With the continuing concern of the spread of avian flu in wild and domestic birds across the country we’re passing along this article from the great folks at the Iowa DNR. Check with your states DNR for any concerns you may have or to report any dead birds you encounter. – Editor

  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and its federal partners are working together to monitor for the presence of avian influenza in Iowa’s wild birds.

  Avian influenza is a highly transmissible, naturally occurring disease often found in certain waterfowl and shorebirds. There are various strains of the disease ranging from strains causing no harm to domestic poultry to strains that are lethal.

  “Bird loss in the wild is a natural occurrence, so seeing one dead bird shouldn’t be cause for alarm, but if someone is finding a number of dead birds, especially ducks, geese or raptors, we want to know about it,” said Dr. Rachel Ruden, state wildlife veterinarian with the Iowa DNR.

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an online database tracking avian influenza positive wild birds by state at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds

  Ruden said those who find five or more dead wild birds within a week should report their findings to their local wildlife biologist or state conservation officer. Contact information is available online at www.iowadnr.gov under the About DNR tab on the homepage.

  (https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/contacts/wildlife_management.pdf)
  (https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Law%20Enforcement/dnrlemap31422.pdf)

 Avian influenza can exist in a deceased bird for several weeks, depending upon environmental conditions.

  “We are encouraging the public not to handle sick or dead birds or to take sick birds to a wildlife rehabilitator to avoid unintentionally spreading avian influenza in the event that the bird is positive,” said Dr. Ruden.

 At this point, she said, backyard birdfeeders are not of concern, unless mallards are actively using the feeder. Avian influenza’s impact on upland birds, like wild turkeys, is much less, because of the behaviors and preferred habitats make them less likely to encounter the disease in the wild. Spring turkey hunters can find information on handling and preparing wild turkeys online at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/2015/fsc_hpai_hunters.pdf

  For more information about the great outdoor adventures in Iowa be sure to visit their web site at https://www.iowadnr.gov/ .

  I saw an old friend at a social function last night and during the conversation he mentioned that he’d considered doing some guided hunts on the 800 acres behind his house. He asked if I thought that it would be a good idea or would fit his situation. I responded that maybe I’d just tell him about my weekend and he could decide from that.

  I had a 15-year-old kid coming to turkey hunt. He’d been two other places but never could get a bird and his dad was trying one more time to make it happen. Give the dad a pat on the back; he’s a good example. Dad was going to go along on the hunts as an observer only and that’s fine with all of us. We’d done some scouting but we have so many birds and so little pressure that it’s usually pretty easy to kill a turkey if you just act like you got some sense and listen to the guides.

  First morning out, guide has several birds working at the same time. He locks in on one that refuses to come in. So the guide moves up on the turkey. Turkey still won’t come in, probably with hens but triple gobbling. So they move up again. Turkey is still answering, the kid is set up with his twelve-gauge Citori on his knees, and he can barely hold it up. Guide gives the set up one more look and sees the dad lying on his side with his head propped on a tree. Guide asks if he wants to sit up and watch the show and the dad says he thinks he’s having a heart attack. Guide runs the half-mile to the truck, no cell-phone service where he is, pounds his company truck up to the ailing observer, physically loads him into the passenger side and races to the lodge! I’m in the middle of cooking breakfast for the gang when they sail into the yard. Transfer the heart-attack victim into my truck, leave the guide to turn off all the stove functions, and run four red lights getting him to the emergency room at the local hospital. One hour later he still hadn’t been seen or evaluated by a practitioner so I announce to the staff that their lack of concern has given me cause to evacuate my client and go to the competitor three blocks away!

  New ER sees the patient in a reasonable period of time. Blood test, urinalysis, EEG and who knows what else is ran. I’m busy consoling his anxious son, discussing progress with his wife and daughter 180 miles away. The guide and I discuss for the fifteenth time his symptoms and possible prognosis. Finally, four hours into our little ordeal a physician decides that he has an “inner ear problem.” No big deal, take some pills.

  I fill the two prescriptions for the client; get him a hamburger and coke, deliver him back to the lodge where he’ll spend the rest of his hunt on the couch. I take the kid hunting to salvage what’s left of the afternoon.

  Kid walks like an elephant. He forgot his hunting boots at home so he’s wearing his dad’s brand-new snake-proof knee boots. He can’t pick them up so he drags his feet. And they are cutting blisters. We walk up on five jakes on the way to a food plot but somehow they don’t spook! Still they are not candidates for calling so we proceed to the plot. I peek over a rise and see a gobbler head sticking above the wheat. I tell the kid that we have a good bird 30 yards away. He asks in a normal voice if I think we can call him in. Not now! We set up anyway at the base of a beech tree that God must have put there for turkey hunters because it was perfect for the plot and the kid dutifully kicked all the sticks and leaves from under his feet “so he wouldn’t make any noise later”. I pointed out the two boss gobblers leaving the other end of the plot, way out of range, and mentioned that he’d better get a good look because that’s what a turkey looks like when you won’t be able to call him up!

  Next morning my best guide was back in the same spot with the kid. Turkey gobbles on a limb real close! Guide yelps and the turkey flies to another limb even closer. Still too dark to see or shoot. Kid lets the Citori fall off his knee and hit the ground. Turkey flies down to another food plot, two zip codes away.

  Guide sets up on another turkey. Turkey is closing the distance fast; hunters are behind a log pile, perfect set up. Turkey gets almost close enough to shoot and turns to leave. Guide looks at kid. Kid is yawning and stretching with his arms straight over his head! Guide returns kid to camp, giving me “that look” when he comes in the door. Of course, dad, who has missed all the fun, wants a full report of all the action. The version he got was considerably different from the one I got!

  I take the kid myself on a mid-day hunt. I’m carrying the Citori because it’s too heavy for him. Also the kid has a tendency to walk around with shells in the chamber and pointing at everything indiscriminately! I jump across a narrow mud hole at the bottom of a gully. He doesn’t. He leaves a tennis shoe barely visible in the mud. I retrieve the shoe. He throws a tantrum, starts breaking limbs, cane and whatever else he can get his hands on. Kid couldn’t sneak up on a glass of water at this point. I abandon the hunt, but he doesn’t know it.

  Deliver kid back to camp, give dad a rosy report about all the great things that Junior is learning and hand him off to another guide. Mommy has been summoned to drive dad and son back home since dad still has equilibrium problems. They will be departing at 4:00 p.m. sharp! Guide has one hour to pull the rabbit out of the hat! They tear out of the yard and go to a farm we haven’t hunted at all this season! A matched pair of gobblers comes in. Kid is hid behind a camo net so his movements can’t be seen, and at 4:20 p.m. he kills a twelve-inch bird with 1 1/8 inch spurs. Kid is a hero to dad, dad is a hero to kid, they’re gonna full-body mount the bird and nobody on our crew got a tip!

  For some reason, my old friend decided that guided hunts didn’t fit his situation.