Western KANSAS Reports

G

Grouseman

New member
I'm planning on hunting in western Kansas in less than two weeks now. I'm reading about poor bird counts alot of places in KS. This year I will taking my son-in-law on his first Rooster hunt so I want him to see some birds. If you have been out that way in the last month and can give me helpful advise via pm it would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP... Grouseman
 
Western Kansas is a large area. What towns are you planning to hunt around?

Anything west of a north/south line running from just west of Hugoton will be in the dry zone and not easy to hunt. Lots of WIHA there but not much crop as the soil is very sandy. Desert like conditions prevail.

East of the dry line you will find better cover and more food sources which will hold more birds but this late in the season the hunting will be more difficult. Do you have a dog? If not then it will be even more so.

Are you planning to hunt WIHA or private land?

If this is your son-in-law's first trip out you might consider a controlled shooting area for some guaranteed success.
 
Kansas

I was thinking starting at Dodge City, Jetmoore areas. I'm willing to drive a ways to get into birds for sure. Any advise would be appreciated. Yes we have dogs. This will be my second trip to Dorothyland this year and I have been hunting Kansas WHIA land for 10+ years now. As you know hunting can be very spotty in Kansas late in the season, just trying to get some recent info on birds.

Steve
 
Grouseman said:
I was thinking starting at Dodge City, Jetmoore areas. I'm willing to drive a ways to get into birds for sure. Any advise would be appreciated. Yes we have dogs. This will be my second trip to Dorothyland this year and I have been hunting Kansas WHIA land for 10+ years now. As you know hunting can be very spotty in Kansas late in the season, just trying to get some recent info on birds.

Steve
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I just came from Jetmore/Hanston area and saw more birds than I ever have in 15 yrs of hunting. REAL SPOOKY though. They can hear you fartin' a mile away!
 
southernblues said:
I just came from Jetmore/Hanston area and saw more birds than I ever have in 15 yrs of hunting. REAL SPOOKY though. They can hear you fartin' a mile away!
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X2. I was really impressed with the cover and birds that we found to the North and East of Dodge City. Quietly get into the thickest CRP you can find near a food source immediately at legal shooting time. That was our best bet for getting the birds to hold for us.

You'll still see lots of them flying off 1/4 mile away when you get out of the truck, but you can limit in the first field if you play your cards right. As the sun gets higher, the birds just get more spooky.

We shot the bulk of our birds early in the morning, and late in the afternoon.

Good luck to you.
 
Toad said:
X2. I was really impressed with the cover and birds that we found to the North and East of Dodge City. Quietly get into the thickest CRP you can find near a food source immediately at legal shooting time. That was our best bet for getting the birds to hold for us.

You'll still see lots of them flying off 1/4 mile away when you get out of the truck, but you can limit in the first field if you play your cards right. As the sun gets higher, the birds just get more spooky.

We shot the bulk of our birds early in the morning, and late in the afternoon.

Good luck to you.
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How far N and E of Dodge? My dogs and I didn't see a bird in the area we hunted, then we drove N a county and saw all kinds, so I don't think it is anything we're doing wrong. We've taken multiple limits each year from the area we hunt. I've harvested 4 birds from there in 4 outings. Send me a pm if you don't mind sharing Toad. I'm done with the SW for this season, but I'd sure like to know where NE of Dodge you're seeing birds.....cuz I ain't!
 
Yep, same thing here. Hunted NE of Dodge three times this year and it was very spotty. Last trip had three dogs and some family and only harvested 6 birds in 4 days. Not sure what was up with that, other than it was hard to get them (family) in the field at first light (10 minutes late every morning) and the damn whistles they blow on their dogs.
 
If you are blowing whistles in Kansas at this time of the year then the hunting will be hard anywhere you go. The birds are there in many places but stealth is absolutely necessary.
 
I hear you about the whistles, that was my dad and brother-in-law. I told them they needed to super glue those things to their lips as much as they blew them, but regardless, even the fields we hunted w/o the whistle dogs we had no luck. I think it was more weather related and hunting with a couple of newbies that did not know how to work the terrain.
 
I would start up north for sure unless you have a honeyhole. Where I only seen a few birds a month ago ,there are bunches now. Weather, crop harvest, time of day, all play a key role on what you might or might not see. Do a little research and talk to some Custom harvesters. These guys contract all over and they have a good idea where there are good bird numbers, even if you do not see them, they are probably there!!!!!!! Most farmers no longer cut their own crops..:)
 
Rusty Trigger said:
Yep, same thing here. Hunted NE of Dodge three times this year and it was very spotty. Last trip had three dogs and some family and only harvested 6 birds in 4 days. Not sure what was up with that, other than it was hard to get them (family) in the field at first light (10 minutes late every morning) and the damn whistles they blow on their dogs.
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I would leave the whistles at home. Those guys could qualify for the "Conservationist of the Year" award if they use those whistles. Any noise will certainly lower any chance for success in the field.
 
Whistles

Bill,

Your right Whistles, beeper collars, etc. warn those wise ole Roosters. I quit using whistles years ago, except for emergencies. I only use beeper collars on low to bring a dog back in (locate button) since it is lots quieter than hollaring, whistling, etc.

SS
 
We are 40 mi NE of Dodge City. I hunted less than two hours this afternoon and killed two roosters. Only catch is I saw 70-80 birds and only had shots at these two. Both were 40+ yards. Pretty spooky even with the cold weather. Birds were concentrated in heavy cover. I was hunting private land. The WIHA has been worked over pretty good, although there will still be birds if you know where to look. 90% of the birds are in 5% of the cover. If I was coming to Kansas I would hunt no further West than Dodge City and no further East than Great Bend. That area will usually hold the best numbers.

We have a hunting cabin if anyone is interested in hunting in this area.
 
progundog said:
We are 40 mi NE of Dodge City. I hunted less than two hours this afternoon and killed two roosters. Only catch is I saw 70-80 birds and only had shots at these two. Both were 40+ yards. Pretty spooky even with the cold weather. Birds were concentrated in heavy cover. I was hunting private land. The WIHA has been worked over pretty good, although there will still be birds if you know where to look. 90% of the birds are in 5% of the cover. If I was coming to Kansas I would hunt no further West than Dodge City and no further East than Great Bend. That area will usually hold the best numbers.

We have a hunting cabin if anyone is interested in hunting in this area.
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I am interested, how much to rent cabin, have u more info. on WIHA and such in the cabin area?
 
Smoothbore

The first maxim of a sucessful hunt, this time of year - "make no more noise than necessary" - Pheasant associate humans with danger - Their hearing surpasses ours - and they have pressure sensitive pads on their feet that feel gorund vibrations.

I have found taking a few minutes to review the field, - escape routes, cover, ditches and wind direction aid in having pheasants hold. I use a whistle and beeper only when necessary.
 
I dont ever think that you should use whistles. Anything that makes noise associated with humans is gonna make the birds move to any sort of an escape. Lately I have noticed even though I am not hunting on these days if a vehicle slows down the birds are looking to get away.
 
swellcat said:
That could explain how two different parties can hunt the same county or area, and one party reports darkening of the sky while the other declares the KDWP is "a damn lie" or something.
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Case in point. I was on my way to to town today and saw a group of hunters getting ready to hunt a large milo field. Only problem was it was 12:30 and I'm quite sure that most if not all the birds in that area were resting comfortably in the week choked draw only 300 yards away! Conversely, I often see hunters hitting thick CRP grass early-mid morning, long after most of the birds have left heavy cover in search of an easy meal in crop residue.

I had a group last year in from Texas that rented my cabin and hunted on their own for the first 3 days of their 4 day trip......killed 5 birds in three days. They hired me to guide them the last day and we killed a full limit by 2:30 that afternoon. Don't believe the folks that tell you we don't have birds.....could be their tactics, shooting, timing, or dog work. They are challenging birds for both hunter and dog. If it was easy success wouldn't be so satisfying!
 
progundog said:
Case in point. I was on my way to to town today and saw a group of hunters getting ready to hunt a large milo field. Only problem was it was 12:30 and I'm quite sure that most if not all the birds in that area were resting comfortably in the week choked draw only 300 yards away! Conversely, I often see hunters hitting thick CRP grass early-mid morning, long after most of the birds have left heavy cover in search of an easy meal in crop residue.

I had a group last year in from Texas that rented my cabin and hunted on their own for the first 3 days of their 4 day trip......killed 5 birds in three days. They hired me to guide them the last day and we killed a full limit by 2:30 that afternoon. Don't believe the folks that tell you we don't have birds.....could be their tactics, shooting, timing, or dog work. They are challenging birds for both hunter and dog. If it was easy success wouldn't be so satisfying!
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I've hunted the same places for 12 years at all points during the season. I've hunted them in every condition and learned at what times they were in cover and what times they are in feed. I just didn't see as many birds in this particular 6X10 mile spread as I have in years past. I'm not calling KDWP liars. This is an isolated area I'm talking about. I used my same "tactics" 1 county North and did very well. I've seen loads of birds in Rooks county, Rush county, and near Concordia. Same 4 dogs and my same ole' tactics. It doesn't take 40 years to figure out when feeding time, loafing time, and roosting time is. Nor does it take 40 years to figure out what is a good feed field, loafing cover, or roosting cover. This is the first season I've seen more birds near Concordia than I've seen in Pawnee county. There is plenty of other land we might consider "NE of Dodge City." The land I'm referring to doesn't have many pheasants this year and there are plenty of guys that have hunted the area that would probably agree.

Feel free to share any nuggets of information you may have with the group. I don't think you'd have any better luck in the places I hunt than I do, but I'm always open to learning new things.

Good luck to everyone for the remainder of the season:cheers:
 
kansasbrittany said:
I've hunted the same places for 12 years at all points during the season. I've hunted them in every condition and learned at what times they were in cover and what times they are in feed. I just didn't see as many birds in this particular 6X10 mile spread as I have in years past. I'm not calling KDWP liars. This is an isolated area I'm talking about. I used my same "tactics" 1 county North and did very well. I've seen loads of birds in Rooks county, Rush county, and near Concordia. Same 4 dogs and my same ole' tactics. It doesn't take 40 years to figure out when feeding time, loafing time, and roosting time is. Nor does it take 40 years to figure out what is a good feed field, loafing cover, or roosting cover. This is the first season I've seen more birds near Concordia than I've seen in Pawnee county. There is plenty of other land we might consider "NE of Dodge City." The land I'm referring to doesn't have many pheasants this year and there are plenty of guys that have hunted the area that would probably agree.

Feel free to share any nuggets of information you may have with the group. I don't think you'd have any better luck in the places I hunt than I do, but I'm always open to learning new things.

Good luck to everyone for the remainder of the season:cheers:
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My apologies, I certainly didn't intend to insult your tactics or hunting abilities. In fact I didn't even read your original post until now. I'm quite sure that you are very adept at discerning ditch parrot behavior. Once again, my last post was not aimed at you....I was simply giving a scenario as to why one person might come up empty in the same area that another strikes out in. It could also be very possible that the area you hunted in was affected by a hail storm last summer. All I can say is that I hunted for two hours today with 4 very inexperienced dogs that I am developing and was able to collect 4nice roosters. I don't participate in these sorts of forums very often for this exact reason. Someone more often than not takes something out of context, and things then cease to then be productive or entertaining.

Think I'll go back to my book on Theodore Roosevelt.....very interesting fellow!
 
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