Evolution of pheasant hunting in SW Kansas

S

sas

Member
While planning for my next hunt I kept thinking back to my earliest memories of bird hunting beginning in the late '40s. I was raised around Meade, Haskell, and Seward counties, but I doubt if there was much difference in the other parts of the state. I am not one of those "old guys" who thinks everything was better in the good old days. Well, maybe somethings.
There were not many bird hunters in those days. Early and late day hunting saw people cruising the roads slowly and trying to spot a bird. The bird would dash off into the bar ditch and the hunter would jump out of the car and try to flush it. Ditches in those days were deep excavated troughs full of weeds, etc and there were miles of drifted tumbleweeds against the fence rows. My friend and I would leave town and walk for miles along the ditches and fences during the mid-day time to flush a bird. The first 25 years of my life I saw one bird dog. I never saw a deer, turkey, or antelope, and I was hunting before school, after school, week-ends, when ever the state said I could. Lots of farmers still lived on the farm and everyone had at least one covey of quail. Dry land farming was the norm but irrigation started to come along in the early 50s. I don't recall ever being refused when asking to hunt. In the '70s I lost contact with pheasant hunting for the most part as I moved to Texas and quail were king.
In the early '2000s I started back on the pheasant trail. I felt like I had been on an island isolated for 30 years. I couldn't believe the armies walking through the fields in hot pursuit. The sheer numbers boggled my mind. The equipment, dogs, vehicles, and everything associated with hunting had exploded. There had been a severe loss of habitat. I could no longer find the weedy ditches or the fence rows. Many of the roads had tracks where the tractors had turned around while farming right up to the road edge. The farmers had moved to town and permission took a little more doing. The best year I have seen lately was 2007 when my son and I counted 150 birds in a 3 mile stretch the day before season. The next morning he walked 50 yards and dispatched 4 birds and called it a day.
So, what is the point to this ramble. First point, in spite of some problems we got it good. Game numbers will fluctuate but overall the numbers and influx of deer, turkey make today a good deal. Unfortunately we cannot stamp out some of the unethical and unsportsmanlike conduct of a few. But, we can't always control the language people use around our small children or wild drivers etc. What we can do is think more about the fun of being able to get out and worry less about not getting our ego inflating limit. Two birds is as good as four. If you are in it for the meat it is one HELL OF A LOT CHEAPER TO GO to the store and buy some. While we all love to throw in our 2 cents the game management people are doing something right. When I compare the numbers today with 50 years ago it is positive. One thing they cannot control is the moisture. I think it is a simple equation moisture=birds. We can help provide cover with dollars but Nature is in charge of it ultimately. So. my suggestion is 1. If you can afford it get you a dog. Slam dunk on enjoyment. 2. Contribute what you can to programs to preserve habitat. 3. Legal hunting is a right but it is a privilege to be given permission to enter someone's land. Treat it accordingly. 4. Introduce someone to hunting and help them progress. It is lots more fun than cleaning some birds after dark in the cold wind when you are tired and hungry.
As individuals we have to decide for ourselves if the end result is worth it all. It can be if you do it right.
 
Outstanding post!! You are spot on when you state that we have it good. I enjoy just being out, and if the dog does her thing and we get a few birds, its gravy. Thanks for posting!
 
nice post, unfortunately hunting now has evolved into just getting the dog out...
weather and habitat have reduced the experience to lower expectations. :(
 
Im experiencing the best quail hunting I have had in recent memory this year. I have been letting a fair amount go after the initial flush. I love it when the dogs work singles but I think I enjoy trying to find a new covey even more.
 
I like your post.

One thing though...I dont quite get the logic of saying #'s of birds now vs 50 years ago is positive?


I'm soon to be 35 in a couple months and feel like I've had the chair pulled out from under me regarding birds and #'s and habitat to boot. I obviously wasnt alive 50 years ago to have any comparisons, only hear the stories and read about it, but from what I read/heard we're not in the same solar system.


The changes in just the past 5-10 years are astronomical. Not to put gloom and doom in a positive post, just curious where you were coming from. I definitely agree with the moisture part, but there have been and will be droughts long before and after man walks this earth.

I'd wager the #'s of birds 50 years ago due to the type of habitat that was around, differing farming practices, that the # of quail/pheasants that were around in that time period would simply blow any of our minds today.


If I had a Christmas wish it would be that people could learn to balance the pursuit of greed with the greater good. We are trying to do to upland birds/the prairie ecosystem in general what we did to the buffalo, albeit at a slower pace in the name of the almighty dollar, general sloth and simply ignorance. Not saying guys/gals on here are guilty of that, just our overall population in general.
 
Good points Husker. There was habitat everywhere back in the day where today you can drive for miles and miles and see bare dirt for part of the year. The "odd" areas or "waste" ground are largely gone. We are seeing quail populations disappear in smaller islands of habitat during these climactic extremes. The effects of an eye worm are so drastic now where they might have been present for decades and effects were dampened by quality habitat. My biggest comment on the original text is that our hunting IS a privilege, not a right. It can be taken away! We need to show it more respect and fight for it if we want our grandchildren to have the same opportunities we have seen. We need more farmers that hunt so that they show the habitat the respect it deserves. Kansas may be a "wheat" state, but it was a prairie state before that and a wildlife state long before.......... These heritages should be more equally balanced and respected by everyone. If you want to see our lack of respect, walk any highway ditch and pick up what we throw out the window for a few miles. We suck!!! We need to emulate more the Nordic countries and how the treat their land. We CAN do better.
 
turtle said:
Don't blame the farmer till you are making their payments. They are not farming to lose money.
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they have always made money, technology and demand/profits have clouded their vision of conservation/stewardship, it's no longer assigned a value. we all have a part in it........
 
Be sure to tell the farmer how they are screwing up while asking them to hunt. Tell them they need to show less profit so it benefits your dream field. like I said in my post make their payments. Land is not free. This year we farmers could have left a few weeds and still been fine. One in three year great average. We Dont have a crystal ball to know in the spring we can leave some weeds set aside and still make it.
 
turtle said:
Be sure to tell the farmer how they are screwing up while asking them to hunt. Tell them they need to show less profit so it benefits your dream field. like I said in my post make their payments. Land is not free. This year we farmers could have left a few weeds and still been fine. One in three year great average. We Dont have a crystal ball to know in the spring we can leave some weeds set aside and still make it.
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I don't think the post was anti farmer but more Hunter education as to how productive farm ground and habitat can be tied together. That as hunters we need to learn the best way to work with farmers/government to preserve what we love. The common ground is the soil we walk and we all should cherish it whether it be for money or pleasure.
 
Evolution of

I hope some don't try to read between the lines and come up with some ideas that weren't intended. I most certainly wasn't condeming anyone, farmers especially. They surely have all the right to do as they please and I greatly appreciate them letting me use their property. And I am sure to let them know it. I was pointing out the loss of some habitat only to show the changes over 60 years. I believe it to be true but.that is not a condemnation. But I think the younger hunters need to understand that when you take this loss, add in some reduction of CRP, drought, more hunters, you can start to get an understanding that something needs to be done if hunting is to remain a viable sport. Sportsmen and landowners need to work together closely for the best results. I have a lot of farmer friends that I have known for nearly 70 years. I believe that they would respond favorably if someone brought to their attention a little strip here and there untilled would be great for wild life. A 40 ft strip 1000 ft long is only 1 acre. Someone just needs to get it rolling. "Don't cuss the farmers with your mouth full" My apology if someone misunderstood.
 
turtle said:
Be sure to tell the farmer how they are screwing up while asking them to hunt. Tell them they need to show less profit so it benefits your dream field. like I said in my post make their payments. Land is not free. This year we farmers could have left a few weeds and still been fine. One in three year great average. We Dont have a crystal ball to know in the spring we can leave some weeds set aside and still make it.
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Let it go, turtle. Nobody is bashing farmers, they're simply making a point about habitat, its current condition, and the apparent result, which is a declining bird population. You're putting words in someone's mouth for the sake of being argumentative. If another farmer would get on here in a couple years and not bother going back to see what you were responding to, he might think someone was actually bashing farmers. Please, turtle, let it go.
 
I was not aimed at farmers either. The unfortunate part is that a lot of their decisions are force on them by federal requirements that often have more to do with politics and lobby groups than what is best on the land. "We can do better" is directed at changing those policies to allow farmers to farm "their way" not the way of the chemical companies or the "controlled" marketplace.
 
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