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Prairie Drifter

Prairie Drifter

Well-known member
It's been 11-12 days since the last post on the Kansas site. Are we all MIA? What's going on out there? I have 18 sites ready to burn and can't seem to get the wind to shut down or the humidity to stay over 35%. I just finished a project adding 2 new rock jetties to the lake. We are still working on removing rebar from the rip rap from rocking the dam as well. I did get word in the last two weeks that Prairie NAWCA II ($4 Million in Kansas) is being approved and I'll be working on that project adding 13 acres of wetlands to our marsh system in the next year or two. Speaking of wetlands, the beavers are causing me fits. I have them plugging up water control structures in at least 6 areas. Ponds, marshes, and canals are under attack. I've struck back a little this week since I couldn't burn, but they're still ahead of me.

The Kansas Muzzleloaders Association is in today, Saturday, to do a work day on the area. They will be building picnic tables, staining, cutting cedars, cleaning the campground, and helping with other projects that I seem to have to walk by heading to the ones that seem more important.

In agency, we're taking walleye eggs. I talked to the hatchery earlier in the week and though it isn't the peak yet, the eggs have started rolling in.

I hired a new seasonal Monday with hope we could get some burning done with limited outside help. Haven't had a burn day yet! It's a plan!!! He has his degree from Emporia and should evolve into good help with a little more experience! Once the new equipment shed is completed, I should be able to concentrate on normal management for awhile. I've had additional projects for several years in a row and I'm behind!! We're dewatering marshes now and preparing for both the grazing season and turkey opener. The cabins have been busy this month. That's a bit unusual and probably due to the warm weather.
 
I have been burning filter strips and bird buffers every day I can get a permit. They were issuing permits this morning, it got windy enough this afternoon I quit. It will take me at least a week of days I can burn to get them all done. I am seeing more rabbits than I can remember seeing while burning. I have also seen more quail than I have in a decade. Something else interesting I have noticed, I bet I have seen at least a dozen dead armadillos. I don't think it got cold enough to kill them, they must have some disease. It would be nice to see some moisture statewide that's for sure.
 
Had our work day today with KMA. 3 women and 6 men donated the day. We built 5 new picnic tables and got them stained. Then we pulled a truck load of metal out of the timber north of my office so I can get rid of the Siberian elms and make the new entry not look so shoddy. The ladies raked all the leaves out around the archery range picnic area. We broke for dinner and headed over to help the Jayhawk Retriever Club reps who were clearing cottonwood and willow sprouts from around one of the ponds. The work wound down about 4:30 and we had a bit of jawing before folks made their way home. Good day with good people. A lot of projects completed that would have taken my help or me several days alone.
 
How wonderful to get some free help like that. I hope you can get more. If I lived closer I would come help you burn. I grew up farming and always loved the burn days, I miss that now. I love watching cedars burn in a field, it gives me the same feeling as watching the Chiefs beat the Broncos.
 
Good group of folks in the KMA! Always nice to get things done that wouldn't have otherwise gotten done. Always a long day for me, but very rewarding. I started just after 7 and finished just before 6. However, we got about 7 days of work done in 1. Was up your way last week. Wow, how things change in 31 years! I was lost in town. Not how I remembered the little apple! I do love cedars aflame! About can't watch one without cheering! You might check with Tuttle Creek or Milford wildlife areas if you want soot in your nose! Nathan and Kristin will be smoking some cedars too!
 
PD,

You're right, very little action on the site lately. Nice of you to post to "prime the pump". Although I rarely post and there hasn't been much to read, I still check the forum every day.

Unfortunately, not much going on here. Burning finished last week with no issues. Had a dog not return to kennel after hosing out. Found her on point a couple hundred yards from the kennel. I figured she was bored and pointing something she shouldn't. Covey of 9 got up. Haven't seen them in 3 years. Nice to see they're OK/back. (Trust the dog).

Keep posting. Some of out here really like to see what you're doing.

Point!
 
Thanks Point! Busy time in March. Meeting with the NWTF bio tomorrow. They give out grants for habitat work. I'll be sniffing that pot to try and add to the coffers and fight succession for the gobblers. Durn weather isn't cooperating on fire. It'll wait until my next day I have other things scheduled and be perfect. Not only does it have to be good the day of the burn. It is also important that conditions be decent for several days after to prevent rekindle and brand release.

Nice covey! Hope that they dance the reproductive dance and turn into 3-4 coveys. Wanna hear that they're bothering your bird feeder and chasing off the cats!
 
Sounds like you are all having fun. I'm knocking out as many honey-dos as possible to buy myself more time for golf and fishing this Spring/Summer.

Sanded and refinished some of our wood floors, painted two rooms, built a deck, and built a utility trailer, all DIY. Cut down a massive cedar tree that I have decided to just haul to the X-fer station rather than try to burn in this weather. Now getting ready to move our chicken coop to new grass and adding on so it will hold this year's hatch. All that PLUS kids sports and activities.

We should hatch some chicks this week, and will definitely buy some more too. It's always fun to have little chicks peeping in the basement.
:cheers:
 
Almost forgot... Getting geared up to help my oldest daughter try for a Spring gobbler too! She's pissed after not getting a Fall bird, so the turkeys better watch out! :laugh:
 
Troy, whereabouts are you again? Almost time for turkey/crappie/dog work, otherwise doing house stuff here (honey-do) list never ends... :rolleyes:
 
-Wildcat- said:
Troy, whereabouts are you again? Almost time for turkey/crappie/dog work, otherwise doing house stuff here (honey-do) list never ends... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm 22 miles east of Pratt. Yeah, wife's cleaning the daughter's room right now. Has already requested a haul.
 
I have siphoned down the pond and am going to kill off the bull heads. Got to get that done before the spring rains come and fill the pond back up. Then restock after it fills back up. Thinking hybrid bluegill and some bass.

I have also been cutting and moving cedars that are around the edges of my property, in preparation for our burn this spring. We do not need as much excitement as we had last spring.

There is some thoughts about doing another summer burn this year. But I an not sure that I will have enough help to do that.

But I have still been finding coveys of quail that are around 15 birds. Hope we have a good hatch and survival this spring, it could be epic. I got my 3 acre pollinator plot planted a couple weeks ago, hope it comes up well and is a good area of brood habitat.
 
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I'm not by any means a fisheries biologist but when I built my pond and stocked it my plans were for hybrids as well. I was told however, they are eating machines which may hurt other fish populations. I ended up putting in coppernose bluegill. They gave my bass and catfish something to eat as well as providing fun fishing.

Not sure the validity of this but it's something you might ask about.
 
Do hybrids breed? We put hybrid crappie in our lake. But once we fished em out. That was pretty much it. Had a guy tell me that the hybrids wont reproduce. Is this true for all hybrids? Not a fish biologist either...
 
Might go with the bluegill and add some redear as well. They can get over 11 inches. They do eat different food than bluegill and also tend to hang in a bit deeper water so there is less direct competition.
 
Since we're talking fishing I'll see what you guys think. I have some family ground (where I deer hunt) that has a new pond. It's probably 2 years old and it's now filled to the point of we're ready to add fish. Would like to turn it into a good crappie pond. Any suggestions??? Thanks in advance.
 
Crappie are a darn poor choice for ponds. In fact, we don't generally stock lakes under 500 acres with crappie because they over populate too easily and get stunted. My lake is 144 acres and we didn't restock them.
 
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