Pheasant management and harvest

According to harvest estimates, used as an index of population, upland bird populations in Washington have been declining since the early 1980s. Based on long-term pheasant harvest estimates, crowing count surveys, and hunter and biologist reports, pheasants are no exception, with populations decreasing over time.

Western Washington does not support self-sustaining populations of pheasants primarily due to the wetter climate. Hunting on the west side of the state is dependent upon releases of pheasants in the fall.

Current upland bird management efforts focus largely on pheasant in an identified focus area that includes portions of Whitman, Walla Walla, Columbia, and Garfield Counties. This area was chosen due to high populations of pheasants that had previously occupied the area, adequate rainfall to conduct enhancements without the need to irrigate, and anticipated cost effectiveness.

To learn more about WDFW's long-term pheasant management plan, see the department's 2015-2021 Game Management Plan.

2016 harvest: statewide totals

* 2016 Statewide Pheasant totals only include these counties: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, Yakima.

Total 2016 harvest by county