HB2547

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westksbowhunter

Well-known member
 
So I guess Kansas will become like the other stocking states. Hunters will follow the delivery trucks around and jump in right away to shoot the flare nares.

Sounds like an admission that good habitat is never coming back
 
Chestle said:
So I guess Kansas will become like the other stocking states. Hunters will follow the delivery trucks around and jump in right away to shoot the flare nares.

Sounds like an admission that good habitat is never coming back
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It could come back if they would eliminate the WIHA program and start investing in landowners and habitat. Instead, their focus is revenue from NR hunting.
 
Just read KDWP's testimony. The document clearly lists the department's position as "neutral", but this is the only remotely positive comment included:

While the intent and sentiment of the bill is understood and appreciated, the methods and the program outlined within the bill are unlikely to achieve the identified purpose.

That bill has one sponsor. I don't think it's going anywhere.
 
Does Kansas currently stock pheasant? I was driving around 2-3 years ago the day before the opener and I saw roosters all over the dirt roads. It seemed like someone dropped them off. That was the only time I have seen that.
 
The state does not stock any pheasants. But there are plenty of preserves in the state that stock a lot of pheasants. This past season we drove through a 2 mile stretch that ran next to/between several fields used one of the bigger operators. We saw probably 15+ birds on the road, in the ditch, and in one of the plum thickets.
 
Kansas does stock pheasants for their "governor's hunt", and a lot of them. A number of years ago that hunt was conducted south of Goodland, Kansas on and around the State wildlife area down there. For days after that there were literally herds of pheasants running back and forth across the county roads, mostly onto private, posted lands, but that is another story. Their governor's hunt is apparently a fund raiser for wildlife management operations and activities.
 
Bob Peters said:
For sure. I heard a podcast about it in Wisconsin, retired guys blasting them before the truck pulled out of the lot. Kinda like opening day of stream trout after stocking rainbows, but worse.
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Not a whole lot of sport or challenge involved with that
 
westksbowhunter said:
It could come back if they would eliminate the WIHA program and start investing in landowners and habitat. Instead, their focus is revenue from NR hunting.
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Where would everyone not fortunate enough to own land hunt? I know a lot of hunters in Kansas have never hunted birds or deer on public or WIHA land, but many of us rely on WIHA in a state that is 98% private.
 
RutCrazed said:
Where would everyone not fortunate enough to own land hunt? I know a lot of hunters in Kansas have never hunted birds or deer on public or WIHA land, but many of us rely on WIHA in a state that is 98% private.
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I don't own land and I don't hunt any WIHA. WIHA isn't that old of a program so what did you all do before WIHA? Before Kansas added the WIHA program, non-landowners managed to do just fine. Matter of fact, we had more people hunting the uplands in Kansas without WIHA than we do with WIHA. The WIHA program was not started for upland hunters anyway, it was started for NR deer hunting.
 
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westksbowhunter said:
I don't own land and I don't hunt any WIHA. WIHA isn't that old of a program so what did you all do before WIHA? Before Kansas added the WIHA program, non-landowners managed to do just fine. Matter of fact, we had more people hunting the uplands in Kansas without WIHA than we do with WIHA. The WIHA program was not started for upland hunters anyway, it was started for NR deer hunting.
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Let me guess, you were born and raised in Kansas and have hunted the same properties for over 20 years? I hear your response from a lot of people who have never struggled to find land to hunt.
Kansas has had the WIHA program for over 30 years. If you think land access hasn’t changed in the last 30 years, you are very out of touch with the current status of finding private land to hunt. It I knock on 10 doors (assuming the owners are even living on that land which is rare) I will get a mix of “No, my family hunts it” or “it is leased”.
If you hunted WIHA, you would see how much it is utilized by non locals. I am all for improving habitat, but not on land that someone else is getting paid to improve, just so they can limit out every weekend.
 
RutCrazed said:
Let me guess, you were born and raised in Kansas and have hunted the same properties for over 20 years? I hear your response from a lot of people who have never struggled to find land to hunt.
Kansas has had the WIHA program for over 30 years. If you think land access hasn’t changed in the last 30 years, you are very out of touch with the current status of finding private land to hunt. It I knock on 10 doors (assuming the owners are even living on that land which is rare) I will get a mix of “No, my family hunts it” or “it is leased”.
If you hunted WIHA, you would see how much it is utilized by non locals. I am all for improving habitat, but not on land that someone else is getting paid to improve, just so they can limit out every weekend.
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Nope wasn't born in Kansas but have lived here for most of my life. I probably get a dozen new properties to hunt each year, all from strangers. Most of the pheasants I killed this year were on properties I acquired this fall. 31 years actually for the WIHA program. They began the WIHA program the same year that NR deer hunting began. No I don't hunt the same properties I hunted 20 years ago. Matter of fact, I don't really hunt any of the properties that I hunted 20 years ago. Most of the properties from 20 years ago have been converted to cattle. Access changes every year and each year I acquire new ones. However, gaining access for upland hunting is much different than gaining access for deer hunting. It is NR deer hunting which has ruined access in Kansas. I know exactly how much WIHA is utilized which is why I don't waste my time hunting it. Knocking doors is about the worst way to acquire new hunting properties. I quit doing that about 15 years ago and I can't remember the last time I knocked on someone doors to ask permission. So if you are not for improving habitat on land that someone else is getting paid to improve you are only improving habitat on 2% of the land. That is asinine. Working with private landowners is the only way to improve pheasant hunting in Kansas. I live in Kansas, but I have no problem acquiring permission to hunt in Iowa. I hear your response all the time from people who struggle finding access so maybe you should consider changing your approach.
 
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westksbowhunter said:
Nope wasn't born in Kansas but have lived here for most of my life. I probably get a dozen new properties to hunt each year, all from strangers. I probably gained access to 15 new properties this year alone. 31 years actually for the WIHA program. They began the WIHA program the same year that NR deer hunting began. No I don't hunt the same properties I hunted 20 years ago. Most of the properties from 20 years ago have been converted to cattle. Access changes every year and each year I acquire new ones. However, gaining access for upland hunting is much different than gaining access for deer hunting. It is NR deer hunting which has ruined access in Kansas. I know exactly how much WIHA is utilized which is why I don't waste my time hunting it. Knocking doors is about the worst way to acquire new hunting properties. I quit doing that about 15 years ago and I can't remember the last time I knocked on someone doors to ask permission. So if you are all for improving habitat on land that someone else is getting paid to improve you are only improving habitat on 2% of the land. That is asinine. Working with private landowners is the only way to improve pheasant hunting in Kansas. I live in Kansas, but I have no problem acquiring permission to hunt in Iowa. I hear your response all the time from people who struggle finding access so maybe you should consider changing your approach.
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Do tell this approach you use.
 
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