Best Bird Hunting Paradise

S

slidellkid

Member
I am five years away from retirement and really want to get back into heavy bird hunting once I am done with work. There are very few quail left in the south so I will need to look elsewhere for upland birds.

What are your opinions on the best upland hunting the country has to offer. It would have to have pheasants first and then other birds in the mix.

What are your thoughts?

Dan
 
I think you will factor in access to property, unless you have a great sum of cash to buy access or the ground! For pheasants there are public areas, school grounds, and Waterfowl production areas, as well as annual walk in areas, in both North and South Dakota, most are heavily hunted throughout. Kansas has limited public ground, but a fine walk-in program, as long as the money in available. All states are difficult to find a landowner to even ask! I requires a lot of man hours, and detective skills, as a sideline profession in retirement. I believe that all of the states as posted are able to be candidates, if you want variety, Montana, and even Wyoming would work, there are plenty of pheasants in the right habitat in both. Minnesota seems to make an effort to acquire public grounds, supports what they have with ruffed grouse, woodcock, pheasants, prairie chicken and sharptails in the west and south west. If you want to be a vagabond bird hunter and darn near hunt at a fancy on daily outings, I would say Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or North Minnesota. Might never see a bird hunter, might be happy if you did! But the snow might be problem.
 
A lot might count on what you're used too! If pheasants are you're number one target then it would be hard not to consider South Dakota, but maybe a state like Minnesota is more up you're ally. There's more to consider than just bird numbers!
 
slidellkid said:
I am five years away from retirement and really want to get back into heavy bird hunting once I am done with work. There are very few quail left in the south so I will need to look elsewhere for upland birds.

What are your opinions on the best upland hunting the country has to offer. It would have to have pheasants first and then other birds in the mix.

What are your thoughts?

Dan
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you aren't planning to move your whole life to a pheasant-rich environment for 3 months of hunting, so you might look at some alternatives to travel and lodging as a gentleman of leisure.

Aside from the incredible resources on this Forum, there are the travel trailer folks, -- Winnebago had a travel club, and I'm sure the other manufacturers have similar set-ups -- and I'd be surprised if there aren't others in similar positions as you will be. Short and long term rentals for places you want to stay for entire seasons can probably be negotiated, and truly, you really want to taste the flavor of communities in which you may decide you'd like to stay.

You have plenty of time. You could work out various scenarios with Grouse in MN, Woodcock in Michigan, Pheasants in South Dakota and start calculating the costs of travel, residence vs rental vs travel trailer, and (these days most important to me) the company and friendships that make hunting memorable.

Best wishes. Keep us up-to-date on your dreams.

:thumbsup:
 
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Small towns in MT, ND and SD can become a lonely place. If you go in that direction I would pick a town that has relatively strong downtown sector and some small manufacturing ... these smaller towns should have enough small businesses to support you (gas station, grocery store, cafes, hospital, even a golf course).

Church and the local cafe will be great places to meet local farmers. Many farmers congregate at the local cafe after morning chores are done.

As you age it would probably be good to be living relatively close to a larger town with good medical care and an airport.

Hunting season (upland) typically runs about 3.5 - 4 months. What do you plan to do the other 8 months ?
 
Brittman has it right. I would stick to Montana or South Dakota. I looked hard at both and bought a second home in SD when I retired. Love it. I spend about 3-4 months a year there, and winter in Florida. Great people, low crime, low cost of living, and fantastic bird hunting. I hunt all season and rarely get more than 5 miles from my house. Lots of public hunting, and when you don't have to leave in a week, you can hunt when you want, rest dogs when needed, or just go hunt for an hour or two, the go home and watch football and have a cold one! I have two other friends that also bought hunters houses, and we have a blast. Go look around, take your time, and have fun. Good luck.
 
This may sound blasphemous to some here but I think I would get bored hunting SD all season. I like variety; valleys, hills, mountains, and desert. Quail, partridge, grouse, and pheasants. Live the dream and chase the seasons.:cheers:
 
slidellkid said:
I am five years away from retirement and really want to get back into heavy bird hunting once I am done with work. There are very few quail left in the south so I will need to look elsewhere for upland birds.

What are your opinions on the best upland hunting the country has to offer. It would have to have pheasants first and then other birds in the mix.

What are your thoughts?

Dan
Click to expand...


Read A HUNTER'S ROAD by Jim Fergus.

He travels 17,000 miles in 5 months, pursuing 21 different game bird species across 24 states.

A very nice read for a sportsman.

Have fun, be safe.
 
Ok, so shoot your fill of woodcock and bobwhite in the southeast. Then move to the NW. You have more public land than you could hunt in a lifetime.

For instance, in less than 2 hours, You can hunt be in respectable populations of chukar, pheasant, quail, grouse (3 species).

And don't forget waterfowl, fly fishing,etc.
 
I would pull a Jeep with a motorhome until I couldnt anymore. I might start in Sask. and turn south every couple of weeks until Winter set in .
 
GSPPurist,

There really are no more huntable populations of bobwhites in the SE. The last good years for bobwhites were in the 80's. I do see some quail from time to time so they are not extinct, I just want to hunt for two days to find one covey. I'd also feel bad about shooting any of them with their decline in population and the increase in coyotes we have here. Hunting pen raised birds on a preserve is just not the same and is very expensive.

I do here that Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have good populations of quail, but I don't think there is much public ground in the later two states.

I will read that book posted by Kismet and maybe I will get some ideas. I doubt I would get bored with just pheasants and a few grouse though. I mostly just love to watch dog works
 
I wouldn't overlook kansas. There are areas were irragation hasn't claimed the bulk of the crp. Rough weedy country that will always hold a few birds. Thousands of acres of walkin and permission not that hard to find. You can find a house in a small town that maybe had a couple of hundred residents that is now down to 50. Cheap half the price of a new pickup cheap. Not luxury but usable for sure.
Live somewhere elsewhere during the offseason, big ,small ,wherever. Trinidad CO. comes to mind.
 
slidellkid said:
GSPPurist,

There really are no more huntable populations of bobwhites in the SE. The last good years for bobwhites were in the 80's. I do see some quail from time to time so they are not extinct, I just want to hunt for two days to find one covey. I'd also feel bad about shooting any of them with their decline in population and the increase in coyotes we have here. Hunting pen raised birds on a preserve is just not the same and is very expensive.

I do here that Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have good populations of quail, but I don't think there is much public ground in the later two states.

I will read that book posted by Kismet and maybe I will get some ideas. I doubt I would get bored with just pheasants and a few grouse though. I mostly just love to watch dog works
Click to expand...

I can verify about the populations in Texas are strong. When I moved to the NW from the SE, I hunted TX and AZ on the way. Both had strong wild populations.
I ran into 4 wild coveys while hunting in GA but that was on an Army base with little pressure.
 
Start in mid sept in Michigan for grouse and great fly fishing for the fall salmon run, then woodcock late September to early October then trek west to Dakotas for ringnecks, stay north early to avoid weather and work way south as snow comes in to Kansas, Texas then SE to end your year hunting woodcock after their fall migration. Would be a great 6 months of hunting..........:10sign:
 
GSP,

Funny you mention the Army base having quail. I am a Dept of Defense civilian and left Fort Polk, LA about a year ago. I had heard there was a decent population of quail there but I didn't have a dog to confirm.

I am now at Fort Gordon, outside of Augusta. I will have to contact the base biologist to ask him about quail populations. You never know, I might get lucky.

DAn
 
SD west of the Missouri R. and SW ND.
 
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