Pheasant Fact Friday!💡 The diets of the rooster and the hen diverge in March and April. Whereas the rooster’s diet changes little from January to June, the hen’s diet shows marked changes, particularly in mineral components. The diet of the hen contains 6 times more calcium than the rooster’s diet in April, 14 times more in May, and 10 times more in June. This May peak in calcium occurs during peak egg-laying. To obtain calcium, the hen actively seeks calcareous grit. If she cannot find it, she will extract calcium from her own bones for the eggs. Protein intake increases to a May and June peak of 14.6 percent for the hen. The rooster reaches a peak of 12.8 percent in April. Insects provide the greatest protein source, and the hen will consume more insects than the rooster. #pheasantsforever #pheasants #pheasant #pheasantfactfriday

Wingshooter Rig Walkthrough presented by onX Hunt, Pheasants Forever, and Quail Forever. This Wingshooter Rig Walkthrough features PF Member and upland hunter Simon Tiedge, giving us the rundown on his upland rig and its features that assist the traveling wingshooter. Stay tuned for more wingshooter rigs, to find ways you can build out an upland rig that best suits you and your dogs. Don’t forget to check out OnX’s in-dash capabilities at onxhunt.com

Introducing “Squirrels for a While!”

Pheasant Fact Friday!💡 In April the hen’s productive energy increases for ovary growth and for body weight gain. Remember, the hen reaches her greatest weight in April so she needs more energy to produce the muscle and fat. As with the rooster, the hen’s maintenance energy continues to decrease in April as increasing temperatures reach the hen’s thermoneutral zone. Unlike the rooster, the hen is gaining weight in April, which means she is consuming more food now than she did last winter. A hen consumes 61 gm and 69 gm of food daily in March and April, respectively. She consumed 52 gm and 55 gm in January and February, respectively. Thus the hen’s total metabolic rate and metabolic needs have increased over that of last January. The exact relationship to the rooster’s metabolic needs in unknown. It is probably far greater for the hen, as she prepares for a rigorous breeding season. #pheasantsforever #pheasantfactfriday #pheasant

Entering its sixth year of collaboration, the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat (BOSH) Project is an initiative to clear encroaching trees from sagebrush habitat in southwestern Idaho. This has been no small task, which as of today has impacted 140,000 acres of habitat. The project’s focus is on removing encroaching juniper trees to provide better habitat quality and quantity for the Greater Sage-Grouse. The impact of conifer encroachment on Sage-Grouse has been well documented, and scientific communities agree that Sage-Grouse avoid areas with more than 4% conifer cover, causing a devastating decline in their population. Research has shown conifer encroachment is the second leading threat to sagebrush habitat following invasive annual plants such as cheatgrass. Addressing this threat also benefits other upland bird species such as chukar partridge, gray partridge and valley quail. Several iconic western wildlife species also depend on sagebrush for cover and grazing such as mule deer, pronghorn antelope and songbirds. “This project is on a much bigger scale than anything else that has been attempted for juniper removal in the West,” said Connor White, BOSH Project Coordinator for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “We have a robust group of amazing partners and I’m incredibly proud of our efforts to improve habitat so far, but there is so much more to come.” Learn more about the BOSH Project at the link: https://pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Pheasants-Forever/The-BOSH-Project-Celebrates-Six-Years-of-Progress-Improving-Sagebrush-Habitat.aspx