Ring-necked pheasant

AZGFD runs no wild-population survey for ring-necked pheasant — the huntable population is a negligible put-and-take stocking operation near Yuma (Unit 40B), not a wild, monitored population. Confirmed absence of survey infrastructure, any year.

CDFW runs no pre-season population forecast for ring-necked pheasant — confirmed absence. Its only recurring pheasant-specific release is a November wild-pheasant-genetics-study announcement (hunter tongue-clip sampling for inbreeding/genetic-mixing research), which is retrospective sampling published after the season opens, not a predictive outlook.

Governed by CPW's annual 'Eastern Plains Pheasant and Quail Forecast' (combined pheasant/bobwhite quail/scaled quail document), published early November each year (confirmed Nov 3 2022, Nov 16 2023, Nov 4 2024, Nov 3-6 2025) at a stable URL overwritten in place. Re-checked 2026-08-19: still showing the 2025-26 edition (which reports pheasant recovery underway in 2025 against a 'second-lowest on record' 2024-25 harvest); the 2026-27 edition is expected ~early November 2026.

Confirmed absence: Connecticut's entire huntable pheasant population is DEEP-stocked (put-and-take) on designated WMAs/state-forest blocks ahead of each hunt day, not a wild, surveyed population.

Confirmed absence: Delaware's huntable pheasant population is DNREC-stocked on public hunting areas, not a wild, surveyed population.

No standalone pheasant survey exists; covered only narratively within IDFG's statewide/regional Upland Game Bird Forecast. Re-confirmed via fresh search 2026-08-19: the 2026 edition had not published (2025 edition published Sept 5, 2025); regional pages still show 2025 content. Expected within the next 2-3 weeks.

Ring-necked pheasant is one of three species (with bobwhite quail, gray partridge) covered by IDNR's annual Upland Hunting Forecast, built on the spring/summer Upland Bird Route Survey plus the retrospective Hunter Harvest Survey. Re-confirmed via fresh search 2026-08-19: the most recent edition found is still 'The 2025-2026 Upland Hunting Forecast' (published Nov 3, 2025); no 2026-27 edition found. Expected ~early November 2026, close to the Nov 1 season opener.

Gated by the same KDWP Upland Bird Forecast as northern bobwhite quail (spring crowing survey + brood survey feed the single fall narrative). Re-confirmed 2026-08-19: live page still reads "2026 Upland Bird Forecast coming this fall!"; no standalone Pheasant Crowing Survey report found yet.

Confirmed absence: KDFWR's entire pheasant hunting supply is put-and-take (pen-reared birds released ahead of Quota Hunts at Green River WMA and other sites); KDFWR's own stated position is that "wild pheasants cannot sustain populations in Kentucky." No population survey of any kind exists to forecast.

Confirmed absence: no established wild pheasant population in Louisiana. The regulated "open concurrently with Quail Season, no daily limit" listing is a legacy/nominal statutory entry, not a managed huntable population — matches this record's own resolved species-classification.json caveat. No LDWF survey of any kind exists for the species.

Confirmed absence: Maine's entire huntable pheasant population is MDIFW-stocked (~20 release sites, York/Cumberland Counties), not a wild surveyed population.

Confirmed absence of survey infrastructure: a fresh 2026-08-19 check found no DNR-published pre-season forecast for the small, declining wild population (Carroll, Baltimore, Frederick, Washington Counties). DNR's separate mentored-hunt stocking program (since 2018) is a put-and-take supplement, not a survey of the wild population.

Confirmed absence: Massachusetts's entire huntable pheasant supply is MassWildlife-stocked (~40,000 birds/year statewide, stocking since the 1890s), not a wild surveyed population.

Same Pheasant/Quail Cooperators survey (since 1999) as bobwhite quail — an in-season hunter-reported flush-count instrument, not a discrete pre-season forecast document. Active monitoring, no dated pre-season report exists to cite.

Tracked via MN DNR's August Roadside Survey (167 routes, since 1955). 2026 fieldwork (Aug 1-15, 2026) has just closed; a fresh direct fetch of the stable report URL (files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/pheasant/roadside_survey.pdf) confirms it still hosts the 2025 edition (dated 2 September 2025: statewide pheasant index 75.2 birds/100mi, up nearly 50% from 2024's 51.2, attributed to a mild winter and drier spring) as of 2026-08-19 — a stale-attribution catch: an initial WebSearch pass described these same 2025 figures as “this year's” result without a year label, and was only caught by fetching the stable PDF directly and reading its own dateline. Expected early September 2026 per this precedent.

Same combined Quail and Pheasant Roadside Survey as bobwhite quail. The 2025 edition is already out (0.25 pheasants/route, up 14% vs. 2024) but that's last year's data; 2026 fieldwork has just closed, report expected ~October 2026. Note: the Tier A registry flagged the pheasant-reports listing page as lagging behind the quail-reports page in publishing each edition — a page-maintenance quirk to recheck when the 2026 report is due, not itself a data gap.

Tracked via Montana FWP's combined annual Upland Game Bird Season Outlook (pheasant, sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, gray/Hungarian partridge, chukar, dusky grouse, spruce grouse, ruffed grouse together, by region). The 2025 edition published Aug 20, 2025; a fresh direct fetch of the stable landing page (fwp.mt.gov/hunt/seasons/forecasts) on 2026-08-19 confirms it still shows only the 2025 edition — the 2026 edition appears imminent (one day short of last year's exact publish date). Pheasant's own signal within the Outlook comes from spring crow counts.

Tracked via the same NGPC Upland Game Bird Hunting Outlook PDF (April/July Rural Mail Carrier Surveys). A fresh check this pass caught a stale-attribution trap: a WebSearch summary and a syndicated Outdoor Wire mirror of NGPC's press release both initially read as describing the current 2026 season, but a direct fetch of the Outdoor Wire release confirmed its actual publish date is August 26, 2025, describing the 2025-26 season (comparing spring/summer 2025 survey results to 2024) — not a 2026 finding. outdoornebraska.gov itself returns HTTP 403 to every direct fetch attempt. No genuine 2026 edition found; expected late August 2026 (within about a week) per the 2025 precedent (Aug 26, 2025 publish date).

No dedicated standalone survey or forecast confirmed for ring-necked pheasant in Nevada across two independent search passes (Tier A pass + this pass); may be covered narratively within the historical “Regional Upland Game Hunting Forecast” referenced in 2006 press coverage, but that document's current existence is itself unconfirmed -- a lower-confidence closure, not an explicit NDOW confirmed-absence statement.

Entirely NHFG-stocked (10,000 adult birds released at 62 sites across 41 towns for the 2025 season) -- a put-and-take program, not a wild population under survey. No population forecast applies.

Confirmed absence -- NM's pheasant season is a short statewide over-the-counter window plus resident-only draw-permit WMA hunts, neither backed by a population survey; NMDGF's Upland Game page contains no pheasant survey/forecast content.

Confirmed absence of a wild-population survey -- DEC's own species page states wild pheasants “no longer exist in populations large enough to warrant active management.” DEC's annual stocking program is the subject of a draft 2026-2035 Strategic Plan for Pheasant Stocking, which explicitly reframes the program's goal as hunter recruitment/retention rather than wild-population restoration or forecasting.

Confirmed absence -- NC's pheasant population is a narrow, historically-stocked non-native population confined mainly to the Barrier Islands/Outer Banks (Carteret, Dare, Hyde counties), not actively managed or surveyed by NCWRC.

No dedicated pre-season population survey or forecast exists for Ohio's wild pheasant population; the only quantitative data found anywhere is retrospective harvest context from the 2020-21 Ohio Hunter Questionnaire (wild pheasant harvest ~3,953 birds vs. stocked pheasant harvest ~127,533 birds that season), confirming most Ohio pheasant hunting occurs on stocked/put-and-take birds on state Wildlife Areas rather than a surveyed wild population.

ODWC runs a real pheasant population survey reported to the Wildlife Commission alongside quail results each October (confirmed via an Oct 9, 2024 Commission article), ahead of Oklahoma's cocks-only, restricted-county season. Checked this pass; no 2026-27 edition found yet. Expected ~October 2026 alongside the quail Season Outlook.

Covered only narratively within ODFW's annual Game Bird Hunting Forecast, no standalone quantitative index. The 2025-26 edition described pheasant production as down for 2025 versus the prior couple of improved years, with pockets remaining in the Columbia Basin, Grande Ronde valley, Harney County, and northeastern Malheur County. No 2026-27 edition found this pass; expected ~early October 2026 per the 2025-26 precedent.

Most PA pheasant hunting occurs on PGC-stocked birds outside any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA), with no dedicated forward-looking forecast beyond the retrospective Game Take Survey. But PGC does run genuine, currently-active wild-population monitoring inside the WPRAs (Central Susquehanna, Franklin County): a PGC newsroom article directly fetched this pass, dated October 6, 2025, confirms 'springtime pheasant crowing surveys in these areas were below the population estimate trend at which hunting would be authorized' for the 2025-26 season -- real, current monitoring with no discrete published numeric report found. No open season exists in any WPRA except by executive order regardless.

SD GFP's pheasant program is narrative-only (no quantitative pre-season survey since the roadside brood count was discontinued in 2019); the governing document is the Upland Outlook PDF, published late August annually. The 2026 edition (gfp.sd.gov/userdocs/docs/uplandoutlook_2026.pdf) returned a 404 on direct fetch 2026-08-19; expected within the next 1-2 weeks.

TPWD runs a separate annual roadside pheasant survey (~44 twenty-mile routes across the Panhandle/High Plains, run since 1976) distinct from the quail survey -- confirmed via direct fetch of TPWD's own pheasant management page 2026-08-19. Fieldwork occurs in October-November, later than the August quail-survey window, so no 2026 results can exist yet; long-term population trend is described by TPWD as declining.

Shares UDWR's Upland Game Annual Report with California/Gambel's quail and gray partridge (retrospective, most recent edition 2024-25); no 2025-26 edition found as of 2026-08-19.

Small Champlain Valley numbers occur, mostly private-stocking-derived; VFWD requires a permit to raise and stock pheasant but runs no wild-population survey. No forecast-relevant program exists.

Confirmed absence, higher confidence: Virginia's regulatory framework authorizes ring-necked pheasant only for licensed shooting-preserve release and dog-training/field-trial use, consistent with no wild, surveyed population this far outside the species' Midwest/northern-Plains core range. No VA DWR population survey of any kind exists.

The Eastern Washington Pheasant Enhancement Program (EWPEP) -- a habitat-plus-release effort, ~35,000-40,000 pen-raised birds released annually across ~24 sites, run specifically because WA's wild pheasant population is in long-term decline -- publishes periodic progress reports; the most recent standalone edition found is 2022. A direct fetch of WDFW's EWPEP page on 2026-08-19 found no 2025 or 2026 edition. This is a stocking/habitat-progress report, not a wild-population census, but is the closest thing to an active, dated program for this species.

Confirmed absence: no WVDNR survey or stocking-progress document found for pheasant distinct from the general regulations/season-dates listing (cock-only, statewide). No population program of any kind identified.

This species has no standalone quantitative WGFD survey; it is covered only within WGFD's annual regional "Wyoming Hunt Forecast" narrative (8 regions plus statewide sections, historically mid-to-late August -- 2025 edition Aug. 18, 2025). A fresh WebSearch and direct fetch attempt on 2026-08-19 (one day past the 2025 precedent date) found no 2026 edition published on wgfd.wyo.gov -- a third-party aggregator (Ultimate Upland) already shows 2026 species-level ratings (e.g. chukar POOR; sharp-tailed grouse, pheasant POOR-FAIR, drought-driven) but cites no specific dated WGFD document, so this is treated as corroboration only, not confirmation the WGFD narrative itself has published.