Recent content by ben ji

Not the most satisfying but the most mystifying. Was hunting the edge of a 20 acre CRP field and one rooster flew up about 10 yards away when I reached the corner and was flying with its back to me, I nailed it on the first shot...Kept Flying. Nailed it on the second shot....kept flying and...

I had never thought about using that Z pattern on the larger area to split it into 2 areas but will definitely try it out next year. Thanks!

Lol, I purchased a hunter orange gas station t-shirt in KS for $15 that was the exact same...."Kansas, Home of the Big Cocks" with a picture of a pheasant flying over a fence.

I do this on a longer 20 acre CRP piece a little bit away and have had success. That piece is only 100 yards wide though and goes all the way across the quarter section at the back end so its easier to work the back and forth on. Might try it on this square 20 acre area next fall. I was...

Apologies for the MS Paint overlays but it's a quarter section dryland field with a 20 and 40 acre CRP patch in it right across from the house in NW KS (the H marks the house). Typically I will walk the windbreak first to flush out any birds hiding in there because 75% of the time they fly...

I was walking in the windbreak which had drifted up with snow when I noticed a hen running away from me on top of the snow drifts. When she took flight she left behind a pheasant "Snow Angel" with her wings.

I've never been to one but will probably stop by for a day and wander around since I live in KC. Any recommendations? Which day would be the best to attend, booths to stop by, etc etc.

Both. I hunt about 50/50 private vs WIHA. I didn't see any birds on the private land in 22/23 but randomly killed 3 birds at my WIHA honey hole on the last day of the season. (The WIHA Honey hole is about 3 miles away)

Fall of 22 into winter of 23 was really bad due to the drought. I don't think I fired my gun more than 3 times that season and didn't kill any. I was pleasantly surprised at the bounce back this year.

The bird numbers where I hunt in NW Kansas were much better than the last couple of years when they basically didn't exist. One thing I noticed was a lot more grasshoppers this summer than usual, just thick with them, which I'm guessing helped more chicks survive. I've hunted the same area for...

I used to get all jacked up and want to be out at the first daylight hunting but I realized I didn't have any more luck than at other times and its also a lot colder. Now its wake up, have some coffee/breakfast and head out around 10am for the first hunt.

I've tried that, a quick 15 minute walk through the windbreak by the house but it doesn't seem to help. In fact one time there were actually some birds in the windbreak and the same thing happened. I'm just tying to weigh the pro's/con's of shocking a dog when they are all birded up. On one...

I've recently run into this problem too with my 5 year old GSP mutt. I picked her up at the pound and she doesnt point but she is a heck of a flusher. I hunt NW KS and the bird numbers were terrible the last couple of years but have rebounded some this year. When she locks onto a scent its...

From what I've been told (at least in NWKS) the county mows the ditches in the late summer for weed control. No idea if that is true or not but I'm always sad when I see that prime habitat intact around July then gone by the end of August.

Went hunting with a buddy a couple of years ago and he brought his gpa's old double barreled shotgun (along with his fancy benelli) for the nostalgia. I took him to weedy draw in the middle of a field where I always find birds and told him to go stand on the edge of the hill while I pushed the...