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Where to hunt ring-necked pheasant near Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from WDNR · 2026 season year

There are 13 public units within 40 miles of Oshkosh, Wisconsin that hold ground where ring-necked pheasant is recorded — 43,948 acres of it. The most of it is in White River Marsh Wildlife Area, 23.2 miles out, with 12,608 recorded acres. The closest is Glacial Habitat Restoration - Lm at 6.1 miles. The season runs October 17, 2026 to January 3, 2027 — 79 days afield, read against the 2026 season year from WDNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with WDNR before you park.

Public land within 40 miles of Oshkosh

Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.

Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where ring-necked pheasant is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.

WDNR names no geographic restriction on this season, so no unit is excluded for being outside one.
Season geography here is read off a dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.

UnitClassMilesRecorded acresAcres in rangeWhere the records are
White River Marsh Wildlife Area State wildlife area 23.2 12,608 12,608 100% regular
Horicon Wildlife Area State wildlife area 34.5 11,169 11,169 100% regular
Grand River Marsh Wildlife Area part of the unit State wildlife area 36 5,978 5,978 100% regular
Glacial Habitat Restoration - Lm State wildlife area 6.1 4,943 9,349 53% regular, 16% occasional, 31% no records
Theresa Wildlife Area part of the unit State wildlife area 32.8 4,856 4,856 100% regular
Germania Wildlife Area State wildlife area 35 2,354 2,354 100% regular
Glacial Habitat Restoration - Sd part of the unit State wildlife area 30.3 798 798 100% regular
Statewide Habitat Areas - Sd part of the unit State wildlife area 35.7 478 478 100% regular

13 units clear the circle in all and the 8 holding the most recorded ground are named. The rest are ground a reader would drive past something better to reach.

A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with WDNR before you park.

Season and limits

WDNR's dates for the 2026 season year, read from WDNR. Wisconsin lists this season as Ring-necked pheasant.

SegmentOpensClosesDays
Statewide October 17, 2026January 3, 202779
Open today
Shut — next opening October 17, 2026
Bag limit
not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current WDNR regulations before you go.
Hunter orange
requiredAt least 50% of clothing above the waist, and any head covering, must be blaze orange or fluorescent pink any time a firearm deer season is in progress. This applies to small game and archery hunters, not only to deer hunters. Waterfowl hunters are exempt.
Shooting hours
not carried

What to walk when you get there

The seam between grass nesting cover and grain: switchgrass and CRP-style fields, cattail sloughs, weedy fencelines and picked corn. A pheasant runs before it flies, so the cover that matters is the cover it can run through.

Work fields toward a hard edge — a road, a ditch, a corner — so running birds run out of ground rather than out the far end. Blocking a corner is worth more than another pass through the middle.

Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.

Read next

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