Douglas County Il Pheasants Forever Chapter

05/28/2026

Heads up Douglas County and surrounding areas we are Breaking Clays for Habitat! Come out and enjoy a morning at Olde Barn Sporting Clays with your local Chapter as we host this outdoor shooting event in one of the greatest nations on the planet! Check the attached flyer for details!

04/25/2026

The great thing about the pollinator habitat is it reseeds itself for years after the initial seeding. This is year 6 coming up now after a fire treatment back in February

04/25/2026

Heads up folks be on the look out for details about our sporting clays event being planned for Saturday August 29th at Old Barn Sporting Clays Oakland Illinois! Chapter committee members have just reserved the date and will be getting details finalized in the upcoming days to provide team and sponsor opportunities for the shoot! Details to Follow! Riggs is hanging on anticipation for this event!

04/24/2026

The neighbors and I got there 3 acres planted with the help of their kids Grant and Kelsey as well. This project included wildflowers, pollinator along with patches of tall grasses for roosting and shelter from winter weather and a food plot to keep the wildlife fed! There are only 3 families that reside on our road and all 3 shared a part our neighbor Jeff Brooks loaned his tractor and disk to the project as well. Now if the Good Lord will sprinkle a little water on this the next set of photos should look different !

04/22/2026

Neighbors here in Douglas County putting in the work disking up a recently sprayed pasture for a 3 acre habitat project that will be seeded with a planned layout to offer tall thicker grasses in patches to support cold weather roosting shelter, along with shorter cool season grasses and food plots, planted to offer shelter and feeding opportunities with differing wind and weather situations in mind. Pheasants were in here last summer we are trying to improve what they had last year to make it even more inviting. Pollinator and sunflowers will allow for some picturesque sunsets this summer

04/19/2026

Even planting a small patch of habitat can have big effects. Bees, Butterfly’s, and a lot of other insects birds and wildlife use all sizes of habitat to their benefit. When growing up milkweed was a common as a fly or sparrow now milkweed almost eradicated from the rural scene is on the comeback with the help of people willing to plant pollinator and other seed blends in wild spaces, and residential places as well. In the photos attached we have planted pollinator seed mixes along out driveway and in a flower bed featuring a horse drawn hay rake here at our home. When it comes to habitat like this it reseeds itself it likes fire in the late winter early springtime. Also I take some of the seeds it produces and spread them in some of my hunting sports as well.

While we all enjoy large tracts of habitat supporting wildlife in the area we all know how much the small spots mean as well!

Think about planting an area to support wildlife on your property or in your yard, raised bed, planter pots, or support purchasing seed for a planting in the community!

Our chapter here in Douglas County has already been busy this spring getting seed in the ground and acres burned to reset for Spring 2026! We are still working on projects when the rain cooperates as well!
Thanks

Ryan Bowles
Chapter President Douglas County Pheasants Forever #529

03/29/2026

Checkout some of the best habitat information you can find!

Introducing Habitat University!

Habitat University (HU) is a new educational initiative from Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever that features free, self-paced, how-to courses online.

The goal of HU is simple: provide practical training that helps develop more and better-equipped habitat managers, putting quality upland habitat on the ground. These courses are designed for anyone looking to implement or improve habitat projects, with a focus on clear, skills-based instruction you can apply right away.

Explore Habitat University and see all the available courses here: https://bit.ly/3NrdTt1

03/24/2026

What a great evening for some habitat upgrade prep. Ryan and Ryan finished off the rest of the 3 acre patch and discussed what seed mixes and food plot types that could possibly be going into to this patch.

03/22/2026

Spent sometime outside today helping make a difference for wildlife. Planted some food plot and cover seed on some very nice acreage for habitat! We have some more to plant if you’re looking to get your project planted or need help figuring out what to do let us know we have the resources to help!