Lost lots of WIHA

L

leeledger

Member
Got to town last Friday and road around Greensburg. Three or four tracts that have been in WIHA for at least 15 years are out. The area shows on the electronic and printed map as being in. Two of the tracts had a single sign on one corner saying "no longer enrolled". The other ones had no posted signs at all. In the south part of Edwards county two tracts that have always been in are out. They are not on the maps. But they did not have "no longer enrolled" anywhere. I did not notice any new land added this year where we hunt. But some good land came out.

A spot we always find birds on had deer hunters on it everytime we went by. So we never got to hunt it. It's two sections of woods on two sides of the road. But we we didn't know where the hunter was. Walked in on a guy in a tree a few years ago. Did not want to mess this guy up.


But found a good many quail. Still not as many as ten years ago. Not a lot of pheasants still.
 
I don't think that KDWP posts areas as no longer in the program. If they do, it is only when trespass shows itself to be a problem. Usually that is being done by the landowner. Doesn't make sense for KDWP to expend $ on land they no longer rent. WIHA is a flexible program that changes every year. That will be both good and bad, but is built into the program. Much like CRP itself, it isn't a permanent lease or condition.
 
I have seen some red "No longer enrolled" signs.

My complaint is that the land is still showing on the maps. Printed and electronic.

If we had not drove around the whole place, we would have thought it was still in.

Troy,
We can into a guy at a rest area that was headed to Kansas. He had a dog with him that he got from you.
 
leeledger said:
I have seen some red "No longer enrolled" signs.


Troy,
We can into a guy at a rest area that was headed to Kansas. He had a dog with him that he got from you.
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Splains my ears burning:p That confirms the small world thing and doesn't narrow it down much as I have sent pups to about 22 states and Alberta. Thanks for mentioning it! Neat!
 
duckn66 said:
Those places could have been taken out after the maps were completed.
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That's completely true duckn! Our deadline and the enrollment period undoubtedly aren't the same. It's unfortunate, but it happens. It's a big project and takes a lot of management to come that close.
 
I for one am very thankful for that program as I have very little private ground to hunt. If a spot is no longer enrolled or taken out just before season it's fine as long as the program stays!

I have what I call "milk routes" in various areas within 2 hours of my house. I have every spot marked in my book and what I've found on it and what type of cover is there. I transfer this from previous years book to current year. Although I am behind in that task this year! Lazy!
 
Feeling a little disheartened this afternoon. Went out for a short afternoon hunt. Found that one of my favorite honey-holes was taken out of WIHA this year. Still looks great, knee to waist high grass, food across the road, but posted signs every 100 yards or so. Drove to my backup spot, and found it still enrolled, but it has been hayed down to the ground. Walked some corn and moved a large covey that flew across the road and into posted property.

On the way home, I drove by 10-12 places that had been enrolled, but 5 were no longer marked. The places that are no longer enrolled still look good. I am really curious why they were taken out of the WIHA program.
 
WIHA Updates

I understand that land previously in the WIHA program may have been taken out after the atlas went to publishing. However, the online maps should be made current. There is no reason that an electronic version of the map cannot be changed quickly as land goes in and out of the program. Nebraska advises hunters to review the online version of their atlas for the most current data.
 
Thrasher said:
Drove to my backup spot, and found it still enrolled, but it has been hayed down to the ground.
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Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought there wasn't any CRP released to haying. Isn't that a violation or a breech of the CRP contract?
 
Money for CRP is needed. Some have mentioned a habitat fee. Not a bad idea since a license is relatively inexpensive.

I would rather see a more voluntary fund raiser. A upland lottery. Purchase a ticket for a chance to be one of a few who get exclusive rights at a popular wildlife area on opening weekend.

Or have a drawing for WIHA farmers for a new tractor. All they have to do is enroll.
 
Crossing shot said:
Money for CRP is needed. Some have mentioned a habitat fee. Not a bad idea since a license is relatively inexpensive.

I would rather see a more voluntary fund raiser. A upland lottery. Purchase a ticket for a chance to be one of a few who get exclusive rights at a popular wildlife area on opening weekend.

Or have a drawing for WIHA farmers for a new tractor. All they have to do is enroll.
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a lottery would't draw enough money to make a scratch on the surface of the problem......special fees or stamps result in money collected by state GF and squandered on unrelated or unregulated projects....depressed commodity prices and return of CRP sign ups is a longshot too....intense farming is here to stay.
 
For Prairie Drifter or someone else "in the know":

What is the "gospel" as it pertains to WIHA? The printed atlas (we know this can't be true), the online maps, or the presence of the white WIHA signs we all know?

I've also seen the red "no longer enrolled" signs, even on fields that are shown in the current year's atlas. Alternatively, I have seen fields that aren't in the atlas (but used to be), that still have the white signs.
 
matto said:
For Prairie Drifter or someone else "in the know":

What is the "gospel" as it pertains to WIHA? The printed atlas (we know this can't be true), the online maps, or the presence of the white WIHA signs we all know?

I've also seen the red "no longer enrolled" signs, even on fields that are shown in the current year's atlas. Alternatively, I have seen fields that aren't in the atlas (but used to be), that still have the white signs.
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I would go with the posted signs! They should be most current. If it's not marked, I'd respect the landowner enough to drive on down the road. True, we have had some individuals that have pulled the signs in order to be able to hunt said property themselves. If you have questions, I'd sure call the regional office and report what you see in the field. Might result in an investigation and correction if there is a problem on the ground. Thanks!
 
Prairie Drifter said:
I would go with the posted signs! They should be most current. If it's not marked, I'd respect the landowner enough to drive on down the road. True, we have had some individuals that have pulled the signs in order to be able to hunt said property themselves. If you have questions, I'd sure call the regional office and report what you see in the field. Might result in an investigation and correction if there is a problem on the ground. Thanks!
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agree, there are always exceptions, but a posted sign that shows WIHA is hard to rebut.
 
Saw some of these red signs today on several closely adjoined parcels. Most of them seemed to be a block of ground that had a new house and new barbed wire fence on it. I'm guessing the ground sold and the new owners got out of the WIHA contract. Not sure what kind of 'outs' are written in the contracts.
 
I did check with Jake, the guy who runs the program and updates the online version. He says we do post tracts that come out after we've printed the Atlas with those red and white signs. He usually does several updates on the online version, but this year he is not only doing that job, but he is also acting in his former supervisor's position so not as many updates have been done. Go with what you find on-site in the way of signs. If it's not posted at all, act as if it's closed and feel free to call and report that it is not posted. Hope this clears things up.
 
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