Washington State Raising Pheasants So Hunters Can Bag Their Birds

Pheasant hunting is big business in Western Washington. Every year thousands of hunters hit the marshes and grassy fields to bag those birds. But, if it wasn’t for the State’s Fish and Wildlife Department pheasant season wouldn’t get off the ground.

For the last 50 years the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has been raising and releasing pheasants at Bob Oke Game Farm in Centralia. This massive operation provides local hunters with wild game and it doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.

There are many familiar sights and sounds at the Game Farm. Farmer Chris White says the state is raising pheasants so hunters in Western Washington get a chance to bag them later.

“Put forth quite a bit of funding and money into this facility that has helped out in the propagation of raising pheasants and releasing them throughout Western Washington where they don't reproduce naturally,” said White.

White says a lack of agriculture on this side of the Cascades is what keeps the birds from reproducing.

“I raise around 40 to 42,000 and 40,000 of those will go out to Western Washington for the hunters,” said White.

So, after the pheasants are hatched on the 167 acre game farm they’re released for 5,000 hunters to track down.

“We're providing the opportunity for pheasant farmers to hunt on the Westside who maybe don't have the time or monies to make it over to the east side,” said White.

The birds also provide an economic boost to local businesses like gun and ammo stores and restaurants and hotels.

“The purpose is to help the hunters, the hunting population of pheasants in Western Washington in the fall months,” said White.

According to White hunters not taxpayers are shelling out the money to raise the birds.

“We have a pheasant card that's a $90 pheasant license that all pheasant hunters in Western Washington purchase and that money goes directly towards the operational costs of this farm,” said White.

To make sure the population continues to grow 2,000 pheasants will be kept as breeders to lay eggs in the springtime.

Chris says some of the birds that stay in the wild are repopulating. Pheasant season is the third week of September. The Department of Fish and Wildlife releases pheasants until Thanksgiving Day, but you can still hunt until the second week of December.