Upland Hunting On The Plains

[Swather]

Bad weather in the recent springs and winters, drought, ag policy/ethanol, and CRP contract lapses, lack of money for new enrollments, and even predators have been hard on pheasants, sharptail grouse, hungarian partridge, and prairie chickens in South Dakota and into Kansas.  I surmise that other wildlife have been adversely affected as well.

I was out there the latter part of the first week of S. Dakota season saw a lot of familiar areas with less cover and fewer birds, particularly the further south and closer to I-90. The varying bad weather conditions and CRP issues have taken their toll. A number of business people told me that hunter tourism is way down as well. Some locals told me that the hunting operations with birds have purchased and released a lot of them this year. One local fellow I know manages his property in Jerauld County for hunting, and it has grass, food strips, and a slough or two. A fellow from Georgia I know with land up there manages intensely for wildlife and does some farming as well, and he has some birds on his place. But not like years past. We found some birds in Jerauld and Beadle Counties and scratched out limits, but definitely not like the better years of 2001-2009/10.

I hunted up north as well in Faulk, Edmunds, and Brown Counties (and on to to the N. Dakota line around Eureka) on places with considerable thick grass and thick cattail sloughs. They have more birds there than their southern counterparts. I was surprised at the bird numbers at one [commercial outfitter] place I hunted that is owned and operated by a family of farmers, and noticed a high number of juvenile roosters with virtually no tail. The owners insist that they do not buy birds and put them out, that they just had late hatches. They further contend that they protect their birds by maintaining heavy cover, planting and retaining grain crops close to the heavy cover for minimal energy exertion in the hard times, and limit the number of birds killed.

We have rarely been out there during the first week, and it was not our preference this year. It just worked out that way from a timing standpoint. But it is probably better that we were out there sooner rather than later, because the birds will be harder to come by after a few weeks of hunting.

I've been out to N.W Kansas and hunted a farm there on a private lease and the owners declined to lease it to us again this year because the conditions are bad and the birds are not there.

Any of you getting after the upland birds this fall?

[Happy hooker]

 Legendary writer Ernest Hemingway said,,," pheasant hunting is worth,,,,whatever you have to pay for it"!!!!
Pheasant hunting is pure pleasure and my favorite pursuit,,however the population and habitat have taken a beating and I think it is heading to a country club or shooting preserve future.
However Im fortunate to live in Minnesota were we probably have the best ruffled grouse hunting and habitat. I've pretty much now doing all my upland on grouse where the birds are still healthy and public forest and private logging company's who allow public hunting give you a pleasant experience.
You might consider a grouse trip in future to northern Minnesota a dog of course is always an invaluable asset but grouse hunting is very successful without one too and we have so much public land a lease isn't necessary.

[captpete]

Years ago here in Iowa we use to have a great Pheasant population(I'm guessing 2nd to South Dakota). Opening day was more important than opening day of deer season. You had your choice of several hunters breakfast. It use to be you would see a pheasant and drive on by with out hardly even giving it a second glance....see a deer and you would stop in the road and look at it until it ran off.  Now it's just the opposite...you see a deer and hardly look at it (unless it's a big buck), then you see pheasant and you stop & watch it until is runs/flies off. We have lost a lot of cover. We have very few small fields any more. The small fields have had all the fences torn out and the sloughs tiled. Back in 2005 there was report that said we had lost enough CRP/cover that would amount to a strip of land 8 miles wide from the west boarder to the east boarder, roughly 300 miles long...it hasn't gotten any better. The last few years the population has rebounded, but FAR from what it use to be.

[Swather]

Legendary writer Ernest Hemingway said,,," pheasant hunting is worth,,,,whatever you have to pay for it"!!!!
Pheasant hunting is pure pleasure and my favorite pursuit,,however the population and habitat have taken a beating and I think it is heading to a country club or shooting preserve future.

I believe that Hemingway actually said that about driven shooting in England, Scotland, etc.

I've driven all across MS as well, and am told that like Illinois and several other places, it used to have a pretty good huntable population.  I have seen wild pheasants while driving through western MN.  Unfortunately, habitat loss has been hard on the pheasants there too, but it probably would not be that hard to turn it all around if just would and Congress mandated more conservation in USDA programs.  And the country stopped doing stupid stuff like subsidizing false markets for grain ethanol.

[Swather]

The last few years the population has rebounded, but FAR from what it use to be.

We used to do some good hunting in S.W. Iowa within a 50 mile radius of Creston.  What has happened there in IA is a shame.  And I have no doubt that it has eliminated a lot of fall cashflow from outside the state and hurt a lot of local governments in exporting their tax burden to visitors.

[Marc]

I enjoy upland hunting...

California used to have some pretty good pheasant hunting, and even 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to hunt areas in which we jumped covies numbering in the hundreds...

The pheasant here have all but disappeared.  Changes in agriculture (farming every square inch with no weed growth, and planting trees instead of grain), changes in agriculture and ditch management (clear-cutting ditches for improved water flow), spraying for mosquitos due to West Nile (killing off a good percentage of aquatic insects young pheasants need as food), have all helped to decimate the pheasant population here.

Of course the extended drought has not helped either, and even on refuges and private duck clubs that  should hold reasonable numbers, there are no birds.

Turkeys have been blamed here as well, and I might be bashed for saying this...  But I agree.  In some areas we are most certainly seeing turkeys displace pheasant populations...  And, being a quail hunter, I have noted that even with what appears to be excellent quail habitat, if there are strong turkey populations, there will likely be light quail populations.  I have to think that either turkeys are outcompeting them for resources, or using them for resources (i.e. eating the poults as food).

I would rather hunt for quail, and with a season or two of good rain, the quail populations will likely bounce back (due to the foothill habitat they live in), but I fear that I will never see a resurgence of the pheasant populations...  I seriously doubt my children will ever have the experience of coming to the end of a ditch and seeing a hundred or more pheasants get up...

[Swather]

I enjoy upland hunting...

California used to have some pretty good pheasant hunting, and even 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to hunt areas in which we jumped covies numbering in the hundreds...

The pheasant here have all but disappeared.  Changes in agriculture (farming every square inch with no weed growth, and planting trees instead of grain), changes in agriculture and ditch management (clear-cutting ditches for improved water flow), spraying for mosquitos due to West Nile (killing off a good percentage of aquatic insects young pheasants need as food), have all helped to decimate the pheasant population here.

I had a remote curiosity about how the birds were doing there.  I saw pheasants in N. Cal around Yuba City years ago while waterfowl hunting and talked to some locals about hunting them.  But I never got back to pursue them seriously.

[chadly]

Love the grouse picture.  When I was in high school a good friend of mines parents had a cabin Mora Minnesota.  We would go up on the weekends and hunt ruffled grouse with no dog and do really good.  I will never forget those days. 
I really enjoy pheasant hunting.  Our population in Iowa has been up the last four years but no where near what it once was.  I think its the loss of CRP ground and the tiling of the remaining ditches.  I'm seeing birds this year everywhere I hunt but not as many as the previous two years.  Also our quail numbers are the highest in thirty some years if I remember correctly.  However I'm not seeing hardly any.  Surprisingly I am seeing more hunters this year than in the past.  Several out of state hunters as well.  Here are a couple of pictures from last week. 

[West Augusta]

I used to love grouse hunting in West Virginia.  I haven't jumped one in over 10 years.  Can't remember the last time I even heard one drum in the spring.  Sure do miss them.

[captpete]

Love the grouse picture.  When I was in high school a good friend of mines parents had a cabin Mora Minnesota.  We would go up on the weekends and hunt ruffled grouse with no dog and do really good.  I will never forget those days. 
I really enjoy pheasant hunting.  Our population in Iowa has been up the last four years but no where near what it once was.  I think its the loss of CRP ground and the tiling of the remaining ditches.  I'm seeing birds this year everywhere I hunt but not as many as the previous two years.  Also our quail numbers are the highest in thirty some years if I remember correctly.  However I'm not seeing hardly any.  Surprisingly I am seeing more hunters this year than in the past.  Several out of state hunters as well.  Here are a couple of pictures from last week. 

Where are you at in Iowa??? I'm in the NE part of the state....Independence.

The birds are starting to make a come back, but they are still far & few between around here. We heard a few cackling in the mornings while sitting in the treestand this fall....something we haven't heard in quite a few years.

I think you are right about the CRP ground. Tiling out every slough, tearing out all the fence rows, farming the ditches and several tough winters & wet springs in a row also hurt. The last couple of winters haven't been as bad and that they are putting more ground back into CRP has helped with the come back.

I think the increase of bowhunters is partly because of the low Pheasant population. It use to be everybody Pheasant hunted and then hunted shotgun seasons for deer. With no birds to be found, I think people put more time into bowhunting.

[Happy]

Plenty of grouse up in my neck of the woods. Haven't hunted them for years though.

Sent from my SM-G800R4 using Tapatalk

[chadly]

I'm in south central Iowa.  Most of my pheasant hunting is within an hour of my home.  I went out this afternoon and the birds came too quick.  No complaints but I wanted to walk more. 

After my limit I went to a place I've seen lots of turkeys as my tag expires in 2 days.  I did flush a turkey but out of range.  This truly is the most wonderful time of the year. 

[wvmntnhick]

I used to hunt grouse years back with a German short haired pointer. Loved it. Wasn't necessary back then though because you could drive along the roads in the club with your head out the window until you cut a set of track in the snow. Then you'd just get out and walk until you found the brush pile and flush the bird, shoot (often times just at it) and then go back to the truck and drive a bit farther. You could kill a limit in short order if you were a decent wingshot. As I grew older, college years until about 5 years ago, our numbers were down to the point I'd not even consider shooting one when given the chance. That's quite hard for me to say because the temptation was always there but the numbers suggested it wasn't a good idea. In the past 5 up years though (this year especially) I've seen more grouse than I can recall and believe it might be as good, or better, than when I had access to the dog. Had one come by me while deer hunting last week and I'm not going to lie about it, if given the chance and our small game season was open during the first of our deer season, I'd have given the thing a college go with the rifle. Used to shoot the heads off them with the deer rifle when I was younger. I'm hoping the increase in numbers continues. It'll give me a reason to replace my old squirrel dog with a pointer instead of another squirrel dog or a beagle like I've been considering when he passes on.

[Swather]

Not on the prairies, but I just got back from several weeks of hunting around my cabin in N Wis. Mainly go for ruffed grouse & woodcock but I hunt a lot of other stuff while I am there.

What are the details on that side by side (make, model, gauge, barrels, etc.?)

[wvmntnhick]

AyA makes some amazingly good shotguns. I've had a couple but in the end, someone else always wanted them a bit more. Well, in some cases, a lot more. I do wish id kept the 20 ga as it was a lot of fun but alas, it was sold for other ventures. I'm hoping my father in law sells his to me when the time comes.