Kansas' last 2 Prairie Chickens

K

KsHusker

Active member
No more left - here's photographic proof. Will be eating them later this week. :)

Last day of the season. Before I make this next comment - there were two of us hunting, and there should have been four birds on the post, (we each got one out of this flock walking them up....I totally whiffed about an hour or so earlier on a separate flock and should have had 2 more or my limit for the day at that point...I'd only assume my buddy wouldnt have missed these two later...ha.


They do not need grain fields to survive, their gizzards/crops of the few I've gotten prove that, merely the right habitat and a lack of overgrazing - flint hills suffer from overgrazing/overburning so they get the double whammy there but I have seen a few there as well.

Next year I'll have to hunt them more than 3 separate times. Sunday the focus was on these guys, Saturday ended up mostly on quail and walking a private land contacts property that had taken a nosedive upland bird wise - turkeys to spare, however no interest in those ugly birds at the end of Jan, they do taste good though.

The previous Saturday in the leftover snow, ended up spending half the day on quail other half on Chickens - saw lots flying around, found lots of tracks in the snow and some roosts and was always about 30 mins to an hour behind them. Found one roost that was pretty fresh in the snow - still enough scent the dog went on point - thats the one I guess I missed by 30 mins or so. Screwed up my ankle mid day on a hidden tree root or would have gotten shots on some at another place with some steep hills, however the foot wouldnt let me walk it. Had to stick to the flat lands and quail the rest of the day.


Next year it is on my list to hunt chickens at least twice during the early season, never chased them then, however have run the dog on em before. Guess if it's not too hot I'll do it. Hope the state opens up the lesser area again, have found plenty of those as well again in the right habitat. State and USFWS are going about this the wrong way but thats another topic.

(No my dog does not have a serious health issue - merely a freak accident when she was about a year old caused the turkey waddle looking thing, will probably cost more than a 1500 to 2000 or more to fix with the risk of making half her face paralyzed so I've left it alone https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/salivary-mucocele )

 
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Crossing shot said:
How do you tell a prairie chicken from a hen pheasant?
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Just takes seeing a good # of them. They fly completely different and have a different profile/body shape. They can kind of "flit" around and zig zag when initially taking off, flap their wings a bit, then glide or switch directions, then flap again. Way off in the distance you might confuse a flock for a flock of pigeons.

Used to take me a while, now I can tell instantaneously. Always look for the short tail and the feathers are a tell tale sign. Pheasant Hen is mottled so to speak, Chickens have the bars on the feathers. Sometimes they'll squawk a bit when they take off but usually they're silent or thats my impression anyways. Only have a split second to get on them and usually only one chance then they're off to only God knows where.

In the winter they're in their larger flocks so the initial flush can be like a covey of quail, however almost always there will be at least one if not 2-3 or more that are left behind. Those are the ones you'll get a shot at late season most times. I've got shots on the covey/flock rise at times but not often. Usually only if you catch them by surprise.

2 or three times in the evening I've flushed groups of 100 or more. One time it was too dark to shoot on the way back to the truck, another I watched my dogs point the flock successfully, then they went wild from all the scent and flushed the 10 or so singles that stayed behind after the main flock took off. If only I had a go-pro that day. The other - was mid morning - birds kind of had the perfect set up in a canyon and the dogs kept going nuts from all the scent. Had they behaved my buddy and I should have had a limit in couple quick minutes of shooting.


The lessers I'd usually find scattered out and in smaller groups. Largest flock was probably 50-100 or so I randomly saw while deer hunting, but the smaller groups/singles I'd always get into them while looking for pheasants in stubble. Pretty sure that big flock is still around, they have just enough native buffalo pasture and sand sage pasture to provide what they need in the area I've found them in. Know they were lessers as my buddy had shot a couple out of the bunch and has them mounted. Every time I had a chance their season was over when it'd end on 12-31. The distribution maps Michael Pearce in the Eagle has written about and what they have online aren't that accurate per my findings. I have photos of some I shot the maps will say a greater probably wont exist in, but they were certainly not lessers or I would have had them mounted.

The way the population surveys are done also seem pretty bogus as well, but another topic.
 
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Crossing shot said:
How do you tell a prairie chicken from a hen pheasant?
Click to expand...

They are pretty easy to tell apart. I saw them for the first time this year. My buddy got a really nice male. They fly totally different from anything else. When they are coasting and when they initially get up. I saw 2 different groups this weekend. 3 groups last weekend. Just couldnt get close enough to them. And the quail and pheasant kept distracting me! Like Husker said you have to designate a whole day to them if you want to get em. Or you have to get lucky!
 
One of the quickest ways I tell the difference is the noise coming off the ground. Hens will make a noise coming off of the ground, and chickens really don't. Eventually, it kinda just becomes a reaction.

Is there any way to tell a lesser from a greater coming off of the ground? I've never seen the lessers come off of the ground though. At least, that I knew of. :)
 
V-John said:
One of the quickest ways I tell the difference is the noise coming off the ground. Hens will make a noise coming off of the ground, and chickens really don't. Eventually, it kinda just becomes a reaction.

Is there any way to tell a lesser from a greater coming off of the ground? I've never seen the lessers come off of the ground though. At least, that I knew of. :)
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I think a Lesser appears more "white" and you see more of the prominent white barring/scaling to the feathers than the greater.


This document has some good photos side by side - think you'll see what I mean. If you're close to the lesser and the sun hits em just right when they take off the coloring stands out even more imo.

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-8624/L-421.pdf
 
Good looking setter.

I have hunted them in the early season with the dogs.
Its fun, but heat can be a problem.
 
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