Pheasants Forever Press Releases

There are more than 600 Pheasants Forever chapter banquets held each year and nearly that many different banquet emcees.

On Thursday evening, I will serve as emcee for the Scott County Chapter of Pheasants Forever’s 26^th Annual Banquet.  I’ve functioned as the Master of Ceremonies for roughly twenty Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever banquets over the last few years, but what’s ironic is I don’t remember how I became an emcee candidate in the first place.  Honestly, I think the fact that I co-host a radio show on Saturday mornings was all I needed to establish “mic cred.” 

In an effort to “polish” my new found craft, I spent a little time Googling “How to be a Good Emcee” this afternoon.  As you probably could predict; the guidance I found was obvious and basic; be funny, smile all the time, know the audience, etc. That’s when I had an idea. 

The readers of my blog are exactly the audience I’m trying to entertain: Pheasants Forever Chapter Members who attend Banquets. So here’s the drill, I need your input and I need it by Thursday afternoon.  In the comments section below, give me your advice on “How to be a Good Emcee at a Pheasants Forever Banquet.”  Jokes are acceptable, but please keep them clean.

The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.  Follow Bob on Twitter @BobStPierre.

Cone of Shame – noun 1. a: A malleable piece of plastic tied around a dog’s neck in order to prevent the licking or biting of stitched or irritated areas. 1. b: A cone like piece of plastic that creates the most hilariously pathetic looking dogs known to man. 1.c: The most efficient way to round-off indoor wall corners ranging in 1-3 feet in height.

If you’ve been following my blog lately, you already know about my two-year-old lab, Beau, and her untimely Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear. This has forced me to experiment with bird flushing deer, purchase an unholy amount of cow knuckles, and perform my best American Gladiator impression while trying to pin-down and subdue an active bird dog who seems just as content on three legs as she does four.

As anyone in my situation would do, I asked for help in making the decision of whether or not to pony-up a ridiculous amount of cash for her surgery, or to let things heal naturally and simply see what happens. Many of you voiced your opinions and it became quite clear the divide between the two options is more heated than the great “flusher vs. pointer” debate.

After weighing the choices and doing enough research to keep up with even the best veterinary orthopedic surgeons, I came to a conclusion: My student-loan-paying, rent-disbursing, car-payment-owing mind (coupled with the optimism that she was young enough to perhaps heal on her own) opted against footing a bill for surgery. Into the crate she went.

A few weeks passed and other than being a bit sore in the mornings, she was walking relatively normally. She still wasn’t allowed to run or jump, but I was pleased with the progress. That is, I was pleased with the progress until one especially icy and expletive filled morning.

We were heading out the door for her usual morning scratch-and-sniff session when she took a hop off the front step. What was usually a pretty uneventful moment in our early morning routine quickly turned into a classic Bambi-on-ice situation. Both of her back legs did the splits on the sidewalk and we were back to square one.

Staring at the once again three-legged wonder-mutt, it appeared the decision had been made for me: A lighter wallet, a drugged up pooch, and the ever-entertaining cone of shame.

Bird Dogs… Can’t afford to live with them, can’t afford to live without them.

Not willing to risk the same mistake twice, the handicapped-dog ramp was an accessory born out of necessity. Luckily the neighbors don’t seem to mind – yet.

Beau’s cone and pink cast truly compliment her freshly razored rump.

The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever’s Marketing Specialist.

When do you start dreaming of and planning for this autumn’s bird seasons?

Of course, I’ve already planned several turkey hunts for this spring, but I mean the regular fall seasons: dove, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, pheasant, ducks, geese, cranes, big game and the like.

Perhaps because of my job, I’m always planning next year and sometimes even the year after. Dreaming of and planning hunts with my buddies and for work never ends for me. I keep a file on computer to constantly update and coordinate upcoming trips. Since I hunt pheasant mostly for chapter project profiles for the Pheasants Forever magazine, my personal trips begin with dove, then waterfowl, grouse, deer, etc.

I’m already itching to call my farmer contact in North Dakota to see if he’s going to plant canola. We discovered this field last September and the doves are wild over the stuff. We shot limits every hunt.

I park my trailer in a small North Dakota town and just emailed the gal who runs a small hunter’s lodge there on snow conditions which, of course, is a major determinant of waterfowl nesting conditions. It’s dry, she said.

A buddy in Utah is trying to get a lease on several thousand acres of mountain land for a big game hunting concession. If he succeeds, I’ll be going on my first bull elk hunt. I bagged my first elk, a cow, there with him several years ago.

For deer, I’m working on my landowner buddy to work with me to put in a food plot for the deer, but for other wildlife as well. That’s about it for me. How about you?

The Nomad is written by Mark Herwig, Editor of the Pheasants Forever Journal and Quail Forever Journal. Email Mark at mherwig@pheasantsforever.org.

The USDA's new Highly Erodible Lands CRP Initiative will help prevent dust storms like this one in Kansas

Last Saturday evening before a sold-out crowd at the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic banquet in Kansas City, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in a video message that the USDA will soon be rolling out important news about the Conservation Reserve Program.  In addition to the upcoming general CRP signup announced earlier this month, the USDA intends to specifically target very environmentally sensitive and highly erodible lands in an effort to encourage their enrollment as part of the ongoing continuous CRP.

This should be welcome news to bird hunters everywhere as we’ve watched massive declines in CRP acreage, especially throughout the northern Great Plains states.  Hopefully, this is the first in several actions desperately needed to shore up a struggling Conservation Reserve Program; the result of record land and commodity prices.

In addition to this latest USDA announcement, Pheasants Forever is calling on the USDA for the following actions:

• Updated and more competitive CRP soil rentals rates.

• Reallocations of wildlife-focused CRP practices like CP-33’s for quail, CP-37’s for waterfowl, and CP-38’s for pheasants and other critters.  In other words, reallocations move un-enrolled acres to states that have maxed out their current allotment.

• New pollinator provisions concurrently strengthen CRP’s wildlife and farm economy benefits.  Pheasants and quail share a common need for habitat featuring a diverse forb (flowering plant) component with pollinating insects like honey bees, butterflies, beetles, and bats.  Following a pheasant or quail nest’s hatch, young chicks survive almost exclusively on a diet of insects.  These insects critical to a gamebird’s life cycle are also dependent upon a diverse mix of forbs.  Likewise, these flowering plants create fantastic brood cover allowing chicks to move through habitat at ground level, while having protection from avian predators in the sky.

Mother Nature has been helping upland wildlife with a mild winter thus far, but unless we shore up the critical habitat the CRP provides, it will continue to disappear from the landscape and our favorite birds’ futures will continue to look grim indeed.

The D.C. Minute is written by Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Government Relations.

Yes, Chipotle is still fast food; however, in a culture of pre-packaged meals this Chipotle television commercial (aired during the Grammy Awards telecast) does harken back to Leopold’s writing in A Sand County Almanac focused on food being linked to our land.

What do you think?  Does Chipotle get Leopold’s message or are they simply trying to sell you more burritos using a “green” marketing message?

The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.  Follow Bob on Twitter @BobStPierre.

Video courtesy of the Kansas City Star

Bird Dog Parade at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic in Kansas City

At the 2011 Pheasant Fest, the National Youth Leadership Council posed with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak.

At this year’s Pheasant Fest in Kansas City, the Youth Village will be run entirely by young people ages 13 to 18, all members of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s National Youth Leadership Council.  These young adults will welcome thousands of visitors and help other youngsters enjoy shooting, archery, casting, nature crafts and more in the youth village.  They will promote our organization and sign up Ringnecks and Whistlers members.  They will answer questions and provide information.  They will be role models for other young people who visit the youth village.  It  is our belief that young people are the best recruiters for other youth to outdoor sports, hunting, shooting and conservation.  We could not be more proud of the 18 young men and women who serve on the National Youth Leadership Council and fulfill this role in their communities.  If you are planning to attend Pheasant Fest, stop by Rudy’s Youth Village and meet these young leaders.

Get ‘em Outdoors is written by Cheryl Riley, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Education and Outreach. Email her at CRiley@pheasantsforever.org.