Today i took my wife on her first ever wild pheasant and quail hunt. After 17 years of marriage she decided to take up hunting this fall which i can't even begin to tell you how happy that made me. I decided to stay close to home as i did not want to wear her out and make it an unpleasant experience for her. So i decided to stay closer to home and hunt northeast kansas. The jefferson, jackson and nemaha county areas just hoping to get into quail. It was a hunt i will never forget.
The disappointing:
1. Valley falls still holds 0 birds lol
2. This was my first hunt in years without my best friend as i had to retire my 13 year old setter to a life of couch sitting and football watching after seeing how bad his arthritis is affecting him after opening weekend and i just can't make him walk the fields anymore and watch him suffer.
3. Some dummy(speaking about myself of course) forgot the camera and to charge the cell phone before leaving. After reading the good you will understand this one.
4. The walk in hunting quality. I understand that walk in hunting filed are not specifically set aside for pheasant and quail hunters, but also meant for deer turkey and waterfowl. I know the selfish upland hunter in me wishes all were quality upland bird habitat. Out of the 22 wiha fields that we visited today only 3 were of huntable upland quality. all of the others were ankle high corn stubble or totally to the ground cut bean fields.
5. 70 degrees out makes for some rather unpleasant walking lol
Now for the good!
1. With just my wife and i hunting with no dog we saw 12 pheasant in northeast kansas. That is more than i have seen in this area in the last 7 or 8 years combined. While half were flushing out of range do to weather conditions i have never felt this much promise for this area in my life.
2. Now for the best part. We pulled up to the most perfect field for upland bird habitat i think i have ever seen. Only a 35 - 40 acre field but just perfect for 2 people. This field was bordered by the road on one side. On 2 sides by a massive hedge rows and the third side by an evergreen row. With cut corn fields and a winter wheat bordering this location. Everything in between the hedge rows and evergreen row was nothing but waist high crp with a deep valley running right down the middle of the property. 9 of the 12 birds we saw were on this property. We walked the tree lines and managed to scare up 4 hens which was promising and also gave my wife her first pheasant flushing from right under her feet. It was one of those moments that we have all been through but i just could not stop laughing as i heard my usually calm wife develop a sailors mouth as she spewed every expletive known to man. As we were about 200 yards from the vehicle my wife walked through the a small depression in the field. At that moment 5 pheasant jumped 10 to 15 feet in front of her, 3 roosters and 2 hens. I got to watch her shoot her first rooster in her life as i picked off the second rooster for myself. Even though those were the only 2 birds we shot all day it was a moment that i will forever remember in my mind as my wife and i each managed to get a rooster from the same flush. Which is also why i am kicking myself for not having a camera or my phone charged to capture that moment. But all i need for myself is the memory because that is something i will never forget and a picture could never truly capture. And the even better part - she is already asking me when we can go again.
The disappointing:
1. Valley falls still holds 0 birds lol
2. This was my first hunt in years without my best friend as i had to retire my 13 year old setter to a life of couch sitting and football watching after seeing how bad his arthritis is affecting him after opening weekend and i just can't make him walk the fields anymore and watch him suffer.
3. Some dummy(speaking about myself of course) forgot the camera and to charge the cell phone before leaving. After reading the good you will understand this one.
4. The walk in hunting quality. I understand that walk in hunting filed are not specifically set aside for pheasant and quail hunters, but also meant for deer turkey and waterfowl. I know the selfish upland hunter in me wishes all were quality upland bird habitat. Out of the 22 wiha fields that we visited today only 3 were of huntable upland quality. all of the others were ankle high corn stubble or totally to the ground cut bean fields.
5. 70 degrees out makes for some rather unpleasant walking lol
Now for the good!
1. With just my wife and i hunting with no dog we saw 12 pheasant in northeast kansas. That is more than i have seen in this area in the last 7 or 8 years combined. While half were flushing out of range do to weather conditions i have never felt this much promise for this area in my life.
2. Now for the best part. We pulled up to the most perfect field for upland bird habitat i think i have ever seen. Only a 35 - 40 acre field but just perfect for 2 people. This field was bordered by the road on one side. On 2 sides by a massive hedge rows and the third side by an evergreen row. With cut corn fields and a winter wheat bordering this location. Everything in between the hedge rows and evergreen row was nothing but waist high crp with a deep valley running right down the middle of the property. 9 of the 12 birds we saw were on this property. We walked the tree lines and managed to scare up 4 hens which was promising and also gave my wife her first pheasant flushing from right under her feet. It was one of those moments that we have all been through but i just could not stop laughing as i heard my usually calm wife develop a sailors mouth as she spewed every expletive known to man. As we were about 200 yards from the vehicle my wife walked through the a small depression in the field. At that moment 5 pheasant jumped 10 to 15 feet in front of her, 3 roosters and 2 hens. I got to watch her shoot her first rooster in her life as i picked off the second rooster for myself. Even though those were the only 2 birds we shot all day it was a moment that i will forever remember in my mind as my wife and i each managed to get a rooster from the same flush. Which is also why i am kicking myself for not having a camera or my phone charged to capture that moment. But all i need for myself is the memory because that is something i will never forget and a picture could never truly capture. And the even better part - she is already asking me when we can go again.
. You are very lucky.
