Hunting the Panhandle

sooner26

New member
I live in OKC and hate to see Oklahoma with 0 posts, so here goes the first one! I normally make a couple of runs up to SW Kansas each season to bag a few pheasant. The places we hunt are barely across the state line into KS so it's a little painful when paying for an out of state hunting license. The KS bag limit is double the Oklahoma limit, so I guess it justifies paying the extra $. We have talked about hunting the Oklahoma panhandle next year, but don't know how difficult it is to get permission from the area farmers. I checked the wildlife department website for public hunting areas in the panhandle and found the descriptions say pheasant are present, but in low numbers. So, it sure sounds like hunting private crop land is the way to go. Just trying to figure out if trying to hunt the panhandle area is worth the effort?
 
not good

our trip out there this year was bad all the way into KS. Looks like folks are still finding bird in central KS but OK was a bust for us.
 
Maybe Next Year

Thanks for the report. Hopefully, the panhandle will get more rain this summer and the pheasant numbers will improve. Our group (3 hunters and 1 brittany) hunted SW KS the weekend of 1/9. We leave OKC around 1AM to get there just in time to start hunting and come back Sunday afternoon. We brought home 8 birds this time, so it wasn't a complete bust.
You hear anything on the pheasant hunting at Drummond Flats near Enid. The Oklahoman had an article about it back in December and mentioned the pheasant numbers were pretty good there. I'm sure that place was pounded after that story came out!
I will finish this hunting season chasing quail around OK. Usually hunt the Black Kettle area, but am trying the Deep Fork WMA SE of Stroud on Saturday. Never been there, so hope we can at least find a covey or two. I'm trying to find a decent quail hunting area closer to OKC than Black Kettle. I also hunted the Lexington area a few times the last couple of seasons, but have yet to find a quail there!
 
Use to hunt lexington a lot but I think there are only 2-3 coveys there now. BlackKettle and NW of there is about all that is left in my opinion.

I did not see the report on Drumond but had thought about trying it.

I'm in Newalla, sound like we are close. Let me know how you do and maybe we could meet up. I hunt with my dad, b-law and a couple friends but there never enough walkers or blockers for some of those big plots.
 
i did not think anyone esle eas hunting pheasants here but me .
i was at packsattle and black kettle two weeks ago
and up at cooper this last week .
i dont have a dird dog and cant walk very far but we did see some quail
more bobwhites but some scaled also.

most everyone talked to were from arkansas
i want to go back this week before it ends
 
Hunted the deep fork WMA on Saturday. That was some of the best quail cover I have ever hunted, but did not find a single covey! We kept saying there have to be birds here somewhere, but never found them. It sure makes for a long day with all walking and no shooting.
Guess we will head west to black kettle again this coming weekend. Thought about hunting packsaddle earlier this year, but never seem to get past black kettle. Might give it a try, since wayne mentioned there are some birds in that area. Would like to find a few of those scaled quail. You guys ever hunted the sandy sanders area? The dept. of wildlife site says it's pretty good hunting, but never been there.
 
I've been to Sandy Sanders once. Place is covered with catus and I spent the entire evening with tweezers picking catus needles out of the fornt of my dogs, her chest and feet. Some had nearly gone all the way through her pads. She never let up but i declared I'd not do that to her again.
 
i think i will try drummond flats on fri/sat just to get in on the last day.
if it is not to wet for a 2 wd pickup.

i have not been there at all so it be new to me.
 
OK-Setter, thanks for the advice on sandy sanders. I don't need to put my dog through that pain, since he tangled with a porcupine earlier this month at black kettle. Took 3 hours to pull the quills out of his chin, mouth, chest and legs. He found another one the next morning and kept his distance!
I keep watching the temp for Saturday climb higher each day. Sure wish it would stay cold this weekend to help find more birds. I will probably head to black kettle anyway and hunt as long as the dog will last in the warm weather.
Wayne, be sure and let us know if you run into any pheasant at drummond flats.
 
well it is all over for this year. i never saw a pheasant any were and drumond flats was no better.

some good quail out west (bobs & blues) but one have to have a dog.
 
Black Kettle

Hunted black kettle Sat. morning. Only found one covey with about 6 birds. Couldn't see my dog, who was on point about 75 yards away. I found him when I saw the birds flush and fly across the road to private land! It sure warmed up quick that morning, so not the best scenting conditions. I think that was my last hunt for this season.
Sorry to hear drummond flats didn't have any pheasant. I suggest crossing the stateline to Kansas next season. We have always done well around Liberal and it's not too far into Kansas. Just have to spend $75 on that license.
Guess I will have a little break before turkey hunting and crappie fishing in April. These next couple of months sure do drag by.
 
hunting the panhandle

I had the opportunity to ride with my kansas landowner hunting host in the okla panhandle area the other night. He has farming interests in the Hough area. Granted we were there in the evening hours but I could not believe the numbers of pheasants we saw. They were everywhere and in large numbers. My host has always said he had more birds in okla than kansas> after what I saw the other night I really wonder. The reason for the number of birds in that area is because in the late 30's and eary 40's framers in that area dug numerous ditches to channel water for irrigation. Now those ditches and waterways are abandoned but have left agreat habitat for wildlife. With a little help from mother nature and a good hatch in the spring bird numbers in that are should be phenominal.
 
We are headed out to panhandle this weekend. Does anyone know the rules if about hunting both sides of the state line? If I have 2 licenses, one for each respective state, can I take a limit from both? I am being optimistic, but just was wondering.
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FYI..... Saw some birds in Turpin/ Hooker area, but Kansas side was much better (limited out by 1:00 whereas did not even come close in OK).
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We are headed out to panhandle this weekend. Does anyone know the rules if about hunting both sides of the state line? If I have 2 licenses, one for each respective state, can I take a limit from both? I am being optimistic, but just was wondering.


We were talking about the same thing over on the Kansas forum. Here is a link:

http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2702


I have found a statement in the Oklahoma regulations, so I know that is true when in Oklahoma:
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Daily Limit

Cocks only: Three (3) daily, six (6) in possession after first day, nine (9) in possession after second day.

Persons who hunt in two (2) states having separate daily limits may not exceed the largest number of birds that can legally be taken in one (1) of the states in which they take birds.
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One of the guys sent me a PM and said that a game warden told him the same was true in Kansas but I've never seen it in writing. In either case the larger of the two daily and possession limits would apply if you could show you took the birds in the other state. He suggested marking the birds from each state.

He also said that he has it in writing that Texas does not have such a regulation.

Cass
 
Hunted on the OK/KS line in both states for a couple hours today. We saw several hundred birds. I shot four and my buddy shot one. The snow was really crusty on top, which made a lot of noise, and the birds were boiling out of the fields in front of us. He said yesterday he went out and they had 20-30 points in the softer, quieter snow. We still had several nice points and retrieves. All in all, it was a nice end to the best pheasant season I've had since 1998.

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