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- Thread starter quail hound
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mnmthunting
Banned
Can't imagine that CA or anywhere would be planting old mature roosters.
Good going by the way. :cheers:
quail hound
Moderator
Thats kind of what I was thinking too. It could be a brood stock bird but maybe a wild one too?
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ditchparrot19
Member
Real easy to determine if the head's still around -- just check for a hole drilled through the upper portion of the beak.
Clubs will throw out some older ones now and again. Some of them run "longest tailfeather" contests for their members, although it can be difficult for birds to keep those intact in the pens.
Clubs will throw out some older ones now and again. Some of them run "longest tailfeather" contests for their members, although it can be difficult for birds to keep those intact in the pens.
quail hound
Moderator
The "California Hunting" Facebook page made this for JP and I.
ditchparrot19
Member
Beautiful artwork!
Hate to play the spelling cop, but "Central" contains only one "e".
quail hound
Moderator
I didn't even notice that dp19, good eye. English is a tough one to master, its always nice to have someone to run something by.
quail hound
Moderator
Mendota
It was supposed to rain off and on today so I decided to sleep in a bit a hit Mendota around 1pm. When I arrived it was instantly apparent that all storm clouds had bypassed the wildlife area altogether. My brother and I and three dogs walked from about 1:15 until 4:30 and never moved a bird, not even a hen.
The absolute lack of upland management is apparent in the bird numbers and the dismal cover.
I can honestly say that is the first time in 6yrs of pheasant hunting with my dog that we've not moved a bird.
It was supposed to rain off and on today so I decided to sleep in a bit a hit Mendota around 1pm. When I arrived it was instantly apparent that all storm clouds had bypassed the wildlife area altogether. My brother and I and three dogs walked from about 1:15 until 4:30 and never moved a bird, not even a hen.
The absolute lack of upland management is apparent in the bird numbers and the dismal cover.I can honestly say that is the first time in 6yrs of pheasant hunting with my dog that we've not moved a bird.
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It's bad alright but maybe it's easier to understand if you looked at it as though there were a bunch of hunters who wanted to hunt Collared Doves on the wildlife area and would like to have habitat established to increase their numbers. Pheasants are popular with us but they're an introduced species. I think that's why Pheasants Forever will always have a hard time getting DFW to spend time and money on them in California. They're striped bass with wings.
quail hound
Moderator
I try to never call it pheasant habitat when I talk to people (df&w employees), its upland habitat and good upland habitat benefits many species, this is a "wildlife" area after all. Pheasants don't compete with any native wildlife, we created their niche here and pheasants have been in Ca longer than most of our families have. I understand budget constraints, water deliveries etc but the simple fact is that the state of upland habitat on these lands is terrible. When you see arundo growing in Wildlife Areas and refuges, you know they just don't care anymore.
quail hound
Moderator
Also, with a walk through any state or federal lands you can't seriously tell me they are against anything non native, that is laughable. My arundo observation pretty much proves that, if they won't address a problem like that it tells you all you need to know.
They have active Arundo (Giant Cane) eradication programs at Gray Lodge and I assume at the other wild life ares where it has established itself too. The area manager at Gray Lodge told me they spent $30,000 one year trying to eradicate it. They also let a herbicide company try innovative programs there to get rid of it all with maybe a stalemate being the result.
The duck hunters cut it and use it to make their blinds and then leave the cuttings in the ponds at the end of the day. They spread that way. The area manager questioned me about why I had a PVC pipe cutter on the front seat of my truck for that reason.
I have a patch of it about 30' in diameter in my back yard on the property line that I don't know where it came from. The neighbor decided to remove it by cutting it down and painting each cut end with a paintbrush dipped in Roundup. It worked for awhile but now it's coming back and that's just a 30' circle where they have acres of it on the wildlife areas. It's insidious and not a good barometer of DFW concern or commitment to habitat management.
Trying to find a different way to get DFW involved is the way to go as you suggest. Increased Valley Quail habitat on the areas would benefit pheasants too. Going after an accounting of how the Upland Game Bird Stamp money is spent is another but like striped bass it has to be some other reason for pheasant populations to increase here.
Have you sat down with the Mendota area manager and discussed it? That would be worth your time.
The duck hunters cut it and use it to make their blinds and then leave the cuttings in the ponds at the end of the day. They spread that way. The area manager questioned me about why I had a PVC pipe cutter on the front seat of my truck for that reason.
I have a patch of it about 30' in diameter in my back yard on the property line that I don't know where it came from. The neighbor decided to remove it by cutting it down and painting each cut end with a paintbrush dipped in Roundup. It worked for awhile but now it's coming back and that's just a 30' circle where they have acres of it on the wildlife areas. It's insidious and not a good barometer of DFW concern or commitment to habitat management.
Trying to find a different way to get DFW involved is the way to go as you suggest. Increased Valley Quail habitat on the areas would benefit pheasants too. Going after an accounting of how the Upland Game Bird Stamp money is spent is another but like striped bass it has to be some other reason for pheasant populations to increase here.
Have you sat down with the Mendota area manager and discussed it? That would be worth your time.
quail hound
Moderator
Maybe it is a poor barometer, but watching that (once) small stand of arundo spread for the last 5yrs has really upset me for some reason and I understand why the upland habitat degrades while the arundo spreads. I saw a short eared owl today while hunting, I bet his life would be positively affected by better upland management.
Calisdad
New member
I made it into the Rim Fire burn area yesterday after being locked out for 16 months. As you may know the CBD sued to stop salvage logging, saying burned forests were great spotted owl habitat. They fortunately lost, however I did see these 5 new owl boxes. Perhaps it was a compromise.
So as you can see, and already know, habitat improvement in CA is glacially slow. Maybe it is time for new PF and QU chapters so we can just do what we can ourselves. I'd do what I can but wouldn't want my dues going out of state to someone's salary.
quail hound
Moderator
Well I wanted to share a story about well managed uplands (which there were), flushing birds (which we did), and roosters in the bag (my brother missed his shot with both barrels) but that is not the story I have to tell today.
JP's pace quickened, his tail twitched excitedly, and he began gulping air through his nostrils more deliberately. I kept pace with gun ready. A final acceleration through the grass towards a clump of tules for what I assumed would be a flushing pheasant but no bird erupted. I quickly realized that those bodily tells were those of gamey JP, not of birdy JP. I try to whistle and give him the "leave it" command but it's to late, he has some unlucky, furred creature in his mighty jaws already. One quick shake of his head and the animals has breathed his last and JP comes to me with that proud look on his face but with a new green streak on his neck and a pungent, unmistakable smell about him.
That's how our day was cut short today. JP did his civic duty to the birds he and I love so much and rid Los Banos of one more nasty nest raider. I can honestly say I am surprised it took six years before our first encounter with a skunk.
JP's pace quickened, his tail twitched excitedly, and he began gulping air through his nostrils more deliberately. I kept pace with gun ready. A final acceleration through the grass towards a clump of tules for what I assumed would be a flushing pheasant but no bird erupted. I quickly realized that those bodily tells were those of gamey JP, not of birdy JP. I try to whistle and give him the "leave it" command but it's to late, he has some unlucky, furred creature in his mighty jaws already. One quick shake of his head and the animals has breathed his last and JP comes to me with that proud look on his face but with a new green streak on his neck and a pungent, unmistakable smell about him.
That's how our day was cut short today. JP did his civic duty to the birds he and I love so much and rid Los Banos of one more nasty nest raider. I can honestly say I am surprised it took six years before our first encounter with a skunk.
I think Charlie is right about habitat improvement being independent of DFW with one possible exception. We all buy an Upland GAME BIRD Stamp not an Upland Habitat Improvement Stamp. Like Deep Throat said in, "All The President's Men", "Follow the money!"
Look at the list of upland game birds that DFW recognizes. It includes Crows and Snipe. Ask what has been spent out of the fund to improve their populations. Crows wouldn't help much but snipe would. They need feather edge wet places which pheasants do too.
Go to a wildlife area and talk to the area manager not somebody at the check station. Make an appointment, tell him the area of concern you want to discuss so he can prepare and not say I have to get back to you on that. Have a list of questions about how the UGB money is spent and ask for a copy of the areas budget including staff positions paid for by the fund and man hours spent on UGB programs. Ask what specifically was done that the manager can point to and say, "The equipment operator did that." If you don't get satisfaction go and do the same thing with the his boss, the regional manager. I feel certain that you'll find money has been spent on activities that don't benefit UGBs, which usually just planting dove food plots, and that the fund is used to balance their budget.
You can complain on forums like this but you have to actually go and meet with the guy driving the bus to find out what he thinks is the reason there aren't more pheasants.
Funny but it took me almost 7 years before Morgan got skunked the first time. In our yard however and not hunting. Smells just the same though.