Jul 26, 2009 5 min read

Southern Washington County Wildlife Conservation Officer Rick Joyce noted that it has been “business as usual.” lately. Well, not exactly “as usual.” Joyce, too, has a few wandering bruins making their presence known.

“I had a few bear complaints in the Amity area, but I didn’t get him,” Joyce said.

“It was a young bear with a red tag in his ear. We don’t use red tags, so I called the West Virginia DCNR. I suspect it was a West Virginia bear.

“I haven’t heard anything for a week or so, so I assume he moved on.”

Joyce’s district is one that was hit hard during the epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) outbreak in 2007.

He and his deputies counted hundreds of dead deer throughout the district.

Have the deer rebounded from EHD?

Joyce said, “I believe so. In the southern part of the district near East Finley, I’m seeing more deer, but then there are some areas that never missed a beat such as Claysville and Taylorstown.

“I’ve been seeing one next to my house. It is a 10-point with the coat of an elk – tawny tan. Overall, I’ve been seeing a good many deer.”

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Joyce is most proud of a pheasant-raising project his 15-year-old son, Michael, had undertaken.

Michael obtained 100 day-old pheasant chicks through the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and the Wildlife Alliance because he needed an FFA project.

He took care of the chicks for five weeks, at which time 69 surviving birds were released on Game Lands 232.

Unlike the pheasants released by the Game Commission that hang around the road when released because they had been imprinted at the farm and never really learned how to survive as wild pheasants, these birds were raised in a surrogator and never had contact with humans.

A surrogator is a self-contained unit that functions as a surrogate parent by providing food, water, warmth and protection for the first five weeks of the bird’s life.

By placing the surrogator in a location where you want to establish a huntable population of pheasant or quail, chicks raised in the unit become imprinted to that location. The bird’s natural homing instinct motivates them to live and reproduce where they were raised and released.

The greatest mortality on the life of game birds happens in the nest and before three weeks of age. Chicks raised in the surrogator are protected from predators and the elements at a time when they are most vulnerable. Research proves that game birds develop their natural survival instincts around 5 weeks of age.

Joyce explained that for five weeks all his son had to do was check the feed and water in the surrogator.

“After five weeks he checked them. It’s amazing! You don’t imprint them at all. When released from the surrogator, the birds immediately took to the air and begin roosting in the trees and the multiflora rose.”

Basically, Joyce described the surrogator used as a “flat box eight feet long divided into two sections.”

It is normal for a portion of the chicks to die. However, at 3 to 3 1/2 weeks of age they started to peck at one another.

“At that point, Michael started to throw in watermelon to give them something to peck at other than on another,” Joyce said.

Joyce said that by next year McGuffy High School and FFA wildlife classes will instruct others on how to raise pheasants through the use of a surrogator.

The next project for Michael will be on their own property, as his father wants to increase the quail population in the area.

“I hear them in my backyard. We would like to get them established. It would be nice to get two or three coveys established on the property, Joyce said.”

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When asked if this spring’s turkey reproduction was better than it has been, Joyce said, “It’s kind of hard to tell. I’m doing my annual sighting survey now, it’s a month-to-month thing, but I would say I’m seeing hens with poults but not as many as last year.

“It’s not what it was, but there is no shortage of turkeys. We still have plenty of adult birds.”

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Joyce noted that the Covered Bridge Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society has been doing some great habitat work to help enhance the grouse population.

“Grouse are beginning to move into some of the areas where they have made some cuts. That is one species that has to be in the right habitat for them to be numerous.

“We have a lot of dedicated grouse hunters who work Game Lands 232 pretty hard.

“Once the modifications get a foothold, it will be a test of time, but we should see more numbers.”

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Hunter/trapper education classes are down in Joyce’s district, and he feels that is due partially to on-line registration only.

“A few clubs hold classes, but not many. I get my biggest turnout at the classes held at Gander Mountain,” Joyce said.

“We had one class at the outdoor show in February that drew 100 youngsters and adults.

“A late class is planned this year in September at the Taylorstown Fire Department.”

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Fishing hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been great either.

Scott Gates at S&S Bait and Tackle at Chalk Hill said, “Outside of trout, the fishing is horrible.

“I haven’t heard anything good for days on the Yough Dam.

“They are catching trout everywhere in the Youghiogheny River from Confluence to Ohiopyle on nightcrawlers and shrimp eggs, while Meadow Run is all fly fishermen.”

Herald-Standard Outdoor Editor Rod Schoener can be reached on-line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com