day trip

G

gsh lover

Active member
Hey Guys,

Long time reader, but don't post much.
For the first time in several years,(over 20) I will not be able to make my groups annual trip this year. We have been making the trip to SW kansas (Ensign) for the last 35 years. I am trying to plan a day trip maybe stay overnight,but not sure. I live in SE Kansas,and I have hunting most of the WIH north of 54,not to much south.Was wondering if maybe anyone could give some ideas where to go this will be Thanksgiving weekend. I will have my two sons with me,ages 21 and 14(14 years old second trip,still no birds in the bag)thats the main reason for the trip.I was thinking somewhere between Pratt and Greensburg,thats about 4.5-5.5 hrs drive.
Not looking to take anyones honey holes,just hoping for my boys to shoot some birds,I have already shot more roosters then I can count(but still love it).
Anyone who goes out opening weekend,around Pratt/Greensburg,and is willing to give out some information, they can PM me.

To all who go out,GOOD LUCK and BE SAFE
 
I have hunted Greensburg for a few years. Basically pick a WHIA any where around there you you will do great. Lots of CRP so with 3 guys cut the corners and push the middle one time and forget about it. My buddy and limited 2 days in a row by noon leaving us to sit in Pratt with nothing to do each day... There is some great WHIA straight north of Greensburg and one actually is touching the town.
 
KSpheasanthunter, can you give a few more details on how three of you work a quarter section by "cutting corners"? I haven't tried that one yet. sounds like a pretty good tactic. Do the three of you have dogs or just walkers?
 
we have a gsh,pretty good nose,works very well by him self,not so well with other dogs,doesn't like to honor.
 
KSpheasanthunter said:
I have hunted Greensburg for a few years. Basically pick a WHIA any where around there you you will do great. Lots of CRP so with 3 guys cut the corners and push the middle one time and forget about it. My buddy and limited 2 days in a row by noon leaving us to sit in Pratt with nothing to do each day... There is some great WHIA straight north of Greensburg and one actually is touching the town.
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I know which ones your talking about,but haven't hunted them in several years.was also concerned with walking crp quarters with only 3 guys and one dog.please explain how you cut the corners,no blockers?

years ago,we used to go out west and hit circle corners,and small draws,this was before the crp program,and always did real well.

thank you for the info
 
We have one dog, and actually the first year down there had myself and a buddy and 1 dog.

Here is a diagram, basically the same concept as a circle field. Have one guy walk the whole outside wayout in front of you, he must be quite. then one guy walks from the center of one side to the center of another side. the 3rd guy moves in a little from the other walker and pushes across. You repeat that on the second corner then push back to the starting point working the half of the field you already cut the corners. you repeat this on the other side. Not perfect but it works. With 2 guys it is more about speed (NOT FAST) but steady walking...

My old dog was not much help, Old and slow but could help find the dead ones. He made them nervous and helped bump them up (Springer Spaniel)... The new GSH is a big runner so in the crp she covers more ground and is like 3 other guys.
 
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I too hunt that area and it was loaded with birds last year. I hunt on private hunting association land, but there is a lot of good WIHA in that area as stated by Kspheasanthunter you shouldn't have any problem getting your son in some birds. Good Luck
 
GSH Lover

I will be nice... Just north of Haviland is a great CRP field. number 11 and 14...on the WHIA atlas... Here are some of the maps i have done with the GPS cordinates.... All of these have produced birds and some right after we saw a truck load of guys leaving the fields.

Number 11 actually goes on both sides of the road.. On the West it is a pretty big field so start on the nort and work the west side corners first then push back north and hit the east corners the birds will stay better because the road.

Also we have hit these at 3 in the after noon.. I drop 2 guys off one goes in 20 yards the other right on the edge and the push South to the north road and I blocked... we picked up our limit one day late using this method.. Great WHIA
 
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Rusty Trigger said:
KSpheasanthunter, can you give a few more details on how three of you work a quarter section by "cutting corners"? I haven't tried that one yet. sounds like a pretty good tactic. Do the three of you have dogs or just walkers?
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I personally hate hutning with large groups, anything over about 4 or 5 is too many for my taste. Have had good luck hunting alone in a CRP patch, just wandering around almost aimlessly letting the dog choose where to go. I'll usually push the edges of a field that are closest to feed, then might pick out a terrain feature that is different from the rest of the CRP patch, a weedy hillside for instance in a patch that the rest is solid head high grass. The birds seem to stick around the 'edge' cover where they have a choice of two different types of ground.
 
I too am a 4 max 5 person group hunter... There is the ocassional 10 guy push that we are with a bunch of flushers and HUGE CRP but otherwise i would rather 4 person group. it makes it fun trying to out smart the ditch chickens....
 
KSP,
Thank you for the diagram,makes it easier to understand. Also,thanks for the tip on the WIH at Haviland.

Hey guys,please let me know what you find over the next three weeks,even if I don't get to go this year,I still get excited reading other peoples hunts.
 
Thanks KSpheasanthunter

KSpheasanthunter; Thanks for the diagram of cutting the corners plan. I have some ground around Wellington that I think this should work well on. After opening weekend most of the time it is just me, maybe my son and a friend or two that are working some large fields of Milo or CRP ground. When we go out west we do hunt some circles how do you walk them? Also there are some spots that are CRP square corners on a worked circle field that hold birds, how would you hunt this type of field? Thanks for all your help.

Mike
 
I hunt the circle fields the same as a square... The dirty corners are the best....so work it the same.... As for Milo... I normally always work the field in the direction of the grain. If i had 3 guys, I have the guy with the dog (normally me) go 15 rows at the most in then have a guy at about 40 yards in and the last guy blocking at the end (depends on how big of field. I have the guy that is 40 rows or better walk out in front of the guy with the dog.... This holds the birds so that they cannot run that direction and the birds that go to the edge of the field normally jump and i have a shot...
 
KSpheasanthunter said:
I hunt the circle fields the same as a square... The dirty corners are the best....so work it the same.... As for Milo... I normally always work the field in the direction of the grain. If i had 3 guys, I have the guy with the dog (normally me) go 15 rows at the most in then have a guy at about 40 yards in and the last guy blocking at the end (depends on how big of field. I have the guy that is 40 rows or better walk out in front of the guy with the dog.... This holds the birds so that they cannot run that direction and the birds that go to the edge of the field normally jump and i have a shot...
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This is good advice gentlemen! Take notes, it took me awhile to learn these things on my own.
 
Most are probably seasoned hunters but remember if the birds are holding tight in CRP you can actually hunt the field more aggressivly even with fewer hunters. But in Kansas with our warm Novembers and early decembers the birds are normally running like heck.
 
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