2005 Year in Review

C.R.P. - A Hunter’s Perspective

By: Bob & Mary Black

Habitat—Diversity—Edge—Control Burn—Patience. These are all terms I was familiar with prior to enrolling our farm into the CRP. What I wasn't aware of is how critically important to the overall success of the entire project each and everyone would be.

I am sure my view on habitat was like many other over zealous ill-informed life-long hunters. Plant everything in native grasses with several food plots inter-dispersed so we can hunt every square foot of our property. Over the past 12 years it has become glaringly evident, that there are two truism regarding habitat restoration. Firstly, if we properly establish and manage a diversified habitat, the wildlife will come! Secondly, sometimes less can mean more. Less “hunting grasses” and food plots can result in more wildlife to hunt, as long as all of their other basic needs are met. Diversity and edge go hand in hand and are great tools to help maximize our wildlife enjoyment.

It is imperative not to focus on any one single aspect of your C.R.P. project (like I did). Step back from your immediate desires and view the entire project 5-10-15 years down the road. Sure, I enjoy having field after field of switch grass, big blue, little blue, Indian grass, and nodding wild rye to work my Labradors in. But the simple truth is, if the birds aren’t present in huntable numbers, what good is the grass? The number of pheasants, quail, rabbit, turkey and deer have exploded since opening my eyes to the long term goal, rather than focusing solely on which field to hunt today. Our property now includes virtually every diverse practice recommended by the conservationists. The IDNR and SWCD professionals convinced me (rightfully so) to plant plenty of legume fields so the young broods have a safe place to pick high protein bugs, which allow them to rapidly gain size and better fend for themselves. We also found it quite beneficial to create nesting cover other than pure native grass fields. These fields provide a sage haven during nesting time and throughout the chick development.

We also planted over 70,000 trees and fruit bearing shrubs in order to establish wind breaks and create travel lanes from nesting cover, to loafing areas, to the food sources. These shrubs are invaluable when it comes to protecting the wild life from the ever present avian predators.

If you wish to develop a thriving quail population “think edge” when developing your long term plan. It appears to me that pheasants are far more adaptive and much easier to establish than quail. For the past six years, quail habitat has been our focus. The logic being, pheasant will thrive in great quail territory, but quail may not be able to excel in acceptable pheasant territories.

We reconfigured many of our larger tracts in order to create more edge and also introduced some strip discing. Our quail population has grown from one small covey to ten large coveys in the last six years. The only thing we did different was to create more “edge” and have the shrubs mature.

Controlled burns become very much a part of every C.R.P. participant activities in early spring, if they have incorporated native grasses in their plan. I must admit at first I couldn’t get too excited about wide fire breaks and early discing of strategically placed food plots to help control the fire. All it took to drive home the importance of these practices was one “controlled” burn that got out of control. I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Don’t try to mow a firebreak after the fire has already been started. If you’re not careful, you’re liable to burn the hydraulic hoses and tires right off a new bat wing mower. An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, when it comes to establishing quality fire breaks.

Patience is not and probably will never be one of my personal strengths. From the very first day I met the knowledgeable dedicated men representing the SWCD and IDNR, patience has been the reoccurring buzz word.

Like most other people I like things to happen over night and I am certainly not fond of waiting years for results. Our C.R.P. restoration project has taken twelve years to this juncture. There were many times I wished for a thicker stand of native grass to burn hotter or for the forbes to be more plentiful and showy or the shrubs to be taller quicker. But luckily, every time when my impatience was about to over rule my good sense, the sage advice given to me by Dave, Scott and Mark kept coming back to me. Patience Bob, patience. It will all be worth the wait. They were right. The spectacular results are certainly worth the wait.

Like many such farms, our land has gone through a total metamorphosis from farm ground to conservation ground. During the process, my lust for hunting and killing “a limit” every trip to the field has also gone through a subtle yet defining change. It is no longer necessary to shoot something in order for me to have a successful hunt. I still go out hunting on a daily basis, but the fact is, many days during the season, I leave the shotgun in the shed and just take the labs “hunting”. My outdoor experience is neither heightened nor lessened by whether a pheasant or quail is taken or not. I now simply enjoy being one with nature and its vast beauty. It is truly a tremendous reward for our being patient.

A Life Long Hunter

by  Editor, theCity1.com
September 2, 2005