http://ohiodnr.com/Portals/9/pdf/pub092.pdf
"Pheasants are Asian natives that were first successfully introduced into the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s"
"Agricultural land‑use practices at the turn of the century were ideal for pheasants. For example, farm fields were small with plenty of fencerows and field dividers, pastures and hay fields were interspersed among abundant small grain crops, and chemical control of weed and insect pests was not yet widespread. As a result, pheasant numbers increased quickly and peaked in Ohio at approximately five million birds in the late 1930s and early 1940s."
"High populations persisted through the 1940s and 1950s with annual hunter harvests averaging around 750,000 cock pheasants."
"Agricultural production intensified and became more industrialized after World War II. Mechanical equipment became more common and increased in size. Field sizes increased to accommodate the new equipment, while fencerows, wetlands and odd‑area habitats were lost as a result. Row crops, especially corn and soybeans, replaced small grains, such as wheat and oats, in many farming rotations. Chemical control of weeds and insects increased in popularity reducing food and cover used by pheasants and their broods."
"Pheasants, and other grassland birds, declined as a direct result of habitat loss. By the late 1960s, Ohio’s pheasant harvest declined to 100,000 to 300,000 cock birds annually"
"The ringneck is a bird of agricultural edges, favoring soils rich in nutrients and organic matter. Pheasants thrive where farming is intensive if two major habitat requirements are met: adequate undisturbed cover for nesting, and sufficient food and cover for the critical winter period. Thick cover, such as brushy fencerows and cattails, provides escape from predators and is an essential component to pheasant habitat at all times of the year"
In summary, pheasants (like quail) have been "farmed out". Habitat has been diminished. Farmers need to leave fence rows.
