A Holding Pattern here in Kansas

K

KSBrittman

Active member


This is the holding pattern I like the best , My girl held these birds nicely until I stepped in for the flush .

But what I really meant was that my fellow hunters in the Northern pheasant belt have been tantalizing us with pictures and here in Kansas we are on hold for until next weekend for youth season . Season never gets here soon enough for me and seems to get over to soon . I think this will be my 36th season chasing birds and following bird dogs ( Mainly Britts ) Who else is ready to get started ?



This CRP patch was help preserved by a landowner who cares about birds , a Pheasant Forever Biologist , and a passionate Bird dog owner / hunter .



Here is a Milo cover crop I helped the farmer plant this spring , it will be planted to native grass this spring .

I hope to report how the planting , burning , spraying , discing help improve the bird habitat after season starts . All indicators are we are on a uptick .
 
This nice patch above would have looked exactly like the harvested corn had it not been for the people listed above .

Nice to find and work with like minded people !!!
 
Great Post! Sad to say that just pictures can make a grown man fill like a kid going on his first hunt! Extended weather forecast looks good. Hopefully much of the "western" half of the state saw a little rain last week.
 
Here are couple of pictures of a patch of crp I was scouting deer in yesterday. I stumbled on a couple of birds in the first picture and they retreated to the second. This is the third year in a row that this quarter and the adjoining ciircle corners on 2 other quarters have been grazed or hayed. I respect someones right to make a living but it is time for the state to move on on this one.

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If they are getting a CRP payment on it , It is definatley against the rules of the Conservation Reserve Program .

From what I know of no CRP was released for Emergencey haying & Grazing
 
Some CRP contracts allow limited grazing or haying. Earlier this year I looked at such a tract that was for sale. 120 of the 160 acres was enrolled in CRP. The contract for the 120 acres allowed it to be grazed or hayed every third year--or one third of it to be hayed or grazed every year. I don't know how contracts with this feature might be affected by the emergency haying/grazing allowed in in 2012, 2013, and 2014. If the emergency rules applied to these contracts too, it's possible that a tract could have been grazed for 3 years running.
 
Several of out WHIA areas that we usually hunt have been hayed , cropped , and or grazed in '12 , '13 , and '14. As stated above , I certainly don't blame the farmers for doing what is most profitable for them. I just wish the state / feds would raise the payment so that kept more land in grass. I would certainly pay extra for some sorta WHIA permit to help raise money.
 
KS Brittman, as a hunter with 36 seasons under your boots you have to have a lot of wisdom to share, and I want to hear it! :D

Here's something a Hill City old timer told me years ago: When the bird numbers are low the birds are spookier. True?

BTW, nice photos. Thanks for posting.
 
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Yes that has been my experience as well , I assume some type of population preservation God gave them . True Britchaser
 
This holding pattern (waiting for the season) is a difficult time for all of us.

My dogs obviously know it's about time. I've been wearing my hunting boots lately to re-break them in or more likely to get my feet reacquainted with them. The dogs see the boots and just lose their minds.

The dogs were both 100% convinced we were going hunting this morning, but instead they both got baths followed by their monthly flea/tick treatment, and then put out in the yard. Poor mutts... :cheers:
 
Crazy how the dogs know. I shot in a sporting clays tournament last week. My dog
lost his mind when i left. I figure he smelled the case and the vest.!!!
 
KSBrittman said:
Dang Toad , I bet you had their tails wagging !!!

You have any youth to take out this weekend ?
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Not yet. Possibly next year. I think my oldest is responsible enough, but needs to grow a little bit and get a bit stronger, and get a summer of shotgun experience at clay targets.

She's been deer hunting for two years from a stand, and will hopefully shoot a turkey this Fall from a ground blind.

It's a big leap from the controlled situation of a hunting blind, to the very dynamic environment of walking up birds with other people, dogs, nongame, etc...
 
I very much agree with that , I have a daughter that really enjoys hunting from a turkey blind / duck blind with a heater but like you said those are controlled situations . We'll put .
 
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