House and Habitat build thread:

Cat,
You need to check out the Kansas wildlife and Parks photo contest.Looks like the boys tore up the bass,Get them fishing with a 9 inch motor oil colored plastic worm and they will pull some out.Was that DCOs that you gave me I will post some pics on my page
 
Big and "motor oil" colored? I might have to run to town and find something like that. Weeds and algae have us fishing close to the surface anyway, might as well float a weedless worm around the moss line. I'm assuming you are telling me this from recent experience :) Any big ones? We really wanted a couple over 6lbs but didn't connect.

I'll have the older boy check out the Wildlife and Parks photo contest. He likes to take pics. It might be good for him to have something to submit to. Thanks.

I can't remember. I think I gave you DCO, but it could have been regular chinquapins. I collected both this fall but don't remember who wanted what...
 
I would rig weedless with a small bullet weight,we used to then most of our ponds dried up so we have to travel for about anything than catfish
 
I can't remember, do you have any ponds on your place? My dad's pond dries up sometimes but not every yr. He keeps stocking it with catfish, every time it's looking like it might dry up we go on a fishing spree so that they don't go to waste. He usually has 4-6lb channels in it so he has been successful at keeping it fish-able. If you ever need fish for restocking holler. You could probably come over and catch just about anything you need (getting them home alive might not be easy though).
 
catscratch said:
Our cattle pasture isn't really barren or low, but the 50 at the house has gotten very thick from mid-thigh down. The cattle pasture is a nice mix of habitat; with forbs, native bunch grasses, and thickets. Isn't most of the pasture your way fescue or brome? I haven't found sods to be great bird habitat.

We find them in the forest often when our pin oaks are dropping. I've shot my fair share of birds with acorn in their craw.

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Click to expand...

I had a lunch meeting with one of the NBCI staff last week. He used to frequent QDMA. Essentially 25% of an area suitable for quail must be optimum quail habitat....so about 1000 ac suitable land area minimum for NBCI (25% of that optimum quail habitat...250 ac). We talked quite a bit about quail and habitat, obviously. One question he had was do you think you have quail returning because of your management or current weather patterns? Quite honestly, consistently good weather patterns for the last several years in a row are diving this quail return on a regional basis...extended drought is particularly hard on quail but they return faster in the semi-arid than humid grasslands...Why is that?...density of forage at ground level IMO...more suitable humidity in normal rainfall years...and more plant structural changes after drought in the east than west! Quail will find the most suitable local habitat for nesting as they return...this is where management comes into play...a local effect which is constrained by efforts of your neighbors.

Generally, I hear most of the bobs right now on my place in tame pastures with a woody/brush component on thin rocky soils where sod grasses struggle....so there is a nice complement of forbs, legumes and intermediate native bunch grass....sparse enough where quail chicks can bug for insects....yet close enough to sufficiently thick grass for nesting/security cover. I call these areas 'the breaks'! I can't tell what goes on in the native units right now because I'm running a saw or ATV back in there and not paying much attention...but the fall/winter covey goes to the native unit!

Ungrazed (or non impacted) humid range land as you mention quickly becomes too thick at the 1-4" height where chicks travel.....bunch grasses are favored over sod grasses in that same regard. So the difference you see between the ungrazed 50 and the properly grazed range land (not overstocked) is to be expected. Quail are no different that deer or any other wildlife....the ecosystem must have diversity and complexity as a whole with a complimentary patchwork of small areas which differ in plant density to support wildlife diversity. So...that is why when our herd moves through a rotation you will see a mix of high impact, moderate impact and light impact. The extremes of pasture where all plants are overgrazed (overstocking) and the idle pasture where all plants are too thick from no impact are equally detrimental to quail!

NBCI
https://bringbackbobwhites.org/

Just graze and observe,
Doug
 
The kids got a turkey this afternoon. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
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Awesome. I thot our season ended late, but you guys another wk. Bearutiful bird and kids. Congrats.
 
dogghr said:
Awesome. I thot our season ended late, but you guys another wk. Bearutiful bird and kids. Congrats.
Click to expand...
I actually thought season had ended. Had a free afternoon and checked the website just in case and was happy.

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Congrats to the boys! Very pretty bird and the Kansas season is apparently very long! Our season began the 6th of April and ended the 6th of May and I can still hear Turkey's gobbling from our porch morning and evening...
 
Loooong season is right, but we have plenty of birds and a few less wouldn't hurt anything.

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We haven't even bought tags yet,between college graduation,moving them back home one starting a masters the other going to work we are still going to try to this weekend,congrats great bird
 
dgallow said:
I had a lunch meeting with one of the NBCI staff last week. He used to frequent QDMA. Essentially 25% of an area suitable for quail must be optimum quail habitat....so about 1000 ac suitable land area minimum for NBCI (25% of that optimum quail habitat...250 ac). We talked quite a bit about quail and habitat, obviously. One question he had was do you think you have quail returning because of your management or current weather patterns? Quite honestly, consistently good weather patterns for the last several years in a row are diving this quail return on a regional basis...extended drought is particularly hard on quail but they return faster in the semi-arid than humid grasslands...Why is that?...density of forage at ground level IMO...more suitable humidity in normal rainfall years...and more plant structural changes after drought in the east than west! Quail will find the most suitable local habitat for nesting as they return...this is where management comes into play...a local effect which is constrained by efforts of your neighbors.

Generally, I hear most of the bobs right now on my place in tame pastures with a woody/brush component on thin rocky soils where sod grasses struggle....so there is a nice complement of forbs, legumes and intermediate native bunch grass....sparse enough where quail chicks can bug for insects....yet close enough to sufficiently thick grass for nesting/security cover. I call these areas 'the breaks'! I can't tell what goes on in the native units right now because I'm running a saw or ATV back in there and not paying much attention...but the fall/winter covey goes to the native unit!

Ungrazed (or non impacted) humid range land as you mention quickly becomes too thick at the 1-4" height where chicks travel.....bunch grasses are favored over sod grasses in that same regard. So the difference you see between the ungrazed 50 and the properly grazed range land (not overstocked) is to be expected. Quail are no different that deer or any other wildlife....the ecosystem must have diversity and complexity as a whole with a complimentary patchwork of small areas which differ in plant density to support wildlife diversity. So...that is why when our herd moves through a rotation you will see a mix of high impact, moderate impact and light impact. The extremes of pasture where all plants are overgrazed (overstocking) and the idle pasture where all plants are too thick from no impact are equally detrimental to quail!

NBCI
https://bringbackbobwhites.org/

Just graze and observe,
Doug
Click to expand...
I've watched that video before... always good re-visit certain things!

That's a lot of acreage when talking quail. I would certainly like to make a difference.

I came across this after watching the video you posted. He mirrors a lot of what I've felt, or suspected about coyotes. He claims that yotes don't eat many quail but they do kill coons and skunks... both of which hurt quail populations.

I need to buy more electric fence. That would help me a lot but there is only so much time and money. In due time...
 
buckdeer1 said:
We haven't even bought tags yet,between college graduation,moving them back home one starting a masters the other going to work we are still going to try to this weekend,congrats great bird
Click to expand...

Busy guy. Good kids will keep you on the move! I had to find a couple of hours between being at the State track meet to get the kids a hunt in. Maybe again on Sunday.

You don't let people fish your section of river do ya? I grew up on the Arkansas but haven't been on it for a long time.
 
Planted some pumpkins (seeds came from an 850lb pumpkin, I hope to get a big one) and potted some chestnut and sawtooth trees that were healed in for the winter.

Then spent the morning on the creek catching pumpkinseeds (maybe the prettiest fish of all time!), creek chubs, and pan sized channel cats.
Great weekend so far.
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