Hays

Smith81

New member
A group of 10 or so of us hunt near Hays every year right after opening weekend. Usually we do pretty well and see a ton of birds.

This year we had issues with the roads and were limited in what walk-in we could hunt. Between 9 guns, we only came home with 14 birds after 4 days of hunting. Most of those birds came out of one field a farmer was gracious enough to let us hunt.

I chalked it up to mostly the access issue, and increased pressure on a select few fields due to the roads being to muddy.

I was considering a solo-trip with just my pup in late december or early january. Are the bird numbers strong in that area this year?

Could I get away with an easier drive and hunt some of the towns closer to the CO border (such as Oakley)?

If it matters, my pup is a GSP. It's her first year on wild birds. She was trained by a pro though.
 
We hunted Thanksgiving week just to the west of hays. 3 guns only shot 6 phez in 6 days. It was tough. Hunting pressure was high, the roads were muddy. Your not alone. Going back this week. Hopefully hunting pressure will be down and this bit of weather they are having won't hamper us too much.
 
I hunted solo near Oakley a few weeks ago. On Saturday, I hunted 3 hours without ever seeing a bird. Then I limited out in 15 minutes with 2 singles and a double. I went scouting around in the afternoon to get ready for the next day, and saw only a couple of birds. On Sunday - I saw no birds at all. If it hadn't have been for the freek "clump" of roosters that I randomly, and quite luckily, ran into, it would have been a very tough hunt.

It has been this way for me all season. I limited out on both days of the opener, but it could have easily been just one bird or even no birds each day. On Saturday, I hunted all morning and only saw 1 rooster. About 2PM, I was walking a fenceline and jumped 3 roosters within 10 yards of each other. On Sunday, I shot the only pheasant I saw first thing in the morning. Hunted another 4 hours without seeing a thing. And then got 3 roosters in 5 minutes.
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Kawasaki KZ400
 
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I hunted solo near Oakley a few weeks ago. On Saturday, I hunted 3 hours without ever seeing a bird. Then I limited out in 15 minutes with 2 singles and a double. I went scouting around in the afternoon to get ready for the next day, and saw only a couple of birds. On Sunday - I saw no birds at all. If it hadn't have been for the freek "clump" of roosters that I randomly, and quite luckily, ran into, it would have been a very tough hunt.

It has been this way for me all season. I limited out on both days of the opener, but it could have easily been just one bird or even no birds each day. On Saturday, I hunted all morning and only saw 1 rooster. About 2PM, I was walking a fenceline and jumped 3 roosters within 10 yards of each other. On Sunday, I shot the only pheasant I saw first thing in the morning. Hunted another 4 hours without seeing a thing. And then got 3 roosters in 5 minutes.

I'm not sure what to thing of that. I'm starting to think I've lost me edge when it comes to hunting pheasants. I'm going to take up deer hunting!
 
KMT, can you pass some of that 5 minute mojo on to the rest of us?
 
I'm not sure what to thing of that. I'm starting to think I've lost me edge when it comes to hunting pheasants. I'm going to take up deer hunting!

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to think of that either. I was extremely lucky on 3 of the 4 days that I described above. But it easily could have ended in my getting skunked for those three days.

I love to hunt, and usually figure that if I walk longer and farther than "most other guys" are willing to do, that I will get birds. This year, it has not been the case. It has been pure dumb luck, and not hard work that has worked.

I'm trying to convince myself to give it another try, but it sure seems like my luck has run out. I would guess that I have seen 1/5th of the birds that I saw last year and 1/10 or 1/20 of the number of birds in the prior 3 years. Either the pheasant forecast is extremely inaccurate, or I just happen to hunt in areas that fall outside of the norm.
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electronic cigarettes
 
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KMT:

You mentioned a fence line, but any patterns on where the birds are concentrating? Any certain kinds of cover or crops?

Are you hunting dogless?

That's the strange thing. I am not finding any patterns. I am simply not seeing many birds. When I do see them, it seems to be completely random, but all at once.

I hunted with dogs during the opener, solo with no dogs the next weekend, and with 2 othe guys and 2 dogs last weekend.

I might get flamed for this, but I actually prefer to hunt without dogs after a few weeks into the season.
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hot box vaporizer
 
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I was just wondering if there was a tactical reason to prefer hunting without dogs in late season. No flaming on my end, I love talking hunting tactics for just about any species:).
 
I was just wondering if there was a tactical reason to prefer hunting without dogs in late season. No flaming on my end, I love talking hunting tactics for just about any species:).

I used to hunt with a golden retreiver, and it stayed close enough to me that I got shots at most of the birds that it spooked up. I liked hunting late season with him.

Now, I hunt with pointers. These particular dogs do not stay close enough for me to get a shot if they flush a bird, rather than point one. In late season, birds seem very spooky and often fly out of the opposite end of a field as soon as I park my truck. I see very few that actually hold for a point. The last thing I want is for a dog to get 40 yards in front of me and flush a bird 10 yards in front of him. That means NO bird. I have found that in most cases, if I walk within shooting range of a bird, it will flush in late season. I will gladly pass on the rare holding bird to have a better chance at the 4 others that flush if I walk within range.
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BMW K1100RS
 
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I'm trying to convince myself to give it another try, but it sure seems like my luck has run out. I would guess that I have seen 1/5th of the birds that I saw last year and 1/10 or 1/20 of the number of birds in the prior 3 years. Either the pheasant forecast is extremely inaccurate, or I just happen to hunt in areas that fall outside of the norm.



AGREED! The pheasant forecast is very innaccurate. South Dakota does well with their pheasant outlook but Kansas needs to step it up.
 
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