July 2007 Updates page 2
5 July
Ag News
In the category of just in case any one missed it, there will be a lot of corn this year.
Iowa Poised to Produce Record Corn Crop, Rod Swoboda, July 3, 2007, Wallaces Farmer:
"Iowa's corn growers are on their way to harvesting the biggest acreage ever, according to the June 29 USDA Planted Acreage Report."
Kansas Farmer, 06/28/2007, By Joe Poncer:
"Planted corn acreage in 2007 is estimated at 90.585 million acres [nationwide],... and sharply higher than the 78.327 million planted in 2006."
Not only will there be much standing corn this year due to increased planting acreage and second plantings caused by the April freeze (locally), it likely will stand longer in the fall waiting for availability of harvest equipment, storage capacity and rail transportation.
The last time we ran this topic as an update the feedback was split between the deer hunters who preferred and did not prefer to hunt standing crop fields and that of upland hunters that for the most part seek to avoid standing crops altogether. Upland bird and deer hunters did both agree that winter into spring best waste grain wildlife food is corn and from this perspective winter over survival should be enhanced.
Further Ag News
The cyclic trend we observed starting between 5 to 12 years ago of suburban hunters buying country acreage that drove $200/acre north Missouri woodlots to $800-1,000/acres continues with a recent jump seemingly motivated by the rush of recent news accounts of high dollar amounts being paid for land and hunting leases. This has all been much to the benefit of newspapers and real-estate agents.
We have been through this type of trend or hysteria before of media accounts touting "get it now or there will not be any later". Typically in our area, a wealthy individual or sports star purchases a prized piece of land for a cost the previous landowner simply could not refuse. That makes local news and spreads into all land is worth that inflated value. Give it three years and prices will settle as they have before leaving those that paid the premium amounts wondering why they rushed to judgment. The earlier Montana-Hollywood movie star ranch buying fad seems to show the road we will follow to a lesser degree in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. For those that have not kept up with the Montana-Hollywood fad, it has has worn off and ranches are for sale again looking for buyers.
From the MAHA hunter stand point the effect is that some landowners of questionable habitat acreage seek well in excess of what we or anyone with the least amount of sense would pay for. Overall, we stand strong as ever though making the entire state available to our leasing effort.
Deer Tags
It is to everyone's benefit to inform Shaun who has which Iowa zone or Kansas unit tag(s) by type (bow, modern gun, muzzleloader) as that information in the past and possibly the immediate future has and may sway leasing decisions. Those that have already informed us need not repeat that effort. Thanks.
3 July
Land Run
Pictures taken by Jon Nee while looking over some ground.
2007 Upland Bird Forecast
With the completion of the May-June ground nesting bird prime nesting and brooding period we have one more checkpoint of observation of environmental indictors that indicate enhanced or degraded pheasant and quail reproduction as a forecast of where the better during season hunts will occur.
The May and June 2007 rainfall data forecasting the highest nest and chick survival rate includes: North central Kansas; south central Kansas; north central Missouri with combined May and June rainfall less than average and under the 10 inch mark. This data relative to pheasant has the south central Kansas region the best with end of 2007-2008 season carry over pheasant population. Of Bobwhite Quail, the central portion of north central Missouri had the best quail carry over.
9 July
Fishing
Hello MAHA folks...here are a few pics from our recent catfishing trip. The fish bit well and often and our three days of fishing on two different bodies of water resulted in enough fillets for a couple of good size fish fry's. One of the waters we fished sure could use some more fishing pressure though...we could hardly keep more than two poles baited and in the water for more than a few minutes before hooking a cat...at times after casting out I didn't even have time to set the pole in the rod holder before getting a bite. They tended to be small at less than 12 to 14 inches but were so numerous we kept most everything we caught in order to thin out the herd some. I figure we'll go back in the early fall to thin them out some more but no more camping until it cools off. The mornings were pleasant enough but the afternoons were too hot and without a shade canopy to sit under I don't think we would have managed to stay out minding the poles.
Matthew, sons and daughter have given us all a chance to see a youth legacy in development. A far better read than any youth fishing article in any magazine.
Waterfowl
After cleaning the drainage ditch from 3 years of silt and beaver dams, we finally drained the lake in Henry County C waterfowl area to plant the lake bed. We planted the north side with a combination of milo and millet and the south side with soybeans and milo for a variety of feed for the ducks this fall.
The planting photo above is from the north side of Henry C.
Typical of the weather patterns the last couple of months, mother nature decided to drop close to 10 inches of rain in the surrounding area, which sent Big Creek out of its banks to a record level in the Blairstown area.
This flood photo was from the parking area facing north.
It's getting a little late to plant any of our waterfowl wetlands, but we're planning to drain the lake again and hopefully make another attempt to plant some feed for the waterfowl.
Needless to say, all of our waterfowl properties in Henry County are bank full, which is a positive note compared to the conditions a year ago.
Deer Tags
It is always good to remind folks we secure membership tag information to prevent those without tags from making reservations to block land for a buddy with a tag and to make sure those with buck tags have preference over those with doe tags. Understand the letter and intent of the MAHA regulations that are all focused toward hunt quality and please do not make us enforce membership discipline on anyone. Our patients is non-existent for those that attempt to act in contravention to MAHA Conditions Of Membership:
Paragraph 21 d. "Notify the office at the time of receiving either a Kansas or Iowa permit stating the state deer management unit the tag is assigned to."
and
21 g. "Kansas and Iowa Antlerless tag holder reservations will not be accepted before 15 days before the buck season. This restriction does not apply to the Antlerless only season, which is after the buck season."
Pheasant outlook positive for western Kansas Jul. 6, 2007, by Mike Corn, Hays Daily News:
"...nesting conditions have been virtually ideal.....Rodgers said he is "pretty optimistic" about western Kansas....As for the western third of the state, Rodgers said there isn't much that can go wrong between now and hunting season this fall....There's adequate soil moisture and plenty of cover for birds to hide under. That will provide shelter from predators and provide shelter from the heat, when it turns off blistering hot...."I don’t think there's too much that can go wrong," he said. "I am looking forward to a better hunting season this fall then we had last year in western Kansas.'"
