Rules Changes

Corndawg, I commend you for loading them boys up and taking them to South Dakota. You're making hunting memories that no one can take away from them boys. Good on you!
My second trip to South Dakota each year, is at the end of November and It is my Christmas in November also, that's a good way to put it.
Fall can't get here quick enough for me this year.
Good luck to you and your family, I hope you have an enjoyable trip !!!
 
haymaker said:
All that you said was true when we had unlimited bird numbers. In 2005 and those years every hunter that hunted here limited out every day all season long. They were collecting that revenue then but it did not stop the decline. Now the GFP does not control the weather and it has certainly played a part in the decline in the bird numbers. Extending the season may do more harm than good in some years. There is usually a point when birds go into survival mode, hunting them after that makes no sense. They are trying to market a product but the product is in short supply. To increase the number of hunters there needs to be an increase in birds. That will be an expensive process.
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all truth in the post above, from someone with first hand knowledge......GFP is being short sighted in. hopes of filling their coffers, greed usually is not rewarded by poor planning and short term tactics......January is an iffy month at best, every year.
 
i am saving my WIHA map book this year, so next season i can see what new ground is added to the program...lol
It won't take long to see how much ground my habitat stamp will buy for next year.

the 4 bird limit and January extension is nothing more than a marketing ploy for more money.
 
haymaker said:
All that you said was true when we had unlimited bird numbers. In 2005 and those years every hunter that hunted here limited out every day all season long. They were collecting that revenue then but it did not stop the decline. Now the GFP does not control the weather and it has certainly played a part in the decline in the bird numbers. Extending the season may do more harm than good in some years. There is usually a point when birds go into survival mode, hunting them after that makes no sense. They are trying to market a product but the product is in short supply. To increase the number of hunters there needs to be an increase in birds. That will be an expensive process.
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economics and lower corn prices will be the primary drivers for any push for new CRP, ie. the key to. more birds/hunters/money for the state.
 
I read all the threads and agree with all that was said. However, we all may be missing the real motivation. To accommodate the hunting lodges? Maybe the GFP had pressure put on them to expand the limit and season.
 
Corn prices have actually had a nice rally over the last 30 days, and with the direct payments to farmers of over $30 billion this year, with maybe more to come, CRP doesn't seem to be a priority.

Word of caution, don't go knocking on doors with a Biden/Harris sticker on your truck. :)
 
kuk kuk said:
I read all the threads and agree with all that was said. However, we all may be missing the real motivation. To accommodate the hunting lodges? Maybe the GFP had pressure put on them to expand the limit and season.
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Most of the people I know who operate lodges that are not a preserve/100% are wild birds, are all ready to be done by early December or so. My guess is the "lodges" with the big bucks are all preserves and this really does not impact them, they were already operating during that time frame.
 
Mill Creek said:
Corn prices have actually had a nice rally over the last 30 days, and with the direct payments to farmers of over $30 billion this year, with maybe more to come, CRP doesn't seem to be a priority.

Word of caution, don't go knocking on doors with a Biden/Harris sticker on your truck. :)
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Speaking of habitat, I've been on the road covering ground in SD and am shocked at how many WIA pieces have been hayed. Yesterday I went to 10 and 6 had been totally rolled up. Didn't leave strips, nothing. Huge bummer. Its my understanding the landowner has the ability to do that every so many years but then does not receive full payment for the year? In one case the piece was put in last year and now gone. Im more SE part. Anyone else notice similar?
 
SDroosty said:
Speaking of habitat, I've been on the road covering ground in SD and am shocked at how many WIA pieces have been hayed. Yesterday I went to 10 and 6 had been totally rolled up. Didn't leave strips, nothing. Huge bummer. Its my understanding the landowner has the ability to do that every so many years but then does not receive full payment for the year? In one case the piece was put in last year and now gone. Im more SE part. Anyone else notice similar?
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Lots of variables and different programs, but it may fall under this one:
https://habitat.sd.gov/resources/workinggrassland.aspx
https://gfp.sd.gov/landowner-programs/
Participants in the Second Century Working Lands Habitat Program agree to establish a grass and flower mix on cropland acres for 5 years, and in return receive free seed and a one-time payment of $150 per acre at the beginning of the contract. Starting during the second growing season, participants can hay or graze the enrolled lands between August 1 and March 1, with annual haying limited to either half the enrolled acres every year, or the entire acreage every other year. There is a 10 acre minimum for this program.
 
the rules are so diluted that a lot of the walk in shouldn't even be advertised as such. i doubt anyone checks on the usage for grazing or haying.
if this continues next year, that habitat stamp you bought this year will be nothing more than a donation to the state.
if SD wants to retain it's hunters they better get their habitat program into a productive state or things will go to hell in a hurry.
hiding the roadside counts is simply another tactic to avoid accountability for habitat/bird numbers, especially in poor years.
 
hunter94 said:
the rules are so diluted that a lot of the walk in shouldn't even be advertised as such. i doubt anyone checks on the usage for grazing or haying.
if this continues next year, that habitat stamp you bought this year will be nothing more than a donation to the state.
if SD wants to retain it's hunters they better get their habitat program into a productive state or things will go to hell in a hurry.
hiding the roadside counts is simply another tactic to avoid accountability for habitat/bird numbers, especially in poor years.
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The SDGFP doesn't simply go out check. They rely on calls from the public or randomly happening to come across a violation of the program the landowner is enrolled in. So, if you see something, say something. At least that's what a gamey told me a couple years back.

To the second point, I first need to say that I had strong opposition to the discontinuation of the roadside survey, as well as the too cozy relationship between the Dept of Tourism and SDGFP. I do believe there are things the state can do to help develop habitat, but at the end of the day, SD is a small state and there is only so much revenue to work with. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, revolves around the banner years in the early part of the 21st century when you couldn't step outside without seeing a horde of pheasants and that's become the standard by which years are judged. A state can only do so much, it's the CRP and grass programs that come from the federal level that made that happen.
 
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I've never figured out what evidence shows CRP produces more birds. This graph is from SD GFP showing bird numbers and CRP acres. They don't relate. CRP is great for hunting opportunities but I've been schooled that pheasants are born in the ditch, raised in the fence line and winter in the cattails.
1600990873235.png
I wouldn't pin my hopes on stamps in the rule changes for more hunting opportunities either-
$700,000 from stamps predicted
Marginal land in prime pheasant areas at $1,500 an acre
466 acres or 10 quarters added to the current "5 million acres"
Enough for maybe 1 additional WIA per county in east river per year
I've not seen any promise from politicians to add acres anyway- if the budget is short, they are filling potholes, not paving new roads. Paying for current CREP and other programs, not adding to them.
 
PeteRevvv said:
I've never figured out what evidence shows CRP produces more birds. This graph is from SD GFP showing bird numbers and CRP acres. They don't relate. CRP is great for hunting opportunities but I've been schooled that pheasants are born in the ditch, raised in the fence line and winter in the cattails.
View attachment 272
I wouldn't pin my hopes on stamps in the rule changes for more hunting opportunities either-
$700,000 from stamps predicted
Marginal land in prime pheasant areas at $1,500 an acre
466 acres or 10 quarters added to the current "5 million acres"
Enough for maybe 1 additional WIA per county in east river per year
I've not seen any promise from politicians to add acres anyway- if the budget is short, they are filling potholes, not paving new roads. Paying for current CREP and other programs, not adding to them.
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I think you are right within reason, however times are changing. Across the entire upper midwest, more fencelines are being ripped out, more ditches are being mowed or hayed, more wetlands are being drained. So that habitat has to be replaced somewhere for the population to survive and ultimately grow long term. I think it is important to support whatever local or national conservation type groups that you can, either monetarily or volunteering, so that they can help to purchase or provide match or grant dollars to increase the number of acres, whether public or private, that can raise pheasants and other wildlife.

I don't know of all the programs out there, but if pheasant stamps produce $700,000 a year... That is money that the state can say, "Hey, we've got $50,000 we can put towards this project or land acquisition. Pheasants Forever, can you match it? Ducks Unlimited can you also match it? Local conservation group, can you help plant or maintain it? Federal Government or NRCS, can you provide something?" Eventually the ball will get rolling and things, big or small, can slowly happen.
 
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