Ringneck Pheasant in northern New england

[Jake Levi]

OT, but, osage orange is my number one favorite for making bows, its also the premier fence post wood, tied with black locust. I know where there are fence rows of both over a 100 years old, with about five kinds of barbed  wire on them.  Both woods are close grained with a lot of oils.

OTOH, osage orange hedges make great cover for Pheasants, where there's also food for them, as along grain fields.

[wildergamebirds]

  I have a friend who still has the family farm, here.  Some twenty years ago, he told me about removing a corner post that was put in by his Grandfather.  At that time they had a "Century Farm" sign in the front yard that had been there for at least ten years.  He knew that post had to have been there at least 80 years.   This was about an 18" post.  He said more than 14" of the buried part was still rock solid.  This was, of course, Osage Orange. 

  I've been told that Black Locust will rot quickly.  I have seen down trees that were rotten after only a couple of years, no comparison to Osage Orange.  Do they dry them, before using them as posts?

[Jake Levi]

I dont think that was Black Locust,  I know of a fence line in upstate NY that was put in by the neighbors great grandfather when he returned from the Civil War, its got old ribbon wire and about every kind of barbed wire there is, its all Black Locust.

There's several species of Locust, maybe one of them is soft and rots, I dont know but Black Locust is very similar to Osage in its properties. Both make really beautiful bows, my two favorites, but also the hardest to work with.

[citypickle]

Black Locust Post will last for many years if you debark them. We had fences built when i was 6 that was 39 years ago (not long I Know) but the post with bark would get Termites & Ants in them, they would rot at the bottom but the ones with no bark are still there now. A 3/4" Staple is all you can do to tack wire, anything over that will spread. I hate to go there and repair Fence. Thank Goodness for T Post??

[Little Bear Game Farm]

I asked the same question at a seminar at the National Pheasant Fest this past winter, why would a pheasant want to live in miserable NoDak and not in beautiful WI.  I was told a couple reasons.....

One, in WI, we don't really have acres and acres of land that does not get disturbed by farm equipment or flooded each year by the spring thaw.  Many nests are lost in my area because of farming operations in hayfields.  Pheasant may renest depending on the time of year they lose their nest, but the brood will not be as big and survival rates go down, and if they don't pick the right spot, the nest will just be lost again. 

Two, the number of predators in WI is much greater than out in the Dakotas with coon, fox, coyote and many other animals in the woods.  One of the major reasons pheasant can hide in the vast expanse of field in the Dakotas is because of the lack of trees.  Flying predators will perch in trees and watch below and attack a nesting pheasant or a brood.  Also, fox and coyote will use trees to "get their bearings" when entering a field.  They can get lost if they do not have a landmark tree to keep an eye on.  Kind of the same principle as you see with whitetail deer.  They will follow fencelines or go right below a single tree in a field.

The reason I brought it up at the seminar was because my dad and I have set up about 50 acres for pheasant habitat.  The first thing they told me was to cut down a "monument tree."  Also, resist the temptations to mow paths in your habitat because it just makes easier access for the predators.

Well, I still wouldn't want to live in the Dakotas, but its fun as hell to visit!

[birddog]

that,s some interesting info scuba2280.  there are a lot of factors involved that I did not think about. I can remember when I was a kid . seeing huge vacant fields and massive corn fields. now the cornfields are either gone or a fraction of the size they once were. and any vacant  field larger than a couple acres is used for hay now.

[wildergamebirds]

  Anywhere on the windswept plains from the panhandle area of Tex. & Ok. to the Dakotas, and Montana have, or had, good populations of Pheasant.

  I remember a trip to Wyo. when I heard on the way that Cheyenne had 17 inches of snow.  When I got there, the ground was not far from bare of snow.  When I asked, at a Husky station where the 17 inches of snow went, the attendant said "it blew to Denver".  He didn't bat an eye.

  It also doesn't last all that long without the wind.  At higher elevations (Northern Kansas, up), the air is very dry.  I'm not sure if it technically qualifies as sublimation, but the snow doesn't remain as water very long.  In large fields, pastures and mountainsides, there are generally open areas pretty quickly after a snow.  Green winter wheat is a common food source at these times.

  With the thin air, clouds are a bit scarce, and the sun radiates on the birds more easily.  Minus 10 up there isn't so bad (feels more like minus 7)!

[slider]

Well my vote goes to Bodark...last forever...

[CharlieHorse]

 

I've been told that Black Locust will rot quickly.

The locust posts will last longer than any humaniod. There are many of them out in the woods here that were put in back in the early 1900's. If the are prepped properly (debarked/split) they'll turn into stone practically, you won't want to touch a seasoned post with a chainsaw.  My neighbor has been cutting and splitting them since last winter, I was told that some fella from Texas is buying them......and I'm in Ohio.