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Show Nature Takes Toll of Utah Pheasant Crop Pheasants have an average 70 per cent population loss each year whether they are hunted or not, according to Darrell Nish, biologist for the Utah Division of Fish and Game. The same fact holds true for other upland game species with high reproductive reproduc-tive rates. Contrary to the opinion of some persons, these species cannot be stockpiled to multiply mul-tiply indefinitely. If the surplus sur-plus birds are not harvested by hunters, nature steps in and takes her toll. Game bird populations decline because the habitat declines, not because be-cause of hunting pressure. |