Wiha sign posts

BleuBijou

BleuBijou

Active member
Has anyone else run across WIHA signs that have been obviously taken or pushed to the ground???? Hit some walk in last weekend and the signs were not visible!!! Looked around and kicked some snow and found the posts!!! Every corner was missing to the naked eye!!! Brought this up to some Locals and got a shit eating grin!!!! No wonder there were birds!!!!! Probably knew I was coming!!!!!
 
I ran into a somewhat similar situation a few weeks ago. There were WIHA boundary (corner) signs that appeared to match what was in the Atlas. However, there were very new looking “No Hunting” signs posted in between the WIHA signs. I came across another property that had all the WIHA signs turned around the opposite direction to show the no hunting – private property side facing the outer boundaries of the property, as viewed from the road.
 
The locals do it. They knock them down and also put up no hunting signs on some of it. Just another thing I learned at the local watering hole. I couldn't really say anything, just sit there and bit my tongue.
 
Report these things to the game warden. If you don't already do this, you should save the game warden's phone number for every county you plan to hunt. They want to hear about these things, and others, and investigate. Season before last I saw a Suburban stopped right under a no hunting sign on property I hunt and several hunters afield. It was a local tag so I assumed they had permission. But they didn't as I found out later. The next season I just happened to see the same vehicle around town. I got the plate number, passed it to the landowner who contacted the sheriff, and those folks got a "knock and talk" visit from a lawman. That usually takes care of the problem.
 
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V-John said:
Does anyone know what the rule is about grazing cattle on walk in? Wouldn't that seem like double dipping?

Here's something else I ran across.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/Kwik678/IMG_6752.jpg

Seems like a helluva bargin to me! :mad:

This is double dipping and I talked to a buddy and it is reportable if I really wanted to.
Click to expand...

Wow that's like the Soprano's. If you don't pay, we can't gaurantee your vehicles safety. I agree about the cattle on walk in. Seems if you are going to take the money, you should be available for hunting.
 
Those cows on the nearest wiha piss me off every year, but I'm guessing that it would just get unenrolled if anybody complained. It's SO close to my house... It's 20 minutes farther to the next closest place.

I haven't run the dogs there since Junie barked at their cows... And the cows are always in the worst places. I am a little surprised that nobody has ever swung on a bird and shot one of their cows!
 
fsentkilr said:
The locals do it. They knock them down and also put up no hunting signs on some of it. Just another thing I learned at the local watering hole. I couldn't really say anything, just sit there and bit my tongue.
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It happens but also the Biologist has been sloppy in some of their zones.


I found a PRIMO mule deer walk in my buddy and I were going to hunt the second day of deer season 2011. I had driven by the weekend before to do some scouting. I Noticed all of the signs were turned around but one.

Fast forward to the day we are to hunt. Pull up - some of the other WIHA signs are missing - and theres vehicles in the WIHA (or what I thought was WIHA) -- Before I went I double checked the updates on the state website and triple checked my map and the online version of the map - it still said it was enrolled.

Anyways, this infuriated me so I called these people in. The Wildlife officer for the area was on his way but before he got there he called me back. Said he had talked to the biologist before driving and according to the Biologist that one was not supposed to make it on the map that year and it was their mistake.

So some of the signs you are seeing that are turned around etc could just be screw ups - the only way to know is to call.

The ones that are knocked down are usually intentional.

Im not sure what would have happened had we went in and hunted it, then the landowners or whomever were driving all over the property showed up to hunt. In my mind we would have been in the OK and not gotten in trouble, you shouldnt have to call a Wildlife officer before hunting a Piece of WIHA to make sure its still enrolled.

Someone in Western KS got a little lazy, but I guess in his defense he had a massive area to cover as I ran into another one of his screw ups in the same zone.
 
V-John said:
Does anyone know what the rule is about grazing cattle on walk in? Wouldn't that seem like double dipping?

Here's something else I ran across.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/Kwik678/IMG_6752.jpg

Seems like a helluva bargin to me! :mad:

This is double dipping and I talked to a buddy and it is reportable if I really wanted to.
Click to expand...

This is something that needs to be reported to the KDWPT. Once property is enrolled in WIHA program, the owner gets the money unless there is some reason that full or any payment is not justified -- grazing cattle for example. But the KDWPT does not have the manpower to check every one of the hundreds of WIHA plots every year. It is up to us, the hunters, to report situations where the WIHA has no hunting value - a quarter with nothing but green wheat on it with no cover, for another example.
 
a couple years ago my buddy and i saw a bunch of roosters fly in a WIHA field of cut milo.......but the damn thing was full of cows, so obviously we didn't go after them. he wanted to, because afterall it was a WIHA, but my common sense finally talked him out of it....we watched at least 20 roosters fly in that field, right next to the road......oh well.
 
V-John said:
Does anyone know what the rule is about grazing cattle on walk in? Wouldn't that seem like double dipping?

Here's something else I ran across.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/Kwik678/IMG_6752.jpg

Seems like a helluva bargin to me! :mad:

This is double dipping and I talked to a buddy and it is reportable if I really wanted to.
Click to expand...

The KDWPT does not tell farmers what to do with their property. If, however, KDWPT is made aware that a WIHA property has limited or no hunting value, for example because cattle are on it, they will take action. But someone - YOU - has not notify KDWPT; they won't find out from the farmer, that's for sure.
 
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From what I’ve read and have seen, the property should have the “No Longer Enrolled in WIHA” signs posted if it has been removed from the program; not the normal WIHA signs turned around. I suppose that there could be instances where the situation prevented the timely posting of the property being removed, but how is the hunter supposed to know this (besides checking the website for updates). I guess just move on if in doubt.
 
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V-John said:
Does anyone know what the rule is about grazing cattle on walk in? Wouldn't that seem like double dipping?

Here's something else I ran across.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad259/Kwik678/IMG_6752.jpg

Seems like a helluva bargin to me! :mad:

This is double dipping and I talked to a buddy and it is reportable if I really wanted to.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see them charge me 50 dollars for parking on the side of a county road or have my vehicle towed when signage isn't up stating no parking. And if my vehicle was damaged I would be call the local sheriff to do a knock and talk.

As far as cows go it's no different than the land owner haying the ground after the signs are put up or disking under a corn stubble field which was thought originally to be a place to hunt waterfowl. I've seen so many WIHA areas that worthless and such a waste of money it's unreal. But, at least we have WIHA's to hunt unlike other states. So I wouldn't complain to loudly.
 
Anybody can correct me if I'm wrong-and please do so.

I don't think there is any stipulation that a WIHA can't have cattle on it. The state leases the ground from the farmer, but doesn't stipulate what they do on that property.

As to ground not being 'any good' for hunting, we've covered this a hundred times on here. That totally depends on what you're hunting. Green wheat might not be good for pheasants, but it sure draws the deer in around here. That bare pasture might be good for predator calling. The bean stubble that wouldn't hold a pheasant might be where the geese hunteres are hanging out.

Also, many times they aren't just leasing the creek bottom and milo stubble that is good for hunting, but rather a whole quarter, it just happens that the wheat is part of the quarter that also contains the creek bottom and milo stubble that we all want to hunt.
 
From the first page of the WIHA Atlas, the 'Rules'

5. Agricultural considerations.
The majority of land leased for WIHA is comprised of CRP grass. Occasionally, USDA releases CRP land for emergency haying
and grazing. KDWPT has no control whether WIHA property is hayed or grazed. However, if WIHA is hayed or grazed, the cooperator
may receive a reduced payment.
Less than 25 percent of land enrolled in WIHA is cropland. This may include wheat or milo stubble and winter wheat. In some cases,
tracts are in crop rotation; one year a tract may be winter wheat and the next it may be milo stubble. In other cases, the cropland portion
is accepted to round out the other acres and make signing and access easier. Some winter wheat is specifically enrolled for goose
or crane hunting. WIHA contracts are signed months in advance of the hunting season, and at the time the contract was signed the area
has suitable habitat and hunting opportunity. If habitat is negatively impacted by the cooperator, payment reduction will occur. However,
if habitat is negatively impacted by weather, no payment reduction will take place. As part of the agreement, livestock may be present
on some tracts. These areas may still be hunted, but hunters must use common sense to avoid harassing or injuring livestock.
 
cheesy said:
From the first page of the WIHA Atlas, the 'Rules'

5. Agricultural considerations.
The majority of land leased for WIHA is comprised of CRP grass. Occasionally, USDA releases CRP land for emergency haying
and grazing. KDWPT has no control whether WIHA property is hayed or grazed. However, if WIHA is hayed or grazed, the cooperator
may receive a reduced payment.
Less than 25 percent of land enrolled in WIHA is cropland. This may include wheat or milo stubble and winter wheat. In some cases,
tracts are in crop rotation; one year a tract may be winter wheat and the next it may be milo stubble. In other cases, the cropland portion
is accepted to round out the other acres and make signing and access easier. Some winter wheat is specifically enrolled for goose
or crane hunting. WIHA contracts are signed months in advance of the hunting season, and at the time the contract was signed the area
has suitable habitat and hunting opportunity. If habitat is negatively impacted by the cooperator, payment reduction will occur. However,
if habitat is negatively impacted by weather, no payment reduction will take place. As part of the agreement, livestock may be present
on some tracts. These areas may still be hunted, but hunters must use common sense to avoid harassing or injuring livestock.
Click to expand...

i doubt anyone from KDWP checks on land alterations after the contract is signed or reduces payments......but it all reads real pretty.....
 
I have driven to 3 or 4 Walk In areas and looked for the signs. Not finding any, I thought I had probably misread the map and moved on to another place. I downloaded the application for my GPS that shows all WIHA last month. I have driven by a few locations that do not have visible signs. One place that I like, and have hunted for a few years, had signs last month, but I only saw one corner sign on the last trip. Walking the field, I found 4 signs that had been kicked over and thrown deeper in. I moved them back towards the road and propped them up (in the process picked up a case of empty beer cans which I piled on the side of the road and got later). Figured it was kids out partying, but the signs were pretty spread out.
 
so if land was walk in last year it would have signs saying this is no longer walk in land? theres some walk in i huinted last year but no signs this year so i didnt hunt it?
 
only a pointer said:
so if land was walk in last year it would have signs saying this is no longer walk in land? theres some walk in i huinted last year but no signs this year so i didnt hunt it?
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I am not sure on this , but I doubt it!!! I have seen some that were intially enrolled and posted and then something happened and had another sign that said it was no longer in the program. It was a yellow sign right below the original white one!
 
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