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Figured it was about time to start the annual brood sightings report thread. Haven't seen or heard of any reports here yet in Eastern Iowa, will probably be at least a week or two. Been a tough Spring so far with tons of rain and lots of flooding. Anyone else seeing or hearing any reports of...

On public lands, cattails early season can be very fruitful in my experience. Whether or not they want to be in there relative to other areas, I'm not sure, but that tends to be where other hunters aren't when its warm early season, and where the hunters aren't, the birds are. Agree with Golden...

Yes, there is a creek that is very prone to flooding running through. On one hand, that's how we got the ground for the price we did, but will generally be the limiting factor. About 40 of the 170 acres is dry. Good thing hens are pretty resilient nesters.

Unfortunately, most of our recently planted food plots and a good deal of our CRP is flooded. Pics below:

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. As much as we "like" to see certain species of grasses and forbes, I don't think the birds care near as much as we do. Some of my best hunting has been in big fields of almost nothing buy giant ragweed. Ugly, yes, but great habitat, absolutely. We get plenty of...

Well, we had a good Spring in our neck of the woods for a couple of weeks. Pretty significant flooding here in Eastern Iowa today and a good chunk of our farms CRP acres are underwater unfortunately. Hopefully things dry up and we get some decent weather for a successful second attempt for our hens!

That is exactly what I would like to create. Even some thistles and stuff, while not ideal, have to be better that dense, sod bound grasses.

I am thinking maybe a few passes deep, and then one or two light passes over the top to smooth it out some might help? I just can't help but think the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Even if its just a few 30-40 yard strips here and there. Our cover is DENSE. I can't imagine chicks being able...

One last concern to add to the list.. turning smooth walking ground into really rough ground. How would one go about "leveling" off the ground after disking so it is not such an ankle breaker to walk through?

Probably belongs in the Habitat Forum, but seems like posts get more eyeballs in the general forum. My question is regarding strip disking. Has this practice been utilized by any on their farms or acres under their management to improve the habitat quality on existing CRP acres for...

It has been a good spring so far this year indeed. Hoping to get out there tomorrow and check on things!

We abide by the 1/3 rule on our property. Takes a bit more work on the burning, but well worth it IMO. I think everything with habitat comes down to diversity, and having 3 sections of a field that are perpetually in 3 different stages of succession can only help with nests initiation, survival...

Update: got out and seeded a mix of clovers and alfalfa between all the rows and 30ft around the perimeter of the whole planting. Hoping it will double as a good firebreak as well as excellent brood-rearing and help keep weed pressure down. Also seeded about 1/2 acre of pure cave-rock switch...

We used to be very laid back about burning.. more or less light it and see what happens.. then we had to call the FD to keep it from taking out all of our CRP a few years back, and since then we've got a good sprayer, and are much more calculated with our burns/timing/approach. I really enjoy...

Pictures posted above. Not great pictures, as most of what I took were videos, but can't figure out how to upload those from my phone. ~1400 trees in the ground. Outside snow fence planted with all ninebark. Inside that outside snow catch will be switch grass (seeding that this upcoming...

Iowa Outdoor Recreation & Public Lands Targeted in House File 2104 & Senate Study Bill 3129 Outdoor recreation, public land, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are under attack in Iowa's current legislative session. House File 2104 and companion bill Senate Study Bill 3129 both...

I couldn't agree more. I get more "utility" out of our farm outside of hunting season than during.. cutting trees, spraying, planting, etc.

Established some new firebreaks this year in our CRP planting. Pretty heavily dominated by NWSG, but there is a forb component. Would like to seed the fire breaks down to something very beneficial for brood rearing. Was thinking some like this...

Well after getting pummeled with snow and cold temps the past two weeks, we are finally set to see temps in the 30's and 40's the next 10 days or so. If the weather cooperates, we may be able to get rid of most of the snow pack by early February, it looks like we may be able to salvage a...