Pheasant hunters rejoice as state releases more birds

As the sun rose above the mountains west of Cache Valley on Saturday, upland game hunters were out walking through fields hoping to be one of the lucky ones.

The general season pheasant hunt started at sunrise Saturday morning — and there are a lot of birds to be excited about. Officials from the Division of Wildlife Resources are partnering with Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife to release more birds this season.

“Our goal is to have more birds when people go out to hunt," said Jason Robinson, the DWR upland game coordinator. "We will be releasing about 10,000 throughout the hunt.”

Ryan Nichols, an avid fowl hunter, is thrilled there will be an increase of pheasant releases.

“I heard the division is releasing birds almost every weekend of the hunt,” Nichols said. “That makes me super excited because that means I can shoot more birds.”

Nichols, who teaches first-time hunters, is hoping the DWR will continue its efforts in supporting the pheasant population.

“I hope they never stop releasing them to be honest,” Nichols said. “I have taken more than 20 people hunting for their first time and every single one of them that was able to get something still goes hunting — I hope that people can catch the love that I have for hunting.”

The pheasant hunt continues through Dec. 4.