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Thanks, I'm very excited to see the results over a few years. I expect to see better soil health, and less runoff. The problem of research money is certainly an issue. One of the points of this system is to improve profit by using natural systems (crop rotation and cover crops to suppress...

I should add that from a financial perspective my new farm tenant offered me more or less the same cash rent that conventional farmers would offer in this area. He agreed to cover crop all acres for the duration of the lease. He also agreed to do "non-conventional" practices on 20% of the...

Rented the farm to a different breed of farmer this year. He is doing “regenerative” farming a la Gabe Brown. What I’m seeing in IL is that $1,000/ac gross revenue and $50/ac+ cash rent losses on CRP acres (at the low end we will see $100+ downside this year if corn prices stay above $5) have...

Saw my first pheasant of the year will driving down IL-78. I believe it was just South of Prophetstown. Nice health looking rooster picking gravel. Hoping for a good year. Haven't seen or heard any of the quail on my property yet. I sure hope they survived that week of super cold snowy...

Missouri Department of Conservation has a download for quail friendly plants that is pretty good, and many of these plants are throughout the pheasant range too: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/mp903

Drove down to Ashkum along I-57. The combines were out picking crops, and I saw 4 pheasants between Herscher and Ashkum. Another guy we were going to eat with was coming from Watseka. He likewise reported seeing several birds along the road between Watseka and Ashkum. The other thing I would...

If you want to do a lodge you might try Richard at Triple Creek Outfitters in Hudson. I hunted with him last year and he has pretty good wild bird properties to hunt, and great food. He just built a new lodge this year that looks fantastic. The only caveat would be he is primarily a deer...

If people don't find birds they stop hunting. When they stop hunting the DNR has no money to pay for walk in. Everyone loses. In 2001 there were 5.43 million small game hunters. In 2016 there were 3.5 million. How much walk in do you suppose the states will dedicate to bird habitat when...

I made a rather drastic change in the way we do business on my family farm this year. We rented it to a "regenerative" farmer, who incorporates cover crops and cattle grazing, along with crop rotations other than corn/bean. The other talking point is minimal pesticides - and I think insect...

Looks like a great hunt! Just returned from my first trip to ND. We did not have quite so much luck, but three of us killed 16 sharpies over 4 days of hunting. We did not see any Huns unfortunately. I saw more birds in NW ND than I did last year in NE MT. The weather was kind of a buzz...

I hunted walk-in SW of Holdrege NE last year December. Killed a couple of pheasants. Missed a couple. Shots were generally LONG. I wish I brought a tighter choked gun. Generally speaking most of the CRP fields I hit had a bird or two - whether a couple birds per field is "worth it" is a...

Keeping my fingers crossed! Drove out to the farm in Henry Co a couple weeks ago to check a planting, and a pollintor plot. Flushed two quail from some clover by the road while walking in to take a look, and heard a quail call a little way down. Staying hopeful.

Last fall was rough on the farm. My farmer mowed most of my CRP without asking so he could spray for thistle. Saw 2 nice coveys opening weekend despite lack of cover on the majority of the property. Then a heavy wet snow hit and smashed what was left _flat_ as a pancake. Never saw another...

I don't ask to be mean, just an observation. 4th year hunting KS. Went to a steak restaurant in Mankata on Thursday night around 7. 3 of us and 2 ladies in a place with a couple dozen tables. Only 1 waitress working. Owner asks us if we're hunting pheasants. Says 20 or 30 years ago he...

Farm is high quality corn/bean ground in Western IL, just south of I-80. Thinking about talking to my farmer about setting aside 5 to 10 acres of small grains on my family's farm next spring. I currently have about 2 coveys of quail using some CRP on the property. I think I could add maybe...

:) Went out to the property today to check my CRP and shrub/covey headquarter plantings. The bad news is the mid-contract management plantings on the filter strips look horrible (dead grass and weeds), and at least half of the shrub seedlings I planted in the spring appear dead or choked out...

Well I didn't plan ahead and my bare root shrubs are here. I have 400 to put in the ground ASAP (this Monday!) because of travel and work. I had planned to spray my covey headquarters area with Glyphosate to set the brome grass back before I planted the shrubs. Now my window is short! So can...

I think we all know how pathetic the public land hunting is for upland bird hunters in IL, but I never knew how truly bad it was. I was looking around on the IL DNR website and I see they publish an annual report of hunter trips and harvest on the 215 IL DNR managed hunting sites...

Anyone have a recommendation for a knowledgeable grouse guide anywhere in the Mercer or Park Falls areas for a reasonable price? I have never hunted grouse before and would not like to waste days hunting cover that doesn't hold birds because I don't know what to look for. Looked all over the...

NW IL farm. Thinking about a small habitat project for the fall. One of the things that the property lacks is a so called "covey headquarters" type habitat. The information I got from Univ of MO has some recommendations such as dogwood, hazelnut, plum. Thicket type woody cover. USDA sheets...