Page 2 of 3

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 10:12 pm
by The Duck Hammer
Nebgundog wrote:
The Duck Hammer wrote:I hunt doves if any of you count that as upland. I have never seen a wild pheasant before, only raised them. :cry:

what about quail in texas?

What's a quail?.......................................Seriously though, I have seen two wild ones. Like the pheasant virtually non existent in these parts.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:09 pm
by bill herian
I heard road salt is killing all the pheasants when they come up on to the roadside to pick grit. Think about all the roads that get salt now versus 20 or 30 years ago. Some parts of the country are also seeing huge flucuations because of weather. My uncle has seen pheasant numbers boom and fall off to unhuntable numbers many times in 20 years where he hunts in Kansas. Huge rains events at the wrong time = no pheasnts, no rain for too long = no pheasants.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:47 pm
by 3legged_lab
bill herian wrote:I heard road salt is killing all the pheasants when they come up on to the roadside to pick grit. Think about all the roads that get salt now versus 20 or 30 years ago. Some parts of the country are also seeing huge flucuations because of weather. My uncle has seen pheasant numbers boom and fall off to unhuntable numbers many times in 20 years where he hunts in Kansas. Huge rains events at the wrong time = no pheasnts, no rain for too long = no pheasants.

All that and of course they are stupid birds, I pen raised 50, had several drown in a rain storm.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:50 pm
by The Duck Hammer
3legged_lab wrote:
bill herian wrote:I heard road salt is killing all the pheasants when they come up on to the roadside to pick grit. Think about all the roads that get salt now versus 20 or 30 years ago. Some parts of the country are also seeing huge flucuations because of weather. My uncle has seen pheasant numbers boom and fall off to unhuntable numbers many times in 20 years where he hunts in Kansas. Huge rains events at the wrong time = no pheasnts, no rain for too long = no pheasants.

All that and of course they are stupid birds, I pen raised 50, had several drown in a rain storm.

Had turkeys do the same thing. Dumb bastards look up and watch the rain come down but forget to close their mouths.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 11:50 pm
by sws002
rebelp74 wrote:Pheasants also hurt the turkey population, they can carry some disease or something that turkeys can't handle.


I would argue it's the complete opposite way around. Turkeys are assholes, they will stomp out a nest of pheasant eggs. Not to mention, they don't have much for natural predators, very rarely see a coyote or fox get ahold of a turkey, bobcats are about it. That's why I do my part to kill as many turkeys as humanly possible. As far as pheasants decline though, definitely a habitat problem, corn/soybeans are terrible pheasant habitat, and with prices the way they are people are knocking down every square inch of shelter belts and prairie grass to plant more crops. To snowball on top of that, the CRP program is a joke, putting a quarter section of prairie grass (which they can now bale) surrounded by 5 miles of crops isn't going to boost the population.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:00 am
by jarbo03
sws002 wrote:
rebelp74 wrote:Pheasants also hurt the turkey population, they can carry some disease or something that turkeys can't handle.


I would argue it's the complete opposite way around. Turkeys are assholes, they will stomp out a nest of pheasant eggs. Not to mention, they don't have much for natural predators, very rarely see a turkey or fox get ahold of a turkey, bobcats are about it. That's why I do my part to kill as many turkeys as humanly possible. As far as pheasants decline though, definitely a habitat problem, corn/soybeans are terrible pheasant habitat, and with prices the way they are people are knocking down every square inch of shelter belts and prairie grass to plant more crops. To snowball on top of that, the CRP program is a joke, putting a quarter section of prairie grass (which they can now bale) surrounded by 5 miles of crops isn't going to boost the population.

Yep

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:14 am
by rebelp74
jarbo03 wrote:
sws002 wrote:
rebelp74 wrote:Pheasants also hurt the turkey population, they can carry some disease or something that turkeys can't handle.


I would argue it's the complete opposite way around. Turkeys are assholes, they will stomp out a nest of pheasant eggs. Not to mention, they don't have much for natural predators, very rarely see a turkey or fox get ahold of a turkey, bobcats are about it. That's why I do my part to kill as many turkeys as humanly possible. As far as pheasants decline though, definitely a habitat problem, corn/soybeans are terrible pheasant habitat, and with prices the way they are people are knocking down every square inch of shelter belts and prairie grass to plant more crops. To snowball on top of that, the CRP program is a joke, putting a quarter section of prairie grass (which they can now bale) surrounded by 5 miles of crops isn't going to boost the population.

Yep

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Agreed but when I was a kid, my dad tried to raise some pheasants but got shut down b/c they were trying to boost the turkey population in that area. Biologists with LAWF said that pheasants carry something(I don't remember the name or exactly what it is) that can kill turkeys.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:19 am
by sws002
rebelp74 wrote:
jarbo03 wrote:
sws002 wrote:
rebelp74 wrote:Pheasants also hurt the turkey population, they can carry some disease or something that turkeys can't handle.


I would argue it's the complete opposite way around. Turkeys are assholes, they will stomp out a nest of pheasant eggs. Not to mention, they don't have much for natural predators, very rarely see a turkey or fox get ahold of a turkey, bobcats are about it. That's why I do my part to kill as many turkeys as humanly possible. As far as pheasants decline though, definitely a habitat problem, corn/soybeans are terrible pheasant habitat, and with prices the way they are people are knocking down every square inch of shelter belts and prairie grass to plant more crops. To snowball on top of that, the CRP program is a joke, putting a quarter section of prairie grass (which they can now bale) surrounded by 5 miles of crops isn't going to boost the population.

Yep

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Agreed but when I was a kid, my dad tried to raise some pheasants but got shut down b/c they were trying to boost the turkey population in that area. Biologists with LAWF said that pheasants carry something(I don't remember the name or exactly what it is) that can kill turkeys.


I don't doubt that, but typically it shouldn't be a problem, as they usually occupy VERY different terrains, but around here turkeys have become so fucking over populated that they now inhabit any fucking place that has trees. Combine that with loss of habitat, and it's bad news bears for pheasants. I love turkey hunting, but I would really love to see pheasant populations where they should be.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:01 am
by jarbo03
In areas that have both turkey and pheasant, the turkeys seem to be faring much better.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:14 am
by sws002
jarbo03 wrote:In areas that have both turkey and pheasant, the turkeys seem to be faring much better.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


I don't know about where you're at, but about 10 years ago we had a pretty good turkey population, but it was very isolated, would only see turkeys in certain areas, but pretty good chance of seeing one once you were there. Now, those areas are over run with them and places that I would have been 20 miles from the nearest turkey before are suddenly holding birds regularly. I don't blame turkeys for the decline of pheasants, but they damn sure aren't helping. Tell you one thing that I honestly believe would help revive the pheasant population is if farmers would stop planting their corners. Let that shit grow, it doesn't produce worth a shit anyway. Problem is, most farmers around here aren't hunters, and if they are, they are deer hunters and could give two shits about pheasants.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 1:39 am
by jarbo03
I'm near Lawrence in the NE, no pheasant around here, but have seen the quail population plummet. Not 100% sure, but I think spraying for weeds and bugs hurts also. Where I hunt in western KS, you can still find weed patches, fields aren't completely manicured. When decent weather returns, so will the pheasant.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 4:01 am
by sws002
jarbo03 wrote:I'm near Lawrence in the NE, no pheasant around here, but have seen the quail population plummet. Not 100% sure, but I think spraying for weeds and bugs hurts also. Where I hunt in western KS, you can still find weed patches, fields aren't completely manicured. When decent weather returns, so will the pheasant.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


Ya, that's a big part of it too. Same up here, western NE is LOADED with pheasants, those bastards are running around everywhere. There isn't that much more heavy cover, it's just that the majority of the land is sandhills/ranch land that doesn't get sprayed.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 5:54 am
by Rick
sws002 wrote:
NuffDaddy wrote:
Feelin' Fowl wrote:
NuffDaddy wrote:I grew up upland hunting. Started waterfowl hunting 5 seasons ago.


4 years ago for me. Not many pheasant left in this stupid state...

Not sure if I'm happy about the hobby switch/addition. Waterfowling is like crack...I can't get enough of it!

Pheasants dissapeared here right when I was grunting old enough to hold a gun. Starting to make a little comeback but Still haven't shot a wild pheasant...yet. Gonna put a lot of te in next season to hopefully get a MI rooster.


The 4 years I was in Michigan, each year I saw one pheasant a year, and every time it was within about a 1/2 mile radius of the last sighting, so I'm pretty sure it was the same bird every year. Always heard quite a few close to one of our honey holes, but never saw one to kill during season.


When I was pheasant stricken kid in the '60, Michigan still had decent pheasant pops, but the last one I saw there was in the late '70s dashing across the road and into the high weeds of a median strip in a bombed out section of Detroit.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 5:54 am
by Rick
I actually stayed on here in Louisiana more for the quail and woodc*ock hunting than the waterfowling. Killed 103 quail (and gosh knows how many, then 5 bird, woodc*ock limits) in my nearly 16yr-old Brittany, Kie's, first full season without pruning any coveys too close, but bigger plows and more cows have all but wiped out the quail and radically reduced woodc*ock covers in my area over the past decade or so.

Been some years since I've had the heart to shoot a quail, but we still get the old boy out for woodc*ock when north winds bring them our way:
Image
Image

And the coyote gets just enough of a taste of upland gunning to be ready to step up when Kie's time passes:
Image

Olly, it's a heck of a note when woodc*ock gets bleeped on a hunting board. Shudder to think of how these guys must have abused it.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 7:38 am
by assateague
I will preface this by saying I don't know much about pheasants at all. We don't have them here (something to do with the soil conditions)

But it seems to me that pheasant are just too "delicate", too "demanding". They need a habitat that is "just right", of a size that is "just right", in weather that is "just right", or they don't make it. All the species ever mentioned as overpopulated are hardy, can adapt, and live anywhere.

Seems to me pheasants are just imported pansies, and maybe we shouldn't be encouraging them so much.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 8:21 am
by sws002
assateague wrote:I will preface this by saying I don't know much about pheasants at all. We don't have them here (something to do with the soil conditions)

But it seems to me that pheasant are just too "delicate", too "demanding". They need a habitat that is "just right", of a size that is "just right", in weather that is "just right", or they don't make it. All the species ever mentioned as overpopulated are hardy, can adapt, and live anywhere.

Seems to me pheasants are just imported pansies, and maybe we shouldn't be encouraging them so much.


But they're delicious...

I don't think it's so much that they are demanding, but when you don't have anywhere to hide, you become a pretty easy target for predators and egg robbers. Besides extreme flooding, they really are a pretty resilient bird to most conditions.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 8:30 am
by assateague
Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 8:47 am
by jarbo03
They don't live where I am either, cause of the soil. They are definitely not as tough as native prairie birds when it comes to surviving the elements. As with other birds though, when you take their food, which is mainly bugs and weeds, and their cover to hide from a growing number of predators survival gets tough. Their main nesting areas are wheat fields, throw in drought and cut wheat a month early. With all the cows there are no grass fields left to nest again. With the current drought all wildlife has suffered.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 2:40 pm
by Rick
assateague wrote:Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.


Ohio's wild pheasant population was limited to the northern portion of the state, where glaciation exposed limestone (calcium). The sandstone soil of the southern end of the state didn't support them. Whether coincidence or science, I'm unqualified to say, but it sure looked suspicious.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:39 pm
by sws002
Rick wrote:
assateague wrote:Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.


Ohio's wild pheasant population was limited to the northern portion of the state, where glaciation exposed limestone (calcium). The sandstone soil of the southern end of the state didn't support them. Whether coincidence or science, I'm unqualified to say, but it sure looked suspicious.


Learn something new every day, wasn't aware that soil had that big of a part in the whole scheme of things. I would have to guess that the proper habitat doesn't grow in these soils either, so it's probably a compound issue.

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:40 pm
by jarbo03
sws002 wrote:
Rick wrote:
assateague wrote:Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.


Ohio's wild pheasant population was limited to the northern portion of the state, where glaciation exposed limestone (calcium). The sandstone soil of the southern end of the state didn't support them. Whether coincidence or science, I'm unqualified to say, but it sure looked suspicious.


Learn something new every day, wasn't aware that soil had that big of a part in the whole scheme of things. I would have to guess that the proper habitat doesn't grow in these soils either, so it's probably a compound issue.

That's why there are no pheasant in KS where I live.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:47 pm
by sws002
jarbo03 wrote:
sws002 wrote:
Rick wrote:
assateague wrote:Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.


Ohio's wild pheasant population was limited to the northern portion of the state, where glaciation exposed limestone (calcium). The sandstone soil of the southern end of the state didn't support them. Whether coincidence or science, I'm unqualified to say, but it sure looked suspicious.


Learn something new every day, wasn't aware that soil had that big of a part in the whole scheme of things. I would have to guess that the proper habitat doesn't grow in these soils either, so it's probably a compound issue.

That's why there are no pheasant in KS where I live.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


So how far do we have to drive to kill a pheasant on the No-Coast hunt?

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:50 pm
by jarbo03
sws002 wrote:
jarbo03 wrote:
sws002 wrote:
Rick wrote:
assateague wrote:Sure doesn't sound like it. Supposedly, they won't grow here because there's not enough (some mineral) in the soil to promote healthy, viable egg shells.


Ohio's wild pheasant population was limited to the northern portion of the state, where glaciation exposed limestone (calcium). The sandstone soil of the southern end of the state didn't support them. Whether coincidence or science, I'm unqualified to say, but it sure looked suspicious.


Learn something new every day, wasn't aware that soil had that big of a part in the whole scheme of things. I would have to guess that the proper habitat doesn't grow in these soils either, so it's probably a compound issue.

That's why there are no pheasant in KS where I live.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


So how far do we have to drive to kill a pheasant on the No-Coast hunt?

I have some land bout 2 hours away, my better land is 4.5 hrs away, they are still not getting any drought relief though

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:55 pm
by Feelin' Fowl
Iowa used to have pretty good public pheasant land. If anyone is driving from the east, it could be "on the way"...The more I think about it, the less help this post is becoming. I have no idea if they still have good numbers, or if it would be worth buying an extra license.

Never mind me...

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:58 pm
by sws002
Feelin' Fowl wrote:Iowa used to have pretty good public pheasant land. If anyone is driving from the east, it could be "on the way"...The more I think about it, the less help this post is becoming. I have no idea if they still have good numbers, or if it would be worth buying an extra license.

Never mind me...


Iowa is one of the worst states for having turned EVERYTHING into corn/soybeans. I think their percentage of natural wildlife habitat is something like 0.1% (can't remember where I saw that).

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 10:59 pm
by jarbo03
Feelin' Fowl wrote:Iowa used to have pretty good public pheasant land. If anyone is driving from the east, it could be "on the way"...The more I think about it, the less help this post is becoming. I have no idea if they still have good numbers, or if it would be worth buying an extra license.

Never mind me...


I would say no. For years did opening weekend in the WE around Atlantic and Bedford. Have a friend that lives in Avoca, his outlook is bleak.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:07 pm
by Feelin' Fowl
You guys should make the no coast hunt in SD. Probably the best of both worlds...

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:15 pm
by jarbo03
Feelin' Fowl wrote:You guys should make the no coast hunt in SD. Probably the best of both worlds...

Could be, but $220 is a lot of money for license, and the waterfowl permit is a drawing. If not in the far SE unit, you have to announce your 10th day period you will be hunting, no more than 5 at a time. KS is $90 for everything.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:20 pm
by Feelin' Fowl
jarbo03 wrote:
Feelin' Fowl wrote:You guys should make the no coast hunt in SD. Probably the best of both worlds...

Could be, but $220 is a lot of money for license, and the waterfowl permit is a drawing. If not in the far SE unit, you have to announce your 10th day period you will be hunting, no more than 5 at a time. KS is $90 for everything.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


Agreed. I think you guys are all set. Might be a little drive, but with a B.A. WPG, you shouldn't have a problem finding pheasants for the ringneck virgins! :thumbsup:

Re: Upland

PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:22 pm
by sws002
jarbo03 wrote:
Feelin' Fowl wrote:You guys should make the no coast hunt in SD. Probably the best of both worlds...

Could be, but $220 is a lot of money for license, and the waterfowl permit is a drawing. If not in the far SE unit, you have to announce your 10th day period you will be hunting, no more than 5 at a time. KS is $90 for everything.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand


That and I don't know if we have any members in SD that could host a hunt. That, and unless you get lucky, the majority of the good pheasant hunting in SD is all done through guides now. Had this debate before, one of the reasons I much prefer ND, the permits are more expensive (than NE or KS) and are only good for a week to two weeks depending on how you split it, but the amount of public land available to hunt and have a reasonable chance of success is much better in my opinion. I should be headed up there again this year around the second to last week in October, perhaps if a few guys are up for it there could be a secondary (or preliminary in this case) hunt...