Curious

B

BeerCity PhsntHnter

New member
I'm just wondering what some of the professions are of people in Iowa on this site? You probably at this point are asking why I would be asking such a question.

Well here it is I grew up on a farm in the NW corner of the state raising hogs (in confinements) and growing row crops (that are GMO) and made some decent money doing that, at least enough to where I donated my fair share to Pheasants Forever along with spending money to raise pheasants to release into the wild. And yes the pen raised then released birds flourished, by the way our fence lines are disappearing we have little to no CRP and 0 acres of public hunting ground up until last fall and I have yet to come back home and not limit out on pheasants.

Now I am an Agronomist I sell seed, chemical, and fertilizer to producers non of which is non GMO and making a good living to where I certainly could donate more to Pheasants Forever and organizations that would put more ground into habitat, but I ask myself why? It's my profession that is the reason there isn't birds in the state right?

I'm not one to complain a lot but I have taken my blows and tired of people saying that it is modern day agriculture ruining everything it just gets old.

Just saying before you take your jabs at Ag think of ways that your job could be affecting, the amount of habitat, or the pheasant numbers in general before you jump on the anti Ag band wagon.
 
not trying to gig you, but without long term stable habitat, eventually, with weather and predator issues, a decent wild pheasant population will not be sustainable.....if everyone farms fencerow to fencerow row crops, it won't work for the birds.
 
i'm just a simple factory worker but human or animal we all have basic needs (food and shelter). the young chicks need to eat bugs and the mature birds need weed seeds for food. chicks or adult they all need shelter from predaters and the weather. so yes putting down enough chemicals to wipe out every bug and weed in your field is a big part of the problem don't you think:rolleyes:. not to meantion all the run off excess chemicals that kill the fish and pollute our water (thanks a lot):D. :cheers:
 
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Gotta love the pea green soup that fertalizer creates for the once crystal clear lakes.:D I grew up on a hog farm as well. Free range, no big manure run off and spill ponnds back then poluting the streams. Had to pull weeds from fields with my bare hands, no round up. But they invented the bean bar and times changed for the worse.
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PS carpenter, used to mend fences and fix up old barns, all bulldozed nearly nowa days.
 
yes bye all means grab a hoe that would be a nice change for a while. farmers talk about how busy they are. maybe they should give the mowers a break for a while. what is the purpose of mowing all the ditches and water ways. oh waite maybe they are expecting tiger woods to play through:D! yes boo hoo for the big ag boys its time they pay road tax on the fuel also! off road means (it's hauled to and from the field). the machinery today is huge whats a barge wagon weigh pounding down the road? :cheers:
 
My thoughts

Born and raised on the family farm that I now live on. I am a college professor by trade. I think the point here is that we all have a stake in the future of pheasants and direct and indirect input into their current plight.

Nothing one states will be accepted by all. Ag, ag practices, fertilizers, spraying practices, burning, mowing, weather, winters, funding, IDNR, hunting practices all draw the ire and praise from each and every one of us.

If we approach it as a problem with solutions then we need to focus on those solutions and not "who did what". Just my two cents but I love the sport, my dog and the birds. I would hate to see it end--never thought I would see it end in Iowa.
 
Again hunted close to 20 yrs in the same spots with little to no cover took 5 to 6 people hunting with me every time limited out. Don't really believe the cover story; yes they need cover, food, and water. The reason I don't believe the cover story is I walk big pieces of public land in Central Iowa I don't see many birds and I hunt with two good dogs, I go home where there may be five to ten feet of brome grass along a water way and I limit out. Therefore I'm not buying this cover story. Not to mention the farming practices today and the chemicals used are a million fold more environmentally safe compared to 10-15 years ago. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, this is mine. Maybe the large public areas in Central IA are just structured wrong wouldn't be the first time the DNR didn't know what they were doing but did it anyway.
 
BeerCity PhsntHnter said:
Again hunted close to 20 yrs in the same spots with little to no cover took 5 to 6 people hunting with me every time limited out. Don't really believe the cover story; yes they need cover, food, and water. The reason I don't believe the cover story is I walk big pieces of public land in Central Iowa I don't see many birds and I hunt with two good dogs, I go home where there may be five to ten feet of brome grass along a water way and I limit out. Therefore I'm not buying this cover story. Not to mention the farming practices today and the chemicals used are a million fold more environmentally safe compared to 10-15 years ago. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, this is mine. Maybe the large public areas in Central IA are just structured wrong wouldn't be the first time the DNR didn't know what they were doing but did it anyway.
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it's not really too hard to understand, the big public areas get the hell pounded out of them all season long, of course there are a few birds in that cover, but a quiet isolated ditch or waterway will almost always hold birds.....i guess you assume PF is wasting their time and money on buying/helping with habitat improvement? the hens have to nest somewhere.

5-6 people limiting out everytime? really? :eek:
how many years ago are we talking about here? :confused:
 
It fine to doubt me I believe its been about 20ne years of hunting. I have hunted large private places same luck. Few birds here and there
 
20 years ago, i used to come to Iowa to hunt pheasants and limited quite often.......now with the huge reduction in cover and fencerow cornfields, i wouldn't waste my time or money....that change, the reduction of cover has killed pheasant hunting in Iowa, so i go elsewhere.
 
That's your thoughts of Iowa that is fine. I live in Iowa and really don't see the point to pay out of state license fee to shoot pheasants I'm having plenty of luck in Iowa.
 
15 to 18 bird limits every time ??? you must be dreaming or shooting sparrows:rolleyes:. could someone post a picture of a rooster please i think he is confused:rolleyes:! :cheers:
 
Seems likebI know what a pheasant looks like even what 27 looks like this is why I don't believe cover is an issue wasn't trying to be a jerk until my chain was jerked. Look forward to Pheasant Fest this year.
 
yes you know what a pheasant looks like i was a lil concerned for a while there:rolleyes:. i wish i could find this enchanted land with roosters that could thrive in bean and corn stubble. well all my smart--- remarks aside it looks like you guys had fun and thats what matters! :cheers:
 
Obviously, I'm not from Iowa; but my Junior High Principal is...does that count?
 
BeerCity PhsntHnter said:
Again hunted close to 20 yrs in the same spots with little to no cover took 5 to 6 people hunting with me every time limited out. Don't really believe the cover story; yes they need cover, food, and water. The reason I don't believe the cover story is I walk big pieces of public land in Central Iowa I don't see many birds and I hunt with two good dogs, I go home where there may be five to ten feet of brome grass along a water way and I limit out. Therefore I'm not buying this cover story. Not to mention the farming practices today and the chemicals used are a million fold more environmentally safe compared to 10-15 years ago. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, this is mine. Maybe the large public areas in Central IA are just structured wrong wouldn't be the first time the DNR didn't know what they were doing but did it anyway.
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There's obviously something going on here. No matter what you think, pheasants need nesting cover of some sort.
I'm assuming you guys are doing a heck of a good job on the predators. Fact is pheasants will do OK in poor habitat "IF" not for predation.

Your pheasants are successfully nesting somewhere and it's not in your row crops. Could be in the brome along the waterways. But not those small patches if predators are present. Look around the neighborhood, trust me, there is nesting cover nearby and pretty good stuff to raise that many birds.

What you have is, probably the best food source in the area, someone else has the nesting/brood rearing cover. Takes a combination you know.
 
Oh I forgot what I do.:confused:
In my real life I was a residential building contractor.
I have ranchland and have run cattle most of my life.
Now I pretty much just concentrate on wildlife habitat, and spend most of my time in the outdoors. MN, ND, WY and MT.:)
 
Are those pen raised birds? In your first comment you talk about pen raised birds. It's not hard to shoot 27 pen raised birds in Iowa or 100 for that matter.
 
do you hunt on family farms? did you see many hens while you were hunting? you said that you sold seed and farm chemicals. maybe the farmers that you hunt on plant all those birds so you won't feel bad about all the chemicals you sell them:rolleyes:?
 
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