Iowa vs Kansas

M

MAB7799

Member
I had the opportunity to hunt Iowa for the first time a for their opener. Got invited on an all private land deal for the weekend. Wanted to just share some of my observations on KS vs Iowa.

We shot our 8 man limit of roosters opening morning after only walking 3 fields. Was some of the most red hot wild pheasant hunting I've experienced since 2010.

The big difference I saw was this:
1. Very few cattle in Iowa when compared to KS. Less cattle means less hay bales and more cover in waterways/ditched/etc. Also no emergency haying/grazing of CRP since very few cattle to feed.
2. WAY more CRP. KS CRP vs Iowa CRP is not even close. You see strips of CRP all over the place. It's almost like the farmers are OK leaving cover for the birds. Crazy right?
3. They don't mow the ditches. I didn't really see many ditches that were mowed aside from the major highways.

Overall it seems like the farming practices there are drastically different from the practices here in KS. I feel like a lot of farmers here do both row crops and cattle where it seemed like in Iowa most farmers just stuck to row crops.

Just sharing my observations. I hope things get better in KS but as we've seen the last several years, that is a pipe dream.
 
Iowa was in the crapper for many years. I’d like to know what they did to convince farmers to leave habitat and also why they have more crp.

But I know at one time pheasants in iowa we’re far and few between.
 
If our friends from Iowa could confirm this , I believe they had a very big CRP campaign to benefit Monarch Butterfly’s and other pollinators which in turn was a significant uptick in bird numbers .

Iowa DNR has a formula when there is a drier spring under some many inches of rain and snowfall in northern Iowa is under 30 some inches they have good bird numbers .

Hope someone from Iowa can confirm this .

Habitat is the key , 2 other states that I have Upland hunted in require you buy a habitat stamp I think time has come where Ks should do the same .
 
KSBrittman said:
If our friends from Iowa could confirm this , I believe they had a very big CRP campaign to benefit Monarch Butterfly’s and other pollinators which in turn was a significant uptick in bird numbers .

Iowa DNR has a formula when there is a drier spring under some many inches of rain and snowfall in northern Iowa is under 30 some inches they have good bird numbers .

Hope someone from Iowa can confirm this .

Habitat is the key , 2 other states that I have Upland hunted in require you buy a habitat stamp I think time has come where Ks should do the same .
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I don’t mind paying for a habit stamp, and I would pay more for a license in Kansas. I just really have little faith the money will be well spent. They are only interested in quantity over quality at this point here. Kansas is not a destination spot for upland anymore. Believe me they are all in South Dakota
 
I’ve said it for years now, I would absolutely pay for a habituate stamp. But i completely agree… i have no confidence that it would be spent in the right direction. I’m also big archery hunter, but i don’t think we manage our whitetail and mule well as state compared to some other states even tho Kansas highly promotes big whitetail. It’s not just pheasants hurting. The mule deer population is deep trouble as well.
 
ksRingtail said:
I’ve said it for years now, I would absolutely pay for a habituate stamp. But i completely agree… i have no confidence that it would be spent in the right direction. I’m also big archery hunter, but i don’t think we manage our whitetail and mule well as state compared to some other states even tho Kansas highly promotes big whitetail. It’s not just pheasants hurting. The mule deer population is deep trouble as well.
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They proved they didn’t manage our turkey populations. Now they closed the fall season completely because they let everyone and their brother shoot hens every fall for years.
 
duckn66 said:
They proved they didn’t manage our turkey populations. Now they closed the fall season completely because they let everyone and their brother shoot hens every fall for years.
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It is sheer greed. We had an awesome resource here and it has been squandered. I haven’t seen a turkey here around my place in awhile. I travel through up in your area a few times a month for work and see little of anything. I did see a rooster up there over the summer and about wrecked the truck. If they want to get serious about changing it will take money and someone in charge that understands hunting and what goes into quality. Raising fees is always a hard sell. We have had low rates for years and that needs to change. You always get the crowd that cries poor. If you cannot afford 75-100 bucks to hunt upland perhaps you should be doing something else with your time….. like working
 
I would gladly pay for a habitat stamp and gladly contribute a little more if possible IF it was used for habitat. If the cost of a license went to $75/$100.00 I would shake my head but pay it. Heck I have paid almost that much for a noisy, cock roach infested room before.🤣
 
copheasanthunter said:
I would gladly pay for a habitat stamp and gladly contribute a little more if possible IF it was used for habitat. If the cost of a license went to $75/$100.00 I would shake my head but pay it. Heck I have paid almost that much for a noisy, cock roach infested room before.🤣
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Hopefully they included FREE bedbugs with each stay.
 
duckn66 said:
Iowa was in the crapper for many years. I’d like to know what they did to convince farmers to leave habitat and also why they have more crp.

But I know at one time pheasants in iowa we’re far and few between.
Click to expand...

Total acreage is essentially the same between the two. Iowa CRP payments total a little over $400 million a year. Kansas comes in under $90 million per. This is just a guess, but I’d imagine at the rates they pay in Iowa it becomes very attractive to enroll marginal/less productive areas of fields and they have far more small parcel/filter strips/terraces/waterways and so on enrolled as a percentage than the common whole-field version in central and western Kansas. Therefore the habitat stretches a lot farther than shoving it all in a handful of counties out west.
 
KSBrittman said:
If our friends from Iowa could confirm this , I believe they had a very big CRP campaign to benefit Monarch Butterfly’s and other pollinators which in turn was a significant uptick in bird numbers .

Iowa DNR has a formula when there is a drier spring under some many inches of rain and snowfall in northern Iowa is under 30 some inches they have good bird numbers .

Hope someone from Iowa can confirm this .

Habitat is the key , 2 other states that I have Upland hunted in require you buy a habitat stamp I think time has come where Ks should do the same .
Click to expand...
When we pay the habitat stamp in SD I didn't mind it at all until you look and see a heavy majority of the funds go to lake projects and boat ramp upkeep👎👎. Hopefully Iowa does a better job of using funds. I would have an issue with one in KS because I have no faith the funds would actually go to habitat.
 
KSBrittman said:
If our friends from Iowa could confirm this , I believe they had a very big CRP campaign to benefit Monarch Butterfly’s and other pollinators which in turn was a significant uptick in bird numbers .
Click to expand...
In 2015-2016 Iowa had a big push and signed-up 50,000 acres of CRP that targeted pheasant recovery in selected counties. That program (CP-38) included a requirement for food plots (10% with 5 acres max) which pretty much insured that much of these acres were enrolled by landowners who were also sportsman. The majority of the ground was nesting area with 25% (20 acres max) heavy winter cover (switch grass with optional shrubs/conifers). I think the parcels were to be between 20 and 160 acres. If you can find and gain access to any CP-38, buckle-up, those are pheasant factories! This program wasn't for everyone but there was also a pollinator program running at the same time and they may have also been a general CRP enrollment happening. The timing was great, rental rates for contracts were good due to the high cash rents being paid. This was a game changer.
 
GetTothePoint said:
When we pay the habitat stamp in SD I didn't mind it at all until you look and see a heavy majority of the funds go to lake projects and boat ramp upkeep👎👎. Hopefully Iowa does a better job of using funds. I would have an issue with one in KS because I have no faith the funds would actually go to habitat.
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Sounds like sd should have a habitat and access maintenance fee added to fishing license to pay for that,not from hunting habitat fee.
 
I looked at the SD GFP pdf on where the habitat money went.
I think they will likely say all the lake/boat ramp stuff was to improve waterfowl hunting.

As my FIL used to say the only way you can get ahead of those guys is walk in front of them.

They are always going to do what they want with the money and justify it any way they choose.

Enjoy any upland you can find. It’s all you can do.
 
I talked to Iowa DNR, and they don't pay landowners a dime for IHAP! WOW! That surprised the crap out of me. They do invest money, but it is only to keep those properties CRP eligible/compliant. So they have manpower and do habitat work to make sure the land stays in CRP, the owner continues to get their CRP payments from whoever, and the land is open to hunting. Great program, I hope it really takes off. There's a lot more birds in Iowa and the southern half of MN then in Kansas in the present day.
 
Minnesota has implemented mandatory buffer strips along all waterways now too. Row crops cannot be planted right up to the edge of all rivers, streams, canals, and ditches. There was a lot of resistance to this from the agriculture lobby initially, but it was phased in over time and we are seeing a tremendous benefit from it now. Water quality has increased greatly. It has added literally hundreds of miles of habitat for upland birds, waterfowl, deer, turkey, etc.

Imagine how much benefit a buffer strip law would do for a state like Iowa or Kansas. The problem is the agriculture industry. They are greatly against it because it cuts into crop production and therefore, profits.
 
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