Question for the pheasant hunters

[HerkyKiller]

I don't think hunters are the problem, although I do like your idea. There don't seem to be many hunters in Iowa. I can hardly find anyone who wants to go hunting with me ever. Usually I have to go with the family.

 

[BigBake]

I don't think hunters are the problem, although I do like your idea. There don't seem to be many hunters in Iowa. I can hardly find anyone who wants to go hunting with me ever. Usually I have to go with the family.

Oh definitely, I didn't mean to say they are the problem/cause. Just the one thing we can control. Weather, food and predators definitely take more out.

 

[HerkyKiller]

There has to be a really good reason why the numbers keep dropping.....wonder what it is?

 

[ameshammer]

so the thinking is that ethanol means more corn???

fact is Iowa grows about 13 million acres of corn each year ( plus or minus 3% )

it is not the number of corn acres in recent years that have had a neagitive impact on pheasant numbers, but rather the record snowfalls in 2008 and 2009 coupled with wet summers....

 

[kingcy]

I have saw more roosters, in corn fields, this year, than in the past 5 years.

 

[swiacy]

We farm 7,000 crop acres in the Creston area and are about 2/3's done with harvest. I have seen 1 hen pheasant and I spend all day in a grain cart in the field. I do not buy into the line the DNR puts out about hard winters and wet summers as the No.1 reason for the obvious decline in pheasant numbers. Tfhe Dakotas have far worse Winter weather than we do in Southern Ia. and just as wet summers. There are various reasons for the decline and predators are at the to of the list. Ia. is loaded with hawks, coyotes, raccoons and skunks. The first two are hard on the adults and the second two are hard on eggs. The CRP is also a big issue, brome grass is a very poor pheasant habitat and that is the primary cover in CRP and it is conversely excellent habitat for the four predators mentioned. The anti-fur activists killed the fur trade which eliminated the trapping industry which really has taken away the only way to control the predators.

A tremendous amount of the birds in the DAkotas are farm raised. The Ia. DNR is dead set against this and just this year is allowing the door open slightly after much public pressure, even though they know that all pheasants are not native and were introduced by them years ago after importation. Locals here are quietly using the "surrogator" concept to repopulate and the DNR fights them all the way.

 

[Arkansas Cyclone]

We farm 7,000 crop acres in the Creston area and are about 2/3's done with harvest. I have seen 1 hen pheasant and I spend all day in a grain cart in the field. I do not buy into the line the DNR puts out about hard winters and wet summers as the No.1 reason for the obvious decline in pheasant numbers. Tfhe Dakotas have far worse Winter weather than we do in Southern Ia. and just as wet summers. There are various reasons for the decline and predators are at the to of the list. Ia. is loaded with hawks, coyotes, raccoons and skunks. The first two are hard on the adults and the second two are hard on eggs. The CRP is also a big issue, brome grass is a very poor pheasant habitat and that is the primary cover in CRP and it is conversely excellent habitat for the four predators mentioned. The anti-fur activists killed the fur trade which eliminated the trapping industry which really has taken away the only way to control the predators.

A tremendous amount of the birds in the DAkotas are farm raised. The Ia. DNR is dead set against this and just this year is allowing the door open slightly after much public pressure, even though they know that all pheasants are not native and were introduced by them years ago after importation. Locals here are quietly using the "surrogator" concept to repopulate and the DNR fights them all the way.

That explains a lot. It just didn't make sense that pheasant numbers in Iowa would be devastated by brutal winters and wet springs yet bird populations in the Dakotas (subject to the same type of weather) weren't effected. I never realized that a lot of birds in the Dakotas were farm raised.

 

[CycloneYoda]

We have been keeping watch on a couple of flocks in Cedar County. The land that we hunt is private, and we hunt there every year. Owner says not to expect much this year.

 

[cyeah]

Last year SD harvested 1.6 million roosters and was supposed to be up just a little bit this year, ND 650,000 roosters last year, and IA around 272,000 last year and down significantly this year - down 30% in the road counts. Just got back from SD for the opening weekend and we did very well. There were 16 in our group, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time - Saturday bagged 8 and Sunday shot 5 to contribute to our total. The first couple fo weeks in SD hunting begins at noon, and we were done and had them all cleaned by 5:00 each day. It might be harder to find places to hunt in SD, but it gets easier and cheaper to find places after opening weekend.

SD has the higher kills than ND because of the numbers of hunters. If you normalize for the hunter count and days spent hunting ND is way, way ahead.

Plus access is 10x easier in ND than SD.

 

[tazclone]

There has to be a really good reason why the numbers keep dropping.....wonder what it is?

Not sure if you are being sarcastic but harsh winters and wet springs have killed the population. What was it three years ago, Eastern Iowa saw record snows. the following year the pheasant population was non existent. Last year most of the state saw record breaking snows.
Not sure if you are blaming ethanol but the pheasnt decline really started when CRP was taken out and put back into production. This was prior to the ethanol craze and had more to do with the elimination of government programs in the late 90s. The change in CRP land from 1989-1999 was crazy and prior to the ethonal craze. I nany case, our popualtion up here is holding steady and farmers I have talked to are seeing more birds than usual. Our spring wasn't as wet and even though we had a lot of snow, it blows so much that fields open up for feeding. No CRP up here and farmers farm ditch to ditch

 

[1100011CS]

SD has the higher kills than ND because of the numbers of hunters. If you normalize for the hunter count and days spent hunting ND is way, way ahead.

Plus access is 10x easier in ND than SD.

SD is closer I've never hunted in ND but if it's better than SD I'm gonna start planning a trip. We never have a problem getting our limit in SD, usually within a couple hours (8 guys or more). We have access to private ground though. When we first started going there we'd hunt public and that sucked.

The farmer who's ground we hunt on thinks the numbers are way up this year.

Oh, and whoever said that most pheasants in SD are farm raised: A. all pheasants are farm raised. Do you think there are city raised pheasants? B. If you mean pen raised, you are wrong.

The reason the pheasants in SD can live through tough Winters/Springs is because they have more and better cover there. That is the main difference between Iowa and SD and the numbers reflect that.

 

[tazclone]

We farm 7,000 crop acres in the Creston area and are about 2/3's done with harvest. I have seen 1 hen pheasant and I spend all day in a grain cart in the field. I do not buy into the line the DNR puts out about hard winters and wet summers as the No.1 reason for the obvious decline in pheasant numbers. Tfhe Dakotas have far worse Winter weather than we do in Southern Ia. and just as wet summers. There are various reasons for the decline and predators are at the to of the list. Ia. is loaded with hawks, coyotes, raccoons and skunks. The first two are hard on the adults and the second two are hard on eggs. The CRP is also a big issue, brome grass is a very poor pheasant habitat and that is the primary cover in CRP and it is conversely excellent habitat for the four predators mentioned. The anti-fur activists killed the fur trade which eliminated the trapping industry which really has taken away the only way to control the predators.

A tremendous amount of the birds in the DAkotas are farm raised. The Ia. DNR is dead set against this and just this year is allowing the door open slightly after much public pressure, even though they know that all pheasants are not native and were introduced by them years ago after importation. Locals here are quietly using the "surrogator" concept to repopulate and the DNR fights them all the way.

South Dakota is much drier overall and their winter precip is much less. It isn't the cold that kills the pheasants as much as the snow. Record years for snow have absolutely killed the population/ Ioved back to Iowa three years ago and have hunted in eastern iowa, where I grew up, every year. First year, we had our typical eastern iowa hunt. Limited everyday by 1:00-2:00. Record snowfalls that winter and we haven't see a bird the last two years. Not even a hen. There is no doubt that predators don't help the repopulation but if you think the record snowfalls didn't kill off the birds, you are crazy.

 

[isuno1fan]

Ethanol boom has without a doubt had an impact.

No pheasant hunter should ever fuel their vehicle with ethanol.

 

[1100011CS]

South Dakota is much drier overall and their winter precip is much less. It isn't the cold that kills the pheasants as much as the snow. Record years for snow have absolutely killed the population/ Ioved back to Iowa three years ago and have hunted in eastern iowa, where I grew up, every year. First year, we had our typical eastern iowa hunt. Limited everyday by 1:00-2:00. Record snowfalls that winter and we haven't see a bird the last two years. Not even a hen. There is no doubt that predators don't help the repopulation but if you think the record snowfalls didn't kill off the birds, you are crazy.

This is true but the lack of good cover makes it worse. And I agree with the earlier poster: it started before the ethanol craze. It was the removal of CRP.

 

[isujeep]

Only 1 percent of the land in Iowa is owned by the public and can be managed by the DNR for wildlife conservation. Private landowners, not DNR, control wildlife conservation on the remaining 99 percent of the land. Between 1990 and 2005 Iowa has lost 2,496 square miles of pheasant habitat, an 8 mile-wide strip of habitat stretching from Omaha to Davenport. Yes there are rules and regulations, many of which the DNR has their hands in, that can affect wildlife populations. But he fact of the matter is, there are two main things that affect pheasant populations, weather and habitat. No one can control the weather and the DNR has control over 1% of the habitat. It's up to the private landowners to "help" out. Tough decisions to make trying to weigh habitat with making a living.

Just a little information I found on the DNR website.

Iowa DNR: Hardy Iowa Pheasants Endured Another Difficult Winter, Wet Spring

Iowa DNR: Rule Allowing Pheasant Stocking Begins July 1

Iowa DNR: Annual Upland Game Survey Begins August 1

Iowa DNR: CRP Offers Wildlife Benefits and Improves Water Quality

 

[tazclone]

Only 1 percent of the land in Iowa is owned by the public and can be managed by the DNR for wildlife conservation. Private landowners, not DNR, control wildlife conservation on the remaining 99 percent of the land. Between 1990 and 2005 Iowa has lost 2,496 square miles of pheasant habitat, an 8 mile-wide strip of habitat stretching from Omaha to Davenport. Yes there are rules and regulations, many of which the DNR has their hands in, that can affect wildlife populations. But he fact of the matter is, there are two main things that affect pheasant populations, weather and habitat. No one can control the weather and the DNR has control over 1% of the habitat. It's up to the private landowners to "help" out. Tough decisions to make trying to weigh habitat with making a living.

Just a little information I found on the DNR website.

Iowa DNR: Hardy Iowa Pheasants Endured Another Difficult Winter, Wet Spring

Iowa DNR: Rule Allowing Pheasant Stocking Begins July 1

Iowa DNR: Annual Upland Game Survey Begins August 1

Iowa DNR: CRP Offers Wildlife Benefits and Improves Water Quality

I wonder how many acres were pulled out prior to 1999. I know people want to blame ethanol but these CRP acres were pulled out prior to the ethanol boom. Where I grew up, there used to be a 4 miles stretch on a road that had CRP on both sides. That was all gone by 1998. The gov't programs went away. Without the gov't $$$ Famrers put it back into crops so they had an income. People have a choice. Increase taxes to fund the programs or deal with farmers trying to make a living.

 

[tazclone]

This is true but the lack of good cover makes it worse. And I agree with the earlier poster: it started before the ethanol craze. It was the removal of CRP.

Agree 100%. It is interesting up here that it seems that the pheasant population will be down but it did not get wiped out like other areas. Of all the areas, I have huted, there is less "good cover". It seems like the "good cover areas held more snow and food sources were buried. Areas with less cover, the snow blew and food sources were avialable in wind blown areas. It seems backwards

 

[CloneIce]

what does ethanol have to do with the number of birds?

Uh.... you don't realize that habitat is the number one factor affecting pheasant populations?

State has lost so much CRP ground since the 80's... enough to cover an 8 mile wide swath from Council Bluffs to Davenport.

No habitat + cold winters + wet spring = no pheasnts.

 

[CloneIce]

There has to be a really good reason why the numbers keep dropping.....wonder what it is?

Uhh... habitat losses? Its not rocket science.

 

[CyPride]

This is true but the lack of good cover makes it worse. And I agree with the earlier poster: it started before the ethanol craze. It was the removal of CRP.

But ethanol has driven the majority of it. if ethanol had started prior to the end of the CRP contracts, farmers would have taken CRP out early anyway. (and paid the fines, or penalties) But I agree exactly with your premise.

Of course the snow will kill the birds if they have no where to live. People complain about predators, about rain, about snow, about this, about that.

What is the BIGGEST difference between now and say 1995? I guarantee you the hawk population didn't all of a sudden increase 10x since 1995. And in 1993 Iowa had significant flooding, so don't be pushing judgment on the weather.

The BIGGEST difference is cover. End of story. If a pheasant has doesn't have a place to call home, it can not live. Hard enough for birds to live with cover. Without cover? Well, you have a 25% decrease in population from a previous record low year.

And this isn't only a pheasant story. streams are being cut of trees/buffer strips, etc. that does a lot of damage to the environment. I've seen good sized timbers cut for corn. seems like every time i make a long distance road trip I see another pile of trees that has been cut.

This won't change until the ethanol subsidy is taken away. If that never happens, I say good pheasant hunting in IA is a thing of the past.

I remember back in '06 (or so) when corn pricing was just on its way up due to ethanol. At the time, corn had just moved from $2 to $3. I was deer hunting in western IA and we drove by a farmer who had a 1 MM corn storage facility in one location, and it was full of corn. The conversation went on how the guy had just picked up $1MM in value almost overnight. Of course farmers are going to produce as much as they can based on that kind of value increase. But there has to be some kind of compromise, no? or is it ok to just cut everything possible and farm every inch possible, no matter the long-term repercussions?