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Curious to get others thoughts on firebreaks. On one hand, we all know that prescribed fire is critical to maintaining high quality pheasant habitat (primarily for nesting/brood rearing), so fire is almost a given in any well thought out management plan. We have our CRP acres on a 3 year burn...

Didn't have the chance to post on here as much as I'd have liked throughout the season, but needless to say it was another good one. The Highlights Flushed ~2,600 birds Harvested 345 Iowa roosters - a new best for me - yes this includes ALL roosters harvested on hunts I was on. Harvested...

Does round up ready sorghum exist? Despite pre emerge, etc., it always seems like our sorghum plots are full of foxtail by mid-summer. We get our Sorghums seed free via PF, but would be open to buying some if there was a RUR variety out there? Would make things a whole lot easier, and could...

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...

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!

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...

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...

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...

Here is my excel sketch for the Shelter Belt/Food Plot combo we will be planting on our new farm this spring. Property is all crop now, about 120 acres. Will be renting this year and hoping to get it all into a program by the following year. Eastern Iowa. Any suggestions? for shrubs, will be...

This was sparked from a comment in another thread, but thought it may be worth its own thread. Pheasants are the only thing I seriously hunt. I'll shoot a handful of bonus partridge and quail each year, but the primary focus is on pheasants. They are tough to kill completely dead, at least for...

Was fortunate enough to make it out hunting for at-least a quick hunt all but 15 days this past season in Iowa. Some of these were very quick "golden hour" hunts, but I had a few weeks of PTO, hunted every weekend, and didn't miss a Holiday. Very lucky to have a flexible work schedule. Of the...

Against my better judgement, I think I am going to head out this afternoon for a quick hunt and then take the day off work tomorrow to chase birds on the final day. About 6" of snow here in Eastern IA and still falling. If we had had some more snow to hunt earlier this year I don't think I'd be...

Just thinking out loud, but the mild temperatures + increased hunting pressure throughout the State has made for some pretty slow hunting (relatively speaking) for me over the past couple of weeks. Roosters are relatively rare (probably 8:1 hen/rooster ratio on average) right now, and the...

Will anyone else be out for the youth hunt tomorrow in Iowa? My dad and I will be taking along two kids, one has a decent amount of prior hunting experience (not so much pheasants) and the other is pretty green. Looks like it's going to be a bit windier and warmer that I'd prefer, but hopefully...

We have generally always defaulted to burning in the Spring as it seems like that was conventionally the way to do it. However, I've recently become more intrigued with the idea of prescribed burning in the fall, for a couple of reasons. 1) Supposed to be more beneficial to forbes than grasses...

Just wanted to get a thread going for any updates from people starting to see broods this summer. Heard of one sighting last week in Eastern IA, however I'm not completely sold. Have not seen any yet out at our farm the past couple of weekends. I am optimistic that this dry weather should lead...

I've posted on here before looking for some input on trying to rid a few areas of canary grass (mostly lower laying non-crp ground or old pasture). What I gathered is that it would be a significant challenge, but I figured we'd give it a try. Burned about 1 1/2 months ago and then started a...

Would like to have a thread for people to share pictures of their habitat, whether established or in the process of. Shelter belts, food plots, new seedings, renovations, tree cuttings, whatever it is. If no pictures to share, what are projects you have planned before next fall? For me, it's...

Just thinking out loud.. but this winter weather we've had has to be awesome for the birds. Outside of the blizzard and a few days of brutal temperatures, a good portion of the state has had mild temperatures and next to nothing as far as snow pack so far this year. I don't think the conditions...