So this is (was) the DNR info page on this.
https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2019/09/17/stocked-pheasant-hunts-held-in-six-counties-across-maryland
More extensive stocking than I understood from the first post. So one could hunt after the restricted hunt, as BigMan indicated.
Still think its wrong that lapsed hunters are given a priority over regular hunters.
As for pheasants in the wild, I took a pic of a pheasant I saw from the road on the eastern shore back in 2015. Several in that thread thought thought it was one that had made it off a game farm...
https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=172560
Don't pile on me for this, but I think DNR is right to encourage lapsed hunters to return to the field. They may be doing this to counteract the "Gunz R bad, m'kay" crowd. If so, kudos to them.