Hi all, well our Game and Fish here has been saying that inspite of a good winter and ok nesting that the numbers are down. All I can say is that after close to 3 weeks of grouse hunting, I've seen more pheasants than in the past few years. Lots of young birds just starting to turn. The areas that I've hunted are holding lots and I mean lots of birds. I have no idea why they are saying the numbers are down.
So far the CRP loss is not to bad, but next year may be different. Also, a lot of folks are taking their land out of our PLOTS program. One note on this, most of these PLOTS were not worth the effrot to begin with, grazed or hayed over, some even plowed under, but still in PLOTS. One of the best kept secrets here are some of the WPA's. A lot of guys won't hunt them due to the non-tox requirement, but if you do decide to hunt them, there is some great hunting to be found.
So far this year, the grouse hunting has been excellent. Also, the Hun numbers are up. I've shot more Huns these past 3 weeks than all of last year.
Overall, thru personal observation, I'd say we are in for a banner year!
All the best!
Greg
