Iowa Has CRP but No Birds....Why?

Freeborn said:
I think it is the lack of diversity and therefore quality habitat. By the way, if someone has the perfect recipe for maximizing pheasant production send it my way as I am still trying to figure it out.
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I think you answered your own question Freeborn. "Diversity".

Areas with very high numbers of wild pheasants have a few things in common. They seem to have well diversified habitats to live in. A combination of winter cover (especially cattails), nesting cover, brood rearing forbs, dusting/lofting areas, and shrubs/shelter-belts. Also, to give bird numbers a good boost they need a good source of food (year round).

Just for fun; This is a grainy/poor quality video from one of our sponsors,but you can still get the point. Wild birds. You can see what quality habitat and year-round food sources can do to bird numbers.:)

https://youtu.be/sRIonVU5168?t=1m14s

Nick
 
Thanks 1Pheas4,

Great looking habitat and great results. I'll keep planting and with time my plantings will get to a size that pheasants will be there.

Thanks again.
 
Freeborn said:
Thanks 1Pheas4,

Great looking habitat and great results. I'll keep planting and with time my plantings will get to a size that pheasants will be there.

Thanks again.
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Of course:) If you haven't already---if you feel like it some day----you can start a thread regarding your land/acres and get advise on how to boost #'s.

Nick:cheers:
 
1pheas4 said:
I think you answered your own question Freeborn. "Diversity".

Areas with very high numbers of wild pheasants have a few things in common. They seem to have well diversified habitats to live in. A combination of winter cover (especially cattails), nesting cover, brood rearing forbs, dusting/lofting areas, and shrubs/shelter-belts. Also, to give bird numbers a good boost they need a good source of food (year round).

Just for fun; This is a grainy/poor quality video from one of our sponsors,but you can still get the point. Wild birds. You can see what quality habitat and year-round food sources can do to bird numbers.:)

https://youtu.be/sRIonVU5168?t=1m14s

Nick
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that video was amazing. and its only part 1!
 
As it relates to Iowa its hard to correlate CRP to bird numbers over the last few years. As others have said, weather has played a huge role. It does appear the weather has cooperated the last 1.5 years and I think you will see a bounce back in numbers. Naturally areas with good habitat will far outweigh the areas with no habitat. Pheasants are remarkable at how fast they can bounce back given the right conditions... It's funny, the area I hunt in South Dakota has never had much CRP (none) but what they do have is pastures/cattle and we have thousands of pheasants... My farmer buddy has always said raising cattle/pheasants go hand in hand (realizing that he is in SD).
 
Nick, that video is great and so are the guys at BB. That place is in one of the 3 most highly commercialized counties for pheasant hunting in South Dakota (west River).

I have had a hard time getting any business over there because they did not need my help and had been doing this a long time before I came on the scene.

So that is one point but when you mention diversity that can mean a lot of things too.

In Jan you won't see much for diverse forb plantings. Where are the birds? Woody cover. In June they will need completely different cover to produce.

There's producing birds and sustaining birds. This video does a good job in showing cover that sustains birds. The problem is most people are fishing in June.
 
Whoever said Iowa doesn't have pheasants? The State? If it ain't deer, they don't keer. We have lots of birds. I saw lots of them last year, many in southern Iowa while deer hunting. In areas the state says are very poor, better buy a deer tag instead. One can't blame the state really, changing attitudes have made all small game hunting less popular. Folks want deer, so that's what the state cares about.
 
Freeborn said:
By the way, if someone has the perfect recipe for maximizing pheasant production send it my way as I am still trying to figure it out.
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Freeborn, please share the recipe I shared with you. It is a good one to cookie cutter for anyone serious about managing for pheasants.

This will follow the good Stephen Cover approach of LEARN IT - TEACH IT - DO IT.

Then the habitat support group can kick the tires on the concept. Oddly enough it is not original and Iowa actually has a program out that puts the recipe into practice.
 
I had PM UGUIDE and this is what he recommends for a mix of grasses/food plots.

One model I like is 10% food plots, 25% warm season grass and the balance in cool season nesting cover.

65% Cool season grasses is allot.
 
Freeborn said:
I had PM UGUIDE and this is what he recommends for a mix of grasses/food plots.

One model I like is 10% food plots, 25% warm season grass and the balance in cool season nesting cover.

65% Cool season grasses is allot.
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"Cool season nesting cover" covers a lot of ground. No pun intended.

Alfalfa and clovers would be good nesting cover, brome grass not so much, reed canary not at all.

Early nesting season I see the most hens around here on alfalfa ground. Walking around the field you many times see them poking their heads up when the hay is still short.


There is brome CRP right next to it and I would venture nary a nest is made there. In the canary parts of the field I am sure no nest are made. They do loaf there at night however.

Some of the more knowledgeable folks here might know for sure, but I think hens like to have the nests right on the ground, not in a layer of duff. Alfalfa, cut for the first time after nesting, and then again once more seems to be the best around here. Oats would also be good, not much of them around however.
 
That makes sense, Would timothy be considered good nesting cover? It it a cool season grass? I have a fair amount of timothy that has been planted in my windbreaks.
 
Freeborn said:
That makes sense, Would timothy be considered good nesting cover? It it a cool season grass? I have a fair amount of timothy that has been planted in my windbreaks.
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Timothy is a late maturing, cool season bunch grass, not that common anymore.

Could it be orchard grass ? It is more shade tolerant. Look both up, the flowers are very different, the growth habits similar. Both have a seed that birds would use.

Either would be a good nesting cover, provided it gets taken off every year or so. Something will grow between the bunches, most likely bluegrass or white clover. In my case it would be thistles.
 
It is Timothy grass. It was planted as part of my CRP planting and was used because it is suppose to use very little water and therefore not compete with trees or shrubs that are trying to get established.

The grass is a bunch grass and I do like the idea of adding clover but I don't want to eliminate the timothy. If they could co-exist that would be a big benefit.
 
Freeborn said:
65% Cool season grasses is allot.
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OK here is where you get the bang in the design.

What you want is 65% cool season nesting cover of which some may be cool season grasses. You do not want all cool season grasses. You need the majority to be forbs and flowers.

UDNC (Undisturbed Dense Nesting Cover) is the objective of the 65%.

Thats production. And sustainability is in the other 35%.
 
Freeborn said:
It is Timothy grass. It was planted as part of my CRP planting and was used because it is suppose to use very little water and therefore not compete with trees or shrubs that are trying to get established.

The grass is a bunch grass and I do like the idea of adding clover but I don't want to eliminate the timothy. If they could co-exist that would be a big benefit.
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I see, where are you located ? I've never heard of timothy useing less water, but that may well be true.

Don't worry about crowding out the timothy, I have pastures with it that were seeded 60 or more years ago. There are a lot of small clovers growing amonst it. It will also reseed itself if allowed.

I would encourage you to seed some ladino or red clover in, either would take and not compete. Weed control will be more difficult anytime you add a forb.

Stick with me, I'll get you to 100 posts so more informed folks will help.

(Appropriate smiley here)
 
UGUIDE said:
OK here is where you get the bang in the design.

What you want is 65% cool season nesting cover of which some may be cool season grasses. You do not want all cool season grasses. You need the majority to be forbs and flowers.

UDNC (Undisturbed Dense Nesting Cover) is the objective of the 65%.

Thats production. And sustainability is in the other 35%.
Click to expand...


Which cool season grasses are your favorites, and how do you keep the cool seasons from taking over the WSG?
 
reddog said:
Which cool season grasses are your favorites, and how do you keep the cool seasons from taking over the WSG?
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In cool latitudes it is harder. If you can cool-season graze, you can use it as part of the management if not on CRP. In CRP, use a native cool season like Western Wheat and it won't have as strong a tendency to take over. Well timed fire can put it off, but if your cool season is stronger than your warm season, the cool season plants have an advantage.
 
reddog said:
Which cool season grasses are your favorites, and how do you keep the cool seasons from taking over the WSG?
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Reddog, thats why you keep them all separate. 25% WSG, 65% cool season dense nesting cover.

If you want simple DNC the best good old mix for SD is alfalfa and intermediate wheatgrass. I am growing fonder of the natives though.

Dont really have a long list of cool season grasses because I would rather have forbs and flowers on the acres.
 
Over the last 15 years hunting SD, I've seen great stands of switch get taken over by brome to the point that they are primarily brome stands with very few switch plants. I don't know if they are still there, just suppressed, or if they're gone. Were going to experiment with a April app of roundup on a test area and see what comes back, firing is not an option, unfortunately.

mcFarmer, funny you should mention oats.. There's a 40 acre new planting of new alfalfa that they planted an oat cover crop on. They harvested the oats earlier, and there is oat stubble and alfalfa, and it is full of birds. Even has a nice covey of Huns using it.. I miss that kind of cover, that was more predominant in my growing up years, (and hunting was much better also).
 
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