Annual weeds should be allowed to grow around abandoned farmsteads, buildings and other idle areas, but shredding or grazing may be needed so weeds do not get too thick or tall. Allowing vegetation to grow around tail water pits and waterways supplies good nesting habitat. They all reduce the number of chicks raised. The habitat needed for brooding and nesting is similar. Brood habitat must provide abundant insect food, because insects are the major food source for pheasants their first three weeks.
Plant material becomes progressively more important after the first three weeks.
The mortality rate tends to increase if a chick's diet contains a lower percentage of insects. Crops or other monocultures do not provide good brood habitat, and the best recommendation is to let abandoned farmsteads, wetlands, and roadsides grow up with weedy vegetation. In late fall and winter, pheasants often concentrate in areas of extensive loafing and roosting cover, in close proximity to a good food source. At this time of year, wooded areas or other areas are sought out to provide protection from snow, bitter cold and high winds. While winter food is usually available, cover is often inadequate, therefore limiting much of the pheasants' range in Montana.