Heading Out

Nick

Nick

Active member
I am planning a trip out west the weekend of January 19th. It is just going to be me, my dad and my son. I had to put my old lab down after Thanksgiving, so we won't have a dog. We are trying to decide between the Hoxie, Norton area and Ness City. We have access to private land around Hoxie/Norton. We would have to hunt WIHA and knock on doors around Ness City. Unfortunately, this is my first trip of the year, so I would appreciate any thoughts from those of you who have been out. If you would prefer to PM that is great too.

Thanks, Nick
 
Very few birds in the Hoxie area.
 
We (two guys and a dog) are heading out to NW KS on the 11th for the first trip of the season. The owner of our private land access closed the season after opening week. 10,000 acres! So few birds they hope to keep what they have for breed stock.

I've heard this is still the part of the state that holds the most birds but that numbers are down by at least 50% from last year. I guess I'm hoping for some snow and colder weather to level the playing field. A bird or two will get my fix. Hope we do better. I wouldn't ask anyone to give up their honey hole but a lead on a county or two would really be nice.
 
My dad, one of my sons and I left early Saturday morning for Ness County. We started hunting around 10am and hunted until dark. We saw one covey of quail, 5 roosters and 2 hens. Only 2 of the 5 flushed within gun range. We bagged one. I knocked the other one down in wheat stubble and he ran. We didn't have a dog (I had to put my old lab down right after Thanksgiving), so even though I gave chase, he got away. We decided to head north and east yesterday. We saw one rooster and 3 hens. We hunted WIHA and private ground. We actually hunted some very good cover. I don't mind working for birds and wasn't necessarily discouraged about the fact that we didn't get many birds this weekend. The discouraging thing as that I can't see how, even with perfect conditions, things are going to get much better for at least 2 or 3 years.
 
Nick

That's bad that you couldn't get on your private ground. I'm heading to Kansas end of this week. I'll be working the WHIA ground. Will be working a new dog so hopefully we run into a few birds. I haven't been to Kansas since 2010. I know things are bad, but I need to walk the fields.
 
few birds

i had mentioned in another post but here it is again. i got back from norton late fri. night. mud had not dried out in some of the field, several of my so called honey holes i couldn't get to cause of mud and sometimes snow drifts. i was a little s. of norton. more posted land signs then i have ever seen, did hunt some nice cover but after several hours, only two points and two birds seen, total. couldn't even see some in farmer's door yard. saw no hunters, no quail, enough to cause an ol' fart to drink. had two dogs on the ground. the day before, oberlin was not much better but did shoot 3 birds, roads were mostly dry and cover really scarce, no quail. good luck to ya
 
simple question

This is my first ever post to this forum. I'm headed to KS on Thursday. I have a 10 year old brit that's a hunting machine and pudelpointer puppy on her first KS hunt. Here's the question. Where would you go and what would you hunt for 4 days. All suggestions welcome.:thumbsup:
 
birds someplace

in another post i stated that according to the kansas know it all, ie: f & g. the roadside etc counts were by far the highest in sherman, decatur and graham counties. sherman has little to no walk-in whereas decatue and graham have a lot. that ought to be your target zone at least as far as pheasants go, some quail. i have done quite well this year averaging about a bird an hour and mostly in and around bird city to atwood. been hunting mostly alone and with two mutts so i have not had to share any birds, my last day out, last fri. at norton was a real dud and the only one so far this year. bird counts have ranged from about 20 to 140 per day till norton. one of the posters lives near grainsville, he is claiming to be doing quite well, like gove county, i think for the most part, if you find cover, there will be at least a few birds, cover seems to be as hard to come by as the quarry. warm weather is on the way again like in the high 50's so bring water and some lite clothes. humidity has been high and the ground is damp, at least one plus. make sure you get the map or pull it up in the internet. i have hardly seen a hunter out there this year. many of my birds are coming out of weeded in wheat stubble but it is short, tough year actually. good luck to ya

cheers
 
Bluskies, don't listen to the musty dillhole. There are a few of everything out there. Just hunt your boots off and don't think you are in SD. It will be tough but worth it if you are a hunter. My last trip was out west Gove and trego counties. 2 roosters and taught my sons lab to grab beer out of cooler. If there would have been more birds I would not of been able to teach the dog an awsome trick . Also I had just had knee surgery 3 days before going out. Anyway hunt hard and you will see something.
 
Ducks

Bluskies said:
This is my first ever post to this forum. I'm headed to KS on Thursday. I have a 10 year old brit that's a hunting machine and pudelpointer puppy on her first KS hunt. Here's the question. Where would you go and what would you hunt for 4 days. All suggestions welcome.:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Ok shoot Ducks in Florida, lmao.....
 
turkey

to dckr88, no. norton has a ton of turkey running around, sure the area well north of oberlin does also but a lot of posted land that turkey would love. mostly lately i have been hunting closer to st. francis along the republican, if you find trees, draws and water you will find turkey, most of the ranchers hate them. they will get right in the feed bins along with the cattle and pick out the corn and wheat being fed the the cattle. this particular area is poor for pheasants and really always has been, i guess it is just a pinch drier than a little further east. example st. francis gets about 15"'s per year, norton about 22. big difference. they are about 120 miles apart

cheers
 
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