KDWP now KDWPT

[cheesy]

Read the article in the Wichita paper www.kansas.com, sports section, then outdoors. Brownback has now added Tourism to the duties of the KDWP to make it the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism.

This should be good.

 

[oldandnew]

That will fire up the vocal Kansas out-of-state haters, on this forum into a frenzy! Gee what shall the slogun be? Great Places, Great Spaces, Longer Season and cheaper than South Dakota, AHHH, Kansas! Maybe that will add a another 50,000 non-residents a year. Might have to work on the non hunting attractions though, just thinking, the big ball of twine in Cawker City, might not be enough to hold them on the R & R days! Don't dissapoint us guys!

 

[-Wildcat-]

I can see the new change in administration is already leading us down the wrong path. I suppose it's time to type up a letter to the Kansas Legislature expressing my concern.

There was an article about it in the Dodge City Globe yesterday as well...

http://www.dodgeglobe.com/newsnow/x517526080/State-moves-travel-dept-to-wildlife-parks

I suppose I am sort of fired up about it. Hunting is NOT tourism. Nobody in Topeka must hunt, fish, or camp. Pretty soon they'll be nothing but "controlled shooting area" signs and purple paint everywhere instead of WIHA signs.

 

[kansasbrittany]

This might get ugly gents! I have a sick feeling about everything I've heard about Brownback and his new sidekick's plan to change KS outdoors as we know it today. Can't believe we're probably going to end up missing the self-serving likes of Hayden.

 

[oldandnew]

Hold your fire a while and see what he has in mind. I'm no Brownback fan, nor are any of my Kansas friends or relatives, but it may be that he has a plan to open up more WIHA's, which Kansas needs badly, and to market the opportunity to the advantage of the small western communities which get a lot out of pheasant season in particular. More opportunity, is more opportunity, for everybody. Can Kansas capitalize on this, I hope so, because then you will ensure the future of upland game hunting in your state. You could be like Missouri, from harvesting somewhere between 2 MILLION and 4 MILLION quail per year to 200,000. How many people would travel to Missouri to hunt quail if we harvested 2,000,000 birds. If we had made quail hunting an economic centerpiece, we might still have that kind of hunting today! Attention, and effort reap rewards, South Dakota, good or bad, like the system or not, has the birds and the reputation, because they work for it everyday. Compare to Iowa, where they sat around like Missouri, and let the whole population collapse. Kansas is at the crossroads, the hunting has been really good, from here it gets better or it gets worse, based on effort, not circumstancial luck, which has mostly been your benefactor to date. A guy like Bownback, with his Washington connections, knows how to work the system for Kansas, to get the most out of WIHA program, and Ag department funds for habitat. Change is not always bad, but is always inevitable. Try to manage the outcome. It's a big state, there's room for everybody, especially the traveling and spending customers.

 

[KsHusker]

Hold your fire a while and see what he has in mind. I'm no Brownback fan, nor are any of my Kansas friends or relatives, but it may be that he has a plan to open up more WIHA's, which Kansas needs badly, and to market the opportunity to the advantage of the small western communities which get a lot out of pheasant season in particular. More opportunity, is more opportunity, for everybody. Can Kansas capitalize on this, I hope so, because then you will ensure the future of upland game hunting in your state. You could be like Missouri, from harvesting somewhere between 2 MILLION and 4 MILLION quail per year to 200,000. How many people would travel to Missouri to hunt quail if we harvested 2,000,000 birds. If we had made quail hunting an economic centerpiece, we might still have that kind of hunting today! Attention, and effort reap rewards, South Dakota, good or bad, like the system or not, has the birds and the reputation, because they work for it everyday. Compare to Iowa, where they sat around like Missouri, and let the whole population collapse. Kansas is at the crossroads, the hunting has been really good, from here it gets better or it gets worse, based on effort, not circumstancial luck, which has mostly been your benefactor to date. A guy like Bownback, with his Washington connections, knows how to work the system for Kansas, to get the most out of WIHA program, and Ag department funds for habitat. Change is not always bad, but is always inevitable. Try to manage the outcome. It's a big state, there's room for everybody, especially the traveling and spending customers.

Thats the thing - the hunting really isnt that good. You guys coming from out of state think its fantastic because you've never seen anything like it in your lives, but #'s wise, Id wager its been on a decline for sometime. At least living here my entire life, thats what I have noticed. Not to sound like a negative nancy but Im sure others can chime in and would have the same observations. I think its primarily due to a lack of suitable habitat. Farming practices, using 100% of the land to farm, leaving no edge, poor management of CRP (no grazing, no burning etc) are exhibits 1, 2, 3, and so on. I actually like that they are tearing out some CRP....(where they rough disc it, its phenomenal pheasant habitat, granted that will only last a year) but as long as they dont tear it all out, and use some different farming practices(using stripper headers, no till planting, leaving ground sit fallow), it will help eliminate some of the places for the deer to hide and provide more suitable habitat for pheasants. The only thing that concerns me is the amount of spraying. But Im seeing pockets of what Id consider more wildlife friendly farming practices...however its not very widespread. I dont think we need to manage for deer habitat anymore. There are too many of them, and Im also of the opinion that the trophy quality of the herd isnt what it used to be. Too many people coming from out of state shooting what most of us that have lived here would call a dinker and they take it home like its the next state record. Leaving too many does etc, locking up ground to hunt trophys etc. KDWP thinks deer are king, and for you guys that hunt upland only you need to pay attn to what happens on the deer front as that affects you far more than you think.

We need them to fix the upland habitat before they whore out what we have left or we will be Missouri.

Ive seen firsthand many times how a drastic change in farming practices and land use can absolutely kill the upland wildlife #'s in an area 2-3 years later. Im not going to name the spot, but its in western KS. Its kinda sad because its an area about 40 square miles. Its affiliated with a power company. They wanted to go back to natural habitat as the land they purchased for water rights was ag land, however the way they did it was a joke. They supposedly partnered with the KDWP on the project and whoever was running that project should be shot. Im sure the EPA or whoever controls water permits etc had something to do with screwing it up as well. I could have my limit in no time and see dozens and dozens if not hundreds of pheasants in an afternoon hunt everytime before with some quail thrown in. Now, not as many pheasants and I cant find any quail. The idiots cut off all the water by shutting off the sprinklers, windmills, etc....Nice you didnt even think to put some guzzlers in first...

Im always good at changing the subject, but I think the point Im trying to make is the People in charge of the KDWP dont really care about wildlife, at least thats the impression I have gotten for a long time. It seemed like they did when I was younger, but not now. It doesnt help that the KDWP as far as I understand it, cant operate completely autonomously from the legislature, as theres still some items the legislature has to vote on and set every year???? (Dont quote me on that, but Im 99% certain thats how they operate and as far as Im concerned the KDWP should be completely independent of the corrupted electorate)

We'll see what happens, but based on past performance Im not holding my breath and neither should you.

 

[oldandnew]

I agree that the hunting in Kansas is not as good as it was 30 years ago. The wildlife model you want, a completely independent agency, is exactly what we have in Missouri! MDC funded by a 1/8th cent statewide sales tax. Answers to no one. We have limited public access, virtually exterpated quail and pheasant. I could go on and on. But basically there is no plan to change anything. If emphasis on upland hunting by the state encourages the landowners to provide for the needs of pheasant and quail, or at least do no harm, your ahead of the game, and you still benefit from the effort as a Kansas sportsman, benefit more than the one trip a year out of state guy who spends the dollars that make it possible. One thing you have right, and that is without a major effort, toward habitat, Kansas will become Missouri. Just as Missouri became Illinois, Illinois became Indiana, etc. Creeping population and monoculture agriculture, weather. Eastern third of Kansas virtually worthless now. Unless things have a value to the majority of the public, they disappear!

 

[carptom1]

What it comes down to is combining the two probably saves the state a huge bit of money. The tourism in the state of Kansas is a joke. By combining something as popular as our hunting with our limited tourism, it is easier for them to manage. The problem is that KDWP needs to stand alone. Our hunting is a huge resource for the state. I agree that the concern would be that our hunting would become to commercialized. That is a worry that i have. Although i don't mind paying a small trespass fee from time to time i don't want to pay thousands to hunt. The work of the KDWP needs to be helping farmers provide better habitat for the birds. It is funny, if that happens the hunters will come. They won't need to promote it. Back in the 70's and 80's people came from all over the US to hunt quail in Missouri and Eastern Kansas. The quail were everywhere. I could drive from my house 2 hrs south and walk 2 or 3 fence rows and have a limit in less than my travel time. Not anymore. I walked the same areas this year and found 3 small coveys of 10 birds or less. I would even be on board for a larger license fee to just go for habitat. Lets say an extra 25.00 a year. Wow what a difference that could make in the right hands.

 

[JayhawkJ]

I also would like to see Kansas drop the limit to 3 roosters and change the shooting time to begin at 10 am. jmo

 

[Rusty Trigger]

JayHawk, your gonna start some trouble saying things like that. But I agree about lowering the limit. I would have a hard time giving up the sunrise hunts though. Stopping shooting hours 30 minutes before sundown may be more beneficial to survival, as I wonder where or what happens to the birds that are displaced from their roost late in the evening as they are settling down for the night.

How about ending quail at the end of December? Seems like they get shot up bad enough that the covey's are so small that winter survival may be slim. For instance, the 20 + bird covey's I saw during the first week are down to 5 or less when I saw them mid-January. Most likely won't survive the remaining winter.

 

[JayhawkJ]

JayHawk, your gonna start some trouble saying things like that. But I agree about lowering the limit. I would have a hard time giving up the sunrise hunts though. Stopping shooting hours 30 minutes before sundown may be more beneficial to survival, as I wonder where or what happens to the birds that are displaced from their roost late in the evening as they are settling down for the night.

How about ending quail at the end of December? Seems like they get shot up bad enough that the covey's are so small that winter survival may be slim. For instance, the 20 + bird covey's I saw during the first week are down to 5 or less when I saw them mid-January. Most likely won't survive the remaining winter.

Rusty, I agree on the quail and I think here in Kansas we need to do whatever it takes to get the bird numbers up and that's why I would recommend implementing the limits and regulations that South Dakota is using.

 

[bluestem]

buffer strips

I have hunted a ton of WIHA in the last few years and it always seems the better one's have food nearby or mostly directly connected to them. If we could convince the farmer's and pay them for establishing buffer strips we would not only protect our watersheds but create perfect habitat for upland birds. I would be in favor of paying more for this.

 

[hunter94]

i would say this is a money saving tactic, cut some folks off....but advertising even more and trying to attract more hunters with less walk-in would be a disaster. there really are more hunters now and fewer birds, pressure has increased immensely as well, quality of hunting is beginning to decline, you can see it if you look and are honest.....paying an additional fee is inevitable, but without more walk in land (some areas are virtually without participation) the whole plan will backfire......sure change is inevitable, but this one needs watching closely......at this point i would be skeptical at best.

 

[hunter94]

I have hunted a ton of WIHA in the last few years and it always seems the better one's have food nearby or mostly directly connected to them. If we could convince the farmer's and pay them for establishing buffer strips we would not only protect our watersheds but create perfect habitat for upland birds. I would be in favor of paying more for this.

what you often times find is lots of CRP, but no crop fields around, there are very few birds on that CRP....you have to have both for decent bird concentration.