Headed to Kansas

Hulions

New member
Ok guys. It has been a a dream of mine since I was a kid to hunt Pheasants and quail. I am currently making plans to make the trip from Florida to Kansas to hunt public land WIHA and WA areas with my lab. I don't want to hunt with an outfitter. I understand that its a possibility I may not shoot great numbers of birds so I am going more for the experience and road trip with my lab and wife. Any information that you guys can give me about where to start and areas to hunt will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.
Mannie 2.jpg
 
My biggest advice is to check the quarantine list. Kansas added more states today. I imagine that when flu season hits this fall that list will be expanding. When the pheasant report comes out in Sept you will have a better idea where to go. WIHA receives heavy pressure early. I live here and really don't hunt much the first couple of weeks. I like December and January the best. Less pressure and more apt to get permission to hunt private ground.
 
I’m from N.C. And plan to be there that same week. I usually stay in Russell county. In my experience, it’s a great time to be there, but the birds can be very wary. From what I can tell, spring and summer weather are extremely important for fall and winter bird populations.
All in all, we have a blast. I think this year it’ll just be me, a few dogs, and my wife. I plan to keep a check on the weather and make a mid-late summer decision on where to go this year.
 
Thank you for the information. I was thinking about staying around Salina but was planning on checking the forecast for the birds later as well. Any info. on this area?
 
Hey this is fun. My wife and I have hunted multiple different states blind. Don't expect full tailgates, but you will find plenty of places to walk and exercise the dog. I never go anywhere new the first 2 weeks of season, who wants to shoot dumb birds amongst crowds of hunters. I hunted Ks for the first time last fall, found enough birds that I plan to return, never shot limits, but I had fun. Move around a lot and visit different areas , that's the most fun .
 
Ok guys. It has been a a dream of mine since I was a kid to hunt Pheasants and quail. I am currently making plans to make the trip from Florida to Kansas to hunt public land WIHA and WA areas with my lab. I don't want to hunt with an outfitter. I understand that its a possibility I may not shoot great numbers of birds so I am going more for the experience and road trip with my lab and wife. Any information that you guys can give me about where to start and areas to hunt will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.


I lived in FL for a couple years around Ft Myers, Cape Coral and Pt Charlotte - moved around a bit while I was there for work. 04-05. Anyways long trip - but KS was always home for me so came back.

Just pay attention to the weather - in Topeka today we're getting rain - I haven't looked to see what other parts of the state are. But once they put the WIHA atlas out you can spend some hours doing homework on Google earth to get an idea on terrain around certain WIHA and at least have some spots semi scouted out. Avoid larger towns - just do your homework and you'll have fun.

What part of FL you in?
 
I lived in FL for a couple years around Ft Myers, Cape Coral and Pt Charlotte - moved around a bit while I was there for work. 04-05. Anyways long trip - but KS was always home for me so came back.

Just pay attention to the weather - in Topeka today we're getting rain - I haven't looked to see what other parts of the state are. But once they put the WIHA atlas out you can spend some hours doing homework on Google earth to get an idea on terrain around certain WIHA and at least have some spots semi scouted out. Avoid larger towns - just do your homework and you'll have fun.

What part of FL you in?
I live in the Florida panhandle just north of Destin. I've been looking at OnX and marking some spots that looked decent. When will the 2020-21 WIHA maps come out?

Thanks for the comments guys. Any information is much appreciated. Keep them coming.
 
I live in the Florida panhandle just north of Destin. I've been looking at OnX and marking some spots that looked decent. When will the 2020-21 WIHA maps come out?

Thanks for the comments guys. Any information is much appreciated. Keep them coming.

I think it seems to vary from year to year - Late Augustish - Early Sept -- maybe? I never look at it until closer to season as they can make changes -- also sometimes the print version misses some or misses some late disenrollments etc -- Online seems to be most accurate.
 
If you want to find both quail and pheasants in decent numbers you will need to be another hr or so west of Salina. Plenty of quail around there, but wiha and other public lands are limited in that area. Don’t be scared to knock on doors, worst they can say is no!!
 
They can be really good, depending on where you go. Some of them get even more pressure than WIHA though. I’ve had some darn good shoots on state wildlife areas.
 
All of these posts about food in Salina and no one mentions The Cozy Inn? You all are a bunch of novices or holding out the best spots! Definitely hit the Cozy and Blue Sky Brewery (provided it makes it through the Pandemic).
 
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