Decent report...

B

benelli-banger

Well-known member
Hunting buddy in Alaska, met farmer from central ND...near the river/94....crops are relegated to silage, but “birds everywhere”, chicks included...he referred to “2nd hatch”, which is a misnomer, but 2nd nesting or 3rd nesting if early nests didn’t hatch...not all grim...cover will be the issue, there are birds...oh, lots of hoppers...
 
That is encouraging. I was out east of Bismarck a week ago. We saw three broods. One had 6 to 7, second had 4 to 5 and the third brood had 3. We saw 4 other hens and got out of vehicle and the hens flew away with no chicks. We saw two to three hens with rooster still even the middle of July ? It is really dry. No dew in the morning. There was a nice hatch of little grass hoppers. Maybe this is where the broods we have been seeing are getting their moisture. Grass cover is dried out so the birds and chicks we saw were by corn, wheat and canola fields. I don't think the chicks can survive in the grass.
 
I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. There will of course be birds somewhere but it is just incredibly dry in almost all of the pheasant belt in ND. There was a story on the news in Bismarck last night showing a farmer near Bismarck (can't remember exactly where) who was combining his corn with a header usually used for wheat since the corn was so small. He and lots of others are just making their crops into cattle feed this year. That story said this farmer was running about 5 bushels/per acre on dry land (non-irrigated) corn.
 
zoops said:
I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. There will of course be birds somewhere but it is just incredibly dry in almost all of the pheasant belt in ND. There was a story on the news in Bismarck last night showing a farmer near Bismarck (can't remember exactly where) who was combining his corn with a header usually used for wheat since the corn was so small. He and lots of others are just making their crops into cattle feed this year. That story said this farmer was running about 5 bushels/per acre on dry land (non-irrigated) corn.
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That’s what I meant about crops being relegated to silage...yup, cattle food☹️
 
zoops said:
I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. There will of course be birds somewhere but it is just incredibly dry in almost all of the pheasant belt in ND. There was a story on the news in Bismarck last night showing a farmer near Bismarck (can't remember exactly where) who was combining his corn with a header usually used for wheat since the corn was so small. He and lots of others are just making their crops into cattle feed this year. That story said this farmer was running about 5 bushels/per acre on dry land (non-irrigated) corn.
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that yield won't even cover the diesel.
 
I was talking to ND farmers this week. Sounds the same as the nutty guy said. Relatives claim the corn crop in the bootheel is going to be very good. Unless La Nina cuts loose it is gonna stay dry.
 
I live a few miles north of New England and drive 32 miles a day round trip M-F on gravel/scoria roads for work. I leave the house about 0445 hrs so I'm traveling during prime time to see what's out there. The pheasant numbers look to be pretty decent, I would say about the same as last year. Also, the whitetails look to have rebounded well from the blue tongue that decimated them out here last year....
 
Labs said:
I live a few miles north of New England and drive 32 miles a day round trip M-F on gravel/scoria roads for work. I leave the house about 0445 hrs so I'm traveling during prime time to see what's out there. The pheasant numbers look to be pretty decent, I would say about the same as last year. Also, the whitetails look to have rebounded well from the blue tongue that decimated them out here last year....
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Seeing many broods? Looks like your area had a decent shot of rain yesterday...
 
zoops said:
Seeing many broods? Looks like your area had a decent shot of rain yesterday...
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Would always like to see more, but it hasn't been terrible. Saw some pheasant chicks late last week by the mailbox and again on the road Sunday evening coming home from Medora. Seeing quite a few from the earliest hatches that are pretty well grown. Those roosters with some color but no long tail yet sure look odd.

Yeah, we got some rain here & there last week. Had a pretty decent thunderstorm over the house about 0300 this morning. When I drove to work at 0445 this morning the area around my place had gotten a nice soaking, but a mile north of the house the road was dry...
 
I was out in central ND today after the rain and was surprised at the number of broods I saw today. A few weeks ago I hardly saw any. I think that was due to the heat. After the rain yesterday I saw five or six broods this morning. Most had four or five chicks. Not a bumper crop of new birds but at least it’s not a total bust like we have been hearing this summer during these drought conditions. Grasshoppers we’re our savior I believe. Not much dew in the mornings so I’m thinking the chicks survived off the moisture from those grasshoppers. Anyone else seeing a few ?
 
I am east of Bismarck. South of 94. I saw a ton of pheasants in the spring (5/1-5/22). we had some bad rains in June 4-6 inches in a few hours, as a result we had a bunch of re-nests. never seen so many roosters with hens 6/16 weekend (while we were putting in food plots). are crops are doing ok. and we don't hay our sleughs and other areas. haven't really seen much yet (still a lot of cover around). Hoping the 2nd nest went ok. i felt the cover and insect production was much better when the 2nd nesting occured.
 
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