Hey all, I just joined after finding the forum a few weeks ago. Now I can't stop reading, there's a great wealth of information here.
First, a little background. This is only my 4th season for upland game. I have several friends with roots in Dighton; one still farms out there so there's plenty of private land to hunt. They finally talked me into going for opening weekend in 2007, and that's all it took - I was hooked. Now I try to get out as often as I can. Being from the KC area, there's not many local opportunities for quail and pheasant, it's a long drive to get into decent birds.
So this year, we skipped opening weekend in the SW for the obvious reasons. My buddy and I finally agreed that the weekend of the 10th would be our first opportunity to hit the fields, so the plan was made. Just me, him, a WIHA atlas and his 2 yr old GSP. Knowing the forecast, I set my expectations extremely low - I was just excited to get out, walk some fields, watch the dog work, and maybe fire my new O/U if I had a chance.
We took off Friday after work and made it to our hotel about 11:30 that night to our destination. That was to be our base camp and we'd just start working west until we found some birds. (Side note - I've gathered that listing exact locations is somewhat discouraged here, so I'll just list general areas.)
We rose at 6, grabbed some breakfast and coffee and started moving West to scout some WIHA areas. The sun was still down, it was colder than hell, and further west we went, the more snow we encountered.
The first 2 areas we hit looked promising, but were a complete bust. So we loaded up and moved about 10 miles west. The next area looked promising - cut milo with a nice draw running up it, filled with CRP and thickets. And no fresh tracks in the snow. Score!
Since there was only two of us, there's no way we could work the draw effectively. So we started on the high side staggered and walked to the point, keeping the dog ahead of us. Our hopes that anything we were pushing would run downhill to the other side. Hit the end and started working back, when the dog finally pointed on some CRP. Out flushed a covey of about 16 quail. Only one flew away from me, which I missed.
The rest flushed behind my friend, so no shot for me, but he was able to drop one. The rest headed for private ground, so we headed on.
At this point, we hadn't even SEEN a pheasant. And from the lack of shots we heard, no one in the area was having much luck either. I mentioned this to my buddy as we were driving, and of course the next hill we crested there's a rooster just sitting in the middle of the road. He crossed into private ground, but had come from WIHA, so we headed in.
We parked next to the road, I handed him my gun and started opening the gate. Just then a covey of about 24 birds exploded out of the ditch not 2 feet behind us. Scared the hell out of us! So we watched helplessly, me holding the gate, him holding both guns, as the covey scattered. The majority headed for private ground, but 4 split up and went in to the WIHA. We knew their general location, so we started working the singles.
The dog did awesome. She worked each area 2 or 3 times before finding the birds, who were dug in deep. We practically had to kick them up. We ended up getting 3 of the 4, which was good enough for us.
That was about it for the first day. Tough hunting, and we only saw one pheasant all day.
Sunday we decided to head north and east, practically up at the border. The WIHA map indicated this area was good for turkey and deer only, but we decided to have a look anyways. We pulled up and saw a nice draw surrounded by wheat stubble. Hmmm, looks decent. As we're unloading, we look across the street (also WIHA) at a field of planted winter wheat. There was a small section of grass near the road, and a small draw with little cover. We decided to give that a quick look, and the dog immediately gets birdy. We get downwind of the dog to flush then upwind if possible, and send the dog in.
Out jumps 3 hens and 4 roosters. Once again, they all flush behind my buddy, blocking my shot. He shoots one rooster, which goes down and takes off running east. The dog takes off after it. I watch one rooster circle around and head west about 100 yards away into the draw in the winter wheat, while the rest head across the street into the other draw.
I head up to the draw, and find where I think he went in. Decide to wait for the dog to flush him out. I was wrong, he flushed 20 yards behind me, taking off downwind. He got about 30-35 yards out but I decided to take the shot anyways. I see a puff of tail feathers and he goes down, but starts booking it across the snow and winter wheat. I try to run after him, sliding over the snow and ice, which much of looked hilarious. Then the dog blasts past me and tackles the rooster. Good dog! So we get 2 roosters in the bag, and decide to check the other draw. No luck.
We hit one more good area that afternoon. One rooster flushed on us, but both of us were blocked by trees from getting a shot. He took off for the safety of Nebraska. A few minutes later, we're working a steep bank next to private ground, which borders on a creek. Crap, where'd the dog go? We call for 10 minutes, then lay our guns down, thinking we'll have to go check the private ground. Just as we're about to cross the creek, my buddy looks to the side of the bank and can barely see his dog up there in heavy cover...on point. She must have been there for 10 minutes, on point, not 20 feet from us.
We pick our guns back up and head over. A nice covey flushes, and I have a nice straight-on shot lined up. Right as I shoot, another bird crosses it's path, which EXPLODES in feathers. I walk up to see what the hell I just hit.
My buddy starts cracking up. It's literally the smallest quail I have ever seen. Barely bigger than a golf ball.
That must have been bad karma, because the rest of the day was a bust. We loaded up and headed back home. Of course, on the way back we pass several fields, each with a dozen roosters landing. Such is hunting.
So in all, not the greatest trip in terms of numbers, but I met my expectations - got out in the fields, walked some beautiful ground, and got some rounds through my new gun. It really doesn't get much better than that. Looking forward to several more trips this year.
Edit: Sorry, just realized how long that post was!
First, a little background. This is only my 4th season for upland game. I have several friends with roots in Dighton; one still farms out there so there's plenty of private land to hunt. They finally talked me into going for opening weekend in 2007, and that's all it took - I was hooked. Now I try to get out as often as I can. Being from the KC area, there's not many local opportunities for quail and pheasant, it's a long drive to get into decent birds.
So this year, we skipped opening weekend in the SW for the obvious reasons. My buddy and I finally agreed that the weekend of the 10th would be our first opportunity to hit the fields, so the plan was made. Just me, him, a WIHA atlas and his 2 yr old GSP. Knowing the forecast, I set my expectations extremely low - I was just excited to get out, walk some fields, watch the dog work, and maybe fire my new O/U if I had a chance.
We took off Friday after work and made it to our hotel about 11:30 that night to our destination. That was to be our base camp and we'd just start working west until we found some birds. (Side note - I've gathered that listing exact locations is somewhat discouraged here, so I'll just list general areas.)
We rose at 6, grabbed some breakfast and coffee and started moving West to scout some WIHA areas. The sun was still down, it was colder than hell, and further west we went, the more snow we encountered.
The first 2 areas we hit looked promising, but were a complete bust. So we loaded up and moved about 10 miles west. The next area looked promising - cut milo with a nice draw running up it, filled with CRP and thickets. And no fresh tracks in the snow. Score!
Since there was only two of us, there's no way we could work the draw effectively. So we started on the high side staggered and walked to the point, keeping the dog ahead of us. Our hopes that anything we were pushing would run downhill to the other side. Hit the end and started working back, when the dog finally pointed on some CRP. Out flushed a covey of about 16 quail. Only one flew away from me, which I missed.
The rest flushed behind my friend, so no shot for me, but he was able to drop one. The rest headed for private ground, so we headed on.At this point, we hadn't even SEEN a pheasant. And from the lack of shots we heard, no one in the area was having much luck either. I mentioned this to my buddy as we were driving, and of course the next hill we crested there's a rooster just sitting in the middle of the road. He crossed into private ground, but had come from WIHA, so we headed in.
We parked next to the road, I handed him my gun and started opening the gate. Just then a covey of about 24 birds exploded out of the ditch not 2 feet behind us. Scared the hell out of us! So we watched helplessly, me holding the gate, him holding both guns, as the covey scattered. The majority headed for private ground, but 4 split up and went in to the WIHA. We knew their general location, so we started working the singles.
The dog did awesome. She worked each area 2 or 3 times before finding the birds, who were dug in deep. We practically had to kick them up. We ended up getting 3 of the 4, which was good enough for us.
That was about it for the first day. Tough hunting, and we only saw one pheasant all day.
Sunday we decided to head north and east, practically up at the border. The WIHA map indicated this area was good for turkey and deer only, but we decided to have a look anyways. We pulled up and saw a nice draw surrounded by wheat stubble. Hmmm, looks decent. As we're unloading, we look across the street (also WIHA) at a field of planted winter wheat. There was a small section of grass near the road, and a small draw with little cover. We decided to give that a quick look, and the dog immediately gets birdy. We get downwind of the dog to flush then upwind if possible, and send the dog in.
Out jumps 3 hens and 4 roosters. Once again, they all flush behind my buddy, blocking my shot. He shoots one rooster, which goes down and takes off running east. The dog takes off after it. I watch one rooster circle around and head west about 100 yards away into the draw in the winter wheat, while the rest head across the street into the other draw.
I head up to the draw, and find where I think he went in. Decide to wait for the dog to flush him out. I was wrong, he flushed 20 yards behind me, taking off downwind. He got about 30-35 yards out but I decided to take the shot anyways. I see a puff of tail feathers and he goes down, but starts booking it across the snow and winter wheat. I try to run after him, sliding over the snow and ice, which much of looked hilarious. Then the dog blasts past me and tackles the rooster. Good dog! So we get 2 roosters in the bag, and decide to check the other draw. No luck.
We hit one more good area that afternoon. One rooster flushed on us, but both of us were blocked by trees from getting a shot. He took off for the safety of Nebraska. A few minutes later, we're working a steep bank next to private ground, which borders on a creek. Crap, where'd the dog go? We call for 10 minutes, then lay our guns down, thinking we'll have to go check the private ground. Just as we're about to cross the creek, my buddy looks to the side of the bank and can barely see his dog up there in heavy cover...on point. She must have been there for 10 minutes, on point, not 20 feet from us.
We pick our guns back up and head over. A nice covey flushes, and I have a nice straight-on shot lined up. Right as I shoot, another bird crosses it's path, which EXPLODES in feathers. I walk up to see what the hell I just hit.
My buddy starts cracking up. It's literally the smallest quail I have ever seen. Barely bigger than a golf ball.
That must have been bad karma, because the rest of the day was a bust. We loaded up and headed back home. Of course, on the way back we pass several fields, each with a dozen roosters landing. Such is hunting.
So in all, not the greatest trip in terms of numbers, but I met my expectations - got out in the fields, walked some beautiful ground, and got some rounds through my new gun. It really doesn't get much better than that.
Looking forward to several more trips this year.Edit: Sorry, just realized how long that post was!
