Pheasants and Iowa

Pheasants and Iowa

I have lived long enough to remember the days when Iowa was the Pheasant “capital” of the country. Growing up in southwest Iowa pheasant hunting was a way of life.
In regard to the situation pheasant wise that Iowa finds itself in today I would agree to a certain extent that the weather of the past several years have had it’s effect but not to the the extent that we are led to believe. I do not know why the powers that be promote this as the predominant cause of loss of pheasant population in Iowa. Unfortunately there is a chance that this like everything else it seems is related to a powerful political forces in our state that really would rather we turn a blind eye to solving the real problems involved. Does farming ring a bell.
Our overriding problem in this state in regard to pheasant population decline is plain and simple habitat, habitat and habitat. We have none - compared to when birds were plentiful. PF and others of the same ilk certainly deserve credit for working toward improving the habitat situation but at present in Iowa we are losing the battle. Please spare us the self promoting progress reports.
I believe I read somewhere that only two states have less public land than Iowa (as Iowans we should be ashamed of this). We farm fence line to fence line. Because of government subsides we now not only farm fence line to fence line we seek out any piece of borderline productive land that will allow a seed to germinate and farm it. We pass a law that is to set aside money for acquiring public land and the last I read it has not provided a dime to this point. We are reaping what we have sowed.
It is not to late to turn this around but there are some powerful forces that will have to overcome and none of them involve Mother Nature!

WCoyote

Forbes Names Ruger One of the Best

Forbes Names Sturm, Ruger as One of America’s Best Small Companies

In a time of economic contraction and bad news for many businesses, many American gun companies have been bucking the trend and experiencing skyrocketing stock values and steadily increasing demand. Ruger is one such corporation that has undergone positive growth in the past several years, and Forbes has announced that the company now holds fourth place on the publication’s list of the Best Small Companies in America.

But some may be surprised to learn that little over a decade ago, Ruger was struggling. What factors led to such a massive turnaround in recent years for the company, and for the industry as a whole? Forbes capital markets reporter Abram Brown has written an excellent profile of the company and one of its unconventional leaders, highlighting the successful practices of one of the outdoor world’s most recognizable names.

Read the full Forbes profile bu Abram Brown here

WCoyote Outdoors Thanks Outdoor Hub

WCoyote Outdoors Project Ruger American

WCoyote Project: Ruger American

From time to time WCoyote Outdoors initiates a project involving acquiring, setting up, testing, evaluating and use of various outdoor products. Why? It provides useful information and normally it is darn fun. Our end result may not be highly scientific and it is possible that someone else may look at the product in question differently but there will be no engineers, lawyers, accountants, marketing geniuses or other corporate types that may or may not ever have actually used the particular product in a real outdoors environment. Only WCoyote Outdoors folks that have spent a lifetime as outdoorsman.

Project: We have chosen the Ruger American bolt action rifle for our current project.

Ruger undertook development of the American with the idea that a 100% American-made rifle could be developed that possessed the usual Ruger innovations, ruggedness, reliability and sell at a price point the does not break the bank of the average Joe. Offered in 243 Win, 270 Win, 30-06 Sprg and 308 Win giving prospective buyers a nice variety of good old American favorites.

The Hunt is On

First task is to decide where to obtain a rifle our goal is never to look for the absolute lowest price on the face of the earth. Decades of buying and watching people buy stuff has proven that usually by the time you drive many miles, spend much time, haggle, then haggle some more, irritate any number of salespeople finally arriving at your goal of paying less for a particular product than anyone in the universe, all costs considered you probably didn’t! Then there is the “deal that is too good to be true” almost always a “deal that is too good to be true”-ain’t.

Like most gun enthusiast we have the usual FFL holding individuals (many times pseudo gunsmiths) that will sell us a gun 10% over their cost plus shipping. Strangely
enough these prices usually end up within a few bucks of the sale price from the big boys (Cabelas, Bass Pro etc) please don’t misunderstand sometimes there are sound reasons not to buy from big stores. The FFL guy does gunsmith work for you, you really like the guy, you really don’t like your local big box store (occasionally getting salespeople that may not be able to spell firearm let alone advise you on them could contribute to this) and last but not least the FFL guys is your wife’s brother. If he is your ex wife's brother it could have another effect.

After checking around some we ended up buying the Ruger American from Sportsman’s Warehouse for $359.99. One of the first things we had to decide was the caliber and we choose 308 Win. I could tell you that there was a lot of really high powered reasoning behind this decision but I cannot. We basically decided on the 308 Win because there
are no 308s in the arsenal here at WCoyote Outdoors and we just wanted to. 

Opening the Box

As you might be able to guess the Ruger American does not come in a high quality, good looking hard sided case with a beautiful Ruger emblem embossed on the side – not at this price. It does come in a colorful corrugated box, actually a pretty light weight
material at that, since we are going to shoot with the box in is unimportant. The gun is assembled except for the bolt. In the box the gun, the bolt, Safety Padlock , a small get started type manual and warranty cards complete with  boat load questions that usually don’t get answered.

Features

Stock-Ergonomics are good obviously light weight; design appears to be well thought out to make handling fast and easy. Appearance is very good, much better that a number of guns on the market and 2-3 times the price.

Bedding-What Ruger calls Power Bedding™ providing a bedding block system positively locating the receiver and free-floats the barrel. Uses aluminum.

Recoil Pad-Looks good, soft rubber we’ll know more on this later.

Ruger Marksman Adjustable™ Trigger-Allows trigger pull weight adjustment from 3 to 5 pounds. Another place that when we get this baby to the firing range we will be able to form an opinion plus the jury is still out on the procedure for adjusting the pull weight as well.

Barrel- Hammer forged blackened metal. Looks good, rifling looks good and just appears to be well made. Time will tell.

Bolt-Three-Lug 70 degree bolt should provide plenty of clearance. Utilizes full diameter body and dual locking cams. We will check the shoulder cycling down the road.

Safety-Tang safety. I like it. Easy to find, mechanically solid: Looks good.

Magazine-Plastic, Plastic. 4 round rotary magazine fits flush. I cannot tell a lie this plastic magazine concerns me. But since Ruger knows considerably more about building rifles than I do I am going to give this thing the benefit of the doubt until it proves otherwise.

Weight-6.12 pounds

Here is a nice deal. The American comes with a drilled and tapped receiver plus a set of
Weaver style scope mounts installed. Also sling swivel studs are installed.
There is also an offer from Ruger for a free check pad, we ordered this up and it was very easy to do, it was here in a week and is very nice, it will be a handy addition to this rifle.

This concludes our first phase of the WCoyote Outdoors Project-Ruger American. Next time we will decide on a scope and start the process of installing the scope and move towards sighting it in. Thanks for visiting WCoyote Outdoors.

2012 Desert Quail Forecast

Desert Quail

2012 Forecast by Jillian LaCross

Johnathan O’Dell, Small Game Biologist, Arizona Game and Fish Department, sent us a very nice write-up of the conditions in ARIZONA:  “Gambel’s, scaled, and Mearns’ are all very sensitive to the amount of precipitation and its timing. For nesting success, Gambel’s respond to winter rains, scaled spring rains, and Mearns’ summer monsoons. However, rain is not evenly applied over the landscape so pockets develop that hold better quail numbers than others. Serious scouting and rain gauge data are two of your best resources for a successful hunt.

“The 2011 call count resulted in the lowest numbers we’ve seen since the surveys began. Of course, this was well below the long-term [forty-year] average and is likely to have negatively impacted harvest. The 2012 call count index is still below the long-term average, but is on par with the ten-year average.  These low numbers are primarily explained by the severe drought Arizona has experienced in the last few years.

"Drought conditions in the first half of 2012 produced little in the way of favorable conditions for either Gambel’s or scaled quail. Young Gambel’s quail were first observed this year in April, but later hatches occurred in some areas. The La Niña weather patterns dominated all of Arizona from January through June. This year’s monsoonal rains did arrive on schedule and have dropped a fair amount of water. The bottom line is, expect a slightly better year than last for all three quail species, but no better than what we’ve seen in the past ten years.”

NEW MEXICO is still feeling the effects of a prolonged drought throughout the majority of the state, says Dr. Joseph Sands, program coordinator.  Fortunately, May and June got some rain showers to offer some relief. “Biologists have observed that broods of scaled and Gambel’s quail are relatively more abundant than in 2011,” adds Sands. “The Department is cautiously optimistic that the 2012-2013 quail season will represent an improvement from a hunt quality standpoint, though populations may remain at relatively low abundance.”

Winter and spring conditions were favorable leading up to the breeding season of all three quail species in most areas in CALIFORNIA. The northern region will likely see improved numbers of quail; however, it’s been a hot summer in the southern part of the state, which could negatively affect quail populations.

2012 Pheasant Forecast

2012 Pheasant Forecast by Larry Brown                                       
                              

For the 2012 season, pheasant hunters should expect one of those good news/bad news years. First, the good: The winter across most of our prime pheasant range was mild, a very positive change after a succession of harsh winters. And the spring and early summer nesting season was generally warm and dry. Result: Pheasant numbers increased almost everywhere over last year. But to put that into some perspective, last season was below average in many of the top pheasant states, and significantly below long-term averages in some.

The bad news is habitat loss, which explains why—even with increased bird numbers this year—some states are down in comparison to long-term averages. And it does not bode well for the longer term future of pheasant hunting. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres are declining everywhere. And that critical habitat loss will impact both nesting success and winter survival.

For this season, a severe drought across the Midwest has resulted in CRP acres from Kansas up to central South Dakota being opened for emergency haying and grazing. If you’re hunting on private land, you should contact landowners in advance to see how that will impact cover conditions where you’re planning to hunt.

SOUTH DAKOTA remains in a class all by itself when it comes to pheasant harvest. The state’s 2011 harvest of 1.55 million birds, although a significant decline from the 1.83 million taken in 2010, is over twice as high as any other state. This year, hunters should see some improvement over last season. The summer brood survey showed an increase of 18 percent in the number of pheasants observed per mile. Greatest increases over last year were in the eastern part of the state: Aberdeen, Huron, Mitchell, Sioux Falls, Brookings, and Watertown areas. However, overall numbers remain highest farther west: Chamberlain, Pierre, Winner, and Mobridge areas. In the latter three areas, bird numbers are at or slightly above the 10-year average, while numbers elsewhere in the state remain below the long-term average. About 20 percent of South Dakota’s 1.1 million CRP acres are scheduled to expire this fall. If most of those acres are planted in row crops—and grain prices are currently at or near historic highs—continued prospects for 1.5-2 million bird harvests in South Dakota will be less likely.

NORTH DAKOTA claimed number two status last season, with a harvest estimated at 683,000 birds. That represented a healthy increase of about 130,000 over 2010. Part of that is due to an unusually mild winter, which allowed hunting to continue right up to the end of the season. That same mild winter, coupled with good nesting habitat and weather, put North Dakota on track for a season very similar to last year. In particular, virtually all of the state south of I-94 should offer good hunting for pheasants this season. Long term, North Dakota faces the same habitat issues as its neighbor to the south—but without the emergency haying and grazing situation for this season. CRP losses to this point have resulted in the state’s Private Lands Open To Sportsmen (PLOTS) acres decreasing from over a million to about 800,000. Hunters heading to western North Dakota, especially from Dickinson on west, need to make sure they can find lodging. The oil boom in that region means a lot of motels are full to capacity, year round.

NEBRASKA’s harvest of 218,000 birds last year was down slightly from the 2010 total (252,000). This year, rural mail carrier counts show numbers that are either comparable to last year, or up somewhat. Best areas should be the southwest and the Panhandle, although parts of those areas may have been impacted somewhat by the heat and drought. In the eastern part of the state, habitat loss—both temporary, in the form of emergency haying and grazing, and longer term as CRP acres expire and leave the program—will impact bird numbers and hunter success.

The 2011 pheasant harvest in KANSAS, at 475,000 birds, was about half the total for the previous year. The main culprit is the drought. The western part of the state was under drought conditions last year, but this year it’s the entire state. The result will be a much higher loss of CRP habitat—at least temporarily, due to the drought emergency—in comparison to last year. The best areas for hunters should be the northwest and north central. However, the outlook is that hunting will be tougher this year than last, with a further decline to perhaps a 300,000 bird harvest.

MINNESOTA’s harvest dropped from 360,000 in 2010 to 204,000 last year. Much of that was weather-related. However, the state is now faced with the potential yearly loss of 200,000 CRP acres. On the positive side, last winter was much milder, and spring nesting conditions were also good. This year’s roadside survey was not yet complete as this forecast was being prepared, but reports indicated good reproduction and increased bird numbers likely for this season.

The situation in IOWA mirrors that in Minnesota. Not very many years ago, Iowa pheasant hunters would have been shocked by a harvest as low as 238,000 birds, which was the total in 2010. But the downhill slide continued, with hunters last year bagging only 109,000 birds. Weather—in the case of Iowa, five straight winters with above-average snowfall, followed by springs that were colder and wetter than average—is the major culprit. However, as bird numbers have declined, so has hunter participation. In 2011, only 46,000 hunters pursued pheasants in Iowa. That number was over 140,000 as recently as 2003. This year, Iowa finally caught a weather break, and the prediction is for a 40 percent increase in bird numbers statewide. Hunting will still be very spotty compared to the million-bird years of the past, but areas that held birds last year should be even better this year. However, drought conditions will result in some temporary losses of CRP habitat.

Pheasant hunters in MONTANA experienced a better than expected season last year, following a harsh winter. And this year, following a much milder winter and decent spring, overall bird numbers should be up with most of the state showing some improvement. Best areas will be: Region 4 (central and north-central), where hunting should be about average in the south but above in the north; the eastern part of Region 6 (northeast Montana), which will be above average; and Region 7 (southeast), which will be about average in the north, but continue above average in the south. Hunters focusing on the eastern part of Region 6 need to be aware of the impact of the oil boom, which will mean a shortage of lodging.