New proposed regs on Pheasant and Quail

Permit = sticking us for more revenue.
I was not aware there were rooster only regs. Certain WMA's?
Open Seasons and Zones.

  1. Cock pheasants may be hunted throughout Massachusetts from the first Saturday after Columbus Day to November 30;
  2. Hen pheasants may be hunted from the first Saturday after Columbus Day to November 30 in Zones 01 through 12, except in the Town of Hull in Plymouth County, and except eastward of a line running from the New Hampshire border southerly on Route I-95 to the junction with Route I-495, southerly on Rt. I-495 to the junction with Route 95, northerly on Rt. 95 to the junction with Routes I-93/128, easterly on Rts. I-93/128 to the junction with Route 3, southerly on Rt. 3 to the junction with Route 228, and northerly on Rt. 228 to the Hull town line; provided, that on any wildlife management areas which are stocked with pheasant or quail as listed in 321 CMR 3.01(1)(n) and which are eastward of the boundary line delineated by 321 CMR 3.02(6)(b)2, the taking of both cock and hen pheasants is lawful;
 
I kind of feel like buying a tag for stocked animals isn't unreasonable - especially if there's no bag limit. One could counter that there isn't a tag for trout and I've got no real answer to that.

Other than that, most of the changes seem to be in the favor of sportsmen - doing away with hen restrictions, getting rid of the separate license for Martin Burns.

But then, I'm new to all this, and only hunt Pheasant at HSC where I already have to buy tags so maybe there's something I'm not understanding.
 
I kind of feel like buying a tag for stocked animals isn't unreasonable - especially if there's no bag limit. One could counter that there isn't a tag for trout and I've got no real answer to that.

Other than that, most of the changes seem to be in the favor of sportsmen - doing away with hen restrictions, getting rid of the separate license for Martin Burns.

But then, I'm new to all this, and only hunt Pheasant at HSC where I already have to buy tags so maybe there's something I'm not understanding.
I’m with ya at HSC experience only.
 
I don't know why at this point Mass Wildlife even holds theses hearings.... we all know they have already made up there mind.

I don't mind the pheasant stamp.... I know those birds cost the state money and I don't mind paying my share. Most states with a pheasant stoking program have a stamp associated with it to recoup some money. Birds can cost $15-20 per bird so the states not making any money on it.

The issues I have are
1) Still no Sunday hunting.
2) The state refuses to give us a late pheasant season to clean up some of the left over birds. No dogs during deer season they say. There's no reason they cant allow late season phez hunting at select WMA where' there's a slim chance of deer hunters.. or even a late season once shotgun deer is over. CT allows cleanup pheasant hunting till the end of Feb.
3) the bag limit was always stupid... it's strictly an honor system. I drive by a stocked WMA everyday on my way to work and always see the same trucks. Either those guys are the worst pheasant hunters in the world or they're exceeding the bag limits. Mass Wildlife knows this and finally says fine.. shoot however many you want... they already were.
4) The hen thing was another stupid regulation..... getting rid of it is just the state's way of acknowledging there is no more wild phez left in MA.

Just saying....
 
The thing I don’t like about it is the fees are pretty much all on hunters. Doesn’t make sense to raise the price on a customer base that is down 50% since their last license increases. Hunters have the Pheasant stamp, Duck stamp, Quail stamp, turkey stamp, Archery Stamp, muzzleloader stamp, doe permits. Virtually all of the popular hunted species have additional fees, and those fees are predicted to quadruple over the next few years. Yes the fishing licenses went up, but they still have no fees. You can fish stocked trout year round (including Sundays!) with no season limits (provided you follow the 8 per day or 3 per day daily limits). If I reacall correctly from one of the hearings, the fish stocking program was 17% of the DFW budget, not counting the salaries of fish biologists and other employees involved with the fish stocking program. Why are the hunters being burdened with such a disproportionate share of the DFW increases???
 
Last edited:
Correct, but the DF&W has done nothing to advocate for hunters and platform a change.
Do you honestly think the df&w has the pull to get the state legislature to:

1. Propose a bill to repeal the Sunday restriction

2. Get the legislature to actually vote for such a bill

Thats what it would take.
 
Re:Sunday hunting.
There are unexpected consequences to opening up Sunday hunting in MA.

Migratory bird regs allow a maximum number of open hunting days. Opening up Sunday hunting will basically shut down any late season waterfowl hunting (excluding the late goose season)
 
It is about time that they did away with the season limit on Pheasant, as that regulation was unenforceable. There was no way to check if the hunter took his two birds every day for three days. There should have been a pheasant stamp years ago when Whiney Wayne was crying about the cost of the Pheasant stocking program. But he told me then that I was wrong and that it wouldn't work. That was his excuse to close the Pheasant farms rather than up grade them to current agricultural practices.

Oh, There is no "Separate License" for Martin Burns WMA, There is a registration system so as to not over crowd the area. But Not a "Separate License". Some folks really need to get their facts straight before spouting Bull Shit.
 
Last edited:
I kind of feel like buying a tag for stocked animals isn't unreasonable - especially if there's no bag limit. One could counter that there isn't a tag for trout and I've got no real answer to that.

Other than that, most of the changes seem to be in the favor of sportsmen - doing away with hen restrictions, getting rid of the separate license for Martin Burns.

But then, I'm new to all this, and only hunt Pheasant at HSC where I already have to buy tags so maybe there's something I'm not understanding.

I'm in this camp as well. MANY states have a Pheasant tag because it pays to stock the pheasants. In mASS, pheasant stocking is from the general wildlife budget. Effectively, it's a WMA entitlement. Everyone else pays for the enjoyment of the few. Like Social Security and food stamps and Section 8.

Personally - stocking programs, whether fish or fowl, should cover their own costs if it's a regular thing. Returning turkeys to a region - it's a one-time effort. But putting trout in Pond X every year so people can pull them out and ditto for birds in certain fields - well, thats just silly. They aren't trying to build a population - they are trying to benefit a select few hunters/fisherers. Because if no one wants to pay for it, you can just stop doing it. And if more want to pay, you can expand the program. Seems like a sensible thing to do.
 
I'm in this camp as well. MANY states have a Pheasant tag because it pays to stock the pheasants. In mASS, pheasant stocking is from the general wildlife budget. Effectively, it's a WMA entitlement. Everyone else pays for the enjoyment of the few. Like Social Security and food stamps and Section 8.

Personally - stocking programs, whether fish or fowl, should cover their own costs if it's a regular thing. Returning turkeys to a region - it's a one-time effort. But putting trout in Pond X every year so people can pull them out and ditto for birds in certain fields - well, thats just silly. They aren't trying to build a population - they are trying to benefit a select few hunters/fisherers. Because if no one wants to pay for it, you can just stop doing it. And if more want to pay, you can expand the program. Seems like a sensible thing to do.
This is not correct. My club and other worcester county clubs, pay 2000-3000 dollars a year EVERY year, since I can recall, for feed to raise pheasants at the Worcester County Jail. We release these birds for the public, have to let the public hunt, and we cannot just release them for us.

I feel if we are paying for tags now then the birds we are alloted should be for our private use only. Or we should stop payment for those birds.

If this passes (it will). Its essentially pay to hunt and pay for the program. So I will push for our club to be a closed private reserve, and do paid for hunts only, not open to the public, and spend my tag money on birds, and.........I can hunt on SUNDAY! Problem solved.
 
Last edited:
prom the first Saturday after Columbus Day to November 30;
  1. Hen pheasants may be hunted from the first Saturday after Columbus Day to November 30 in Zones 01 through 12, except in the Town of Hull in Plymouth County, and except eastward of a line running from the New Hampshire border southerly on Route I-95 to the junction with Route I-495, southerly on Rt. I-495 to the junction with Route 95, northerly on Rt. 95 to the junction with Routes I-93/128, easterly on Rts. I-93/128 to the junction with Route 3, southerly on Rt. 3 to the junction with Route 228, and northerly on Rt. 228 to the Hull town line; provided, that on any wildlife management areas which are stocked with pheasant or quail as listed in 321 CMR 3.01(1)(n) and which are eastward of the boundary line delineated by 321 CMR 3.02(6)(b)2, the taking of both cock and hen pheasants is lawful;
This was in when I started hunting 35 years ago.....before coyotes even existed in MA, and birds of prey, fisher cats, etc were pretty much non existent, or in very low numbers due to DDT,etc. There were holdover pheasants around all the time at my grandmothers house. She used to feed them in the winters. They had very little in the way of predators.

The general thinking of this is Pheasants might actually survive in the eastern zones where the winters are less harsh, so shooting the hens is not a good idea. Same as quail. They don't stock quail anywhere but the Cape, Islands, and Southeast Mass for that reason.

In reality, now......being that stocked pheasant are relatively stupid, sit on the ground and get wiped out in days by the massive amount of foxes, coons, owls, hawks, eagles, fishers, and coyotes that are around due to no trapping laws and overly protecting birds of prey.
 
This is not correct. My club and other worcester county clubs, pay 2000-3000 dollars a year EVERY year, since I can recall, for feed to raise pheasants at the Worcester County Jail. We release these birds for the public, have to let the public hunt, and we cannot just release them for us.

I feel if we are paying for tags now then the birds we are alloted should be for our private use only. Or we should stop payment for those birds.

If this passes (it will). Its essentially pay to hunt and pay for the program. So I will push for our club to be a closed private reserve, and do paid for hunts only, not open to the public, and spend my tag money on birds, and.........I can hunt on SUNDAY! Problem solved.

Oh I’ll agree to that, too. But there are birds released by the state in WMA’s. But if you pay, you should get exclusive rights to the birds.
 
Back
Top Bottom