Iowa Opener

This weekend!! Who else is going? Anybody down there can give us a corn status?
This is one of the funner trips I take every year. Lots of good people and good times though we are down a couple men.

Always love the Iowa opener. Hunt by Jackson on Sunday and drove into Iowa to check out some spots lots of corn still in but with this weather I would bet that 50-70% should be out by Saturday. Good luck

50-70 would be sweet. My gut says less were we are going. At least it helps to determine where NOT to hunt.

Leaving in 5, 4, 3, 2,

G’luck!

Hunting was decent. 14 birds for 5 guys in 1.5 days of hunting. Roughly half our limit. 60-70% of the corn was in which made it tough. Later season should be really good down there.

Do you think bird numbers are up from the last 5 year average?

Yeah… they’re up. Went from 12 to 23. So thats a plus.

Until the habitat comes back… there won’t be many birds compared to what there used to be.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see habit ever coming back during my lifetime. It’s going to be the single biggest factor in the quality of hunting we will experience during our lifetime.

Everybody there says they are up but I didn’t see anything to back that up, including what we sighted and other groups bag counts, and my gut says little difference from last year. I’ll know more when I return post-corn.

kooty wrote:

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see habit ever coming back during my lifetime. It’s going to be the single biggest factor in the quality of hunting we will experience during our lifetime.

I am not a farmer so I don’t know how it works BUT if corn/bean prices are low (and a farmer anticipates that trend to continue…) does he look at available government programs to put his land into grasslands under that program? The next question of course is are there any programs available? I assume that answer is no based on current amount of grass we see out there…

I remember the hay days of Northern Iowa pheasants (late 90’s early 2000’s for me…) and it is night and day compared to the grass I used to see down there. The bird populations relative to those grasslands go hand-in-hand…RR

there are patches of good numbers, I know last season was way down as far as numbers go. This year they are back up. From what I have heard the numbers are good around the north west, north central areas. I’m not an early season guy, I’ll wait a few weeks and let the fair weather hunters get out of the fields. Plus I need to get the dog out for a few more runs.

Does anyone really think our broke government, that is always trying to find ways to rob from Peter to pay Paul, is NOT going to keep cutting CRP funding?
No way. Pheasants are subsidized and the funding is shrinking.

Its not just the CRP… its the wetlands, the tree lines, fencerows, that little corner of grass that was ignored for 50 yrs. When corn went up… every inch that could be tilled was. Rent prices for tillable land went to $2-300/acre and thats not even the highest stuff… thats average. CRP during the same time was paying at $150/acre. Plus CRP is payed based on the Corn Suitability Rating (CSR) which differs from what the local land assessor values the land at. So the farmer might get a low CRP payment because NRCS values the land low while the local assessor says the land is tillable so he charges higher property tax. Plus the land is locked in at that low rate while his neighbors are renting their land for $300/acre. Does that sound like a broken system…. because it is.

CRP had a signup in 2013 and the rent rate went to a much more fair value but the signup was limited to a fairly low number of people so it went fast. Those that signed up are probably smiling this year with $3.50 corn.

Why do people have to rely on a government program to protect their land from soil loss and runoff? I see fields with 4 ft gullies in them and they just fill them in and keep on going the same as always. Next rain… same thing. Why do people need the government to tell them thats bad and pay them to put something there to protect it? There are less and less responsible land owners out there. Its a sad deal… and we all pay the consequences.

kooty wrote:

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see habit ever coming back during my lifetime. It’s going to be the single biggest factor in the quality of hunting we will experience during our lifetime.

Well Said!

We should be expecting decreased wildlife each year also.

Unfortunate trend we need to keep in mind.

suzuki wrote:

Does anyone really think our broke government, that is always trying to find ways to rob from Peter to pay Paul, is NOT going to keep cutting CRP funding?
No way. Pheasants are subsidized and the funding is shrinking.

Pretty soon hunting will be a privilege afforded to the wealthy. You can see the shift starting to happen in SD where pen raised bird hunts will out number the wild bird hunts. Some of the outfitters are bringing in tame birds to supplement the wild ones. South Dakota is still a premiere bird destination, but the guides and hunting lodges are starting to do an exclusive lease arrangement only for their clients.

It’s truly sad what is happening right before our eyes and yet I don’t begrudge any land owner for doing what they want with their land. Although I do question the morality of tiling and draining everything and pushing the bad stuff down stream.

Thankfully Dad and I agree. Our 140 acres is for hunting. Hopefully we can make enough off the CRP program and selling some hay to pay for the food plots. If not, we will foot the bill on our own.

Sorry to pull this so far off track with my ranting!! I’m glad you had a good hunt down there Mike.

chomps wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
Does anyone really think our broke government, that is always trying to find ways to rob from Peter to pay Paul, is NOT going to keep cutting CRP funding?
No way. Pheasants are subsidized and the funding is shrinking.

Pretty soon hunting will be a privilege afforded to the wealthy. You can see the shift starting to happen in SD where pen raised bird hunts will out number the wild bird hunts. Some of the outfitters are bringing in tame birds to supplement the wild ones. South Dakota is still a premiere bird destination, but the guides and hunting lodges are starting to do an exclusive lease arrangement only for their clients.

It’s my understanding that any pay-for-hunting situation in SD, including private landowners charging access/gun fees, have always had a farm bird supplement requirement. It wasn’t publically broadcasted for obvious reasons but has always been there in the background. Was my understanding incorrect?

No, the only people who have to supplement the wild bird population are the folks who acquire “Preserve” licenses. Then, there is a formula used for minimum #’s released. On those particular acres, you can shoot more than the typical 3 bird limit per day also.

http://gfp.sd.gov/licenses/shooting-preserves/

Kooty, thanks for clarifying. Much appreciated.

My dad raises birds. At his highest point, 13,000 per year. This is his last year(Thank God!!). We release a few each year that aren’t sellable but those get picked off by the hawks pretty quickly. It is funny when you get a flush and the bird is missing all it’s tail feathers.

Crossin Eyes and I got back down to the same area this weekend. World of difference with all the corn out. We had our birds both days before noon. It was real fun hunting them in snow yesterday but starting out below zero was tough with that Iowa “breeze”. It was still single digits when we quite hunting late morning. Unbelievable cold for this time of year.
Sorry no pics. We kick ourselves for forgetting to snap a few.