The Newtown Bee in Connecticut ran a story about a lonesome pheasant rooster as it reminisced about how old CT used to be: pastureland and fields, dairy farms. The Bee suggests the landscape has changed along with the wildlife. Deer, coyote and even black bear are denizens of our quaint and McMansionish cul-de-sacs. The lone rooster, however, seems the odd bird out. You see pheasant are rarely seen after the fall hunting season because of northeast's harsh weather, loss of habitat and sustainable food, and predators. So how did this bird find its way to CT? States in the northeast run pheasant stocking programs. Pen-raised pheasant are release on public lands during small game season for pheasant hunters. These released birds are put-and-take, much like stocked trout, and are expected to be harvested. Few hold over for next year. That’s why it is such an oddity to find this rooster in a CT backyard crowing for some companionship while visiting a backyard birdfeeder. Some bird hunters don’t partake of pheasant stocking programs saying it isn’t true hunting, that it’s a canned hunt. I think this old rooster has a different story to cluck about. He’s the one that got away along with 30 others according to reports by the CT Audubon Society. And that is proof of fair chase. That's a good thing. I’ll continue to hunt CT’s public lands and fight to save any lands that may come under the developer’s bulldozer. I will also support rod and gun clubs purchasing land and releasing pheasant on those lands. And to use Gorham Cross' words we'll leave a seed bird or two for next year.