Oldtimr

You do not have to explain to me what deer or other wildlife need to thrive, I suspect I am more versed in it that you are. In fact the deer use the fields in the picture I posted heavily for shelter, Where did I say that an entire farm was put into the program I spoke about? There is other wildlife that also must be considered besides deer and nowhere did I indicate a monoculture was being made. Actually, you missed the whole point I was trying to make. The point was is in our country forcing farmers to plant or leave fallow a section of land because the government tells them they must would not fly, we have protections from that sort of thing. If the government would tell a farmer he could not farm an area because of for instance endangered species would be harmed the fovernment would have to pay the farmer for his loss because they have for all intent and purpose taken his land. One of the main points of our country tossing out the Brittish was so there would be no government telling people what they could and could not do on their land, and in fact the ownership of land without it being taken by the government on a whim of a King was a key component of our idea of the founders idea of a new country with a government for the people, by the people. Pretty sure I know what liberty and freedom is or is not!

MudderChuck

I live in another country, I was born in L.A. Calif. a few miles away from where Patton was born and spent a large portion of my adult life in countries far from home protecting those rights you seem to cherish so much. Go take a dump and release the pressure on your brain, you'll feel better and might not be so darned cranky.

All I was saying was what seems to work here, maybe it is worth a try in other places. Tax schemes (by any name), in my experience, are doomed to failure. They may start out OK but tend to get corrupted over time.

Taking your argument to the extreme, seeing as a farmer owns his farm (or him and the bank do) he could turn it into a toxic waste dump if he wanted to.

The Farmers here are compensated for the fallow land, for the most part. Ownership and land usage agreements goes back thousands of year here, not hundreds.

I tend to try and learn from other peoples mistakes and successes.

Oldtimr

Lots of things in Europe go back hundreds of years, not all were good then or now. Not cranky, nor do I have presure anywhere, I just don't like being chastised for saying something I did not say, nor elude to.

MudderChuck

Sorry double post, must have had a brain fart.

Topgun 3006

We heard you the first time and FYI I got a 3 day ban for saying less to a member than what you have now said to him twice! Anyway, I looked at the ballot and I don't see many people voting on the $3 stamp question for MN. I do see that if the numbers were corrected and two of our yeas were changed to nays like we mentioned after finding out the $3 is per bird the count would now be 7 yeas and 8 nays. I think a set higher fee with no tagging and a reporting system is still the best way to go and people would report if the system was simplified.

MudderChuck

I'm a passive sort, but I'm only going to take so much. I don't like bigots and bullies much. Him implying I'm anti liberty and against freedom isn't only way off the mark, it is pure hogwash.

The off season ends here the first of May and then there is five months of season for most edible game. Good game management makes for a long hunting season. Like I said, the Germans do some things right and some things wrong, why not benefit from their successes and learn from their failures.

In some places Hog hunting is forbidden in the States. I know the why (in detail) do you? It's simple really, If you shoot the biggest Sow, the sounder may scatter and may not reorganize for days, weeks, months. Game management wants to trap them (as many as possible at one time) so they want the sounder to stay organized and cohesive, so they outlaw hunting them. Our solution is to shoot the mid sized animals, leave the smallest and largest. The German way of hunting Hogs.

Topgun 3006

*** I have no idea why you brought up hogs on this pheasant thread other than to possibly show the difference in German and US ways and apparently talk down to me! However, to answer your question, yes, I am quite up on hogs and what the various states here are doing. Most want every hog killed because of their destructive ways and diseases they can spread, especially to domestic stock. I would offer that shooting any hog in a group of them smartens them up quickly and turns them nocturnal no matter what one you shoot. That is a big reason several states are now either outlawing hunting them completely so a bunch can be trapped at one time, others only allow shooting them when engaged in another big game hunting activity, and yet others like Texas are doing everything to get rid of them. That includes aerial gunning now in areas where it's safe to do so.

MudderChuck

Not my intention to talk down to you. If it seems that way I apologize.

I brought up Hogs to illustrate there may be different ways to solve the same problem.

I've heard the arguments that Hogs aren't naturally nocturnal. But I don't buy it personally. Dark or black isn't a daytime color that you can hide very easily, they see awfully good in the dark to be a daytime animal. And to tell you the truth I've seen very few moving around in daylight. The exception being if they hadn't eaten their fill and were late for getting back to the bedding area. I've walked up on a few who were asleep in the brush during the day. I always wondered about that, thinking maybe they got separated from the group and decided to hide and sleep where they were until it got dark again. Hogs can get in a routine, which is good for the hunter. Who decides the routine is usually the lead Sow, Remove her and hopefully one of her elder daughters will take over, which can be iffy. When they scatter they get unpredictable and if you see any it is in ones or twos. There are few real rules, just tendencies.

Sorry I have a habit of wandering off topic.

Back to Pheasant. I believe predators are a large part of the decline in certain areas. Along with loss of habitat. Around here the farmers do a spring cut of the grass to feed their livestock, especially the Cows. When they mow they destroy a lot of nests.

Predators can decimate a Pheasant population, Pheasant and Ducks almost disappeared here around 15-20 years ago. Part of it was planting Corn for Bio fuel, Corn isn't the best crop for small game forage, but it pretty much made the Hog population explode. And most of the rest of the small game decline was a high point in Predator populations. normal or abnormal I have no idea. The Fox got many of the Pheasants. Weasels and Fox got most of the Ducks. Over a period of years we lowered the predator population, I typically shot 20 plus Foxes a year. Something else I noticed was a spike in the Jay population at just about the same time as the drastic decline in the Pheasant population, Jays are nest robbers. I don't know if it was connected or not, but it seems plausible. Pheasant are rebounding and on the increase, Ducks are still way down in numbers. Jays used to be protected here, they aren't anymore, they have a six month season.

Any Predator that eats mice will clean out a Pheasant nest jiffy quick.

I've raised and released around 350 Pheasants, best estimate is 10% survive the first year (winter). The high mortality rate is mostly due to predators.