land conservation issues

[Birdhunter1]

Dargo, you also have to realize that the land that is not reclaimed and left in unrolling hills (usually very steep and short) isn't used and is usually let to grow. Around here that kind of property is growing in trees/honeysuckle/briars and other assorted brush that is awesome cover for wildlife. Around here the areas that are relaimed are often farmed for either hay or row crop farming, sometimes houses built in these areas. I hunt on some ground that hasn't been reclaimed and thoug it is full of quail it is TOUGH hunting. We'll fluch lots of birds but the growth is so thick they are hard to hit and even harder to tell where the ones you didn't shoot landed at or which direction they went. I call it the bird dog challenge as it is hard to find them after the initial flush. Also those short steep hills that are very close together is not easy to trek through. I like the area because it is a good sanctuary area for small game and deer of course like the stuff too. There are enough field edges around this that to quail hunt you have to find them feeding and hunt during these times. Makes for interesting hunts.

 

[Dargo]

birdhunter1, you pretty well exactly described it. Flushing wildlife out of the rough terrain is not for those who are out of shape! And, as you said, the pasture land is okay for farming now. My only point for the original poster is that by "changing" the terrain where he is, he likely will not permanently disturb the natural beauty of his area. It will be different, but perhaps not "worse".

BTW, on Saturday I nearly ran down a wild turkey with my RTV when driving through some brushland. I understand that they are sometimes hard to find and hard to kill. I figured a 1 ton UV would do the job. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Ah well, it turned out the darn thing remembered how to fly. It sort of looked like a pig with wings, but it did fly away to the top of a nearby tree. Man, they are not a graceful looking bird in flight!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Birdhunter1]

Dargo, where are you in Southern IN? I live in Southern IL, probably not too far away. I think a drive to Evansville probably takes about an hour and a half if you go through Harrisburg, IL.

 

[Dargo]

Birdhunter1, I live just outside of Evansville. You mention Harrisburgh, IL. In college we were supposed to do a geneology report back to when our ancestors came to America. In the late 1700's, mine were already well rooted in Harrisburgh, IL! I have several family members buried there who fought in the Civil War. Several came to Harrisburgh after fighting in the Revolutionary War!

I know that area has a history of coal mining. Several of my ancestors worked in the mines there in the mid 1800's. My great grandparents owned 2 sections of land there. Unfortunately they died back in the late 60's, before I was old enough to have been able to have bought that land. My grand parents sold off all that land for not much more than $100 an acre because they didn't think it would ever be worth much and needed the money. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

Always. Trees I cut are trees that I cant sell.

My ground was at one time a oil boom town, I still find junk, bottles some metal work, cables and pipe in the ground. After the town went bust, it burned. What wasnt ash was abandoned.

It was then at different times and parts, farmland, a christmas tree farm, grazed for cattle, and clearcut logged. If you look, you can see where each part was somthing different at different times.

Erosion is a biggie, one of the reasons that I am divereting water from the front of the house to the right side is to get it to the more original drainage. The trees are now a income so I do my best to cull, girdle and cut to keep the forest healthy.