NEWS FLASH: Drought ends at Ponderosa

I've been in Lawrence the past 3 days and we've had 2 big storms blow through here dropping a ton of rain. Its a pleasant sight for this Texas boy!
 
I no its dry and you need the rain bad. Hope you get. Not to rub it in but I can't believe how wet it is in NW KS. It seems we get several rains a couple of nites a week. Grass keeps growing.
 
I hope next week brings you (us) some much needed rain. The drought just keeps getting worse.
 
We are getting thunder storms again today. Third day out of the last four. Cold front looks like a finger straight down from Canada along the Missouri River basin, wish we could move it west about 200 miles.
 
We are getting thunder storms again today. Third day out of the last four. Cold front looks like a finger straight down from Canada along the Missouri River basin, wish we could move it west about 200 miles.

I would gladly take it here at Dodge.
 
M. R.- just wanted to say- I took all four Britt's for a swim and run- Cimmeron grassland- bit NE of Elkart- darn- but it's really green out there-
big time difference than three weeks ago

found a spot- 100-150 doves hung arround for over an hour- even with the Britt's running all over the place
 
found a spot- 100-150 doves hung arround for over an hour- even with the Britt's running all over the place

Not good to have those dove all bunched up like that. It would be best to be there next Thursday morning and reduce the numbers slightly. :)
 
Not good to have those dove all bunched up like that. It would be best to be there next Thursday morning and reduce the numbers slightly. :)

I haven't even made it out to scout yet. Next week's schedule doesn't look good either. I am fortunate enough to have the opener off though so I'm thankful for that.

Good luck to you gents and be safe!!
 
I haven't even made it out to scout yet. Next week's schedule doesn't look good either. I am fortunate enough to have the opener off though so I'm thankful for that.

Good luck to you gents and be safe!!

Very subtle there, KB... :laugh::p:laugh:

Oh yeah... I drove through Waterville this morning and there were so many doves on the powerline West of town it was almost sagging to the ground!:eek: Not really, but that was the biggest concentration of doves I've seen this year. Those babies were almost shoulder to shoulder for several utility poles. I would guess close to 100 in a span of less than a quarter mile.
 
Last edited:
Maynard, I saw you out there doing the rain dance yesterday and there was barely a cloud in the sky. You ought to try my rain dance, I stayed in Garden City and brought some nice showers with me for the locals. Stay tuned for my rain dance details...
 
Maynard, I saw you out there doing the rain dance yesterday and there was barely a cloud in the sky. You ought to try my rain dance, I stayed in Garden City and brought some nice showers with me for the locals. Stay tuned for my rain dance details...

Missed me by fifty miles. You need to spread that rain a little further east.

The current weather map.

20110830WX.jpg


Still dry at the Ponderosa. Losing a lot of wildlife habitat, trees & shrubs.

Good news is I am seeing some chicken.
 
I drove hundreds and hundeds of miles through pheasant country this week so far. SWK looks very bad right now. I hope the rains start moving in soon. After the corn is cut there will be virtually no hiding places for the few birds that survived the weather. Almost all the corners have only ankle high grass or totally baren. I walked 8 or 10 walk-in CRP plots and there is no cover. Over here in eastern Nebraska everything is green, it is hard to believe the difference a few hundred miles makes. About my rain dance, I spent two hours detailing my Chevy Avalanche two weeks ago and got nearly two inches of rain within 24 hours. It worked 100% of the time so far. I suppose I could bring the vehicle out to the Ponderosa and give it a shot.
 
Maynard, not bragging but over here at Lake of The Ozarks we have had 8 inches this month. Maybe if you could start a Party Cove on one of your fields the bare chested women who show up would appease the rain gods. Dont know but at this point you gotta try somthing differnt. Maybe get some booby beads to get the dance going? Just a thought. Praying for you guys out west.
 
Maynard, not bragging but over here at Lake of The Ozarks we have had 8 inches this month.

Eight inches spread out over a month here would be really good. We really need one of those nasty wet winters that make a guy wish he had no cows to feed to get any moisture down deep.

Thanks for your prayers.
 
I knew that my last beneficial moisture was in November, but wasn't sure how much so I checked the calendar at the ranch today.

November 12th 1.55"
November 13th 0.25"
November 14th 0.05"

This year there has been a handful of showers, but nothing strung together to be beneficial. I did dump 0.30" out of the rain gauge on May 27th, which is the high for the year. I also noted on the calendar that on May 29th the temp was 104 with 50 mph winds and May 30th was 95 with 60 mph winds.

My shelter belt is really hurting along with everything else.

I just finished reading this whole thread and I am saddened by it so because we, my wife, my birddog and I, were in Dodge City on Nov the 17 last year. We had service on my truck there and had a fine meal at Montana Mike's on our way to camp at Meade state park. We were trying to find some quail to get my dog into for training on wild birds. My wife said today that she felt somehow proud that she could say she had been to to Dodge City and I said me too. BTW it did rain a little shower there on Wednesday morning following all that wind! That being Nov. 17th last ear.

It was dry looking then but nothing like the pics you linked that I showed my wife tonight! We are so sorry that it is so dry for you and prayed for rain for you sitting at the computer tonight. We had camped at Cedar Bluff S.P. from Sat 13th until Tuesday the 16th and drove on to Meade SP arriving after dark. We drove all through the park looking for where we wanted to camp and it was erie being that we were the only campers at all.

We were very tired and just set up our popup without unpacking the truck. We had eaten in D.C. so we just went to bed! At 3:00 AM the wind was so bad it woke me and since I could feel it hitting under our kingsized bed I was afraid to move for fear it would flip the camper. My 300 lbs I thought was holding us down! At 4:00 the dog wanted to go out and I let her then and it was good that I did. We were in site # 2 and the fire ring in #1 was white hot from the wind and sparks were flying towards the broome straw about twenty feet away. I grabbed our pee pot and ran out there and spread the two pieces of wood apart and thankfully put the fire out! I told the Park Rangers the next morning and they looked shocked and said there had been no one in the campground since Sunday afternoon! With that wind, if those sparks had caught in that brush at that hour it would have been awfull! I had also helped to put out a fire at Cedar Bluff earlier that week! Anyway if folks read this they need to be Da*ned sure to extinguish those fires! I didn't think of it until later but had that fire gotten away and burned as it probably would have, I bet it would have been blamed on us! That scares the heck out of me!

I said a prayer for you all and the animals, wild and domestic, and birds as well. It is heart breaking to think of their suffering, and I sincerely hope it will end soon and favorably, to help all of you guys there. I found no birds at the park and I think it will be a long time before things recover. It was my first trip there and after I had spent my time some folks told me I had wasted it in that area looking for pheasant and quail pretty much. They said there were a few quail but no pheasants!

We rode through hundreds of miles of fields and farms that could have supported hundreds of thousands of birds and other wildlife yet they appeared to be sterile and devoid of life because of clean farming. What a very great pity! That too makes me sad. I think if our government were not so greedy that farmers have to farm all available ground to make ends meet things could be very much different. Well I've said too much, but I will keep up the prayers for you and all in this drought. God Bless, Bill
 
Back
Top