More rain! Widespread!

Locally in my pocket in NW IA, we received another nice rain last night, heard reports from 1.5" to 2.6". I am not sure if these last rains are enough to change any haying/grazing to CRP programs or if that has already be decided.

Randy, That map is maybe not too accurate, it doesn't seem to show much of any rain in the last few day we have received...unless just one dot in the county is to represent the average rainfall for that entire county?? Or maybe I was using it wrong.
 
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its volunteer.

if a person has the rain gauge then they read it and send the info into the website.

so as far as accuracy its accurate to that location. rains have been very spotty. so if theres a dot next to your fav hunting spot then its accurate if its 15 miles from your fav hunting spot then it maybe off by many inches + or-.

i posted it because everyone asks about moisture every year on here. that sight tells you each day and you can look to see moisture received in order to make a better guess about the bugs that may be available for the hatched chicks and crops
 
We had a little over 2" in Watertown yesterday. A big storm came through on Friday, but only registered about .3 of an inch. Regardless, it was well timed for the farmers, as the beans and corn were getting quite stressed. I'm confident this moisture will carry us through.

On another note, I've been hearing good reports on brood sightings from family/farmers. Just a little over two months to go!!
 
Got reports of .5 to 1” over a lot of the area we hunt. Also got another seeing lots of broods report from a landowner I hadn’t touched base with since june. Extends the great comments I have been getting about bird numbers from all but 1 of my contacts. Can’t wait to head west. Less than 3 months now for us!
 
Golden Hour said:
We had a little over 2" in Watertown yesterday. A big storm came through on Friday, but only registered about .3 of an inch. Regardless, it was well timed for the farmers, as the beans and corn were getting quite stressed. I'm confident this moisture will carry us through.

On another note, I've been hearing good reports on brood sightings from family/farmers. Just a little over two months to go!!
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I hope your right. A slong as s them weeds and crops get half ways decent rain we'll have a good season. Here's a question since you always act knowledgeable with phez, I heard a couple people say (facebook) the late season hopper hatch is important for good hunting, I always thought them were more of a thing with the chicks. Think there's anything to late hoppers like in mid season? Do you seen more birds then?
 
I know the crops of sharpies are full of them throughout the season, I assume pheasants eat them too, especially if other food sources are in short supply? I can’t recall if I’ve seen pheasants full of them or not…
 
hyresmack said:
I hope your right. A slong as s them weeds and crops get half ways decent rain we'll have a good season. Here's a question since you always act knowledgeable with phez, I heard a couple people say (facebook) the late season hopper hatch is important for good hunting, I always thought them were more of a thing with the chicks. Think there's anything to late hoppers like in mid season? Do you seen more birds then?
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Acting knowledgeable is one of my best skills, thanks for noticing. ;)

I remember hearing a guy claim that the "late hopper hatch" was a boon for pheasants, but I'm skeptical. While grasshoppers are a good food source, they certainly are unlikely to be the make or break for a chick and have no correlation to the quality of pheasant hunting in the fall. Pheasant chicks need a bit more than one species of insect hatching in late summer to thrive, IMO.
 
I seen hoppers in pheasant crops, but only "full of them" a couple times, & they were 1st year birds, pretty early in the season. Leads me to think maybe fully mature birds don't eat them regularly. Honestly, if I were an avid trout fisherman, maybe I'd pay closer attention to them. But it seems to me once mid October rolls around, hoppers are pretty much history. But who knows? Maybe I should be "hunting the hatch" rather than the harvest. 🤷
 
My 95 yr old farmer friend has always told me grasshoppers are good for pheasants. I have always wondered if he means that literally, or if good conditions for grasshoppers are also good conditions for pheasants. Like maybe the pheasants eat other, smaller bugs that thrive when grasshoppers thrive. I guess I should ask him while I still can.
 
Just my observation from hunting mostly after thanksgiving. I don't ever recall finding grasshoppers in any crops. Only two times that I recall I have found crops that had something other than corn or soybean. One time it was hemp seed and the other time it looked like blueberries. Picture is attached of the blueberry looking fruit. I just couldn't imagine a blueberry at the end of November. Any locals know what this could be??
 

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Birdybird said:
My 95 yr old farmer friend has always told me grasshoppers are good for pheasants. I have always wondered if he means that literally, or if good conditions for grasshoppers are also good conditions for pheasants. Like maybe the pheasants eat other, smaller bugs that thrive when grasshoppers thrive. I guess I should ask him while I still can.
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My farmers have always told me that early summer hoppers are essential for optimal chick survival rate.
 
They really did look like blueberries and I didn't think of it at the time to document where the bird came from. We do hunt close around some farms, I mean very close. Of course with permission. Would a pheasant possibly go to a compost pile? or potentially pick up blueberries that someone tossed out into their yard that had gone bad? I never remember seeing any berry like fruit of any kind when we go end of November. Guess i should have tasted them!
 
sjohn said:
Would a pheasant possibly go to a compost pile? or potentially pick up blueberries that someone tossed out into their yard that had gone bad?
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Yes, they would. So that's really a pretty decent guess. They'll eat corn out of a cow patty with the cow watching. They'll eat whatever is easy.
 
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