said it's just not worth it for number of birds. For around here you're probably better off doing a private release. PA is definitely where it's at.

 

I live over here in PA. Only hunt the weekends and occasional day thru the week. Last year we flushed 53 pheasants. Granted, alot of that was because my neighbor boy cant hit them and we kept on hunting. But PA does have a really good stocking program right now. That and their season starts two weeks before Ohio's, and two weeks before that their youth season comes in. The downside is you can not hunt on Sundays over here.

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Without a doubt about the pheasant program being better in Pa. Also Sunday hunting is on its way you can bet on that with the slow introduction in to rifle season Sunday hunting. Ohio intro'd there's the same way,nice and easy. IMHO

 

While the ODNR does a great job of releasing pheasants to a large number of state wildlife areas the group I hunt with decided to start hunting pheasant at a private hunt club. We went to Elkhorn Lake Hunt club in Bucyrus yesterday, 2/11/2021. They are a club but are open to the public. They release 4 pheasants per hunter, with a minimum of three hunters per group and a maximum of 4 hunters per group. They do not gaurantee that you will get any birds but we have always gotten all the birds they have put out for us. Since we do not have a pointer we have always opted for a guide with a dog. We have always worked with Kelly as our guide but they have about six guides total. The dogs are worth there weight in gold not only for locating the birds but also finding them when they go down. While it's not inexpensive, we paid $129.00 per person for four birds each, a guide with a dog and they cleaned the birds as well. Weekend rates are slightly higher. The season is expanded compared to hunting on state wildlife areas. They open September 1st for those who wish to train their dogs, regular hunting with your own dog or guided hunts run mid October through the end or March. They typically release a mix of roosters and hens during the regular hunting season. All rooster hunts are available for an additional fee. This was our fifth year of going to Elkhorn Lake Hunt Club and always feel we had a great hunt. Check out their website for complete information or look into a private hunting preserve in your area.

 

I used to do that at Cherry Bend outside of Wilmington. The originals owners were great ! I never met the guy that started it, but I did get to know his wife that kept it running for 20 more years. They would release a dozen or more every hour or so right in front of us. The ones that did not get harvested would go right back in the pen to eat. The new owners for the last 15 years have removed that standard - they charge a full price for 4 birds no matter what. Have not been back. But it was fun while it lasted.

 

Over the years we did places like Talmadge,Wooster,Elkhorn and a few others. Most are no longer in business which is sad. Our minimum was 50 birds,mix of hens and roosters. It was a blast! Expensive,not really,when you compare a out west hunt and the time involved. For the money you could do a few hunts a year spread out date wise and be home with birds cleaned the same day. I know there will be disagreements about the out west hunts being better ,to each his own. IMHO

 

Making the trip to Iowa is not really that expensive....I live close to the Indiana/Ohio line and make the trek every years....nothing like chasing wild roosters....plenty of public ground and people are very friendly....I have done the pay to hunt and to me their is no comparison......all in all considering the experience, it is a memorable time!!!!!

 

I agree I do a out west trip every season and for those who have not hunted wild birds DO IT time is passing by and the challenge is like no preserve bird can match!!! You can work a field not see a bird and at the end see birds leaving having you scratch your head!!!

 

You can check into PA

 

I hunt pheasants in ND when I can. The guy who I co-own my hunting camp with is from up there and still has family that owns their farm up there. So we stay for free and usually just take everyone out to dinner once or twice. But there is no comparison to hunting stocked pheasant over the wild birds up there.

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I hunt pheasants in ND when I can. The guy who I co-own my hunting camp with is from up there and still has family that owns their farm up there. So we stay for free and usually just take everyone out to dinner once or twice. But there is no comparison to hunting stocked pheasant over the wild birds up there.

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I loved hunting ND! Hands down the best upland bird hunting I ever did!!!! Don't get me started on the waterfowl!

 

Most of the guys from up there were using guns with 30" barrels and we all used 4 or 5 shot in 3" shells. Those wild bird are much harder to kill then our ditch chickens down here.

And you need proof that it was a rooster and not a hen on the cleaned bird. So we left a foot on with the spur. My friends parents saved up their half gallon milk jugs and we froze them with that leg and spur sticking out in case we got stopped when we left for home!

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