August 2022 - 14

A LOOK BACK CASE FILES
Still going strong
Game and Fish's Sheridan Bird Farm has a long history
of providing hunting opportunities for the public.
By Christina Schmidt
T
here was unmistakable enthusiasm in
State Game Warden Nate Wilson's
1916 annual report as he shared news
of what was likely the first release of
ring-necked pheasants in Wyoming.
" Pheasants propagated by this department
seem to be adapting themselves to our climate
and I would recommend a small appropriation
to carry on our experiment, " he wrote.
" Several months ago we purchased and transported
from the State of Oregon some 65 of
these birds, for experimental purposes, and I
earnestly recommend that we encourage our
citizens in raising this species of game bird, not
alone for sport, but for profit as well. "
The next year Wilson's report noted the
birds, released near Lander, had expanded their
population 'to some extent' and expected they
would thrive in most areas of the state.
However, in 1918 his optimism abruptly
soured. He blamed a harsh winter and hunters
for harvesting pheasant chicks they mistook
for sage grouse. He suggested it would " be
foolish to spend any more money trying to
stock districts of the state with them ... I think
I am safe in saying that they have decreased
instead of increased, and that they are not a
success in this state. "
Wilson's successors also made subsequent
releases in 1919 and 1921 but populations
failed to thrive and it seemed Wyoming's experiment
with pheasants was over.
Getting started
The successful introduction of ring-necked
pheasants to the United States is attributed to
Owen Nickerson Denny, an Oregon native and
former United States consul general to Shanghai,
China. In 1881, he shipped 60 pheasants
to Port Townsend, Washington, and followed
up with another 29 in 1882. The birds did so
14 | August 2022
In 1938 the Sheridan Bird Farm raised enough pheasants to release 23 hens and 141 roosters. The main house and shop were located
near the pens. (WGFD photo)
well in the Willamette Valley that many other
western states acquired and released birds.
Like Wyoming, Montana initially struggled
to get pheasant populations established.
Montana State Game and Fish Warden W.F.
Scott noted in his 1902 biennial report, " With
quail and Chinese pheasants we are not so
fortunate. These birds have been imported and
turned loose year after year but their propagation
has been anything but successful. " The
state persevered and a two-day hunting season
opened in 1928.
South Dakota fared better with sportsmen
releasing pheasants in 1908. In 1919,
the year after Wilson proclaimed defeat for
Wyoming's pheasant stocking efforts, South
Dakota opened its first pheasant hunting season
in Spink County. By 1934, every county
in South Dakota offered pheasant hunting.
Perhaps encouraged by South Dakota's success,
or at least undeterred by the failed efforts
two decades earlier, the Wyoming Game and
Fish Commission directed department personnel
to identify a location for a captive bird farm
in early 1937. By April, a site was selected near
the town of Big Horn and supervisor George
Wells arrived to oversee the project. The 17-acre
site was purchased from four landowners and
donated to the state by the Sheridan Rod and
Gun Club - today's Sheridan County Sportsmen's
Association. The group also paid for a
well and lobbied the county to provide a road,
electricity and telephone service to the site.
" This was indeed a splendid gift and was
greatly appreciated by the Commission, " Wells
wrote in his first report.
Construction work on pens and buildings
began in July with workers from the Works
Progress Administration entirely converting the
landscape to accommodate raising the birds.
" The WPA crew installed a septic tank and
drainage field, a large cattle guard, built equipment
and fences, dug ditches for irrigation
and drainage, moved an old building, graded
and graveled roads, hauled rocks for cribbing,
hauled tons of dirt to make fills, trimmed
banks, cut brush, burned rubbish and weeds,
planted and cared for 2,500 caragana shrubs
and did other things, too numerous to mention, "
Wells wrote.

August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022