The Case For State Pheasant Stocking Programs - Page 2

kilimanjaro · February 13, 2016, 03:57 PM

Eastern Washington 'planted' Hungarian Partridge, which is a Central Asian Chukkar, decades ago, to pique the hunting economy. The little guys took to the semi-arid hills quite well and are now 'native'.

Mobuck · February 13, 2016, 08:26 PM

Me:If all the environmental and farming practices are hurting the game bird populations, why don't the thousands of acres of Conservation Commission land have birds? Managed 100% for wild game(especially quail/pheasants) with a nearly unlimited budget and still no birds.
Buck:Because not all CRP land is managed expressly for Pheasants. Because not all native grasses and plants(promoted by CRP programs) are conducive to game birds. You've said so yourself.
I'm not talking about CRP(please actually read the part about "Conservation Commission land"), I'm talking about STATE OWNED AND MANAGED LAND. This land is managed 100% for game habitat by the bunny cops.

I'm done. No response will result in anything but more propaganda.

Panfisher · February 14, 2016, 09:56 AM

MObuck, it seems to me sometimes that Missouri takes a hands off approach to managing some of their properties. Food plots I am sure are expensive to plant but sure seems like at time they are flat out just not doing it. There are only a few areas that I am aware of that are specifically managed for a single target species. I know Bilby Ranch used to be their shining jewel for pheasants, and there were a lot of birds there, and even more hunters, decided that if I got out of there alive I wasn't going back. I agree with MDC doing what they can in an area to promote and encourage game bird survival and reproduction, but if the birds can't adapt to survive with what the real world has then they aren't ever going to be lots of them.

Mobuck · February 14, 2016, 05:42 PM

"I know Bilby Ranch used to be their shining jewel for pheasants, and there were a lot of birds there, and even more hunters, decided that if I got out of there alive I wasn't going back"

I hunted Bilby a couple of times when my older Son lived in NW MO. As noted, it was either a circus or a total bust.

I guess I'm just getting fed up with hearing the farmers and landowners getting all the blame for "habitat destruction" causing low bird numbers when MDC can't maintain a population with all the resources they have. Look at it this way: w/o landowners, MDC doesn't have much.

Panfisher · February 14, 2016, 06:38 PM

Agreed MObuck. I wouldn't be quite as skeptical toward MDC (whom I work with regularly) if they had better habitat on many of the lands they manage or own. Yes without landowners (97% of the land or something like that) support it doesn't work. Honestly I haven't heard anyone around here anyway blaming landowners, but sometimes I don't listen to those types very well.

buck460XVR · February 15, 2016, 02:51 PM

Quote:

I guess I'm just getting fed up with hearing the farmers and landowners getting all the blame for "habitat destruction" causing low bird numbers when MDC can't maintain a population with all the resources they have. Look at it this way: w/o landowners, MDC doesn't have much.

I don't see anyone here blaming farmers and landowners. With the small profit margin they make a ling off from, they have other priorities for the most part, other than worrying about Pheasants. Even if they are a pheasant hunter, most are going to go for turning a profit and staying in business, over shooting a few birds. Modern farming practices have made so that land that once was unprofitable to till, now makes the difference at the end of the year whether they are in the red or the black. Unfortunately, those same practices are detrimental to pheasant habitat. Only in places in SD where farmers make monies from lease payments and daily hunting fees, do they actively promote Pheasant habitat on a large scale....and this is what it takes, large parcels of land manged for Pheasant habitat. Not a 20 acre patch here and there, but large contiguous tracts of thousands of acres in order to sustain breeding populations. Otherwise you are always looking at stocking. Same goes for hunting pressure. When hunters outnumber birds on public access lands, you will never end up with a viable breeding population. Here in Wisconsin, in order to hunt pheasants, you need a pheasant stamp. This is what pays for stocked birds and habitat improvement. I live close to and hunt pheasant on a 8600 acre tract dedicated to recreation. 800 acres or so is planted in corn and soybeans. Most of it is managed primarily for wildlife habitat. They stock pheasants there on a weekly basis thru-out the hunting season. They stocked approximately 3000 birds there this year. Our season ended on Dec. 31. Two weeks ago I took the bird dog there looking for grouse and to scout for Spring turkeys. I never saw even just one pheasant track even tho the snow was a week old.......and this is prime habitat. Wrong strain of birds and too much pressure. I was told stocking Wild strain would mean only 1/4 of the birds would be released due to the difference in costs. Hunter success and thus satisfaction would be much lower, resulting in loss of revenue because next year less folks would buy stamps......meaning even less birds released next year. Even tho the habitat is some of the most prime in the whole state, because survival rate is so low they allow folks to shoot both hens an roosters, before the weather and the predators get them. Even tho hardly a day goes by once there is now on the ground, where you won't see several trucks with dog trailers behind them hunting 'yotes.

I've been blessed to own and hunt behind many great bird dogs. I have a GWP female right now that is just getting into her prime and is exceptional. I have hunted birds here in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Both wild and stocked birds. I also regularly hunt birds at a shooting preserve just minutes from my house. In the long run, the points were just as pretty, the shooting just as hard and the cover just as thick, regardless of where I was. I will continue to hunt pheasant till I can no longer walk the cover behind a dog, and will continue to contribute to Pheasants Forever, buy State Pheasant stamps and buy my annual 50 birds from the local Preserve for after the regular season. When that rooster cackles in front of the dog's nose and blows up outta the snow, the last thing I care about as I lay my cheek on Grandpa's old 16ga. SxS, is whether it's wild or stocked.

johnwilliamson062 · February 16, 2016, 03:31 PM

Quote:

....and this is what it takes, large parcels of land manged for Pheasant habitat. Not a 20 acre patch here and there, but large contiguous tracts of thousands of acres in order to sustain breeding populations.

How do trails fit into that contiguous tracts requirement? Does a corridor 100 yards wide going across six states linking large preserves help with wildlife more than small patches, or not? I have been looking at supporting some proposed national trails or expansions similar to the Appalachian Trail, and this is a question I keep coming back to without any clear answers.

Blindstitch · February 17, 2016, 08:18 PM

Quote:

When that rooster cackles in front of the dog's nose and blows up outta the snow, the last thing I care about as I lay my cheek on Grandpa's old 16ga. SxS, is whether it's wild or stocked.

My gun doesn't know the difference between wild or stocked but it does its best.

I think wisconsin actually does a good job or the best job they can do for hunters. The DNR has told me on several occasions that no birds survive the winter. That's bull as I have seen several in april and may.

If you want to improve pheasant hunting just pass a no dog law for a few years. Yes I like dogs but they make it to easy some days. This last season I shot 24 birds in Southern Wisconsin. I stepped on 4 in deep grass and they were as wild as could be even if stock. When a bird blows up in your face and scares you that's wild.

Last year I saw plenty of guys sitting in the parking lot of hunting areas waiting on the DNR to stock the birds. Then they would go hunt down the road as the birds were being thrown out. They would bag out in 15 minutes and leave. On days the DNR didn't come they would sit there till sundown while I hunted and some days bagged birds without a dog. On weeks they only released once it was quite funny.

Now that I said that bring your dogs and bring someone to introduce them to pheasant hunting. Even without a dog I have introduced two people who are now hooked. I even participated in a father son hunt where two other guys and myself were hunting with a dog and we found one and called this 10 year old and his father over who weren't far off. The kid got the bird and was happy. I didn't even care that I didn't shoot that day.

buck460XVR · February 18, 2016, 12:23 PM

Quote:

The DNR has told me on several occasions that no birds survive the winter. That's bull as I have seen several in april and may.

I think they mean there are so few birds that survive the winter, that they consider it none. I've had the privilege to hunt a friends farm for 40 years. Back when I used to raise pheasants,(30 years ago) I would always release a dozen or so(under a dog training permit) there. While the farmer didn't hunt them, he enjoyed seeing them as he worked the fields. They always disappeared. His boys and grandsons over the years would get birds thru FFA, raise them and release them. Still by the following spring, they were never seen again. Still every morning during spring turkey hunting there, I hear a least three roosters crowing somewhere in the vicinity. Still, no one ever sees them. I don't hunt there with my dog......I'd miss not hearing them on the days there are no gobbles close by.

Quote:

If you want to improve pheasant hunting just pass a no dog law for a few years.

For me, it's all about the dogs. If it weren't for the love of watching the dogs work, I'd probably retire from Pheasant hunting. Back when I was a kid I watched the original B&W movie "The Biscuit Eater". I was about 8 or 9 years old. I've been in love with Pointers ever since. Have had them consistently since 1975. Before that I hunted pheasants with labs. Nuttin' I love more than telling a dog on staunch point...."get 'em up!"

Quote:

I didn't even care that I didn't shoot that day.

Been there, done that. My Grandson's birthday is coming up. Part of his birthday present is gonna be taking him and a few of his friends to the club for a pheasant hunt. His first. Doubt iffin I'll even take my gun. Odds are someday, Grandpa's old SxS will be brought up to his cheek.

Blindstitch · February 18, 2016, 06:39 PM

Somedays when I bag out I watch the other dogs work. I like the dogs but I think people rely on the to much. And blame them when they don't product.

I once hunted with this guy off and on for a season who was training his dog to be the best dog he use to have and he yelled at the dog all day long. I would see the dog get birdy and when a bird wasn't produced immediately he would call the dog off even though the dog didn't want to leave his bird. A few times I was able to flush the birds but then I wasn't the best shot. Now when I see that hunter yelling at his dog I go the other way.

Toward the end of that season the dog started running off and the hunter would tell me to stay there as he went to find the dog. 30 minutes later the dog would come back to me and I never knew where the guy went. We would hunt together and usually bag birds till the frustrated hunter came back and scolded the dog.

Camping in the Hudson Wisconsin area in May a few years ago every morning I woke up to pheasants. Just put a smile on my face.

johnwilliamson062 · February 18, 2016, 07:42 PM

Is this a thing where pheasants released in suburbs might form a stable population and move out to the country?

Blindstitch · February 18, 2016, 08:01 PM

Actually if they released them in the suburbs they might populate quite well but there would be no reward to hunters as they would probably stay there and eat from bird feeders.

Wisconsin has a number of state public hunting properties that it plants pheasants. Some are near closed areas where they also plant hens and those areas are the ones where I see surviving birds in the spring. If you plant 90 percent or more of males there isn't going to be a reproducing population.

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/pheasantmap.html

TimSr · February 19, 2016, 11:39 AM

I'm still of the belief that no matter how many they stock, very few will live long enough to breed.

Maybe instead of arguing that point, we should be pushing our state agencies to band every released bird to know when and where it was released. Then they could easily determine how many unbanded birds are shot, and how many banded birds from a prior year are shot. This kind of research would take the speculation out of it. This could also track test methods of breeding and raising the birds with methods that might better help them survive upon release.

Blindstitch · February 19, 2016, 10:47 PM

That's an interesting idea. I'm sure they would shoot it down due to cost of whatever material the bands were made of even if they were free. But I do like the idea.

johnwilliamson062 · February 19, 2016, 11:11 PM

Buying engraved or RFID bands and then installing the would probably be fairly expensive. Might be able to get funding to try it in one state or something though. I'm not sure how many birds they actually release.

Sarge · February 20, 2016, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Me:If all the environmental and farming practices are hurting the game bird populations, why don't the thousands of acres of Conservation Commission land have birds? Managed 100% for wild game(especially quail/pheasants) with a nearly unlimited budget and still no birds.
Buck:Because not all CRP land is managed expressly for Pheasants. Because not all native grasses and plants(promoted by CRP programs) are conducive to game birds. You've said so yourself.
I'm not talking about CRP(please actually read the part about "Conservation Commission land"), I'm talking about STATE OWNED AND MANAGED LAND. This land is managed 100% for game habitat by the bunny cops.

I'm done. No response will result in anything but more propaganda.

I recall the heyday of quail in central MO exactly as you do- grain growing everywhere. Today there is 700 acres of CFRP off my east property line and not a quail in sight. We do have a buttload of coyotes and chicken hawks, who are apparently blind to the dozens of rodents I see when I mow a 16 acre hayfield.

Mobuck · February 20, 2016, 12:35 PM

"I recall the heyday of quail in central MO exactly as you do- grain growing everywhere. Today there is 700 acres of CFRP off my east property line and not a quail in sight. We do have a buttload of coyotes and chicken hawks, who are apparently blind to the dozens of rodents I see when I mow a 16 acre hayfield."

Thanks for the support.
The raptor protection regulations are/were foisted upon the states by the feds in a serious error of management. Since the states CHOSE to comply(we see many cases of other regulations being disputed), the results are loss of game birds in several Midwest states that had maintained a significant(and huntable) population for years.

tahunua001 · February 21, 2016, 12:37 PM

the people that owned my mother's property before she did raised exotic pheasants. they tried raising pheasants for a whole decade, even set aside a portion of the property as F&G registered bird habitat. there is not a single of the 3 or 4 breeds of pheasant they raised but as of yesterday there are at least 3 dozen ring neck pheasants on that little 5 acre plot.

the wilds birds still have plenty of survival instinct. my plan if I was trying to re-establish a population would involve taking a fairly secluded plot of land, trap the living heck out of it to get rid of as many predators as possible, take a few dozen birds caught in live traps from the wild transplant, let them stew for about a decade....

... oh and add about 100 quail so predators have lower hanging fruit to go after.

buck460XVR · February 21, 2016, 01:15 PM

Quote:

"I recall the heyday of quail in central MO exactly as you do- grain growing everywhere. Today there is 700 acres of CFRP off my east property line and not a quail in sight. We do have a buttload of coyotes and chicken hawks, who are apparently blind to the dozens of rodents I see when I mow a 16 acre hayfield."

Coupa good articles about the quail population of Missouri......they make mention of loss of habitat and the importance of weeds and grass in the quails life cycle.

http://www.news-leader.com/story/spo...bust/74728606/

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/g9431

....as for the buttload of 'yotes and chicken hawks(I assume you are talking about three species of North American hawks: the Cooper's hawk which is also called a quail hawk, the sharp-shinned hawk and the red-tailed hawk and not older gay males that prey on younger men), the only reason they are there is because of the abundance of food, i.e. rodents. Otherwise, since they aren't eating the hay in that field, like your quail and pheasants, they'd be long gone.

Tinbucket · February 21, 2016, 03:57 PM

In comment about seeing all the rodens when he mows the fields and all the hawks.
Cut the grass short when they are present, if you can afford to of at least some of them.
The Hawks etc will hang around as long there is plenty of rodents.
When we moved in we had, and still do a lot of them. I cut the grass at four inches not five as much hay fields are.
Any thing for nesting sites for them. That will cut down on the number of Hawks after a while and the rodents.
Doesn't do much good here because of woods surrounding the place.
I would like to get quail started her again too and Pheasants but oo many predators and chiggers for pheasants.

Sarge · February 21, 2016, 07:41 PM

I'm not mowing pasture to make life easy for chicken hawks.

tahunua001 · February 21, 2016, 08:10 PM

but your unmowed pasture is an eyesore to the people from california who are putting in a housing development next door...

Gunplummer · February 22, 2016, 04:44 AM

At one time I used to operate a log skidder. The hawks would actually follow you around for the easy rodent pickings. One thing I did notice is that hawks are really hard on snakes. Are they immune to snake venom?

johnwilliamson062 · February 22, 2016, 07:28 PM

Chiggers affect pheasant population?

buck460XVR · February 23, 2016, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Chiggers affect pheasant population?

That tale started with the myth that chiggers were the number one killer of baby quail. Something about they get in their feet. Has never been proven they have any effect on quail. Then the myth migrated to pheasant populations. Much of the best pheasant habitat in South Dakota and Kansas is also home to chiggers.

An old bird dogger years ago told me "You'll find your most pheasants and quail in the same areas you find bucks with big horn. Areas with calcium rich soils. Bucks need it to make horn and pheasants and quail need it to make eggs". I know when I raised Pheasants, I gave them access to oyster shells and a feed containing calcium, just like my layin' hens. Can't tell you if if it done any good or if for sure the old bird dogger knew what the 'ell he was talkin' about. But, facts show that hen Pheasants will select grit that contains calcium over grit that doesn't and that in the wild, a hens diet will have 10 times as much calcium in it than her mate. I assume the same must be true for quail and wild turkeys.

February 21, 2016, 12:37 PM	#43
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	the people that owned my mother's property before she did raised exotic pheasants. they tried raising pheasants for a whole decade, even set aside a portion of the property as F&G registered bird habitat. there is not a single of the 3 or 4 breeds of pheasant they raised but as of yesterday there are at least 3 dozen ring neck pheasants on that little 5 acre plot. the wilds birds still have plenty of survival instinct. my plan if I was trying to re-establish a population would involve taking a fairly secluded plot of land, trap the living heck out of it to get rid of as many predators as possible, take a few dozen birds caught in live traps from the wild transplant, let them stew for about a decade.... ... oh and add about 100 quail so predators have lower hanging fruit to go after. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin Last edited by tahunua001; February 21, 2016 at 12:45 PM.

February 21, 2016, 03:57 PM	#45
Tinbucket Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2015 Posts: 355	The case for state phesant stocking programs In comment about seeing all the rodens when he mows the fields and all the hawks. Cut the grass short when they are present, if you can afford to of at least some of them. The Hawks etc will hang around as long there is plenty of rodents. When we moved in we had, and still do a lot of them. I cut the grass at four inches not five as much hay fields are. Any thing for nesting sites for them. That will cut down on the number of Hawks after a while and the rodents. Doesn't do much good here because of woods surrounding the place. I would like to get quail started her again too and Pheasants but oo many predators and chiggers for pheasants.

February 21, 2016, 07:41 PM	#46
Sarge Senior Member Join Date: May 12, 2002 Location: MO Posts: 5,457	I'm not mowing pasture to make life easy for chicken hawks. __________________ People were smarter before the Internet, or imbeciles were harder to notice.

February 21, 2016, 08:10 PM	#47
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	but your unmowed pasture is an eyesore to the people from california who are putting in a housing development next door... __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

February 13, 2016, 03:57 PM	#26
kilimanjaro Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2009 Posts: 3,963	Eastern Washington 'planted' Hungarian Partridge, which is a Central Asian Chukkar, decades ago, to pique the hunting economy. The little guys took to the semi-arid hills quite well and are now 'native'.

February 13, 2016, 08:26 PM	#27
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	Me:If all the environmental and farming practices are hurting the game bird populations, why don't the thousands of acres of Conservation Commission land have birds? Managed 100% for wild game(especially quail/pheasants) with a nearly unlimited budget and still no birds. Buck:Because not all CRP land is managed expressly for Pheasants. Because not all native grasses and plants(promoted by CRP programs) are conducive to game birds. You've said so yourself. I'm not talking about CRP(please actually read the part about "Conservation Commission land"), I'm talking about STATE OWNED AND MANAGED LAND. This land is managed 100% for game habitat by the bunny cops. I'm done. No response will result in anything but more propaganda.

February 14, 2016, 09:56 AM	#28
Panfisher Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,337	MObuck, it seems to me sometimes that Missouri takes a hands off approach to managing some of their properties. Food plots I am sure are expensive to plant but sure seems like at time they are flat out just not doing it. There are only a few areas that I am aware of that are specifically managed for a single target species. I know Bilby Ranch used to be their shining jewel for pheasants, and there were a lot of birds there, and even more hunters, decided that if I got out of there alive I wasn't going back. I agree with MDC doing what they can in an area to promote and encourage game bird survival and reproduction, but if the birds can't adapt to survive with what the real world has then they aren't ever going to be lots of them.

February 14, 2016, 05:42 PM	#29
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	"I know Bilby Ranch used to be their shining jewel for pheasants, and there were a lot of birds there, and even more hunters, decided that if I got out of there alive I wasn't going back" I hunted Bilby a couple of times when my older Son lived in NW MO. As noted, it was either a circus or a total bust. I guess I'm just getting fed up with hearing the farmers and landowners getting all the blame for "habitat destruction" causing low bird numbers when MDC can't maintain a population with all the resources they have. Look at it this way: w/o landowners, MDC doesn't have much.

February 14, 2016, 06:38 PM	#30
Panfisher Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,337	Agreed MObuck. I wouldn't be quite as skeptical toward MDC (whom I work with regularly) if they had better habitat on many of the lands they manage or own. Yes without landowners (97% of the land or something like that) support it doesn't work. Honestly I haven't heard anyone around here anyway blaming landowners, but sometimes I don't listen to those types very well.

February 18, 2016, 06:39 PM	#35
Blindstitch Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2013 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 2,693	Somedays when I bag out I watch the other dogs work. I like the dogs but I think people rely on the to much. And blame them when they don't product. I once hunted with this guy off and on for a season who was training his dog to be the best dog he use to have and he yelled at the dog all day long. I would see the dog get birdy and when a bird wasn't produced immediately he would call the dog off even though the dog didn't want to leave his bird. A few times I was able to flush the birds but then I wasn't the best shot. Now when I see that hunter yelling at his dog I go the other way. Toward the end of that season the dog started running off and the hunter would tell me to stay there as he went to find the dog. 30 minutes later the dog would come back to me and I never knew where the guy went. We would hunt together and usually bag birds till the frustrated hunter came back and scolded the dog. Camping in the Hudson Wisconsin area in May a few years ago every morning I woke up to pheasants. Just put a smile on my face.

February 18, 2016, 07:42 PM	#36
johnwilliamson062 Junior member Join Date: May 16, 2008 Posts: 9,995	Is this a thing where pheasants released in suburbs might form a stable population and move out to the country?

February 18, 2016, 08:01 PM	#37
Blindstitch Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2013 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 2,693	Actually if they released them in the suburbs they might populate quite well but there would be no reward to hunters as they would probably stay there and eat from bird feeders. Wisconsin has a number of state public hunting properties that it plants pheasants. Some are near closed areas where they also plant hens and those areas are the ones where I see surviving birds in the spring. If you plant 90 percent or more of males there isn't going to be a reproducing population. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/pheasantmap.html

February 19, 2016, 11:39 AM	#38
TimSr Senior Member Join Date: March 8, 2013 Location: Rittman, Ohio Posts: 2,074	I'm still of the belief that no matter how many they stock, very few will live long enough to breed. Maybe instead of arguing that point, we should be pushing our state agencies to band every released bird to know when and where it was released. Then they could easily determine how many unbanded birds are shot, and how many banded birds from a prior year are shot. This kind of research would take the speculation out of it. This could also track test methods of breeding and raising the birds with methods that might better help them survive upon release.

February 19, 2016, 10:47 PM	#39
Blindstitch Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2013 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 2,693	That's an interesting idea. I'm sure they would shoot it down due to cost of whatever material the bands were made of even if they were free. But I do like the idea.

February 19, 2016, 11:11 PM	#40
johnwilliamson062 Junior member Join Date: May 16, 2008 Posts: 9,995	Buying engraved or RFID bands and then installing the would probably be fairly expensive. Might be able to get funding to try it in one state or something though. I'm not sure how many birds they actually release.

February 20, 2016, 12:35 PM	#42
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	"I recall the heyday of quail in central MO exactly as you do- grain growing everywhere. Today there is 700 acres of CFRP off my east property line and not a quail in sight. We do have a buttload of coyotes and chicken hawks, who are apparently blind to the dozens of rodents I see when I mow a 16 acre hayfield." Thanks for the support. The raptor protection regulations are/were foisted upon the states by the feds in a serious error of management. Since the states CHOSE to comply(we see many cases of other regulations being disputed), the results are loss of game birds in several Midwest states that had maintained a significant(and huntable) population for years.

February 22, 2016, 04:44 AM	#48
Gunplummer Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 2010 Location: South East Pa. Posts: 3,364	At one time I used to operate a log skidder. The hawks would actually follow you around for the easy rodent pickings. One thing I did notice is that hawks are really hard on snakes. Are they immune to snake venom?

February 22, 2016, 07:28 PM	#49
johnwilliamson062 Junior member Join Date: May 16, 2008 Posts: 9,995	Chiggers affect pheasant population?