Are people turning

[GadwallGetter530]

I believe a lot of it has to do with food, namely protein in the form of bugs. We do a lot to control bug populations, especially in the spring when young birds need them.

Also, when it comes to pheasants, they're not native birds living in natural habitat. They're imported and thrive where agriculture has created a new kind of habitat. As farming practices have evolved, so has that habitat. It stands to reason that cleaner, more efficient farming leaves less for the birds, in terms of both cover and feed.

Interesting perspective I hadn't thought of before.

He's right. Ag methods impact wildlife more than you all know. Have seen the change in my life in Illinois.
Southern Illinois was THE destination for Canada geese in the 1980's but no-till ag stopped geese from going that far south. Central Illinois is the new south for geese.
Agriculture practices are killing your California pheasants. No doubt in my mind.

Nope, I can't agree with that. Their's no agriculture practices taking place on Refuges and private natural habitat gun clubs that where at one time pheasant producing machines.

I never hunted in fagnifornia.

Ag practice has killed mine.
Cleared every square inch, chopped all hedges down, waterways cleared of all brush...yet food laying everywhere from no till.
There is no habitat. None. All gone...corn corn corn beans corn corn corn.

Mkay?

Then what was the "no don't in my mind" statement all about.

[aunt betty]

I believe a lot of it has to do with food, namely protein in the form of bugs. We do a lot to control bug populations, especially in the spring when young birds need them.

Also, when it comes to pheasants, they're not native birds living in natural habitat. They're imported and thrive where agriculture has created a new kind of habitat. As farming practices have evolved, so has that habitat. It stands to reason that cleaner, more efficient farming leaves less for the birds, in terms of both cover and feed.

Interesting perspective I hadn't thought of before.

He's right. Ag methods impact wildlife more than you all know. Have seen the change in my life in Illinois.
Southern Illinois was THE destination for Canada geese in the 1980's but no-till ag stopped geese from going that far south. Central Illinois is the new south for geese.
Agriculture practices are killing your California pheasants. No doubt in my mind.

Nope, I can't agree with that. Their's no agriculture practices taking place on Refuges and private natural habitat gun clubs that where at one time pheasant producing machines.

What AB said is true for here, ag practices control everything. Weather is also a big factor as many birds nest in wheat, the quality of it and when it gets cut has a huge impact. With your area having good habitat, I would agree with what you've said before, quit spraying for skeeters and bugs, baby birds need food. No till farming is not good for birds either, nothing good about spraying fields with Roundup instead of tilling.

There's more to no-till than roundup. Historically farms here were plowed under each fall to kill insects. Now we use chemical pesticides. Chemicals combined with no-till and lack of habitat...add a couple really bad blizzard winters into the equation and...you do the math.

Taz would be PISSED if he had to hunt here.

[waterfowlman]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

[GadwallGetter530]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

Yup. Feral cats suck. I pop'em every chance I get. Had big orange male running around my place for a couple of years. Head on that fucker was like a pumpkin. Couldn't get him with the shotgun, peppered his ass a few times. Ended up using my buddy's .17 on that dude.

[aunt betty]

I caught cats when I trapped. (By accident)
Real quick it became policy to release cats with collars.
There was a dispute with some crazy ppl who destroyed a pile of my traps then called the gw. I was scared shitless until the gw asked me if I wanted to sign a complaint. Turns out he'd debunked their "cat" story because he'd seen their particular cat as a sailcat on the highway.
It was one of them days.

[RonE]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

I know that approximately 50 million (times) if each cat killed 20 equals one billion but the numbers are totally pulled out of thin air. Show me a scientific study. What about the benefits of feral cats? They also exist primarily on mice, rats, gophers and other small rodents. Skunks are bigger egg suckers than cats and also kill little bunnies but WTF, lets blame cats.

So, what is approximately 50 million? Is it more than 25 million and less than 75 million? Or is it more than 1 million but less than 900 million?

The guy that made the speech did exactly what he set out to do, he converted you to his mindset with (in my opinion) absolutely no proof, no regression analysis, no scientific study and no caveats. For example what is the winter kill for feral cats? How many die each year from floods, disease, predators or other causes. What is the birth rate for feral cats.

Give me an audience and I can convince them (at least some of them) that a study I read showed that the pheasant population in the Sacramento valley of California has been depleted by: Farming practices 35%, Insecticides 40%, Feral Cats 15%, Climate Change 5% and other causes 5%. Furthermore, I can break the last 5% down to birds of prey, skunks, highway traffic collisions with birds, children with bb and pellet guns and hunters shooting over limits and killing hens. I can go on to say that the study shows that conservation easements are the only thing that is saving what little population of birds that remain. And I can pretty well make up whatever I want depending on the demographics of the audience. Complete and total bull shit, but there will be believers who quote my words and convince others that the farmers, using insecticides are the ones fucking up the pheasant populations.

This is a game without rules. My God is better than your God. We convince ourselves that something sounds right and then close our minds.

[aunt betty]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

I know that approximately 50 million (times) if each cat killed 20 equals one billion but the numbers are totally pulled out of thin air. Show me a scientific study. What about the benefits of feral cats? They also exist primarily on mice, rats, gophers and other small rodents. Skunks are bigger egg suckers than cats and also kill little bunnies but WTF, lets blame cats.

So, what is approximately 50 million? Is it more than 25 million and less than 75 million? Or is it more than 1 million but less than 900 million?

The guy that made the speech did exactly what he set out to do, he converted you to his mindset with (in my opinion) absolutely no proof, no regression analysis, no scientific study and no caveats. For example what is the winter kill for feral cats? How many die each year from floods, disease, predators or other causes. What is the birth rate for feral cats.

Give me an audience and I can convince them (at least some of them) that a study I read showed that the pheasant population in the Sacramento valley of California has been depleted by: Farming practices 35%, Insecticides 40%, Feral Cats 15%, Climate Change 5% and other causes 5%. Furthermore, I can break the last 5% down to birds of prey, skunks, highway traffic collisions with birds, children with bb and pellet guns and hunters shooting over limits and killing hens. I can go on to say that the study shows that conservation easements are the only thing that is saving what little population of birds that remain. And I can pretty well make up whatever I want depending on the demographics of the audience. Complete and total bull shit, but there will be believers who quote my words and convince others that the farmers, using insecticides are the ones fucking up the pheasant populations.

[attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1400601868386.jpg[/attachment]

[jarbo03]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

I know that approximately 50 million (times) if each cat killed 20 equals one billion but the numbers are totally pulled out of thin air. Show me a scientific study. What about the benefits of feral cats? They also exist primarily on mice, rats, gophers and other small rodents. Skunks are bigger egg suckers than cats and also kill little bunnies but WTF, lets blame cats.

So, what is approximately 50 million? Is it more than 25 million and less than 75 million? Or is it more than 1 million but less than 900 million?

The guy that made the speech did exactly what he set out to do, he converted you to his mindset with (in my opinion) absolutely no proof, no regression analysis, no scientific study and no caveats. For example what is the winter kill for feral cats? How many die each year from floods, disease, predators or other causes. What is the birth rate for feral cats.

Give me an audience and I can convince them (at least some of them) that a study I read showed that the pheasant population in the Sacramento valley of California has been depleted by: Farming practices 35%, Insecticides 40%, Feral Cats 15%, Climate Change 5% and other causes 5%. Furthermore, I can break the last 5% down to birds of prey, skunks, highway traffic collisions with birds, children with bb and pellet guns and hunters shooting over limits and killing hens. I can go on to say that the study shows that conservation easements are the only thing that is saving what little population of birds that remain. And I can pretty well make up whatever I want depending on the demographics of the audience. Complete and total bull shit, but there will be believers who quote my words and convince others that the farmers, using insecticides are the ones fucking up the pheasant populations.

This is a game without rules. My God is better than your God. We convince ourselves that something sounds right and then close our minds.

Agreed. Too many with an agenda. The only truth is, no habitat, no birds. While there is still some habitat in KS, it is to the point where it takes preferred weather for things to be good. Bad weather and wheat is cut early, all grass and crp is hayed before nesting is done. Before it gets cold, if you find bugs and grasshoppers in fields, you will find birds. Only find bugs where there is native grass and weeds. Predators, including hunters, play a small role in overall bird numbers.

[sws002]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a shitload of our smaller wildlife every year.

I know that approximately 50 million (times) if each cat killed 20 equals one billion but the numbers are totally pulled out of thin air. Show me a scientific study. What about the benefits of feral cats? They also exist primarily on mice, rats, gophers and other small rodents. Skunks are bigger egg suckers than cats and also kill little bunnies but WTF, lets blame cats.

So, what is approximately 50 million? Is it more than 25 million and less than 75 million? Or is it more than 1 million but less than 900 million?

The guy that made the speech did exactly what he set out to do, he converted you to his mindset with (in my opinion) absolutely no proof, no regression analysis, no scientific study and no caveats. For example what is the winter kill for feral cats? How many die each year from floods, disease, predators or other causes. What is the birth rate for feral cats.

Give me an audience and I can convince them (at least some of them) that a study I read showed that the pheasant population in the Sacramento valley of California has been depleted by: Farming practices 35%, Insecticides 40%, Feral Cats 15%, Climate Change 5% and other causes 5%. Furthermore, I can break the last 5% down to birds of prey, skunks, highway traffic collisions with birds, children with bb and pellet guns and hunters shooting over limits and killing hens. I can go on to say that the study shows that conservation easements are the only thing that is saving what little population of birds that remain. And I can pretty well make up whatever I want depending on the demographics of the audience. Complete and total bull shit, but there will be believers who quote my words and convince others that the farmers, using insecticides are the ones fucking up the pheasant populations.

This is a game without rules. My God is better than your God. We convince ourselves that something sounds right and then close our minds.

Agreed. Too many with an agenda. The only truth is, no habitat, no birds. While there is still some habitat in KS, it is to the point where it takes preferred weather for things to be good. Bad weather and wheat is cut early, all grass and crp is hayed before nesting is done. Before it gets cold, if you find bugs and grasshoppers in fields, you will find birds. Only find bugs where there is native grass and weeds. Predators, including hunters, play a small role in overall bird numbers.

Exactly. It looks like the Left Coast guys have a little bit of a different problem on their hands with spraying for insects, but here in the Midwest the birds go as the habitat goes. Quail had a rough patch the last couple years, but I blame that on the huge ice storm that rolled through here about 6 years ago. Saw more quail this year than I have in the previous 5 combined.

[one2many]

its all the farmers fault.now you need to stop bitching about it and go buy all the farm land you can. prices are going up so hurry!!

[jarbo03]

I would buy land, but I don't want to be one of those people who fucks everything up! Doing everything I can to bring low grain prices.

[Pintail]

Forgot another big one; surburbanization of prime habitat.

[one2many]

I would buy land, but I don't want to be one of those people who fucks everything up! Doing everything I can to bring low grain prices.

i think prices are down from a year ago.maybe 3% . i dont look for them to go up anytime soon, will probably decline some more.corn prices drove the price down.
this year we planted right up to the road surface






oh and fuck your quail and phez

[jarbo03]

Who cares about Iowa birds, they been fucked for a long time. Rape that last piece of dirt, road edges produce the best anyways!

[one2many]

im going to kill off all the wild birds in Colorado too. nothing is going to be safe. unless im shooting at the birds, they are safe then

[jarbo03]

im going to kill off all the wild birds in Colorado too. nothing is going to be safe. unless im shooting at the birds, they are safe then

Even with the rifles? Sure they might be off at close range, but they should be good down range.

[Glimmerjim]

Years ago I heard a knowledgeable biologist speak of the feral cat issue. He explained there were approximately 50 million feral cats in the US....but there could be more! If each cat only kills 20 young animals (baby rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks etc) per year that would amount to somewhere around ONE BILLION wildlife animals killed by cats alone annually.
I've been killing every one that crosses my path ever since I heard that speech.

"knowledgeable biologist" With no axe to grind? With no bias? Around here it is the Audubon Society that makes those unfounded claims. How many standard deviations are there in "approximately"? Is there a scientific study to back up such claims? Gotta call BS.

Do the math Ron. The numbers make sense to me. Personally, I think they are on the conservative side. Feral cats kill a **** of our smaller wildlife every year.

I know that approximately 50 million (times) if each cat killed 20 equals one billion but the numbers are totally pulled out of thin air. Show me a scientific study. What about the benefits of feral cats? They also exist primarily on mice, rats, gophers and other small rodents. Skunks are bigger egg suckers than cats and also kill little bunnies but WTF, lets blame cats.

So, what is approximately 50 million? Is it more than 25 million and less than 75 million? Or is it more than 1 million but less than 900 million?

The guy that made the speech did exactly what he set out to do, he converted you to his mindset with (in my opinion) absolutely no proof, no regression analysis, no scientific study and no caveats. For example what is the winter kill for feral cats? How many die each year from floods, disease, predators or other causes. What is the birth rate for feral cats.

Give me an audience and I can convince them (at least some of them) that a study I read showed that the pheasant population in the Sacramento valley of California has been depleted by: Farming practices 35%, Insecticides 40%, Feral Cats 15%, Climate Change 5% and other causes 5%. Furthermore, I can break the last 5% down to birds of prey, skunks, highway traffic collisions with birds, children with bb and pellet guns and hunters shooting over limits and killing hens. I can go on to say that the study shows that conservation easements are the only thing that is saving what little population of birds that remain. And I can pretty well make up whatever I want depending on the demographics of the audience. Complete and total bull ****, but there will be believers who quote my words and convince others that the farmers, using insecticides are the ones **** up the pheasant populations.

This is a game without rules. My God is better than your God. We convince ourselves that something sounds right and then close our minds.

Wow! That was an intelligent and insightful response there, Ron! Kudos!

[Rick]

Cat lovers, the both of you.

[QH's Paw]

:lol: Hey gaddy, I guess no one listens to you.

I've grown accustom to disappointment .............. I've been preaching that bug fact for years.

I honestly couldn't figure out why the hell the pheasants dissipated, but when you said that it clicked.

Yup, You have to wrap your head around the fact that the areas of the valley that has been farmed the the past 50 years hasn't change. What was rice years ago is rice today. The big natural gun clubs and refuges have been established for years. Not much has change other then more land has been turned from crops back to marsh and fields. We should really have even more birds then we did in the past. Can't be blaming habitat loss.

Global warming is the cause. Lack of late spring rains causes the ground to dry out and crack. The bugs that feed young pheasant fall into those cracks and the birds can't get them. Some young birds starve to death while others die with their heads caught in a crack.

Now, that right there is an Assafact, if I ever heard one. You must have gotten your degree from the peoples republic of Maryland.

[Eric Haynes]

I really didn't feel the sarcmark was needed on that post...