Drought

I may be wrong but I think in the past Iowa has shortened the season.

If I remember right the thinking was it saves the hens from getting disturbed when the going is tough late in the season. Most of the money had been made by that time anyway.

Maybe it was just talk.
 
that's exactly correct, during tough winter weather, the roosters take the best cover for themselves.......leaving the hens to adjacent cover. the least pressure later in the season the better for all survival.
 
hunter94 said:
i am surely not suggesting the old term, "banking pheasants." the term is so often incorrectly used. carry over is critical in poor years of recruitment. look around, i am sure you all have seen or know someone who posts their land and allow no hunting...these are the core areas that breed, carryover and provide winter cover. the birds quickly learn they are safe here and they conserve energy and sustain a much higher survival rate than birds on public ground. during years, such as this one, if the season were annulled, the recovery rate (when conditions return to normal) would be much higher, everywhere. the GF will tell you it would make no difference, i have yet to see a biologist that was worth a damn, text book jocks, talking heads, they are never wrong, they are the the so experts. i will take my 50 years of hunting experience and match them any day...
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hunter94, I will take the advice of educated, professional wildlife biologists any and every day over the rambling of an internet wildlife expert.

If you ever get to meet any of these professionals be sure to tell them that they are not worth a damn and call them text book jocks, talking heads, and so called experts. They really like that.
 
hunter94 said:
that's exactly correct, during tough winter weather, the roosters take the best cover for themselves.......leaving the hens to adjacent cover. the least pressure later in the season the better for all survival.
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That's kind of odd, any time I've hunted late season or even in the very dead of winter, when it's colder than a witches ***, all the birds I've seen are bunched up, both hens and roosters. I've never seen them in groups according to sex. As to hunting pressure, around here at least, most the the hunters are at home watching football. Some guys like my sons and I are out, but we don't see many other hunters. Even then, the birds are spooky, they flush wild and don't offer many shots. Sometimes we do very well, all depends on the cover and how the birds are reacting that day.

We have gotten some rain as of late, we got about 1 3/4" yesterday and maybe more to come. It's helping. A lot of the ranchers/farmers around are bailing their grain crops for hay. The corn is not doing well. Time will tell, maybe August will bring more rain, fingers crossed!

Best,

Greg
 
If you watch a winter group of pheasants scratching through compacted snow or ice to get to food, the rooster on occasion will displace an actively feeding hen forcing her to move to another spot and start over.

Agree with post above that pheasants usually do not group by sex in the winter. Turkeys often do ...
 
We got the first good soaking rain in a long while here the other day. Took a short drive the next morning to do some work with the pup. The sun was out and the grass wet. I saw only one or two mature birds - no broods. Maybe they will appear yet.
 
i think it depends, on where you are..........i am guessing some areas that got more rain in June and July are going to be good.
 
BRITTMAN said:
If you watch a winter group of pheasants scratching through compacted snow or ice to get to food, the rooster on occasion will displace an actively feeding hen forcing her to move to another spot and start over.



I agree I have watched hens dig down through the snow for food. After the hen does all that work a rooster comes in and kick them off and the rooster enjoys the spoils with little work himself. On our farm, we feel the more roosters we shoot the better the hens come through the winter. In tuff winters. In easy winter, food is abundant and really doesn't matter.
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Rains have appeared on the plains. I suppose largely localized and spotty. Drought monitor maps are not changing so the precip coming now must just be keeping things from progressively getting worse.

Maybe those late broods will fair a little better.
 
Hi all, yep, we've been getting some rain. Had a nice shower this morning, got maybe 3/4 to 1". Expecting some more later this week, hope we get a bunch. Heck, we even have to cut the grass! The temps this last week have been in the 70's, that helps. I talked to our Mailman today and he says he's seeing some broods now, not as many as last year, but he is seeing some. Things are looking up, but we're still not out of the woods yet. As I said before, this year will be one of those wait and see ones.

Best,

Greg
 
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