Brood reports/ Last couple days of rain

C

Campbell76

New member
I was wondering if anyone has seen or heard any brood reports from local farmers. I have seen the last couple of days the much needed rain we been needing out west had finally hit and hopefully it keeps coming. Now have the rains come to late?? Did the late winter hurt the lowest populations of pheasants ever?? I seen 2 roosters last year where we usually hunt that's bad. CONCERNED HUNTER LOL.
 
I just talked to one of my farming buddies I play ball against and he said he's seeing more birds this year than he has in the past few.

I'm hopeful.
 
I can tell you that since most of the birds nest in the Winter wheat and the wheat is in bad shape this year does not bode well for a major turn around. Recent rains are a blessing for the fall crops and will sure help with cover and some late hatch birds. Rain was 2 months too late for optimal wheat and insect productivity and it was during the so called peak of the hatch if there was going to be one. Without a doubt i think bird numbers will be equal to or slightly better then last year. There will be some good pockets of birds scattered across the West and North West and a few in the S.W. If they have a good fall harvest, it could be tough going in those large Milo fields as they can hide and run all day and you might never kick up a bird even though there is some in there. Hope for the continuation of the moisture and some good habitat to carry over what birds will be left and I think the tide will start to turn. I would be hesitant to get real excited just yet. Those birds are resilient and will do everything they can to produce a clutch. Keep the faith it will turn...:cheers:
 
Quail did better last year then most people thought. I had some guy's go out for pheasant and kick up 3 covey's and no pheasants. I heard the same from many people.

Dry land corn is about 6 inches in S.W. Kansas (Lane County) and most of the Milo has not come up yet or has not been planted. My friend just drove up to N. Platte and back down to Dodge City and did not see any birds or little ones. He still has 30-40 birds behind his barn with a 50-50 mix of roosters and hens. He will let me know when he see's some clutches running around. He thought Wheat harvest in Ness would start in about a week to 10 days depending on moisture. He has some ground over there to harvest, so looking for a report when he gets going.:cheers:
 
Made a trip though some prime combo pheasant/quail country today. Ran about 45 miles on section roads. I found four things that surprised me:

1) Wheat looked good, very good.
2) Saw 1 rooster pheasant
3) Heard only one pheasant crowing in 7 stops
4) Didn't hear a single quail.

This was in an area that didn't produce well last year, but has in years past. One day in 2010 I moved 12 coveys in this area.

Perhaps just a bit early in the day (between4:30 and 7:30), but I still should have heard some quail.

Hope I'm just old and deaf!
 
Saw first pheasant hatch today on the way to the Ponderosa. :thumbsup:

Lots of wheat being cut now. That didn't come out right-----there are a lot of combines in the fields cutting what wheat they can find.
 
I heard the population doubled to 22 in Lyon county.

I also heard Pawnee county is up 300%, from 30 shootable birds to 90. It's gonna be stellar fellas:D
 
Saw my first quail hatch today and at my Ponderosa. Good to see those little buggers!
 
Saw 2 hen turkeys and about 24-30 little ones fishing Friday in SEK. Going to be nice to finally have a hatch. Never saw one single jake turkey hunting this spring. I also have a couple of quail hanging out in the yard.
 
Just got off the phone with a friend cutting Wheat in Ness County. Cut 1000 acre field @ 35 bushel. Saw 8 Roosters and 4 hens. No little ones or broods. Quite a few 18 inch deer. Still has yet to see a brood in his travels and are rained out for today. Talked to another guy who travels around a lot and he has not seen a brood yet as well. I do think they will get one off at some point, but hatch could likely be spread out time wise.
 
westksbowhunter said:
Saw 2 hen turkeys and about 24-30 little ones fishing Friday in SEK. Going to be nice to finally have a hatch. Never saw one single jake turkey hunting this spring. I also have a couple of quail hanging out in the yard.
Click to expand...

And I didn't even know turkey's fished:)
 
kansasbrittany said:
I heard the population doubled to 22 in Lyon county.

I also heard Pawnee county is up 300%, from 30 shootable birds to 90. It's gonna be stellar fellas:D
Click to expand...

'Bout what I expect state wide.
 
Does it really matter how many birds there are? The guys that really wanna be out there are going to be there.

Times like these seperate the guys who are out for the kill and chest thumping and the guys who just enjoy being out of doors.

It will get better someday.
 
i think the point is this, that when it gets dire enough there is no point in dragging out the gear and the dog and burning gas trying to find cover heavy enough to even hold any birds, its time to do something else.....i would rather leave what seed may survive and head for a preserve a couple times this fall and save the license fees and shoot some pennies over the dog....BTN....there is a point where it makes no sense, i hope we are not there yet, but we might be getting damn close! :(
 
duckn66 said:
Does it really matter how many birds there are? The guys that really wanna be out there are going to be there.

Times like these seperate the guys who are out for the kill and chest thumping and the guys who just enjoy being out of doors.

It will get better someday.
Click to expand...

Or maybe the guys being outdoors will hunt something else. If there are no pheasants then I will focus on ducks. I want my dog and my kids getting birds. The worst thing you can do for a youth is to put them in a situation where they don't have success. If there aren't any pheasants I am heading to the duck blind or preserve. You know 25 years ago they said the quail would come back. They never did. Not trying to be negative but I am not for certain they will recover. They may suffer the same faith as chickens and quail.
 
westksbowhunter said:
Or maybe the guys being outdoors will hunt something else. If there are no pheasants then I will focus on ducks. I want my dog and my kids getting birds. The worst thing you can do for a youth is to put them in a situation where they don't have success. If there aren't any pheasants I am heading to the duck blind or preserve. You know 25 years ago they said the quail would come back. They never did. Not trying to be negative but I am not for certain they will recover. They may suffer the same faith as chickens and quail.
Click to expand...

I'm the same way, I love pheasant hunting but if there are very few out there then I will focus on waterfowl. Already did more duck/goose hunting last year than ever before. Got a boy that's 6 now and he loves being out hunting with Dad (Dove, Duck, Deer). Spoke to my Father In-law yesterday, he farms quite a bit of ground out by Liberal and he said he hasn't seen a pheasant in God knows how long. This area used to be one of the best in the state of Kansas, not but 4 years ago too. Last year I seen one hen pheasant while hunting a day and a half out there. Was sick to my stomach. Not sure if they can recover, it's going to take years and years of perfect hatches for it to have a chance and when is the last time that has happened. I hate to be so negative about the bird I love, but it is what it is.
 
I hunted every weekend last season, both days. Missed a few over Xmas time due to being sick. There were more than a few days I could have shot limits of quail but instead I watched the dogs work them.

You don't have to kill every bird that pops up and I think this is a valuable lesson for youth hunters. Teach them to appreciate just being out there and that the actual killing of the animal is not the highlight of the day.

That makes me almost sound like I am anti hunting/killing which I am definately not lol. But, even as a kid I enjoyed being out with my dad hunting whether we got anything or not. I was spending time with dad. He has been gone since 1991 and I am so glad that I was able to do that. I look back on those times as some of the best, whether we killed anything or not.

If a guy talleys up costs, even when bird numbers are up it's much cheaper to do a preserve hunt.
 
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