December 2007 Updates page 10
18 December
Waterfowl
Last week, we hunted a couple waterfowl properties with a camera rather than a gun and had good luck. The birds were definitely moving through, using isolated pockets of open water that were extremely tough for the hunter to access.
December, along with its frigid weather, is typically our peak migration period. Those willing to break ice and put in the time will encounter some of the best waterfowl hunting, but it’s a tough quest.
Farm 1; a flock of 70 plus mallards coming into open water on a cold December afternoon.
Farm 2; a flock of wigeon and gadwall feeding with 2 stray ringneck, one drake woodduck and one mallard hen.
A second flock of gadwall feeding.
A third flock of gadwall and a few wigeon combined.
A foursome of gadwall gracefully coming in to join the rest.
Waterfowl pictures always look great, tough to get the same flights when hunting at times.
To All
Email and telephone member feedback is always welcomed. Eighty percent or more of it is not posted to this update page. Some feedback is not posted by the giver's request, is routine and while valuable to the Association staff is of little value to the general membership or simply a conversation between John or Jon and a member/hunter. There are some contributors that every thing they send in is of value to all and we seek to publish all that they send in. The most valuable to the Association is that which describes the realistic conditions of a self guided private land hunter organization. The most positive to the general member/hunter in terms of feedback has been member success stories and pictures. For success pictures and stories we delete locations and names so that no area receives undue pressure simply because of their posting to the update page. The email segment below was sent in with the stated intent for it to be published as the sender (who did want to remain anonymous) now understands better why things are the way they are.
"...I have been a deer hunter all my life and have had good to great success in the northeast hunting several states. I have had better success since joining maha. I hunt for that heart racing moment when I draw back. That time of mere seconds is worth all the travel, hours/days/weeks of stand time, cold, rain, mud, costs and any other cost/value anyone may try to place on that one short period when the world is at its highest clarity. Not many I know of at work or home understand. I also did not understand why maha 'wasted' money on fields when there was so much good deer land. I have read/heard it called 'bird ground'. I always thought bird hunting was a waste of time and for those that could not deer hunt. I have watched bird hunts on cable and it is simply guys walking a field, a dog puts up the birds and they are all done in an hour. Big deal. Where is the challenge in that?
My attitude changed when I went on a bird hunt with [name deleted]. I did it just to say I hunted pheasants. I found it was more. [name deleted] told me what I had watched on TV was canned hunts of pen raised birds placed out just before the hunters went to the field. I doubted what [name deleted] said until he told me without I telling him that every pheasant on the TV hunt was a rooster. He said that by itself shows it a canned hunt. He further backed up his assessment by telling how the birds had to be 'kicked' up rather than flushed, and they did (I didn't know the difference until hunting with [name deleted]. Then he told what capped it all off after watching [name deleted] dogs and that the hunters in the video did not run their own dog, the dog was provided by the guide who did not carry a gun.
We had a good bird hunt. We took a few, most got away. The best part was having seen what a real pheasant hunt behind good dogs truly is. I understand your bird ground expenditure now."
Thank you for your viewpoint, it counts.
Wheat futures prices push into record territory
By Victoria Sizemore Long, The Kansas City Star, Dec. 17, 2007.
"Kansas City and Chicago wheat futures prices rose above $10 a bushel in early trading Monday before closing lower. In what has been a record-setting year for grain prices, wheat futures traded at $10 for the first time on Friday when the Kansas City December contract closed at its high for the day of $10 a bushel."
It is easy to forget during hunting season there are forces at work that will affect our next season. Farmers will be hard pressed not to grow as much grain as they have acreage.
