George & Bill, I know that the Union Village Dam used to host a spaniel field trial, where they’d plant a few dozen pheasant down in the park and have the dogs compete to see who could find the most.
We live just above the park and were surprised to find our dog pointing a pheasant a couple hundred yards from our house. That year the event was held in pea-soup fog, and for whatever reason, this led to almost all of those birds escaping the trial and filtering out into the local area. This must be back around 2005 or so. I asked around at the time, and the local ranger said that this was the last time they’d allowed the group to use the park for that purpose, as they’d gotten a lot of complaints - mostly about early morning gunfire rather than introducing pen birds into the park. I believe the fellow who organized that trial used to live over by Miller Pond in Strafford.
Not sure if a pheasant from the UVD area would leak all the way over to Dan & Whits, but Campbell Flats would be likely.
On the topic of ring-necked pheasants, I once (at least 20 years ago?) saw one fly across Main St in Norwich. It's been too long ago to remember the exact spot, but I think it was near Willey Hill Rd, just as you leave the village.
I do remember being quite surprised to see it. I've always assumed it was a released/escaped bird.