I think many hunters have a variety of misconceptions about what goes on with our wildlife populations and why. As a group, we are far too willing to look for someone or something to blame just as we are bad about looking for a magic pill that will fix everything. This explains why so many of us are suckered into buying this or that food plot seed or this or that surrogator to try and fix a complex problem with a simple solution. Life doesn't work that way!!! Far too many of us are uneducated about what it takes to fulfill any certain game animal throughout their annual cycle. When you aren't producing birds in the nesting season, a food plot in the fall isn't going to help. If you have wheat planted for miles and miles, having a crop failure is going to hurt the production and it won't be because of a "bad" farmer. Just the same, many of our wildlife areas are situated on "marginal" bird habitat but we go there and expect bountiful populations of every species just because there is a sign there that says it's managed for wildlife. Further, as you can read in other threads, folks seem to think that their wildlife department is flush with money and can create a silk purse wildlife area with a sow's ear budget and workforce. Most things in nature respond to the inputs they receive. However, you also have to realize the pressures put on those populations and how that affects the balance. Many heavily used wildlife areas receive 100-1000 times the pressure as adjacent or equivalent private land, yet we go there and expect the cornucopia of bounty!
I recently wrote an article about "Realistic Expectations". I tried to address these things in the article so people coming to my area could at least understand what to expect when they spent a day here. The fact that the signs say wildlife area does not mean that every game species in the state will be found in excess there. The area is bound by its location, its management, its recent climate, its regulations, and it's use. Changes in any of those can cause fluctuations in the productivity of any of the resident species.
The same can be said on the farm. Many farmers do things in rotation. If a crop failure occurs, the rotation can get off and it will affect the productivity on those acres. The same can be said about economic pressures, federal requirements, disease outbreaks, rainfall, snow.........the list goes on and on. I am continually amazed at the folks that call me though they know we've been in a severe drought for parts of 4 years expecting to hear that the cornucopia of game is overflowing! Get a clue folks, things can't stay at the top forever! Normal evolution is toward a "climax" community. Most of our game species don't thrive in a climax community! Disturbance is a reality of nature and both our habitats and our game species are adapted to it. It takes disturbance to keep a productive grassland productive. It takes a disturbance to keep basal cover in an aging woodland. Hell, it takes a big disturbance to get a crop in the ground! I don't know of many habitat types where continued rest is beneficial!!!
Things are relative. I could do great things for wildlife if I had the money, manpower, and time to get what needs to be done done. Just like most farmers and ranchers, in my job there are many competing demands on my time and budget. Government thinks that I can always do more with less. That's crap! The unfortunate part in government is that often the peripheral "needs" often override the "core" needs. Pisses me off when I miss a perfect burn day because I'm inside doing mandatory training. That's just part of the path we have to take. Everybody, go and talk to your farmers, ranchers, and wildlife managers to see what their vision is and if there is a place where you can fill a niche in making that a success! Pretty damn easy to sit on the sidelines and bitch!!! The farmer will ask you where you were when he was laying on the scalding hot engine of his equipment in the 103 degree sun on Sunday when he was broke down and trying to get the crop in before the rain came. The wildlife manager will ask you where you were when he was cleaning up the blood and brains on his jetty from the suicide on Friday when he could have been accomplishing a valuable habitat project. The cattleman will ask you where you were when he was plowing through 4 feet of snow to feed his cattle Sunday morning before church when it was -23. We all have a job to do and there is always more to get done than there is time, money, and people to do it.
Well said, Prairie Drifter. :thumbsup: