doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fledging has occured. Going to be a great year.

I can't tell you but it is likely to be highly location dependent. Here in Iowa, I am awaiting the August road counts with some anxiety. We had a mild winter until it was suddenly very very cold. Late cold can be deadly. After it finally warmed up, we had lots of rain here in the Central Plains during nesting, but the intensity of if was highly variable. Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska got hammered. The Dakotas has similar variability.

Where in SD do you hunt? Further west might be much better than the East, although I'm guessing a little.

I stay in Gettysburg, which is in the center of the state, just east of the Missouri. I stay at duxdog's place. It's a very nice man cave:)

I know what you mean about a cold winter this past year. My thermometer hit -26 oF at one point.

Tom, with a little luck you will be okay I think. But again, I'm guessing. I was worrying more about my region than way out there.

-26 ain't too bad. But that it came so late. Frost didn't get real deep here (only about 1.5 ft). That has helped with having more bugs this year I think. Maybe. Until we get some data though, we are just pinning hope on the wind.

SE ND Doug. Even with my failing eyesight I am seeing quite a few broods of half-grown pheasants along the roads and have a brood of sharptails on one of my burned pastures. Reports show good water conditions in the whole southern half of that part of the state included in the pothole region.

Not doves but lots of June and July rain coupled with hot weather has produced many second duck hatches in the prairie potholes

Tamid, that is good news for us duck hunters. Jim

Jim,

Come to Alberta and have a waterfowl experience you couldn't dream of in CA. Assuming CA is California not Canada.

Jon, I would be very interested to hear if the dove you've been watching has a fifth nesting this summer.

SRH

I�ll know in about 7-10 days. She has been around me so much I can walk up to just a foot away before she starts to get nervous. She still stays on the nest. I was surprised when she had three eggs in one nesting. All three made it. But who knows after that.

I had a pair of nesting hawks in my back yard a few years ago. They depleted the rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk and dove population feeding their young. Feathers and hair was seen alike every day in the yard. They nested behind me for a couple years then moved back on, or something happened to them. Now they are gon and all the food types are back in plenty.

Tamid I think you mean successful renesting attempts. Ducks do not raise two broods, but regularly renest if early nests are destroyed.