The new phone book is here!!!!!

benelli-banger

Well-known member
reference from the movie "The Jerk"....brood count survey is here! Decent gains, especially in areas I hunt! Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen up 38%, 38% and 51% respectively....not bad!!!!
 
Well thats good news--I hope that it holds true and is not as spotty as last year. Its really hot today and I hope they weather this ok--Platte is 108 with12% RH and 25 MPH winds and it has not rained there since the 1st and 2nd of Aug.--Same for Lake Andes.

Still really good news--go to SDGFP web site under hunting and Pheasant then click on 2012 Pheasant Outlook OR http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasant-outlook.aspx :thumbsup::thumbsup::cheers::D
 
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Those numbers do not seem that great. Still way below the 10 year average. Given the mild winter and spring it would appear that the drought hurt pheasant numbers harder than we think.
 
I do think the drought has some impact but I'm more convinced that the lack of cover may be a larger factor. The routes driven may have lost some significant cover and they just were't seeing numbers. I think the birds will be more concentrated this year. It's not like we didn't see birds last year....we did.....but we worked harder for them. It should be a pretty decent year this year......the lack of CRP scares me for next year
 
Good So Far

My area is up. Even though last year was down for bird numbers, I had one of my best years. It's looking good so far!

Lock and Load! :D
 
I think many will be pleasantly surprised by the birds out there this year.:thumbsup: At least where there's unmowed habitat!
 
crp loss has got to be a factor....so, where you do have cover you prob ably have some pretty good #'s...again, crp loss will hurt going forward, which we have known for many years...hunt where you can and enjoy what you can...as I have said before, I don't need 500 or 1000 bird flushes to be content...singles, doubles, triples are fine with me!
 
crp loss has got to be a factor....so, where you do have cover you prob ably have some pretty good #'s...again, crp loss will hurt going forward, which we have known for many years...hunt where you can and enjoy what you can...as I have said before, I don't need 500 or 1000 bird flushes to be content...singles, doubles, triples are fine with me!

Makes you wonder if this will be the last decent year for some time to come:confused:

It's sad to think that way, but a very real, very possible outcome from what's going on:(.
 
There is a lot of truth in that report, especialy the crop insurance. I heard a guy on the radio talking about the demand for fertilizer being up next year. So I suppose there will be even more pressure to produce next year. You make an interesting comment about tresspass fees. I have a quarter of CRP that expires after next year. I am in the hunting business and would like to hear some opinions on what I should do. When I am figuring out the future of that quarter would you rather I put it back in CRP and raise my prices if it is needed to make it work or plant it to crops. Thanks, this is something that I have been thinking about for awhile and seriously would appreciate some input.
 
reference from the movie "The Jerk"....brood count survey is here! Decent gains, especially in areas I hunt! Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen up 38%, 38% and 51% respectively....not bad!!!!

I love "The Jerk" reference. I have a poster in my garage with that line on it along with a picture of Navin R. Johnson looking at the phonebook.
 
There is a lot of truth in that report, especialy the crop insurance. I heard a guy on the radio talking about the demand for fertilizer being up next year. So I suppose there will be even more pressure to produce next year. You make an interesting comment about tresspass fees. I have a quarter of CRP that expires after next year. I am in the hunting business and would like to hear some opinions on what I should do. When I am figuring out the future of that quarter would you rather I put it back in CRP and raise my prices if it is needed to make it work or plant it to crops. Thanks, this is something that I have been thinking about for awhile and seriously would appreciate some input.



Haymaker,

What is the income potential with recreational value vs agricultural value?

With recreation, (as a hunter yourself) you get the satisfaction of being able to look out over that quarter, and see the wildlife that abounds there... If you are in the hunting business, you also have to deal with the PITA of the day to day operation of who and how many and how much...


With it in a corn, bean rotation, or whatever you want to do, you dont have to mess with the day to day things..

The wildlife will not just vacate the 1/4 just because it has changed..


Ultimatley, this boils down to the money difference for you to even consider this.... Its a hard decision to make...
 
There is a lot of truth in that report, especialy the crop insurance. I heard a guy on the radio talking about the demand for fertilizer being up next year. So I suppose there will be even more pressure to produce next year. You make an interesting comment about tresspass fees. I have a quarter of CRP that expires after next year. I am in the hunting business and would like to hear some opinions on what I should do. When I am figuring out the future of that quarter would you rather I put it back in CRP and raise my prices if it is needed to make it work or plant it to crops. Thanks, this is something that I have been thinking about for awhile and seriously would appreciate some input.

a mix of both?
 
If a CO drives the same 30 mile route as he did 20 or 10 or 5 years ago but there is 50% less good habitat on that route, of course overall #'s will be down....say, by 50%....but, where there is cover, there could be bird concentration's as high as there were years ago...not saying there is at this time, but one needs to look at the big picture...one several square mile area that has good diversity of food, cover and water may have terrific #'s again at some point...even as statewide or regionwide #'s are down.
 
There is a lot of truth in that report, especialy the crop insurance. I heard a guy on the radio talking about the demand for fertilizer being up next year. So I suppose there will be even more pressure to produce next year. You make an interesting comment about tresspass fees. I have a quarter of CRP that expires after next year. I am in the hunting business and would like to hear some opinions on what I should do. When I am figuring out the future of that quarter would you rather I put it back in CRP and raise my prices if it is needed to make it work or plant it to crops. Thanks, this is something that I have been thinking about for awhile and seriously would appreciate some input.

Haymaker there's no reason you should LOSE money. We've all had this discussion before about the trespass fees. What is reasonable? As a traveling hunter 11.5 hours from home what am I willing to pay? If I go with my 2 kids as it stands now at $150 per gun and up I'm screwed. I would like you to keep it in CRP and charge a modest trespass fee to recoup what you "MAY" have lost with the crop.....which today is a gamble in itself.......
 
If a CO drives the same 30 mile route as he did 20 or 10 or 5 years ago but there is 50% less good habitat on that route, of course overall #'s will be down....say, by 50%....but, where there is cover, there could be bird concentration's as high as there were years ago...not saying there is at this time, but one needs to look at the big picture...one several square mile area that has good diversity of food, cover and water may have terrific #'s again at some point...even as statewide or regionwide #'s are down.

BB, you are in the math business so help me out with the numbers here.

If we were down 50% last year on a spot and are up 50% this year does that mean the spot is back to the numbers we had last?

So overall the state is up 18% which is good but down 31% on the 10 year average which is not good. I think the 31% down number is the most significant metric in the report.

One could make assumption that drought did have impact as Winner routes were unchanged from last year and Chamberlain/Yankton routes were down.
 
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Concern/Question????

Should we be concerned that the details of the report indicate that surveyors counted 15% less roosters than 2011, statewide? Offset by a 5% increase in hens and an increase in total broods of 19%? Not sure what to think of counting 15% less roosters.
 
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