Larry, east of the Susquehanna River was the main stay for PA pheasant populations as the state flattens out, relatively speaking, creating a better habitat. I hate to get into the reason or reasons their populations have declined as there are many differing opinions and heated debates concerning same.
I guess Larry it’s sufficient to say and to repeat what many of us have heard way too many times here in PA, especially during the time when the mills were all closing, “They’re gone boys and they ain’t coming back.”