Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

The Best is gone...


Recommended Posts

I know this has been commented on many times in the past.

I just read an article on the amount of land that is being converted into crop land in South Dakota. Its amazing! Really Sad. All in the name of $$$...cant blame them.

I fear that the best days what we have seen in pheasant hunting is truly behind us. SD will turn into IA. Yes, there are still birds to be had but you gotta really work for them.

It still won't refrain me from working the piggies to get the ditch parrots but I'm concerned that my kids will never see what I have seen.

Time to write and call the politicians. Things gotta change with the ethanol and current practices that are going on.

Get out and join PF and DU.

Things are a changin folks...and its really sad! With habitat loss, ducks and pheasants (all creatures) are gonna be hit really hard in the next few years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this has been commented on many times in the past.

I just read an article on the amount of land that is being converted into crop land in South Dakota. Its amazing! Really Sad. All in the name of $$$...cant blame them.

I fear that the best days what we have seen in pheasant hunting is truly behind us. SD will turn into IA. Yes, there are still birds to be had but you gotta really work for them.

It still won't refrain me from working the piggies to get the ditch parrots but I'm concerned that my kids will never see what I have seen.

Time to write and call the politicians. Things gotta change with the ethanol and current practices that are going on.

Get out and join PF and DU.

Things are a changin folks...and its really sad! With habitat loss, ducks and pheasants (all creatures) are gonna be hit really hard in the next few years.

I highlighted the part of your post that I have been most depressed about as well. I have a 6 year old that will be coming with me during the worst time to hunt birds in, ... who knows.

Hard to get him excited about it when you maybe jump a bird per mile of walking.

You cannot count on the government to fix this. They cant even tie their own shoes. Somehow getting every hunter to join organizations to purchase land and putting some money into it so it is a viable nesting and wintering area is the only way I see to at very least PRESERVE where we are at now. The farmers will continue to decimate the population to get an extra ear of corn and that is what we have to deal with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well there will be some discussion on this here in SD: http://gfp.sd.gov/pheasantsummit/

Quote:
PIERRE, S.D. - Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today that he will host a Pheasant Habitat Summit to discuss the future of pheasant habitat and hunting in South Dakota. The summit is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 6, at the Crossroads Convention Center in Huron.

"Pheasant hunting is extremely important to the culture and economic well-being of South Dakota," Gov. Daugaard said. "South Dakota's pheasant hunting experience is second to none and draws hunters from around the world. We want to do what we can now to ensure these opportunities for future generations."

The Governor's Pheasant Habitat Summit will provide a forum for landowners, sportsmen, members of the tourism industry and other interested individuals to learn about the current state of pheasant habitat in South Dakota. The summit will include panel discussions and public input as a means to explore ways to maintain and enhance pheasant habitat.

The Governor's Pheasant Summit is open to the public and pre-registration is required. Individuals may register online here. Information and registration is also available by calling the Game, Fish and Parks Department at 605.773.3387.

I honestly think were fighting a losing battle. I have 2 kids (3yr old twins) and I hope some day they will get to shoot a "WILD" pheasant over a dog on point. The sad part is they probably will be able to, but it wont be wild and I will probably have to pay $$$ to do it.

I am by no means saying we should be entitled to pheasants because we are not. But where I am going with this is that Pheasant hunting in SD has become commercialized and too much of a cash cow. The more the bird numbers and habitat dwindles down, its going to wreak havoc on our future generations of hunters. Its going to get to a point where the average hunter will not be able to hunt because they will not be able to afford it as its going to become a pay to play sport.

Sure there will be public land that will remain but at the rate we are going there isn't going to be enough habitat around in the years to come to keep replenishing birds. The only thing left will be lodges and reserves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The govt can most certainly do something about it. STOP redistibuting wealth from the taxpayer to the farmer in the form of subsidies. Stop subsidizing the crop insurance that takes the risk out of planting marginal land. Stop price supports on crops. Stop the ethanol subsidies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As if planting every inch of ground isnt enough. Most ditches are being cut or hayed and tiling is being put into every field which destroys the water ditches. We are experiencing scorch the earth mentality with farmers as the old and wise farmer has turned into the greedy bastard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes what is happening around the Midwest is very discouraging. Maybe one day things will turn around but I sure don't see it happening anytime soon. And as a previous post stated, not only is all the habitat disappearing but everything left is so manicured that nothing can hide in it. I think that we could save more fuel by leaving that land set idle than what energy gain there is in ethanol. Which is next to nothing. It would be easier to digest if I thought that there was an actual benefit. One thing that is changing about farmers in my mind is that the farmers that actually cared about the land are being replaced by large farmers that only have one goal in mind and that is $$.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ethanol...what a joke.

The subsidies we the tax payer are giving for this add on to gasoline is outrageous....basically the ethanol industry and the farmers are double dipping with all the subsidies and programs out there from the current President and his administration.

If one does the "math" and calculate out what a gallon of ethanol costs to produce it becomes crystal clear people in govt do not know what good business practices are all about...then again, we all new that the govt folks are a crazy breed.

BAD DEAL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah and I get sick and tired of seeing the signs on the interstate that the farmers are concerned about the environment and the habitat, I live amongst farmers and have family members that are farmers, they have plenty of money, more than I will ever see and yet they till under more ground cut open woods for the almighty corn and then grumble because there are fewer deer!!!! omg!!!!

Greed is all it is!! I wont say anymore because I wil be banished for what I really want to say

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then why don't they?

Oh that's right, it doesn't pay off as well as planting a crop.

Everyone says they'll plant grass, until it's their money. $$$

My dad has probably 10 acres or less in CRP and my grandpa would roll over in his grave if he knew that was CRP today. Of course it's hilly, rocky, and bad yield land...So it pays to go CRP. We use it for pheasants and deer and do well. But, if it was flat land, i can promise it would be black dirt right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will never have birds like we did in the 50's and 60's. We use to have fencelines and acres that were not totally in production. The birds stand zero chance of surviving today with the farming practices.

I am not saying the farmer is right or wrong. What I am saying is farming has changed. You never use to see every ditch mowed down to lawn height. We use to have sloughs and water area's and they are also long gone. Sure there must have been a Gov program to drain all the sloughs also.

The Gov cannot afford to pay what the farmer wants to enroll any land in CRP or any other program.

ethanol is just another avenue for the crop producer to reap the benifits from the tax payer. I would guess that if all the subsidies were dropped tomorrow, ethanol would be gone very soon, it could not sell without all the breaks it gets from the tax payer.

I would be all in to end every Gov subsidy to the farmers, they can work a business like the guys on main street.

If the tax payers have to pay what the farmer wants to enroll in any of these rpograms that would benifit woldlife, then we cannot afford it as tax payers. Then I say, end all subsideis to the farmer once and for all.

Forget all these billions that are paid to farmers for whatever. Either you make it farming or you close up shop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So buy land and turn it into grass. See how that pays out for you.

You have a point but....

Not everyone has that option just to buy up a huge chunk of land to hunt on. Most people who own land have inherited it from generations etc. Those people are no different than you or me, jobs, house payment, and bills like everyone else.

However the idea of buying land is great and all but for a most its not feasible. The same people who say "go buy your own land" chances are if they never had land given to them at some point they would be in the same boat as everyone else. Its always great for the guy that's on the right side of the line.

I know there are lots of folks that have taken risks and bought land and paid a premium for it and earn the living off it. Good for them they should do with it as they please.

But lets not forget lots of ag land was homesteaded, or gifted down tax free through generations. So I don't think its a valid argument for some folks to tell us to go out and buy your own land when many of them didn't do it either.

Regardless of who bought and owns what, it isn't the problem. The problem is with how land is being managed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree rundave. I have no land, and don't expect any as there is no one in our family that is planning on continuing the farm. But you are correct in how land is passed down through generations.

I too could not afford the land only to let grass grow...and that was my point as many others cannot either.

I just can't sit here and blame the farmers for the changes made to our landscape as it is the natural market and ag technology that was the major driving factor in today's landscape. I don't see any or many of us doing it any differently.

Farming without subsidies would be interesting. I cannot fathom the idea. I'm thinking that farming would be government ran as soon as all the small farmers (<1,500 acres) were bought out by huge corporations. Farming would be like buying a cell phone plan - it's pretty much a monolopy.

Just speculating, and i don't know enough about the govt farming subsidies to go any further.

With crop price predictions the next few years i think most of the small farms will no longer be in existance, subsidies or not. Big Ag, and any big business don't care about the guy hunting the land, or the fencelines that used to separate land owners. 1 mile section fields. etc...all things that make big farm equipment run even more efficiently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:
My dad has probably 10 acres or less in CRP

And I'm thankful for this. grin

Easy access and I've shot more than one animal from it.

Quote:
I too could not afford the land only to let grass grow...and that was my point as many others cannot either.

Recently, a good chunk of land on the Nobles/Murray county line was sold..........for $13,000 an acre.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's interesting to see how many "family farms" truly exist.Saw the numbers for ND a while back and I was VERY surprised. Another interesting facet of all this is to see how many members of our Congress hold investments in large corporate farms and agricultural endeavors.

The number of "family farms" in our country is steadily declining.

Enjoy your hunting while you can fellas, because the day is coming when you will pay to hunt a controlled area and harvest pen fed critters.

Among us old guys this has been a topic for several decades but it has arrived much sooner than we expected. It is also a topic of discussion among those who manage our fish and game agencies, I can assure you of that.

What can you do?.....to be blunt, almost nothing except buy up some land. And the day will come when you will be offered a sum of money that makes hunting on that land seem absurd and you wWILL sell it too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Family Farms...they are going away. Let me explain what Ive been seeing.

In ND (where my wife is from), the family farms (less than 1000 acres) are being leased and sold at an alarming rate....cant blame the folks that are selling.

In the small communities and towns, the small farm cannot make it financially. Big farms and groups/consolidation of farms and farmers working together make it impossible for them to survive. My wife's cousin belongs to a group of farmers - 14 in total...an LLC/Corporation. What they do is pool all the land together, plant and harvest like crazy and enjoy to compete with the big outfits. With the relationships they have with the local small farm owners, they are able to gobble up all that land too...and yes, they plant corn, corn and more corn. They drain everything they can and pull all the CRP out of programs too...hec, the wife's uncle even pulled out of the Plots program he had...makes more $$$ with corn. I hate it!

The result is farmers are making a killing. The small towns are going belly up...thats why houses in certain areas are so cheap. There is no infrastructure to keep people around...cause there is no work to be had.

The landscape will change within the next 5-10 years in terms of places to hunt and "huntable" populations of game. Its a comin boys...its a comin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I'm thankful for this. grin

Easy access and I've shot more than one animal from it.

I forgot all about that CRP. I was talking about his CRP 2 miles east of you, 1.5 miles north.

I should really hunt your backyard over thanksgiving for pheasants. Will be down wednesday night through friday afternoon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now ↓↓↓ or ask your question and then register. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.