The time required to lay a clutch of eggs, incubate them, and rear the young makes producing two broods in one summer next to impossible. If a hen were to start a clutch in early May, it would be August before she could begin again. There is just not enough time for her to repeat the process. However, radio-telemetry studies in which hens were fitted with small radio transmitters and their activities closely monitored, have shown that a few hens that have lost their chicks within a few days of hatching will adopt an existing clutch of eggs and hatch them. Even in these cases two broods are not successfully raised by one hen.
Summer is also an important season for pheasant management.
Among the most difficult studies of pheasant populations is the accurate counting of broods. The summer census provides information about the success of the nesting season, of juvenile mortality, and contributes to setting hunting season regulations. North Dakota Game and Fish Department personnel conduct late summer roadside counts by traveling the same routes each year. This system provides quantitative pheasant information by area, that can be compared from year to year. These figures are used as post-breeding population indices suggesting population trends from area to area and from year to year.