Are there any birds left?

S

stinkbelly

Member
I started hunting Kansas 8 years ago. We only hunt public access land. Back then, I found several 100 bird fields. The area I lucked into was really good for about my first 3 years. Then the droughts hit. We moved around the state each year looking for a better spot and each year it got worse. I don't need a limit, I just like to find birds. I usually miss anyways. The last three years have been awful for us. Three years ago our group found 3 roosters in 4 days with 5 dogs. Three hens were seen. Two years ago it was 3 roosters with 4 dogs in 4 days. No hens were seen. Last year it was a shorter hunt, but no birds were seen. To top it off, my favorite field for the past 8 years was removed from the public land book. Even when we weren't in the area we made a road trip to hunt that field. Luckily we found a few quail the past couple of years so it wasn't a total bust.

I am just bellyaching here. I just can't wait for Kansas to be great again. The people are so nice and the fees and rules are good too. I don't want to stop going to Kansas.
 
You just described me and my group. Soooooo much CRP loss there too. Agree totally with how friendly the people are.
 
Wow. Sounds like things have really fell off out there. If it gets any worse they may need to get a re-stocking program in place.

Prior to the drought, how many birds where you taking on average?

Nick
 
1pheas4 said:
Wow. Sounds like things have really fell off out there. If it gets any worse they may need to get a re-stocking program in place.

Prior to the drought, how many birds where you taking on average?

Nick
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It isn't about how many birds I took on average. It is how many shots I took. I miss a lot. I can hit anything flying side to side, but I miss everything flying away from me. I hunt over pointing dog so the bird starts out close. They usually hold for my dogs. I sometimes even see them on the ground before they flush. I use to shoot about 100 shells in 4 days. I have slowly been learning. I use to use full choke and empty my gun before the bird gets 10 yards out. Now I have opened the choke and let them get up before I shoot. I have a much better batting average now, I kind of have to.

Believe me. I am laughing with you and my entire group.

In the last 10-12 days hunted in Kansas (over the past 3 years) I have fired three shells total at two birds and took them both.

I use to do two trips a year to Kansas. Now I wonder if I should do any.
 
A group of us used to hunt there every year, dating back 12 years ago. My last hunt there we were forced to shut down the second day due to a dust storm. It reminded me of the old footage from the dust bowl days. I'm going back this year though. What is so bad about it is they keep pulling more and more acres from the program, and that grass is not only a must for nesting pheasants but holds down the top soil from blowing.
 
stinkbelly said:
It isn't about how many birds I took on average. It is how many shots I took. I miss a lot. I can hit anything flying side to side, but I miss everything flying away from me. I hunt over pointing dog so the bird starts out close. They usually hold for my dogs. I sometimes even see them on the ground before they flush. I use to shoot about 100 shells in 4 days. I have slowly been learning. I use to use full choke and empty my gun before the bird gets 10 yards out. Now I have opened the choke and let them get up before I shoot. I have a much better batting average now, I kind of have to.

Believe me. I am laughing with you and my entire group.

In the last 10-12 days hunted in Kansas (over the past 3 years) I have fired three shells total at two birds and took them both.

I use to do two trips a year to Kansas. Now I wonder if I should do any.
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I don't think anyone is laughing Jonny:cheers:. You know, my cousin had the same issue, except he couldn't hit those side-to-side shots either. In 2005 he broke the missing pattern. I told him to stop thinking about the shot, point his gun at the bird, and shoot. From there-on-out not much gets past him. Try to let your brain automatically take the shot for you without over thinking the shot. Maybe that will help:).

Anyway, I was asking about "how many birds" prior to the drought to get a feel for how many birds were out there compared to today. On average, how many would you see in a day back then?

Nick
 
Before the drought we would easily see 200+ birds (hens and roosters) in a day. We had a saying if we didn't see a bird within 100 yards of the truck we should go to another field. It was incredible back then.

We use to always find chickens too, but now we can't hunt them in our area.
 
Well I have been hunting pheasants here for 35 years. The last couple of years have not been good but I have seen it worse. Back in 2002 wasn't very good at all. 84-86 wasn't good. Hard core hunters get after them in both the good and bad years. We all love to kill birds but that isn't the only driving in factor in why I hunt pheasants.

Drought is never good but it was just as dry from 2004-2010 and those were the best years I have ever hunted in. The timing of the rain, hail, and when wheat harvest hits plays a vital part.
 
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We are pretty much out of pheasants and quail here , your best bet is South Dakota . Went from a harvest of nearly a million birds 5 years ago down to 150,000
 
Western KS public land and WIHA has been really rough the last three years, and we saw very little on average private land the last few years also. If not for stumbling into a few of the famous "pockets of birds", I know we could easily have hunted 3 days and not fired a shot at a pheasant the last few years.
 
KSBrittman said:
We are pretty much out of pheasants and quail here , your best bet is South Dakota . Went from a harvest of nearly a million birds 5 years ago down to 150,000
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I don't like hunting South Dakota. You can't start hunting until noon or 10 depending upon the week. There isn't much public land. I have to drive more than hunt if I want to hit several plots of land in a day. Also, the people I run into aren't like they are in Kansas. It isn't laid back. To top all that off it is twice as far for me to drive.
 
Kansas will be better than eastern Colorado this year. I would bet money on that and I am not a gambler. My group has faired well through the bad years in Kansas hunting WIHA land. Bird numbers have been lower the last couple of seasons but we walk our butts off and wear our dogs out each time we go. In the area we usually hunt there was a small rebound last year and with the weather this summer I'm presuming numbers will be much better. I know Kansas has lost quite a bit of CRP but they still have a lot more pheasant habitat than Colorado does.
 
Both States will fair much better than last year! But with a forecast of a very good fall harvest, the birds will also be enjoy much more suitable living quarters than they have been. If the opener is not 70 degrees we will here of good things, then it will drop off a bit until they get some weather to limit habitat and bunch the birds a bit. But we are not going backwards anymore with the population. Cycles stink, but the strongest of the strong survived the brutal drought conditions and it looks like we will get to enjoy more birds than the previous couple of seasons!!!:cheers:
 
I Kind of Disagree with the Eastern Colorado not having the habitat, I have lived on the boarder most of my life and we go every year to hunt Colorado. Julesburg State Wildlife Area is pretty darn good as well as. I love the area Between Planter East to Yuma and Arickarre to Joes. Kansas may seem like it is on a big bounce back from Historical lows but remember those 40-50% up will not mean much when there was less than a bird for every three sections in some areas. Family memebers farm right at 16 quarters in the heart of Western Kansas Pheasant country. Wheat Harvest showed some improvement but nothing to get to excited about. Now when the Milo comes out we should know more. If I was to compare now to 2010 it would look like this.

****100 Birds Flushed per day in 2010--------Highest

2-3 Birds Flushed per day in 2014 ***lowest

6-9 Birds Flushed per day for 2015***Expected
(You will read Birds Up 50% this is being up 50%)
 
I was a little mad a couple years ago there was some great habitat in one of the swa's there and someone decided it was a good idea to let some bovine pasture on it. So much for good cover!! There is some good cover in Colorado, but it does get hit a bunch. The farther from Denver the better it holds up!!:cheers:
 
Well said Matte and I agree. I have family that farms in SW Kansas. In it's heyday that place ranked up there with anywhere in the State and maybe even the US. 300-400 bird flushes a day was the norm, remember one time 12 of us limited out around noon. The last few years have been REAL bad out there. 3 years ago we left there opening day and headed North to hunt walk-in. 2 years ago I hunted all day and seen one hen. Last year I didn't even bother going out there to hunt. Was out there a month ago and seen a few while driving around. But in good years you'd see them all over the road in the mornings/evenings and this year I seen 3 or 4. So it's recovering, but still a long way to go before it'll be good or even average hunting in SW Kansas.

However, even in the drought years there are still birds to be had. Started hunting some new areas and was pleasantly surprised by what we've found.
 
All the areas we hunted with emergency CRP usage were all bailed up and rotting for the past several years. They bailed it and didn't use it.
 
There has to be more wild pheasants this year in S. W. Kansas than what was running wild 2 or 3 years ago.

Perryton, Texas is only 50 miles south of Liberal, Kansas. I am getting information that between Perryton, Spearman and Dumas they are seeing lots of young pheasants. The 2011, 2012 drought hit the Texas panhandle just as hard as it did S. W. Kansas.

They seeing more young bird south of I-40 around Dimmitt.

Bird watchers took these photos two weeks ago just north of Spearman, Texas:

https://photoavian.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/its-a-small-world/

With all the insects available these young pheasants don't need the momma hen after five weeks.

In 2011 it was so hot and dry the wild pheasants did not have a hatch at all.

But some of the panhandle farmer truly believe that in wet moisture loaded (not flooding) spring and summer when the wheat is very green that their pheasants have a second hatch.
That is based on the big increase in bird numbers seen from dry years to wet years.
 
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