The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

hotrod13 said:
Here is a question, I know that the dry land would be tough on the birds, but what if it is irrigated land. I know the early spring there was a little moisture around, then when the corn was planted and irrigated it would bring much needed moisture and insects for young birds. Just wondering if you hunt a lot of irrigated land (with crp on the corners) if the bird populations would be greater due to presence of water and hopefully insects. Also with the wheat being cut early or turned under or not available would the birds go to nesting in crp if that is there only choice? The land I hunt had a 80 acre and 160 acre patch of crp that was burnt off in early spring. I would assume those birds would relocate to the closest crp areas and nest and rear yound there then move back to the larger areas they were burned out of later on or just stay in the new area (the new area has a pond, with 3 corners of crp hooked together), so I am thinking that could be a real honey hole. Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,

Rod
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I'm no expert here, but nobody is taking a shot at this so I'll do my best to regurgitate what I've read.

I think there were some birds born on irrigated quarters of wheat in parts of SW KS. In the area I hunt, most of the wheat is dry land wheat. Sure it looks like there is a lot of irrigation, but there are more acres of dry nesting cover. I have no idea what the CRP looks like out there, but I would assume some birds made nests there, especially if it was burned this spring. I don't know how many broadleaf weeds would come up in newly burned CRP, but that's where I think the most bugs are.

HOWEVER, the heat and drought has been severe. It has been terribly hot for many of the critical days when chicks can't regulate their body tempuratures. I've raised both pheasants and quail and I can tell you, they die quickly when their body temp gets out of range. Emergency haying will have some of the grass removed in areas.

Most importanly, for those of you still awake; wouldn't the most important factor be what was available in a few mile radius (i.e. nesting, brood cover, weeds, DIVERSITY instead of sand)?

Ask Prairie Drifter, he's the guy that really knows how to answer that question:)
 
cheesy said:
Here's that nearly 2 year old GSP on point last year (too bad my two buddies couldn't knock down 1 of the 3 roosters that were holding rock-solid in that heavy grass), showing lots of potential, going to miss her. Several on here have littermates I think, as well as her momma. :D
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That's a good looking dog Cheesy. I think you should hold onto her though. :thumbsup:

And take the blog post with a grain of salt if you will, but it does have merit. I just thought I'd post it for folks that may be unaware, and might be traveling a great distance to hunt.
 
Agree, I will point out that a good protien source and ability to regulate body temp is extremely critical. Lets also not forget that a late hatch can still happen, and Rain can still happen. It's not going to be a banner year by any means, but some birds will make it, just not in great numbers.
 
Well I am heading up there today to do a little coyote hunting in the 100 temps. I am definetly keep a eye out for pheasants. My thoughts were that the irrigation on the corn would keep them watered up, and the crp corners would give them a good nesting/rearing area. Thanks for the information.


Rod
 
Well returned from Kansas, it definetly is very dry, but not as bad as Oklahoma. My reports are about the same, saw a few roosters, and some quail. My cousin said he has not seen any chicks of either species, but says he has seen just as many adult pheasants as he does every year. He said the quail he has seen has been mainly singles, when hunting for coyote I heard several quail. The burned crp is about ankle up to knee high, if they would get some rain that stuff would grow and be tall enough to hunt by November. Looks like it is going to be a tough year, but at least it will be better than working.

Rod
 
pretty typical of an extremely dry year, the carryover birds are still visible, re production is very limited and old, smart birds from last season will be tough to hunt, especially in sparse cover.....unless we get some fall rains to improve conditions (and maybe allow winter wheat to be planted and even sprout) it is going to be very, very tough hunting in SW and SC Kansas.
 
cheesy said:
Guys, I'm telling you, its bad. I've driven from my house to my parents the last 3 weekends and haven't so much as seen an adult pheasant, let alone a chick. I usually switch my route up to see more countryside, the travels include Crawford, Cherokee, Neosho, Labette, Montgomery, and Wilson counties. Thats a lot of driving for no birds.....
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I can't believe you made it through Labette and Montgomery counties without roosters knocking your windshield and headlights out! West of Coffeyville is some of the best pheasant country in the state.
 
cheesy said:
Guys, I'm telling you, its bad. I've driven from my house to my parents the last 3 weekends and haven't so much as seen an adult pheasant, let alone a chick. I usually switch my route up to see more countryside, the travels include Crawford, Cherokee, Neosho, Labette, Montgomery, and Wilson counties. Thats a lot of driving for no birds.....
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Cheesy don't give up there are birds in South Dakota. You don't really want to sell your dog and guns.
 
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