Ted,
When one mentions bluestem grass especially in regards to pheasant cover, people will automatically think big & little bluestem and varieties of switch grasses that are used in conjunction with the bluestem varieties. Sorry, I never wouldve even thought of Grama when it comes to pheasant cover. Maybe they made a mistake when buying their seed mixture? Its possible. Ive seen it here out west and Ive also seen it happen to a farmer whos land I hunted in Nebraska. The company where he bought his seed screwed up the mixture and what came up was junk. So he disked it under, bought the correct mix and replanted. In certain programs, theres a manager (usually a state or federal biologist) assigned to manage the crp....if the cover doesnt meet spec...the landowners are asked to replant. With all that said, in regards to bird numbers, you can have all the awesome cover and habitat in the world, but you throw a hard winter and follow that up with a shitty spring and a wet cold early summer, the birds are screwed. Thats Mother Nature, cant do anything about that. Bird numbers in my area are down too....oh well, Ill still get out and give each dog their hour on the ground. Even in the worst of years, Ill still find enough birds to keep it real.
