That's what I would have thought, but hearing some guys talk about finding quail frozen to the ground has me a little worried
The wheat can use the moisture it won't hurt it any either. There is some wheat that doesn't look good, very uneven emergence. I dug some up and the seed is sprouted in the bare spots but not emerged. This could actually be good for the pheasants, if it emerges this spring it will delay harvest. It won't yield very good, but crop insurance wont zero it out if it comes up.Not too worried about the birds. How about the wheat?
It is pretty bad out here. Lots of tree's down. Over a 1/2 inch of ice. It's the ice balls on the beaks that cause the problems.
Rush County. Again it has nothing to do with a lack of food as the ice should melt off on Tuesday or Wednesday. Here is a thread to show you what ice will do. http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6594Where are you at, westksbowhunter?
This weather we are getting isn't bad enough to affect the birds, if it were we wouldn't have any pheasants or quail. Look at the forecast for this next week. It's 32 in Dodge now, with 34 for a high tomorrow, then 44 Tuesday and then 50's for the rest of the week. Now if it were to last several more days, or get a foot of snow on the back side of the storm followed by severe cold I may be worried. This isn't anything to worry about.
Biggest concern is starvation with these types of things. With good cover, the ice shouldn't be a major concern. I could be wrong but this one isn't sticking around as long as some past bird killers. It takes more than three days to starve them.
I've seen birds make it through worse. Actually, western Oklahoma had a bad ice storm a year ago in early December. Birds were getting skinny after four or five days but they made it fine.
Just got back from hunting in western Kansas. This is going to be very bad for the pheasants and quail. You have to be on site to understand how bad it is! Sure, it will warm up Tuesday or Wednesday but by then tons of birds will already be dead. I left hunting early because I couldn't stand to see all my hunting spots covered with ice. It rained all Saturday night and froze instantly. It was raining hard this morning and turned to snow at times. Glad I got back home safely where it is a balmy 47F. By the way, the back roads are a MESS!