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March 02, 2008

Wal-Mart Opens Its Pockets For Pheasants and Ducks

Wal Mart likes pheasants and ducksIt's nice to see a big-box store giving back. Wal-Mart and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) have granted $1 million to Pheasants Forever (PF) and Ducks Unlimited (DU) to help protect more than 10,785 acres of habitat for birds in North and South Dakota. Wal Mart takes a lot of flack but this is an instance where the mammoth retailer gets slap on the back.
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March 01, 2008

1 Million Acres Later, Ducks Does Seem to be Unlimited

Ducks UnlimitedDucks Unlimited and the US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency reached a milestone with the enrollment of the one millionth acre into the popular Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program recently. That reminds me of an old Chinese proverb about a beach is built one grain of sand at a time. That also reminds me I have a great recipe for Peking Duck.
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January 15, 2008

Minnesota: PF’s Upland Bird Habitat Projects

Think the MN chapters of PF have been sitting on their tail feathers this past year? Think again. The 74 chapters in MN completed some 841 habitat projects in 2007. Those projects benefited some 6,720 acres.
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December 31, 2007

West Virginia & Virginia: Count Some Eagles Save Some Habitat

This is the third year of the Annual Winter Eagle Survey at Pipestem Resort State Park and they are asking for volunteers to help count eagles. The event is slated for January 5. Hand raisers will be placed along the New, Bluestone and Greenbrier rivers in Virginia and West Virginia from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The goal of the effort is have a better understanding of the number of eagles wintering in southwest VA and southern WV. Last year some seven bald eagles and three golden eagles where spotted in the area. If you’d like to participate contact the Pipestem State Park in Pipestem, WV, by emailing pipestemnaturalist@wvdnr.gov.
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November 10, 2007

Pennsylvania Quail Get No Respect, but the Grouse

Pennsylania Game CommisionYou've read that the turkey hunting is great up north (New England's Revisited Fall Turkey Hunting Tradition), the quail populations on the other hand are not so good—especially in PA according to the Pittsburg Tribune-Review. In fact, QF didn’t even bother to mention PA in their 2007 quail outlook. Qual season this year runs from October 20 to November 24, which is a nice one-month long season with a bag limit of four birds per day. You’ll need a lot of luck and a really good dog to reach that limit. The cause of so few quail is a lack of habitat. Quail love brushy farmland and that is almost as rare as the quail themselves. But don’t give up the faith. QF and its chapter in PA are trying to convince the Fed to pay farmers to let some of their land grow bushy. Not only will it help the quail it will help other wildlife.

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October 31, 2007

In Massachusetts Money Does Grow on Trees

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & WildlifeMassWildlife’s Landowner Incentive Program is accepting grant applications from October 26 to December 21 of this year from private landowners, sportsmen's clubs, land trusts and non-profit groups interested in improving wildlife habitat on their properties. The state will reimburse landowners up to 75% of the cost of managing lands to improve wildlife habitat. It has been awarding grants since 2005 and in total 7,100 acres have received funding on properties that range from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. If you are landowner or have a rod and gun club it makes cents (sense) to apply. The state goal is to identify and reclaim appropriate sites for management of declining habitats, particularly grasslands, old field and early-successional forests, wetlands, coastal habitats and pine barrens. The wildlife benefits. Landowners benefit. Money does grow on trees in MA, well at least .75 cents on the dollar.
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September 18, 2007

Minnesota: Giddy with Grouse

Up here in New England, we’re jealous of our MN grouse hunting bretheran. Their season started September 15. Makes a birdy New Englander want to drive a few hundred miles, buy an out-of-state license and take a crack at old ruff. This idea may not be so far fetched since the grouse population is up about 30 percent from last year and is expected to climb. The grouse cycle is on the rise so get out there. An off putting matter is that there is less land to hunt on, says the Star Tribune. Land that was previously open to the public,...

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September 12, 2007

Caterpillars Help Out Grouse and Woodcock

Have a conversation with anyone who hunts grouse and the subject of diminishing habitat comes up. The increase in mature forests has a direct correlation to lower grouse populations. And fewer farms mean that less land is being cleared. Grouse and woodcock, as well as other wildlife, depend on forest habitat that has been clear cut.

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September 04, 2007

Vermont: Grouse Habitat on the Mend

The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) along with three other Vermont forestry groups are giving a thumbs-up to the U. S. Forest Service decision to re-think the Green Mountain National Forest Plan. The crux of the problem that RGS and others had with the Green Mountain National Forest Plan was a "potentially significant" error in the calculation of the allowable amount of timber to be cut. The plan failed to document why it chose a 150-year timber cut rotation instead of a 120-year cycle. Timber harvest reductions as outlined in the proposed plan would hinder the development of young or early successional habitats needed by ruffed grouse, American woodcock, whitetail deer and 43 species of migratory songbirds. Early successional habitats develop only after timber has been harvested. Bottom line is clear cuts aren't pretty but they sure are useful.
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August 03, 2007

Pheasant Nirvana

This is a little out of Uplandfeathers.com’s range, but really encouraging news. The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department reports that the 2006 season for pheasant was the second-best in 40 years; some 1.85 million birds were harvested by pheasant hunters. In 2005 about 100,000 more pheasants were bagged. Anyone who has ever hunted pheasant knows that South Dakota is a sweet spot for pheasant hunting. Some people think of visiting Paris—and it is a beautiful city—or traveling to the Caribbean to lay on white sand beaches—and that’s nice, too, but give me cut cornfields in October. Other upland game species have also benefited from SD’s habitat management such as sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chickens. It’s been stated the central and northeast parts of SD re reporting some of the highest grouse numbers in the past 15 to 20 years. Yes habitat management works. The grouse harvest totaled 41,000 birds, partridge was 9,000 birds, and 1,800 quail were taken.
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July 14, 2007

Maryland: Online Public Forum On Proposed Forest Plans

Over the next 30 days, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Service will hold an online public forum to solicit comments on the proposed annual work plans for Green Ridge, Pocomoke, Potomac-Garrett and Savage River State Forests. You can review and comment on the proposed plans by going online from June 25 through July 24, 2007. Here’s your chance to comment and make a difference all from the comfort of your home. So after you are done reading this blog and your other favorites go the DNR website and add your $.02.
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July 08, 2007

Land Grab In Pennsylvania

When you hear about land grabs it is usually bad news. Some developer buys your favorite covey grounds and once again you need new spots to hunt old ruff. Well this land grab in PA benefits bird hunters. The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners approved funding four options that could increase the State Game Lands system by more than 340 acres. The four areas include:
  • A 195-acre spot in Cool Spring Township, Mercer County. This spot adjoins SGL 294, which currently contains three separate tracts totaling 417 acres. The 195 acres, contains emergent, scrub-shrub, forested wetlands, hardwood forest and some reverted farm land. It will fill in the gaps between the three tracts. That’s 195 acres.
  • A 16-acre patch in Burrell Township, Indiana County, within SGL 153, which currently contains 2,927 acres. Lumbering and coal removal operations are currently being conducted on this parcel and as part of a post-mining reclamation and revegetation plan, the area will be replanted as forestland and wildlife habitat. That’s 195 acres + 16 acres.
  • A 110-acre parcel in Plainfield and Bushkill townships, Northampton County adjoins SGL 168, which currently contains 5,893 acres. The property is mostly forested and comprised of mixed hardwoods with an abandoned railroad grade that passes through it. That’s 195 acres + 16 acres + 110 acres.
  • A 20-acre piece was donated by Boyd L. Sponaugle Jr., and is located in Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, adjoining SGL 110, which currently holds 10,145 acres. The piece include rock slope with mixed oaks pole stage timber. This donation is made possible through the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation. That’s 195 acres + 16 acres + 110 acres + 20 acres = 341 acres.
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July 07, 2007

Got Land, Get Money

In Indiana funding is available to landowners for habitat restoration. Applications to receive funds from Indiana’s Woodland Restoration Program (IWRP) will be accepted from July 1 through July 31. The summer program provides funds for enhancing or establishing woodland conservation practices such as tree planting for reforestation, follow-up weed control on established tree plantings, timber stand improvement, pre-harvest grapevine control, tree pruning, establishment of riparian buffers and invasive plant species control. Yet another reason to hug a tree.
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July 05, 2007

New York Sporting Clays Challenge

The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) will hold its 6th Annual New York Sporting Clays Challenge in Millbrook, NY on Friday, July 13. For $250 you get 100-target, 15 station shoot. Plus four boxes of shells, lunch, and complimentary raffle ticket on a shotgun.
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June 23, 2007

Wisconsin: Spring Grouse Heard Drumming

Grouse Don't Give UpAccording to the Green Bay Press Gazette, this is the second straight spring that grouse drumming counts have increased with the central, southeastern and northern management regions showing the biggest spikes. New this fall, grousers will have only two hunting zones. Zone A season will start September 15 and end on January 31, with a five-bird daily bag. Zone B season will run October 20 to December 8 with a two-bird daily limit. Looks like those in Zone A get an extra month of hunting.
Not all the numbers are in but it looks like turkey hunters set a new harvest record this spring with 51,306 turkeys. That's a 9% increase, according to Wiscon Ag Connection.
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June 14, 2007

Maine: Proposed Shortened Season Ruffles Feathers

The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) says members should not panic, but it is hard to sit by and watch the partridge season whittled away. And some say for no good reason. According to the Bangor Daily News, a petition-driven initiative sent to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW ) by parties in Washington and Aroostook counties seek to limit Maine’s ruffed grouse season by eliminating the December season. Those responsible for the petition hope to boost the lagging grouse numbers in the state by limiting the birds kill in December. Sounds like a plan but according to wildlife biologists its not the winter that has a major impact on the grouse population it’s the spring when the hatch is on. A wet and cold spring wreaks havoc with nesting grouse as well as turkey. In years past the season closure was the end of November. The December closure was instituted about a decage ago. Some blogs like Maine Hunting Today say if changes in the season are to be considered lets make changes that will have a positive effect on grouse populations; ending the December hunt will have no effect at all. RGS has called for a “cautious approach by hunters and wildlife managers.” Public hearings will be held in Calais on June 12, in Presque Isle on June 27, and Farmington on July 18. For details on the hearings go to the MEIFW website.
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June 10, 2007

Massachusetts: Make Hay for Wildlife

MassWildlife’s Landowner Incentive Program is enlisting the help of farmers to assist private landowners manage their lands for wildlife habitat. MA is matching landowners who own old farm fields and meadows but don’t have the expertise or equipment for mowing hay with farmers to maintain the grasslands for nesting birds. If left uncut, grasslands revert back to forest in a relatively short period of time. This a win-win situation for wildlife, private landowners and farmers. Applications are available at the MA DEP website.
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Rhode Island: RGS New England Sporting Clays Championship

It's still not too late to take part in the the Ruffed Grouse Society's (RGS) New England Sporting Clays Championship at Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI on Sunday, June 10. Warm-ups are from 8:30 - 10 a.m.; the main event begins at 10 a.m. Proceeds will be used to restore and protect grouse and woodcock habitat. This National Sporting Clay Association sanctioned event includes 100 targets, four boxes of shells, continental breakfast, traditional New England style lobster dinner, one-hour open bar after the shoot, RGS membership and RGS shooters favors. What a nice package for $175 per shooter.
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June 09, 2007

Rhode Island: RGS New England Sporting Clays Championship

It's still not too late to take part in the the Ruffed Grouse Society's (RGS) New England Sporting Clays Championship at Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI on Sunday, June 10. Warm-ups are from 8:30 - 10 a.m. and t main event begins at 10 a.m. Proceeds from the event will be used to restore and protect grouse and woodcock habitat. This National Sporting Clay Association sanctioned event 100 targets, four boxes of shells, continental breakfast, traditional New England style lobster dinner, one-hour open bar after the shoot, RGS membership and RGS shooters favors. What a nice package for $175 per shooter.
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