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One last thing, we’ve got some shelter belt plantings that are a few years old, and plenty of horse weeds and thickets for winter cover, so I definitely don’t think winter cover/food is any sort of limiting factor. Surrounded mostly by crop fields as well, and we have a couple small food plots...

Have the chance to enroll the final 10 acres of our farm in CP42. Rewind a bit, located in Iowa and currently have about 170 acres that we’ve been working with the last 3-4 years. Of those acres, it currently consists roughly of -45% restored wetlands/pasture in more of a grassy mix as it is...

Anyone seeing any broods of chicks yet? Nothing for me here in Eastern, IA, however I'm in very low pheasant density areas and usually don't see many at any point in the year.

IMO the next few weeks are crucial.. no big floods and steady consistent temps and I think we will be golden!

That is good feedback LOL. Hoping I can stay ahead of that and keep plugging away. For as many trees as we have cut, it seems like there's always more to be done - I suppose that's the fun in managing your own property!

While you are probably correct in reducing hunter numbers, is he instead saying that reducing bag limits may provide more opportunities for more people to harvest birds longer into the season on public? That's just my 2 cents. If it's anything like Iowa however, you rarely see people limiting on...

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense too me!

Outside of just now wanting chemicals in the ground from an environmental standpoint, is creating a "dead zone" around groves of undesirable silver maples, etc., along fence lines really a bad thing? IMO, it would make eventually clearing out/piling/burning downed trees easier to have less...

As spring sets in here in Iowa, do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions for killing cut trees as the sap is starting to push out? I've heard Tordon is not nearly as effective this time of year, and don't want to waste efforts.

Costs, as far as environmental/knock-on effects? Or monetary costs? For me, if I can even make a marginal difference (I am 100% in agreement that birds and predators have coexisted forever) then it is time/money well spent. I have always subsribed to the habitat is king argument, and that the...

The more I think about our property, the more I think we really need to tackle the trees. We have put a pretty good dent in them, focusing mostly on fencelines surrounding the "prime" nesting habitat outside of the flood plain. While it seems like the verdict is still out for some on the impacts...

I've done a fair amount of digging, and from what I can tell I've seen references to brome grass as well as bluegrass as preferred nesting for Huns. I always thought the burn buffers surrounding our CRP (i believe a mix of clovers, rye, etc.) would provide the type of nesting habitat they...

Relative to pheasant and quail, there is very little research (that I have seen) regarding habitat management for hungarian partridge, or huns. In Iowa, they are a bird that I stumble upon probably 1/10 hunts while out looking for pheasants. I haven't found much rhyme or reason to why they are...

Pheasants are the main priority, so I am thinking we should start treating everything.. Agree with your comments, I think the shooters provide decent all around habitat early on but it doesn't take long for them to get out of hand and to the point where they aren't actually helping pheasants.

For all of you habitat guys, I want to pose a question. On our property, we have cut several hundred trees the last year or two along fence lines and things at our farm (all bordering CRP). The fence lines were full of 5" - 20" diameter 10'-20' soft maple trees (mostly). We pretty much hinge cut...

I try not to get too worked up about the weather, as it is the one thing we can't control with regard to bird numbers. With that being said, other than a relatively rough January (here in eastern IA/Southern IA), I think this is shaping up to be a very mild winter. I could be very wrong, and we...

You are very correct there.. sometimes it can be too a fault! They sure are a fun dog to hunt with, but when they get birdie you better be ready to keep up!

Any easy resource you guys use to identify “crap” trees? Outside of dead elm trees (which I can identify from mushroom hunting), I am pretty useless with tree ID. Seems like google searches and such can take me down rabbit holes, second guessing everything. I think we are dealing with alot if...

With regards to the wet areas, I wonder if it is a losing battle? Our farm had wetland ponds dug (several thousands of dollars in escavating) and the ponds only hold water when it floods - and there would have been water there regardelss of the ponds or not. However, just this past year with the...