It's All About Habitat...

Habitat, Habitat, Habitat...Whether you are talking pheasants, quail, grouse, turkeys, ducks, elk, deer, antelope, whatever...Take away habitat and...Poof!!! Nada, Nothing....Long Gone!



Pheasants Forever and its quail division, Quail Forever, the national nonprofit devoted to wildlife habitat conservation, has set an all-time membership record with 141,314 active members located throughout the United States and Canada.

With upland habitat loss reaching historic modern levels in recent years, the record membership total indicates a growing concern for wildlife habitat conservation. In 2013 alone, about 1.6 million acres were removed from the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and converted to cropland. Additionally, the conversion of native prairie to crop-producing lands has accelerated in the Upper Midwest, particularly the Dakotas and Nebraska, because of limited protections. Congress has not helped the cause by dragging its feet passing while meanwhile weakening significantly, the federal Farm Bill and its Conservation Title, which dictates habitat-protecting programs nationwide.

The cumulative result is wildlife habitat loss the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression.

FYI, Pheasants/Quail Forever is a leader in percentage of revenue spent on conservation rather than administrative costs, spending nearly 92 cents out of  every dollar directly on its wildlife habitat mission work.

For more information on how you can help please visit www.pheasantsforever.org/

More Desert Shots...

We go there to hunt...

But of course we have to eat so why not let the fire burn down to coals, break out the handy dandy Camp Chef Mountain Man Jr. , open a can a beans, grill a couple cheeseburgers...can't hardly beat it.

If there is a better campfire wood than mesquite I sure can't imagine it...

One night Gale and I cooked a Kentucky burgoo in our Dutch Oven, invited the gang--Dave, Pam, Gig, Barb, Shawn, Gerald, Terry and Ray, drank a little whiskey and pigged out on snacks, buffalo wild quail and burgoo...none of which lasted long...imagine.

The closer to the border the more illegals are on the mind...this stash is of course left by innocents simply looking to build a better life...but as I reported yesterday Terry found the real deal left by hombres you do not want to run into...

Another hombre, seldom seen, but you know it out there, especially on those sunny 70 degree afternoons...watch the dogs, trust me you do not want a snakebit dog...

Day's end and so do road trips. We got home yesterday having been on the road a record-setting (for us) 53 days. Most of it encamped in the Arizona desert. Naturally desert quail lured us down there but I'd be lying if I didn't include the many spectacular sunrises and sunsets, the chance to hunt and visit with friends--sharing campsites, camp fires, whiskey and meals with half-dozen Montana and two Washington pals. 

The hunting was good, perhaps not great. But we counted only a couple birdless hunts while most we flushed multiple coveys. Some of the Gambel's coveys were quite large, like 30, 40 or more birds, especially as the season waned and hunting pressure dropped. Annie was sort of erratic, good one day not so hot the next...though just like last year she saved her best for later. Who knows, must be dog thing? If there was a disappointment it would have to be the period between Xmas and the end of the weekend following the New Year when the desert was literally swarming pig and bird hunters, bicyclists and assorted motor-head yahoos. The last couple weeks though except for weekend hardly a soul around. 

We braved hunting Mearn's in the country south of Patagonia and around Nogales; braved as in dodging the illegals and border patrol guys trying to catch them. Terry actually found a big mary jane cache, border patrol agents estimated at around 50 grand.  

One the highlights we saw several really good mule and Coue's whitetail bucks; way more deer than any other trip I can remember. On another track I saw only 3 javelina, by far the lowest count ever; curious since everywhere we hunted pig sign, tracks and droppings littered the desert floor. Most of the others in the gang saw a bunch so guess was more a matter of luck a the draw than anything.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get back to more regular postings on this blog and on facebook so stay tuned, maybe this time I'll stick to it a bit better than have of late.