Gun deer Season

S

spring lake springers

New member
Hello everyone.
First time post. I am looking at options to come out and pheasant hunt Southwest Kansas in November. Found a place to stay, a five day stretch I can get out there, only to discover I would be out there right during the gun deer season. I will strictly be hunting WIHA lands two, people one dog. I know in Wisconsin this would be an issue with the heavy hunting pressure for deer. Can anyone give some insight to if I would run into trouble finding land that wouldn't interfere with the deer hunters or if I am just better off rescheduling. Thank you in advance for any help.
 
spring lake springers said:
Hello everyone.
First time post. I am looking at options to come out and pheasant hunt Southwest Kansas in November. Found a place to stay, a five day stretch I can get out there, only to discover I would be out there right during the gun deer season. I will strictly be hunting WIHA lands two, people one dog. I know in Wisconsin this would be an issue with the heavy hunting pressure for deer. Can anyone give some insight to if I would run into trouble finding land that wouldn't interfere with the deer hunters or if I am just better off rescheduling. Thank you in advance for any help.
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Gun season tends to bring out the worst. Kansas has a road every mile. Not when I like to hunt
 
Seems like this topic comes up every year. You recognize that deer hunters have as much right to WIHA lands as we do, so that's good. But, double check your dates. Your original post said "November", but rifle deer season doesn't start until November 29.

Regardless, I've hunted during deer season many times. It depends on which part of the state you'll be hunting. The formula is pretty simple: blaze hat and vest for you, blaze vest for the dog, drive all the road frontage for every WIHA looking for deer hunters' trucks, just be courteous and aware.

Deer hunter trucks aren't all that hard to spot: lack of dog boxes, stickers on the windows/bumpers, empty rifle cases instead of empty shotgun cases in the cab, box of rifle ammo on the dash, lack of a cooler, two-wheeled deer cart in the bed (dead giveaway), evidence of only one person, etc.
 
matto said:
Seems like this topic comes up every year. You recognize that deer hunters have as much right to WIHA lands as we do, so that's good. But, double check your dates. Your original post said "November", but rifle deer season doesn't start until November 29.

Regardless, I've hunted during deer season many times. It depends on which part of the state you'll be hunting. The formula is pretty simple: blaze hat and vest for you, blaze vest for the dog, drive all the road frontage for every WIHA looking for deer hunters' trucks, just be courteous and aware.

Deer hunter trucks aren't all that hard to spot: lack of dog boxes, stickers on the windows/bumpers, empty rifle cases instead of empty shotgun cases in the cab, box of rifle ammo on the dash, lack of a cooler, two-wheeled deer cart in the bed (dead giveaway), evidence of only one person, etc.
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Thank you for the information. I absolutely respect the rights of deer hunters as I am an avid deer hunter myself. Just was not sure of the numbers of gun hunters that participate and if the lands get filled up. Right now the dates would be November 28th through December 3rd. My plan was to start out in the Garden City area and work west and north from there.
My next option would be to come out January 10th through the 15th just not sure how well a two person crew and one dog would fair with overly educated birds by that late in the season.
 
That early in the season the birds are coming off the most pressure they will see all year. I don't have a problem hunting rifle season but personally wouldn't the first 5 days. But then again Jan. weather can be a crap shoot. Could be great with some cold temps and moisture. Or might be hot ,dry and windy. Tough call.
 
I think you picked about the worst time to hunt pheasant. The birds get pounded on WIHA when it opens for the first two weeks. The weather can be hot and dry. WIHA were not flooded with deer hunters, but there were some and they were a nuisance and sometimes a problem. Accommodations were impossible to find and often booked a year or more in advance. For the hunter without good private land access, I think the later you are the better. I had my best hunting in January.
 
marsingbob said:
I think you picked about the worst time to hunt pheasant. The birds get pounded on WIHA when it opens for the first two weeks. The weather can be hot and dry. WIHA were not flooded with deer hunters, but there were some and they were a nuisance and sometimes a problem. Accommodations were impossible to find and often booked a year or more in advance. For the hunter without good private land access, I think the later you are the better. I had my best hunting in January.
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Thank all of you for the input. I will adjust my plans accordingly.
 
spring lake springers said:
Thank you for the information. I absolutely respect the rights of deer hunters as I am an avid deer hunter myself. Just was not sure of the numbers of gun hunters that participate and if the lands get filled up. Right now the dates would be November 28th through December 3rd. My plan was to start out in the Garden City area and work west and north from there.
My next option would be to come out January 10th through the 15th just not sure how well a two person crew and one dog would fair with overly educated birds by that late in the season.
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I used to always make a trip to SW KS the second weekend of December and never had any trouble, but obviously the opening of deer season is going to be a bit more intense than the closing. It was good advice to drive the perimeter of the place first, park in really obvious spots, and dress like a traffic cone. Actually, I would do that in January too.
 
matto said:
Seems like this topic comes up every year. You recognize that deer hunters have as much right to WIHA lands as we do, so that's good. But, double check your dates. Your original post said "November", but rifle deer season doesn't start until November 29.

Regardless, I've hunted during deer season many times. It depends on which part of the state you'll be hunting. The formula is pretty simple: blaze hat and vest for you, blaze vest for the dog, drive all the road frontage for every WIHA looking for deer hunters' trucks, just be courteous and aware.

Deer hunter trucks aren't all that hard to spot: lack of dog boxes, stickers on the windows/bumpers, empty rifle cases instead of empty shotgun cases in the cab, box of rifle ammo on the dash, lack of a cooler, two-wheeled deer cart in the bed (dead giveaway), evidence of only one person, etc.
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Only thing I would add to this is is I put an orange hat on my dog too. Hey, dont you judge me!
 
Ive been out there a few times during deer season. Some days , hunters everywhere , some not. Ive had deer hunters stop and ask if we minded if they sat on the opposite end of the field in case we jumped one up. Ive also had them stop and tell us where they saw a covey fly into WHIA. Best advice I have is to avoid the weekend days during deer season.
 
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