WATCH NOW‼️ Rooster Road Trip Ep. 2: PLOTS Produces Pheasants | 2024 Public Land North Dakota Upland Hunt. Link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSsIovBpQAw Day two of our annual Rooster Road Trip found us putting eyes on a fresh horizon in western North Dakota as we linked up with North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Upland Game Management Supervisor to focus on PLOTS properties while getting educated on all things upland birds. Private Land Open To Sportsmen, better known as PLOTS, is a component of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Initiative and represents more than 830,000 acres open to walk-in hunting access on private land. Since more than 93 percent of land in North Dakota is held in private ownership, working with landowners to manage wildlife, habitat, and access is incredibly important. The Rooster Road Trip is made possible by: Ruff Land Performance Kennels, Browning, Orvis, Garmin Fish & Hunt, SoundGear, Federal Premium, Irish Setter Boots, YETI

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Build a Wildlife Area® program recently added 348 acres of public hunting access in southwest Iowa. Located in Fremont County, the Askew Family Tract connects two existing parcels of Auldon Bar Wildlife Management Area to create a complex of 1,800 acres of contiguous upland habitat open to public access. The new tract was made possible by a generous donation by John and Lauri Askew, whom the tract is named after, and was dedicated on October 22 at a gathering of partners and supporters. The Askew Family Tract is also situated within a priority area for the Working Lands for Wildlife – Northern Bobwhite, Grasslands and Savannas Framework for Conservation Action through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The property builds on the existing voluntary efforts of private landowners to create a hub of well-managed quail habitat in the region. Learn more about this recent land addition at the link below. https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Build-a-Wildlife-Area®-Program-Secures-348-Acre-Addition-in-Southwest-Iowa.aspx

At some point, hunting public land for pheasants in South Dakota got a bad rap. What I mean is, there is a common misconception that hunting private ground is inherently better than hunting public. Don’t let the thought of hunting public land scare you or make you think twice about hunting wild birds in South Dakota’s wild places. Public land hunters have been putting roosters in their game bags on public land for decades, and so can you. Here’s a few thoughts to help you get started on the right foot - Learn helpful tips on becoming a successful public land bird hunter in South Dakota at the link below. https://bit.ly/3V1Hk5j Sharing in behalf of our partners in conservation Travel South Dakota

CONTEST‼️ Guess how many miles the Rooster Road Trip crew walked during the one day spent filming this week’s episode in North Dakota! Head over to www.roosterroadtrip.org to submit your prediction and then make sure to watch the series’ second episode this Wednesday at 5pm CST. We’ll choose the winner of a Garmin ALPHA LTE Sporting Dog Tracker out of the correct entries on Monday the 25th. Garmin Fish & Hunt Congratulations to week one's Rooster Road Trip Giveaway Winner, Derek of Elwood, NE!

This week, the Field to Market Plenary and General Assembly and the Sustainable Agriculture Summit come to the Twin Cities. We are proud members of Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, and support numerous partners and individual producers with our approach to delivering upland habitat as a sustainability solution. Field to Market Plenary attendees, please join us at this evening’s Welcome Reception which we’re happy to co-sponsor with Landus. Meet PF & QF CEO Marilyn Vetter, Field to Market President Carrie Vollmer-Sanders, and Landus President and CEO Matt Carstens while connecting with friends and making some new ones! https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Pheasants-Forever-and-Quail-Forever-Welcome-the-National-Spotlight.aspx

Eyes in the Sky: Drones Enhance Bobwhite Quail Conservation Research. Read the entire blog that was originally published in the Fall Quail Forever Journal, by Olivia Lappin, at the link below. https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Eyes-in-the-Sky.aspx "With various uses such as herbicide application, assisting in deer recovery, mapping vegetation, and even detecting illegal poaching activities, the potential for utilizing drones in wildlife conservation appears limitless. Given the wide range of applications, there must be new and unique ways to incorporate drones into upland game research, right? During my master’s studies at Mississippi State University with Dr. Mark McConnell, I investigated bobwhite calling behavior and roost site selection. While working at Prairie Wildlife, I became all too familiar on how difficult it is to trap bobwhites, especially in low densities. I was hoping to trap bobwhites to radio collar and track them, but I was struggling to capture enough birds. Especially at sites with low bobwhite densities, trapping is challenging. After a few weeks, I contemplated shifting our research focus from bobwhites to cotton rats or mourning doves. Fortunately, we stumbled upon a research paper by Taylor Shirley and Adam Janke from Iowa State University. The paper explored the use of drones equipped with thermal cameras to locate and capture pheasants using nets. Given their success, I thought, why couldn’t we try this technique with bobwhites?"