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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...

It’s going to take everything I have not to go chasing the birds around the next day or two given the current storm and -40 degree wind chills here in Iowa. The extreme cold really doesn’t bother me or the pups, but I think the guilt of pushing hens out of their winter cover with the weather...

Any experience succesfully getting rid of canary grass, or atleast turning it into more productive upland habitat for a few years? For example, I've heard of the IA DNR mowing/burning, spraying (after the grass starts to come back in), then running a disc through the ground to promote the growth...

Been spending alot of time at our farm trying to cut down and kill as many of the crap soft maple trees as I can along our fencelines bordering our CRP and everywher else. Lots of work to do, but slowly putting a dent in them. Does anyone have any evidence or studies they've read that have shown...

I am a big fan of my crispi boots for bird hunting here in Iowa (have used the Guide GTX the last couple of years). They are not cheap, but I believe you get what you pay for, and with hundreds of miles each Fall, they are well worth it IMO. However, after a year or so, despite constant...

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.