Ice everywhere!

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
:( I know this is bad, I'm just not sure how bad. Lots of ice, all across the state. How much of the bird population will be affected? Is starvation the primary reason the birds die off after the ice storm? How many days does it take before they start to die?

How are things out your way M.R. Byrd? My dad said it is bad from Liberal to Goodland and I know for a fact that it is bad here in NE KS. I know they're strong birds, but I think this is going to drastically reduce populations. I'll find out with a hunt on Sat. and another next Thurs.

I'd sure like to know what everybody thinks about this. I've paid close attentions to bird populations my entire life, but I've never hunted after a big ice storm before. I hope all is well! There was plenty of cover to keep the ice off of them, I just hope there is plenty of food!
 
Here in Dodge it was not nearly as bad as in other areas, but tell the birds that. I had about an inch of liquid rain, then 3/4 inch of ice.

Here is my CRP that stood chest high before the storm-

stick11dec07054.jpg


I have not seen any quail or pheasant since the storm began. There was a falcon sitting on the power line today and he looked cold and wasn't scared away by my presence. All I can do is hope that the ice melts soon. We do have another storm on its way and it would sure be nice for the ice from this one to be gone before the other hits.

Maynard Reece
Dodge City
 
Was talking with a guy in another forum...He went out this morning to Washington county were he found 4 bobs covey ed up dead with there feet frozen to the ground...:eek: not good at all..
 
wow thats horrible
i think another main death cause is that the birds have nothing to eat because there food sorces are frozen and they can't pick the seeds off
i'm trying to take a trip up northeast real soon
does anyone know how bad they got it up there?
 
There is a dangerous amount of ice everywhere in KS. I know there is a lot of ice in NE KS! If the ice melts, I'll be hunting in Reno and Pawnee counties this coming week. I'll give a full report.

Stories like the one above, (4 quail freezing to death) remind us why we should not shoot coveys down below 8-10 members, though a group of 8-10 may have still parished. These birds rely on each other for warmth and food (scratching a hole to eat from).

Let's hope for the best guys!
 
kansasbrittany said:
There is a dangerous amount of ice everywhere in KS. I know there is a lot of ice in NE KS! If the ice melts, I'll be hunting in Reno and Pawnee counties this coming week. I'll give a full report.

Stories like the one above, (4 quail freezing to death) remind us why we should not shoot coveys down below 8-10 members, though a group of 8-10 may have still parished. These birds rely on each other for warmth and food (scratching a hole to eat from).

Let's hope for the best guys!
Click to expand...

amen....:confused:
 
ice hunting last weekend

Howdy, I'm new to the forum. I had a cousin come up from Houston last weekend to search for some birds. Saturday we braved the roads and drove from Newton ks to some private farmland near Fowler SW of Dodge. Didn't have too much luck. There was nary a bird in the usual hotspots so we tried a walk in area up there and got one humongous rooster there hiding in the bottom of a creek bed. The bird had ice all over its tail and back. Later in the day we hit one of the private fields and had good luck on some quail there. We headed back home about 4 with one rooster and 4 bobs. I was hoping to get my cousin on some more birds but had alot of fun anyway. Sunday we stayed a little closer and went up to marion county. There is a good walk in area up there and some decent crp fields near the lake. We flushed 5 hens 0 roosters and 1 covey. Came home with 2 bobs. The temp was 19 and spitting snow. The dogs did great both days, we hunted with my cousins two english springers and my black lab "Jet". I haven't really hunted any other areas besides the marion county areas and a small portion of meade county in sw ks. Any alternatives would be appreciated and I would love to hook up with some new hunting buddies. I absolutely can't get enough of this bird hunting thing, It's great!!!! I did a little bit when I was a kid down in Oklahoma and decided it was time to start again when I got my lab two years ago as a pup. We've been havin fun ever since. Anybody going to take advantage of the snow this weekend?? I have to work:mad:
 
hunts since the ice storm?

Anyone hunted since the ice storm? I'm anxious to hear how the birds did in different parts of the state.

I'll be hunting in SW later this week and I'll give a report before Christmas.
 
Ran into one of my hunting aquaintances today. He is mainly a duck and goose hunter, but he did hunt upland on Saturday. The eight hunters ended up with 28 roosters and nine quail. Then he loaned his deks to his buddy and their group on Sunday shot 31 mallards and 15 Canadas.

I am seeing a good number of birds and oh, how I love to hunt after a snow, but work is getting in the way. I have been shooting them with a camera at the moment when the opportunity presents. Tried to get a good shot of the pheasants sitting in the wild sunflowers picking seeds, but it didn't turn out very good.

stick16dec07124.jpg


Maynard Reece
Dodge City
 
Thanks for the report MR

That's good news. Thanks for sharing!

I just recieved word from my friend in near Concordia that he's seen a few quail and pheasants and hasn't been searching too hard. He had a successful outing (for that area) with his 2 young sons.

I'm still optimistic about the remainder of the season. I hope there's still snow on the ground when I get out there on Thursday, but I don't think that will be the case. Now, if I can just find those quail that were protected during the opener.......Best of luck gentlemen!
 
kansas brit- i had a friend go out in NC kansas and he found a couple strong covies and that was right after the ice hit and they got it hard as well. I think these little quail were able to pull through cuz i haven't heard to many bad reports about them. Im am not worried about pheasants at all cuz they are rele strong but i know that ice can take its tole on them too.

DOes anyone else have any good/bad reports. Either would be appreciated.
 
Milford/Riley Area Update

I went out this weekend and saw about 10-15 pheasants. All were flushing wild except a couple after shooting hours. I believe pheasants were unaffected by the ice in my area, but I have yet to see any quail. I saw one covey from the road and that is it for this year. I don't know if the ice had any affects.
 
Greetings, new to the forum. Posted an introduction.
I've been out twice since the snow mainley in the NE area (Riley). They got a lot of ice compared to areas east of Topeka. I saw 10 or so pheasant and 5 coveys of quail. 2 hens held tight but the rest were flushing extremely wild (100-200 yrds in front). Every covey was under low over hanging tree branches with no close ground cover. You could see them plain through the overhangs. 2 coveys had 10 or less birds. I left them alone and I hope others will too. The other 3 however were much larger so I took a total of 5 betwen them. They were a little spooky and were flushing wild. My dogs work about 50 yards in front and the bords held for a short time then flush before I could get within range. No problem with the singles though. I guess since I could see them, they could see me.
I think the quail have faired well through this phase considering the amount of ice I saw where I was hunting.
 
Excellent report! Thank you.

And thanks for leaving the small coveys alone. You'll know where there will most likely be a couple coveys next season and that's your reward. You're a good man and a great example of an ethical upland hunter. I don't think the ice affected bird populations drastically anywhere in the state. Again, I'll provide a report after my next hunting trip (heading out tonight:cheers: ).

Best of luck to all! Introduce someone new to hunting (just make sure they've plenty of clothes on this time of year!).
 
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