State to stock 10K fewer birds!

[GhostBear]

A few buddies of mine just called me to ask if I heard the rumor that the state will stick only 45K birds this year, one friend called me from the hatchery to tell me the pens look thin this year, not many birds at all, and he called me only a week ago, I've been looking on the states site but can only find stocking dates and locations, but not the total numbers, so if anyone can find out and post it here?

 

From 55K to 45K is a lot! My dog passed this year, and I was like as not going to hunt birds on state land anymore due to the dismal stocking season last year, I mean, are they trying to ruin it?

[TroutandBucks]

The stocking information is on the fish and game site now

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/smgame_info.htm

[TroutandBucks]

If you add up the total stocking numbers for the state 

its a total of 45,090 birds 

[GhostBear]

Ok, cool for some reason I could not find it, but it still looks like they are running 5k short, it's always been 55-56K and one year before I had Attila it was over 65k! Seems like they are putting fewer and fewer.

[GhostBear]

Oops so the 50k they say is total bs then? They are running 10k short! Jeeze, I'm glad I didn't spend the money for the stamp!!

[TroutandBucks]

Well the past few years they always have those "extra" birds towards the end of the season so this just maybe that same thing 

[TroutandBucks]

Either they really messed up the northern NJ numbers for stocked birds 

[GhostBear]

Yeah, they did, taking birds away from a few places to send them to the Gap, or down the shore, instead of raising more birds, that facility is capable of putting out waaaay more birds than they do, and if they keep shorting birds every year, they will lose stamp sales, you put fewer birds at whittingham, few to none hold over when they get pasted at first light! Lol, you get frustrated stamp buyers that may not buy the next year! Lol

[TroutandBucks]

You are spot on with that 

[JHbowhunter]

and I was contemplating by my first stamp in over 25 years this year, since my Lab is a pheasant hunting machine now.... hmmmmm

[GhostBear]

No worth it Jack, you'd only get birds on the stocking days, and it's a mad house those days, that's why Attila and I almost always hunted non stocking days, and when they put out 55K birds over the season, plenty would hold over, The last three seasons before the BS reallocation Attila would have 6-10 points in a 3 hour hunt! In 2016 we did the same hunts as the year before, but this time only 2 points the ENTIRE season, and I killed one and missed the other, fewer birds stocked means fewer hold overs after the morning blast fest.

[TroutandBucks]

Last year Bucksandbows hunted on Thanksgiving and it was so slow where we hunted 
only 1 point and we got that one bird. But the year before in one small area we had a bunch of birds 

[GhostBear]

Yep, last years thanksgiving stocking was dismal at best, the field I hunted, there was not a single bird, and it was lined up like I marching band and had to be six dogs besides mine, and not a single bird, dismal.

 

I had to brave the last two stocking days to get any birds at all!! And the way guys were fighting over shot or missed birds was ridiculous! Got my two quick and got the heck out of there!

[Uplandhunter75]

Long time lurker, first time poster. This thread inspired me to create an account and chime in.

 

I'd like to just share my feelings on the stocking program. Last year I did notice what seemed like a significant drop off in the quality of the pheasant season. I know the reduction is directly tied to the allocation program, but I felt as thought they way the handled the stocking with the reduced number of birds was VERY poorly handled. My favorite pheasant hunting area, near Roy tract bridge in Flatbrook WMA went from an enjoyable area to hunt in 2015, to a dead, quite, bird less area in 2016.  

 

This area when stocked at the old allocation numbers had lots of birds in the thick stuff that were around all week. I'm a young guy who has no problem trudging into the thickest of the thick to find birds and last year they were simply not there. Some Saturdays by 9AM you would not hear a shot all day. It was almost Erie. The sediment was shared by most of the hunters I passed by in that area.

 

Back to my point of on how I feel the stocking of the reduced number of birds was poorly handed... I feel they took the reduced numbers of birds, and just dump the majority "killing fields" up front, where the orange army lines up shoulder to shoulder, and the back fields and off the beaten path areas took the brunt of the reduction. I thought the point of the reallocation was to spread hunters out.. safety.. make it a more enjoyable experience.

 

If my feelings are correct, and they are taking the reduced number of birds per WMA and just dumping them all into the "killing fields" and the smaller and off the beaten path areas which used to receive birds are taking the brunt of the reduction.. well then this whole plan seems to be handled completely incorrectly... spread the birds out within the WMA. Stop feeding the hundred guys who was to take a 5 minute walk to the end of a field every morning and go home.. stock the birds for guys who want to actually upland bird hunt.

 

My 2 cents.. wonder if its shared. If not.. no hard feelings! I'm excited for the season and will be out there regaurdless

[GhostBear]

They took those birds and reallocated them, so the birds that where taken from places like Flattbrook, Black River and whittingham, have been sent to Be stocked south of 78, and in the Fedral land along the Delaware, wth the idea of spreading out hunting pressure, which did not happen, I hunted whittingham with my dog for years, mostly on Mondays, in an area that typically never gets stocked, but is smack dab in between two areas that are, and whatever birds are missed in the a.m. Slaughter, usually end up there, and in real good numbers, with the average 3 hour hunt yielding 6-10 points and flushes, even many of the stocked fields still held birds on Mondays, but 2016 told the tale, with those same fields being stocked with fewer birds, but the same amount of guys shooting, results in few to none making it out alive, my dog and I did the very same hunts we did with great success in past years, only to get 2 points in 4 hunts, I killed one rooster and missed the hen. So yeah big difference, this year my plan was just to guide at the preserve this year but Attila became ill and then passed away, but my plan was to pass on state land this year, just not worth hunting what isn't there to begin with.

Edited September 28, 2017 by GhostBear