Hecla-Britton Area Bird Numbers?

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IOWA_Tallgrass

New member
Just inquiring how the bird numbers are faring in the Hecla-Britton area-not looking for specific public land locations or landowners to contact-just bird numbers. Appreciate any general info like that someone that's been on the ground up there is willing to share.

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:
 
IOWA_Tallgrass said:
Just inquiring how the bird numbers are faring in the Hecla-Britton area-not looking for specific public land locations or landowners to contact-just bird numbers. Appreciate any general info like that someone that's been on the ground up there is willing to share.

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I was there for 1 1\2 days in Mid-November. There were lots of birds in the sloughs but the sloughs were mostly too wet to hunt. That might have changed if they have frozen over well.

I also found birds where I could locate some decent CRP cover and\or weeds near crop fields. Those spots were few and far between and probably won't hold many roosters after they fill with snow.

Over the last few years I have definately noticed the CRP in the WIA's has deteriorated pretty significantly. The same can be said for the grass cover in many of the WPA's. The grass cover in the GPA's often looks pretty good but those parcels usually get hit pretty hard.

In years past I would spend my entire 5-day hunt around the Britton\Hecla area. That has been changing on recent trips and I find myself venturing out to new parts of the state looking for better opportunities. These scouting trips are not always that succesful but I just don't feel the remaining (WIA enrollment also down) public parcels around Britton\Hecla can support the hunting pressure it used to.

Are you going up after the 13th? The refuge opens up for upland hunting then.

DB
 
1st trip-mostly scouting...

DB,

Maybe...just looking at my options for what may be my 1st DIYer trip to SD. I liked the mix/variety of public lands in that area in the atlas and WILMA system. Plus, its less of a drive than heading further west for me. I almost was able to join a make-up party down towards Miller, but got too much family stuff going on when they're heading out.

SD GFP lists survey data for Sisseton and Aberdeen, wasn't sure how applicable any of that was to the Hecla-Britton area, if at all, so I was trying to gauge what the bird numbers might be like out that way. Its a trade off, higher bird density (superficially basing it on the maps and survey data) seems to equate with less public hunting opportunties in SD.

I like to work the cattails and large grass lands with my dog and maybe just a few guys, while it would be thrilling to see hordes of birds flushing like rats, I'm more after a basic hunt with an honest chance at a brace of birds over the course of day. That used to be no problem in my part of Iowa, until the last 2-3 years.

Also found some reasonable costing private lands over by Eureka; that might be the best option for my 1st time to SD-if I can swing it-despite the longer drive. There appears to be a mix of public lands out there as well.

Thanks for sharing your view from the ground. :cheers:
 
Hecla & Britton are right on the border of those two survey areas. There are plenty of birds to hunt in the area this year but in November the opportunities to corner them on public land seemed limited.

I have hunted between Leola & Eureka some. Found the areas west of Leola to be heavily pastured with less crop production. There is a lot of WPA and other public land available to hunt out there but much of it is surrounded by cattle and 6" tall pasture grass. Most of that time has been spent in and around Highway 10 North to the state line. I have not spent time south of there around Ipswich & Bowdle.

Have found the areas from Leola east to be a little better mix of cropland & cover. Problem is we have lost quite a bit of productive WIA area in that vicinity the last few years.
 
Yeah, I seen where it seems the GFP is trying to push their James river valley CREP program in the atlas; on paper it looks like it could be a good thing, not sure what incentive there is in there for the farmers though with grain riding so high right now.

If we get a pile of those brown marks on the maps in 2011, I could see things getting pretty interesting in about 3 years time-but that's a wishful bird hunter for ya.

Appreciate the view from the ground fellas; if I make it into that country in the next few weeks, I'll be sure to hoist a report up.

Saw lots of land further east-Lake City area-but with the lower count over by Sisseton, figured I'd be better off driving a little further west. Wherever I end up, it will be an adventure.
 
Have been reading about the James River CREP program for a while now and was very optimistic it would provide some good public hunting opportunities. I visited several of those spots marked on the atlas this fall and have to say I was disappointed.

Four out of five of the parcels I visited were basically duck slough and really didn't even posses a defineable grass buffer. Effectively not huntable until maybe late season freeze-up. Maybe my understanding of how the CREP program works is off base but doesn't there have to be a cropping history for this acreage? Isn't the intention to take sensitive acres that border a James river drainage out of production?

TM - I'm sure you are correct. Enrollment of WIA acres may have increased this year. I skipped the 2009 season in SD because of dog issues. But like you said it appears that the new acreage that has been enrolled is a poor substitute for a lot of good pheasant cover that has disappeared off the atlas in the last 3-4 years.
 
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