Habitat & Conservation  |  09/09/2022

Fall Journal Takes to the Field


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As pheasant seasons get going, fall’s Pheasants Forever Journal journeys to the hunt, the bird and the habitat mission

By Tom Carpenter

As plans for hunting trips, golden days afield and traditions with family and friends stack up in fall, so do the issues of Pheasants Forever Journal in your mailbox. Yes, right on the heels of your Upland Bird Hunting Super Issue and with the Winter Issue not far behind, it’s time to focus in on pheasant hunting.

Welcome to the Fall Issue of Pheasants Forever Journal!

Here’s what I had to say about our cover:

As much as they glom to tall prairie grass, dense wildflower stems, thorny thickets and mucky cattails, ring-necked pheasants need to get out in the open too. Such are the cases for feeding, pecking grit, pairing off for mating … and shaking the dew from glistening feathers on a fine and golden early fall morning. Meet our cover rooster. May such visions fill your fall, your year, your life and the lives of those that will follow as together we pursue the habitat mission for our namesake bird and all creatures of the uplands.

In your issue, you’ll find a great mix of stories on the elements that make us as Pheasants Forever members tick – pheasant hunting of course, but also creating upland habitat and creatively passing on our outdoor heritage to future generations.

Story Covers

One of the highlights for me in helping put together this issue (for I can only claim the words, not the wonderous presentation from our crack design staff) was this: Coordinating a father-son set of essays from the legendary conservationist and writer John Madson (Pheasants Beyond Autumn) and his son Chris’ modern-day commission for this issue, entitled A Hard School.

If you read those two stories and aren’t ready for pheasant hunting, stop by a hospital to see if you have a pulse.

Mine is pumping for sure —֫ for pheasant season, and for this issue. If you are not yet a PF member, you need to be. Join by September 15 to get on the list for this issue! If you need to renew your membership, that’s the Fall cutoff for you too.


Tom Carpenter, assisted by Lark, is editor at Pheasants Forever.