NEWS RELEASE: DNR Pheasant Stocking Increases Hunting Opportunities This Holiday Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 15, 2022
Contact:?Kelly Maguire, DNR State Game Farm Manager
[email protected] or 608-267-0866

DNR Pheasant Stocking Increases Hunting Opportunities This Holiday Season

Holiday Pheasant Stocking Offered At 25 State Properties

A closeup of two pheasants, one in hues of orange and yellow and the other in tan and brown, surrounded by brush and snow.

The pheasant hunting season in Wisconsin is open now and runs through Jan. 8, 2023. / Photo Credit: Jerry Davis

MADISON, Wis.???The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the department will stock pheasant at 25 state properties in central and southern Wisconsin during the week of Dec. 19 to increase hunting opportunities throughout the holiday season.

The pheasant holiday stocking began in 2017 to provide pheasant hunters an additional opportunity to hunt during the holiday season. Five state properties were initially stocked in 2017 with another three added in 2018.

Pheasants are one of the most sought-after gamebirds in North America and due to continued interest and popularity among Wisconsin pheasant hunters, the DNR will stock 2,800 pheasants across 25 state properties over a two-day period during the week of Dec. 19.?

Pheasant season in Wisconsin runs until Jan. 8, 2023.

?We are excited to once again offer this unique hunting opportunity at a time when friends and family are gathering to make incredible outdoor memories,? said Kelly Maguire, DNR State Game Farm Manager. ?The selected areas are located near population centers to provide accessible opportunities to as many hunters as possible, as well as areas that see high hunter use throughout the pheasant hunting season.?

Properties to be stocked for the holiday season include:

Albany Wildlife Area, Green County
Avoca Unit of Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, Iowa County
Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area, Rock County
Badfish Creek Wildlife Area, Dane County
Boscobel Unit of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, Grant County
Brooklyn Wildlife Area, Dane & Green Counties
Evansville Wildlife Area, Rock County
Footville Wildlife Area, Rock County
French Creek Wildlife Area, Columbia County
Goose Lake Wildlife Area, Dane County
Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area, Dodge & Fond du Lac Counties
Jackson Marsh Wildlife Area, Washington County
Jefferson Marsh Wildlife Area, Jefferson County
Kettle Moraine State Forest Southern Unit, Waukesha County
Lake Mills Wildlife Area, Jefferson County
Mazomanie Unit of Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, Dane County
Mud Lake Wildlife Area, Columbia County
Mud Lake Wildlife Area, Dodge County
Pine Island Wildlife Area, Columbia County
Richard Bong State Recreation Area, Kenosha County
Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area, Sauk County
Theresa Marsh Wildlife Area, Washington & Dodge Counties
Vernon Wildlife Area, Waukesha County
Waterloo Wildlife Area, Jefferson County
Yellowstone Wildlife Area, Lafayette County

Hunters can use the?DNR?s Fields and Forest Lands Interactive Gamebird Hunting Tool (FFLIGHT)?to locate cover suitable for ruffed grouse and woodcock, managed dove fields and properties stocked with game farm pheasants.

To pursue these birds, hunters are required to purchase a 2022 Wisconsin pheasant stamp. With stamp-funded revenue, the DNR creates and maintains grassland habitats required for pheasants to survive and reproduce year-round.

All hunting regulations and bag limits are still in effect. Hunters are encouraged to read through?the 2022 regulations?before heading out.