CPC spring cleaning hunt, what to expect

[bessiedog]

Buddy bought a 100 bird 'spring cleaning' hunt

Anyone have any experience with this?

any idea what to expect?

[uplander]

that's alot of birds should be fun!! And my guess is it'll be the hens and roosters used for breeding or that were never bought perhaps?

[oldgutpile]

These are all roosters that were left over from last years sales, and surplus to the current breeding program. A few of us were sitting around, running the numbers, and figured we could make this the shoot of all shoots....Reduced clearance prices on these birds resulted in the following:
Eight man team at 200.00 per shooter= 1600.00/team, good for 100 roosters!!
we could only initially come up with land for about six teams, but I think Ed at the CPC has come up with a few more. last I heard we are at 9 or ten teams.
Just picture 100 guys, along with probably seventy or more dogs, and a thousand roosters released into the local area. (this should really compliment the thousands of hens that have been released through the APPLY program)
This is gonna be awesome!! Realistically, this is more birds than most hunters have the opportunity to see in a decade. Gonna be some tuckered pups at the end of the day!

[pikergolf]

So this hunt is going to be conducted on land that potentially has wild birds?

[oldgutpile]

These lands are regularly used for pheasant releases (year round) and are licensed as such.

[Sledhead71]

These lands are regularly used for pheasant releases (year round) and are licensed as such.

Correct me if I am wrong, but these permits use to expire March 31 ?

[Pixel Shooter]

when are we talking? and who is contact? cool

[bessiedog]

well.. it looks like my daughter and i are in.
Just gotta suck up to the wife.... lol

My girl only got one pheasant last year in Taber.. so its really going to be all about my kid and the dog working together.

Gonna give my camera a big workout!

Thanks for the info gutpile. See ya there!

[oldgutpile]

We'll be meeting at the Patricia hotel to pick-up birds, and most likely doing the wrap-up there when all the powder settles. Joe has his whole staff booked in for Sunday because of the shoot. Could be standing room only!
FYI, for all of you who were lucky enough to get in on this event, we have been hunting these birds regularly, and right now they are running HARD! When the dogs do get them to flush, they have been flying long and fast. Probably the toughest shooting I have seen all year. I normally get away with 71/2's using cylinder/IM. I have recently gone to #5's and mod chokes.
It's raining here at present, but the area has gotten dried right out. We have been packing major water for the dogs. Last Sunday was a killer with the heat, but tomorrow should be way cooler.

[oldgutpile]

One other note for any of you like Bessiedog taking your kids along. Joe shuts down the VLT's on Sundays so all ages are allowed in the bar. Kids welcome! Glad to hear your daughter's getting involved.

[bessiedog]

Good to hear the Patricia will be ready for us.
I might have two of my girls with me.
I'm just getting to that age where it's gunner watching them and the dog hunt, instead of me pullin the trigger.

Ps... I'm giving up a bc turkey hunt for this.
Can't hunt turkey w/ a dog.

[catnthehat]

That sounds absolutely stupendous!!
Too bad Zippo4570 and I are are tie4d up or we'd be down there for sure!:(
Cat

[Sledhead71]

These are all roosters that were left over from last years sales, and surplus to the current breeding program. A few of us were sitting around, running the numbers, and figured we could make this the shoot of all shoots....Reduced clearance prices on these birds resulted in the following:
Eight man team at 200.00 per shooter= 1600.00/team, good for 100 roosters!!
we could only initially come up with land for about six teams, but I think Ed at the CPC has come up with a few more. last I heard we are at 9 or ten teams.
Just picture 100 guys, along with probably seventy or more dogs, and a thousand roosters released into the local area. (this should really compliment the thousands of hens that have been released through the APPLY program)
This is gonna be awesome!! Realistically, this is more birds than most hunters have the opportunity to see in a decade. Gonna be some tuckered pups at the end of the day!

Oldgutpile, here is a quote from you from 04/26/2010...

I helped out with dog-handling on a late season chukar release a week ago. At the end of the day, one of the dogs put up a hen pheasant only twenty yards from where we had been parked all day. That hen had sat tight and evaded notice for probably six hours with dogs running rampant all over. When we went over to investigate, we discovered a nest with sixteen eggs in it. I would like to think that at least half of these would hatch out and even if a quarter of them reach maturity, that old hen is doing a wonderful job! Hopefully by dumping a pile more hens out there and in similiar areas, we can continue to see a hardy population.
Thanks again to all those clubs who do their part.

In all reality, spring release hunts cause more harm than good.. As you explained in late April 2010, you encountered an old hen with a nest.. Now, 100 hunters and 70 dogs pounding 2 1/2 sections will certainly not encourage conservation, but actually disturb alot of species at a critical time of the year.

This is why I asked if the permits expired March 31, as our previous permits have.. Only makes sence to me, you and the others may disagree, but personal objectives certainly don't equal conservation in my eyes.

[oldgutpile]

We are sensitive to historic nesting areas. Many of these areas are not included in the shoot this weekend. As I mentioned earlier, this shoot has been limited due to the availability of release sites. Whereas there are normally 50-55 lisenced release sites in the area, we have only accessed ten for this shoot.
If it was all about money, how many sites would we be using? I think that based on the amount of response to this thread, for the short time it has been running, we probably could have been advertising this and sold thousands! This whole event started as just word of mouth, initially thinking for four or five groups, as a great opportunity to have one last big shoot before we shut it down for the breeding season.
Before we send out the ethics dogs, lets look at a positive spin to the event. How about promoting the sport and the youth involvement factor (My own team is four father/son pairs, and we are hoping to confirm a fifth, that fifth being our newly elected WR member and his son). Lately, the success rates on these roosters have been in the 70% range. Quick math tells me we are likely to leave 300 birds out there!
Typically we shut down these shoots as of May. I realize we are pushing this to the limit, but we spend a lot of time out there and have seen hundreds of hens lately (thanks to the APPLY program wich is funded through a similar shoot), and none of these hens put-up were on nests. I did the follow-up myself. Could I have missed some due to the nesting hens holding tight? Absolutely. Could there be nesting hens on some of the release sites we will be using? Absolutely. None of us are perfect, but for damn sure we are protective of the resource and I assure you we are sensitive to the whole breeding/nesting issue.

[Sledhead71]

We are sensitive to historic nesting areas. Many of these areas are not included in the shoot this weekend. As I mentioned earlier, this shoot has been limited due to the availability of release sites. Whereas there are normally 50-55 lisenced release sites in the area, we have only accessed ten for this shoot.
If it was all about money, how many sites would we be using? I think that based on the amount of response to this thread, for the short time it has been running, we probably could have been advertising this and sold thousands! This whole event started as just word of mouth, initially thinking for four or five groups, as a great opportunity to have one last big shoot before we shut it down for the breeding season.
Before we send out the ethics dogs, lets look at a positive spin to the event. How about promoting the sport and the youth involvement factor (My own team is four father/son pairs, and we are hoping to confirm a fifth, that fifth being our newly elected WR member and his son). Lately, the success rates on these roosters have been in the 70% range. Quick math tells me we are likely to leave 300 birds out there!
Typically we shut down these shoots as of May. I realize we are pushing this to the limit, but we spend a lot of time out there and have seen hundreds of hens lately (thanks to the APPLY program wich is funded through a similar shoot), and none of these hens put-up were on nests. I did the follow-up myself. Could I have missed some due to the nesting hens holding tight? Absolutely. Could there be nesting hens on some of the release sites we will be using? Absolutely. None of us are perfect, but for damn sure we are protective of the resource and I assure you we are sensitive to the whole breeding/nesting issue.

You can sugar coat it all you want, involving youth may give a warm a fuzzy fealing, but what are you teaching them ? You admit your pushing the limits, this is what your teaching the next generation ? There is more to conservation than one species, what other species will be disturbed during this event ?

You say you are protective of the resource and sensitive to the breeding and nesting issue, but you will invite 100 people to this event ? If you are indeed protective of Alberta's wildlife, you would not be pushing the limits just to blow your hair back for a day in the field...

[bessiedog]

Its probably a little like you say sled.
But.... Im gonna put some faith in these guys doing their homework and picking release sites that aren't known much for nesting sites.
These guys more than anyone else probaby are super aware and senisitve to how the resource has been beat up over the last while and they are confident that there's a net gain.

Guts... if your local WR guy shows up, I certainly like to have a whisky w/him after the shoot at the Patricia.... i never got to meet mine.. I tried, but no joy.


and Rocky7 makes a bad impression. I'm willing to meet and listen to him.

super kudos for him being a hunter!!

[Sledhead71]

Its probably a little like you say sled.
But.... Im gonna put some faith in these guys doing their homework and picking release sites that aren't known much for nesting sites.
These guys more than anyone else probaby are super aware and senisitve to how the resource has been beat up over the last while and they are confident that there's a net gain.

Guts... if your local WR guy shows up, I certainly like to have a whisky w/him after the shoot at the Patricia.... i never got to meet mine.. I tried, but no joy.


and Rocky7 makes a bad impression. I'm willing to meet and listen to him.

super kudos for him being a hunter!!

Really bessie, no net gain this time of the year.. To claim these guys know more than anyone else is false, plain and simple.. Any disruption this time of the year is negative, so due to a surplus, a few feel their impact is minor enough to invite 100 people.. This alone speaks volumes about how aware these people are.

[wwbirds]

yes they expire every March 31st but many of us renew them April 1st and are licenced for training all year.
We actually train dogs on my property all year and stil have more wild pheasants than any other area nearby. Can't see the ravens, crows, coyotes and foxes leaving the nesting hens alone but that is why they are secretive, heavily camouflaged and have almost zero scent this time of year so nests are not easily located. We also avoid known nesting sites for both ducks geese and pheasants during nesting season and it seems to pay off.
We can spin it anyway we want, those putting birds out and hunting leaving some for seed are doing a lot more than those who just do nothing but complain about the lack of birds in the wild. Minimal disruption on 2 and a half sections of non prime breeding grounds to put out some more birds to spill over onto other sites is a positive step. These birds and the already wild ones will migrate to the best cover available.
Have fun guys they are running like roadrunners here the past few weeks so push and block seems to works best.

[oldgutpile]

I have had the priviledge of working and playing in these same areas since I was born. I have seen the the heyday of pheasant hunting and the slow decline of the sport to its current status. The habitat is gone, and farming practices are not always bird freindly, but nobody can deny the farmer a right to make a living.
I have sat on so many committees to create/protect/purchase pheasant habitat that I am sick of the whole procedure anymore. A drop in the bucket. A parcel here and there, but with no connecting habitat to really benefit proliferation of the birds. Excluding this last winter, the previous years were like a final nail in the coffin of many pheasant populations.
I also know what works. The Apply program, which involves hunter generated revenues releasing bred hens into the few remaining suitable habitat areas. Releases such as this weekend, poor timing as it may be, puts birds on the ground.
I know and appreciate the local landowners that participate in these functions, and I would challenge anyone that feels they dont have the best interests of wildlife in mind. These folks are true stewards of the land.
Anyone that feels this is "sugar coating" needs to get off their azz and find enough time away from their computer to go for a drive and see the results.
I saw so many broods of chicks last year, it was like a throw-back in time.
These same areas see hunting/dog-training nearly year-round. If there seems to be an abundance of broods present at the time, the trainers move.
This spring I have seen more roosters strutting than in decades. But, I guess we must be doing it all wrong.
Sledhead, you show me your projects and what you have accomplished with your keyboard equity, and if tops what is happening on the ground level here, I will gladly shake your hand and buy you a drink. Until then......

[Sledhead71]

I have had the priviledge of working and playing in these same areas since I was born. I have seen the the heyday of pheasant hunting and the slow decline of the sport to its current status. The habitat is gone, and farming practices are not always bird freindly, but nobody can deny the farmer a right to make a living.
I have sat on so many committees to create/protect/purchase pheasant habitat that I am sick of the whole procedure anymore. A drop in the bucket. A parcel here and there, but with no connecting habitat to really benefit proliferation of the birds. Excluding this last winter, the previous years were like a final nail in the coffin of many pheasant populations.
I also know what works. The Apply program, which involves hunter generated revenues releasing bred hens into the few remaining suitable habitat areas. Releases such as this weekend, poor timing as it may be, puts birds on the ground.
I know and appreciate the local landowners that participate in these functions, and I would challenge anyone that feels they dont have the best interests of wildlife in mind. These folks are true stewards of the land.
Anyone that feels this is "sugar coating" needs to get off their azz and find enough time away from their computer to go for a drive and see the results.
I saw so many broods of chicks last year, it was like a throw-back in time.
These same areas see hunting/dog-training nearly year-round. If there seems to be an abundance of broods present at the time, the trainers move.
This spring I have seen more roosters strutting than in decades. But, I guess we must be doing it all wrong.
Sledhead, you show me your projects and what you have accomplished with your keyboard equity, and if tops what is happening on the ground level here, I will gladly shake your hand and buy you a drink. Until then......

You have already stated your not releasing bred hens this weekend. You say you have seen more roosters strutting this year than in decades, a few more really won't make a difference.

So, my opinion on this early spring hunt still remains the same. Now my projects would include similar ones as you have mentioned, including raising our own birds and having my home parcel as a release site for years.

We also are big believers in habitat, planted thousands of shrubs, bushes and trees.. We practice good farming, late cutting of hay fields, natural habitat left untouched, fenced miles of our properties with single barbless wire for a bottom stand at 20" for the goats...

Enjoy your day, your dogs know no difference.. Kidding :sHa_sarcasticlol: