State is Out of Pheasant Business

[archer36]

Looks like they are no longer going to raise Pheasants for the WMA's.

https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2019/rockport_rfei.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

[JHbowhunter]

this was posted before.  I thought it was stated that they will just outsource the raising to PA........    Might be cheaper and better quality birds.  Probably have to wait and see.

[chenrossi]

They're not "out" of business. They're in the buying business; not the raising business. 

[Batsto]

Let's hope they can count better in Pa. New Jersey distribution bird boys loved fuzzy math. 

[archer36]

23 minutes ago, chenrossi said:

They're not "out" of business. They're in the buying business; not the raising business. 

Correct. It's going to be hard finding a source nearby to supply all the birds the State needs. I see nothing but problems. 

[Shakyjake]

I believe that the state already has 3 breeders under contract for the birds.

[Bucksnbows]

30 minutes ago, archer36 said:

Correct. It's going to be hard finding a source nearby to supply all the birds the State needs. I see nothing but problems. 

I can name several clubs that stock more pheasants on their clubs than the Division does across the entire state, and all of those clubs buy birds on the outside.  It will be no problem sourcing birds for the state, they just need to have reputable suppliers in the end.  

[BowhunterNJ]

2 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

I can name several clubs that stock more pheasants on their clubs than the Division does across the entire state, and all of those clubs buy birds on the outside.  It will be no problem sourcing birds for the state, they just need to have reputable suppliers in the end.  

Sounds like a business opportunity too, so I'd imagine the current suppliers may expand or face competition from some newcomers.

[Lunatic]

Great move. Nothing produced, controlled or run by the government is ever cost effective

[Bucksnbows]

24 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

Sounds like a business opportunity too, so I'd imagine the current suppliers may expand or face competition from some newcomers.

We think 50,000 pheasants is a lot of birds.  I can name two clubs in NJ and many outside with less than 1,000 acres that stock more than that just on their lands.  From a bird rearing standpoint, it's not a lot of birds.  

[MGHunter66]

1 hour ago, Bucksnbows said:

I can name several clubs that stock more pheasants on their clubs than the Division does across the entire state, and all of those clubs buy birds on the outside.  It will be no problem sourcing birds for the state, they just need to have reputable suppliers in the end.  

So why did they have such an issue finding birds for the last week of stocking? Seems the chuckers really were a test

[chenrossi]

37 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

We think 50,000 pheasants is a lot of birds.  I can name two clubs in NJ and many outside with less than 1,000 acres that stock more than that just on their lands.  From a bird rearing standpoint, it's not a lot of birds.  

The big difference is not everyone has the $ to throw down for 50K (if that's true) for pheasants on private property. Or the $ to throw down a couple hundred to shoot 3-4 pheasants here, a few chukar/quail there on any given weekend. Big picture, ~12,500 PQ hunters in a given year...45-55K birds. 4-5 birds a hunter (if successful)..the PQ hunter is basically getting birds at less than what contracted costs are if they are successful in shooting some. Even if they shoot one, they're still making out better than a commercial operation to shoot several.. Steal in my book. Who cares about the private guys stocking more for themselves. Irrelevant to the topic IMO.

[mazzgolf]

I bet the private guys don't like this. The state of NJ just added a lot more demand for birds - and as demand goes up, so will the price for birds. I think the cost for the private guys to buy their own birds are going to go up.

[vdep217]

11 minutes ago, maximus66 said:

So why did they have such an issue finding birds for the last week of stocking? Seems the chuckers really were a test

My guess is that nearing the end of season birds are spoken for already under contract..  I could be wrong and it could have been a test.   Or the state had contracts to only buy from as certain supplier that didn't have pheasants any longer...  still all speculative

[MGHunter66]

1 hour ago, mazzgolf said:

I bet the private guys don't like this. The state of NJ just added a lot more demand for birds - and as demand goes up, so will the price for birds. I think the cost for the private guys to buy their own birds are going to go up.

Private guys don’t have to go through the same procurement laws public entities do. Most suppliers will not bother with the increased costs associated with insurance criteria, etc. required to be involved with public bidding. This is also going to be a problem encountered when crossing state lines. Public bidding laws for NJ apply to out of state suppliers electing to participate in NJ bids contracts