Do you take a poke at the long range birds ?

PF does assist their members with creating habitat, it is what they do. Not every project they are involved with is going to be public access. They want to create habitat on private or public land, doesn't matter which it is. More habitat means more birds.

It was mentioned above that PF is a non-factor in Kansas, maybe from a lack of support. I just paged through a PF journal and there is a section on recent acquisitions that PF and QF were involved in. It features 10 parcels, these were located in: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota AND a 1,078 acre parcel in KANSAS. These are all open to public hunting. It is a nice article, read it.
 
remy3424 said:
PF does assist their members with creating habitat, it is what they do. Not every project they are involved with is going to be public access. They want to create habitat on private or public land, doesn't matter which it is. More habitat means more birds.

It was mentioned above that PF is a non-factor in Kansas, maybe from a lack of support. I just paged through a PF journal and there is a section on recent acquisitions that PF and QF were involved in. It features 10 parcels, these were located in: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Missouri, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota AND a 1,078 acre parcel in KANSAS. These are all open to public hunting. It is a nice article, read it.
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That's a long way from the 70,000 acres in Minnesota. Like I said, I have been a member since 1995. I should have done the life membership and I still may.
 
westksbowhunter said:
I'm not arguing that with you. Maybe PF as an organization should do more to recruit membership in Kansas. It isn't my fault KS has low membership, I have been contributing for 30 years.
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Awesome !!!
Recruit some people, take some friends with you to the banquets and spend some money. Not generalizing (maybe I am a little) but it seems like the bashers of PF here are often Kansas guys. I put a couple on my "ignore" list, so I don't have to read about it. Until they get strong membership support, they will struggle to be able to finance acquisitions, although, they often team up with County Conservation and other local groups to do those projects. Spending $s at the banquets is where most of the local funds for projects comes from.
 
I’m a landowner in a non-pheasant state. I have to travel to hunt pheasants. We have lots of ducks though. I’m proud of the efforts to create or maintain habitat for wildlife but it doesn’t make me any more aware of it or have some special feeling that means anything to anyone but me. I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that we do some of what we do as landowners so we can hunt it ourselves. Its a little self serving. Its good for wildlife in general but its still being done, in part, so we can hunt it. I do expect anyone I take hunting to be respectful of the game. But I don’t go out there with some feeling of superiority because I managed the habitat.

When I hunted in Kansas it was almost all walk-in land. I had lots of respect for birds there because I knew I would be back next year. Just as much respect for them, if not more, than my own place. I hoped that everyone else that hunted that place did too but I know they didn’t. so it was my responsibility to be as respectful of the game as possible. Taking a long shot on occasion is not being anything other than human. We do it. It may not be the best thing to do, but it happens. Nobody goes hunting hoping they can cripple every bird they shoot at. We all hunt hoping to bring to bag every bird we pull the trigger on. None of us had dogs in Kansas. I can’t remember losing many birds. I’m sure we did, but I’m also sure we let more than that get by us because we didn’t have dogs.

In SD we hunt with dogs. Its great, but you still lose one on occasion.

I’m a member of PF. Thought it was a good idea to put some money into an organization that helps with the game I like to hunt. It may not mean much to anyone but me.
 
remy3424 said:
Awesome !!!
Recruit some people, take some friends with you to the banquets and spend some money. Not generalizing (maybe I am a little) but it seems like the bashers of PF here are often Kansas guys. I put a couple on my "ignore" list, so I don't have to read about it. Until they get strong membership support, they will struggle to be able to finance acquisitions, although, they often team up with County Conservation and other local groups to do those projects. Spending $s at the banquets is where most of the local funds for projects comes from.
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PF needs to do the recruiting. They need to show and tell people in Kansas what they offer.
 
They did just have Pheasant fest in KC. I know its in Missouri but they were trying to make an effort for the southern plains I assume. I'm a member of PF QF and RGS. It is around $100 a year for all three. I also buy my states quail habitat plate every year. All small things but I hope they help.
 
Jake300win said:
They did just have Pheasant fest in KC. I know its in Missouri but they were trying to make an effort for the southern plains I assume. I'm a member of PF QF and RGS. It is around $100 a year for all three. I also buy my states quail habitat plate every year. All small things but I hope they help.
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I bet you could survey 500 pheasant hunters that live in western Kansas, and not a one of them ever heard of the Pheasant Fest in KC. I have been a member for 30 years and didn't know about it. That is what I am talking about. They need to figure out a way to target people living in western Kansas. Maybe it is sending information in the mail, maybe it is social media, but like I said, PF is a non-factor out here.
 
Sounds like they just did the recruiting. If that kind of event doesn't get folks a bit interested, throw some better ideas out.
 
BRITTMAN said:
I have not lost a wounded pheasant in over 4 years of hunting. In the past two decades maybe have lost an average of 1 bird a year. Many years I find quite a few wounded birds ... last year I had my limit without lifting my gun.

Note that I hunt solo 50% of the time, with one other person 40%, and two other people 10% of the time. Most of our shots are close under point and we are relentless (well our dogs are) in pursuit of any bird appearing to be hit.
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Yeah I'll sell you some real estate in Florida.
 
Obi_Wan said:
I’m proud of the efforts to create or maintain habitat for wildlife but it doesn’t make me any more aware of it or have some special feeling that means anything to anyone but me. I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that we do some of what we do as landowners so we can hunt it ourselves. Its a little self serving. Its good for wildlife in general but its still being done, in part, so we can hunt it. I do expect anyone I take hunting to be respectful of the game. But I don’t go out there with some feeling of superiority because I managed the habitat.
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If that creating habitat and seeing the results "doesn't make you any more aware of it or have some special feelings that mean anything to anyone but me", I don't even know how to respond to that.
westksbowhunter said:
An event 400 miles away in a different state, hmmm!
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I wasn't 400 miles from many Kansas hunters. Maybe a mini one in Wichita? I think you are asking for more than they can do for you. They won't put one in my hometown either, but I understand that.
 
Honestly, I don't care who is trying to improve the land. Whether it's the landowners, conservation groups, state agencies, etc. Its certainly a heck of a lot better than tearing out fence lines, removing marginal land, draining swamps/wetlands, planting row crops over every inch of the landscape, and ruining water quality.

With the loss of habitat we've seen over the years, we should all be grateful for what's left.

I used to be a member of DU, PF, NWTF, and BASS. I removed myself from all of them over a decade ago. While I do think there is some benefit to what they're trying to, there is something else going on that most people do not see from the outside: greed.

I still buy multiple hunting licenses/stamps and an angling license every year so a significant portion of those purchases go directly the DNR's mission.
 
remy3424 said:
If that creating habitat and seeing the results "doesn't make you any more aware of it or have some special feelings that mean anything to anyone but me", I don't even know how to respond to that.

I wasn't 400 miles from many Kansas hunters. Maybe a mini one in Wichita? I think you are asking for more than they can do for you. They won't put one in my hometown either, but I understand that.
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From the heart of pheasant hunting it was. I'm not asking them to hold an event in my hometown. They could be advertising on the KDWP website, they could advertise in the Kansas Wildlife magazine. They could send out information to KS hunters explaining what they do. They could use social media to target KS residents. They expanded a parcel of public land that will be used by NR hunters. They need to target resident landowners. Work with them to provide habitat. Not using grant money to improve habitat on public land. They came in worked with KDWP biologists to improve habitat but I would be willing to bet that the money came from tax payers. If you could get landowners to set aside 1% of their land to wildlife habitat, you would see a huge increase in upland bird population in Kansas. I wish Kansas would end the WIHA program and put that money into a habitat program for landowners. We don't need WIHA, we need habitat by private landowners that own 98% of the land in Kansas. Instead of paying them $4 an acre for putting their land in WIHA, pay them to set aside 1% of their land to wildlife habitat. Pay them to use stripper heads for wheat instead of WIHA. Lots of things they can do and something the PF can get behind. That's what we need to see.
 
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Goosemaster said:
I want I think I've only lost three or four this year, and that's because I took bad shots. It's hard to judge range in my opinion.
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I think it comes from experience, it requires a quick decision. If you try and judge range, the bird will be too far by the time you make the judgement.

I shoot a lot of trap and I use that for my basis.

I understand a load of 4 shot going 1400fps has much more killing power and range than an once of 7 shot going 1200fps but there are a butt ton more pellets in the trap load, and a clay target breaks pretty easy. Yes, two or three pellets of 4 shot will kill a bird hit in the right spot but how many will be wounded ?

A clean kill depends on distance, load, choke and skill. The latter restricts my shooting.
 
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