Houston54
New member
Spent last week chasing birds through Kansas and thought I would share some information with those heading that way. One thing I will note is most of the roosters taken in years past were one year olds but this year we bagged 4 two year old birds.
Garfield/Larned area - better than last year but still not great. WIHA has good cover and some locations have cut milo next to it. Do not know if any birds are left in the WIHA as we were on private land. Most of the birds we got were taken from waterways or grass. Some from milo stubble. I actually stepped on a rooster in one waterway which then flushed and put down. Most crops are in at this time. Hen count is way down from last year which does not bode well for next year.
Garden City/Lakin area - only got to hunt this area for a couple of hours Wednesday on our way to Hugoton. Had to spend most of the day making alternative arrangements due to hitting a deer with the Suburban the night before. WIHA Northeast of Garden city had great cover but the only birds we saw were on private land we do not have access to. Around the Lakin area there was lots of cut corn but it too hard to hunt with only two people. Found a couple of birds in grass in the corners of a cut corn field but did not have time to hunt all the private land I have access to so I do not have an impression of the overall area. It has been good in the past. I may be covering this ground again in December if the weather permits.
Hugoton/Liberal area - by far the most productive area this year. The forecast did not paint this area as being great but it was wrong AGAIN. I have given up believing in the KS Upland forecast. WIHA is limited in this area but the plots we did drive by had thick cover and food sources close or next to them. These typically get a lot of pressure the first 2 weeks and we saw several groups working them Thursday. Private land was very productive. Grass again is the best option. Took 4 birds from cover next to a sunflower field. More quail was bumped this year also. Ran into some skunks this year and hopefully cleared them out but did not want to get too close to confirm the kills. However one dog decided to check it out and was treated to eudephew. Bumped up lots of hens which holds out promise of a good hatch for next year. Will be back in this area in December. Hunted Friday AM and got two roosters before temps got to 70 degrees. One group of hunters who stopped by while I was cleaning up mentioned they had seen one rattler. I then packed up and headed south to Houston.
Overall it was a good year. Better than last but not the best in memory.
Garfield/Larned area - better than last year but still not great. WIHA has good cover and some locations have cut milo next to it. Do not know if any birds are left in the WIHA as we were on private land. Most of the birds we got were taken from waterways or grass. Some from milo stubble. I actually stepped on a rooster in one waterway which then flushed and put down. Most crops are in at this time. Hen count is way down from last year which does not bode well for next year.
Garden City/Lakin area - only got to hunt this area for a couple of hours Wednesday on our way to Hugoton. Had to spend most of the day making alternative arrangements due to hitting a deer with the Suburban the night before. WIHA Northeast of Garden city had great cover but the only birds we saw were on private land we do not have access to. Around the Lakin area there was lots of cut corn but it too hard to hunt with only two people. Found a couple of birds in grass in the corners of a cut corn field but did not have time to hunt all the private land I have access to so I do not have an impression of the overall area. It has been good in the past. I may be covering this ground again in December if the weather permits.
Hugoton/Liberal area - by far the most productive area this year. The forecast did not paint this area as being great but it was wrong AGAIN. I have given up believing in the KS Upland forecast. WIHA is limited in this area but the plots we did drive by had thick cover and food sources close or next to them. These typically get a lot of pressure the first 2 weeks and we saw several groups working them Thursday. Private land was very productive. Grass again is the best option. Took 4 birds from cover next to a sunflower field. More quail was bumped this year also. Ran into some skunks this year and hopefully cleared them out but did not want to get too close to confirm the kills. However one dog decided to check it out and was treated to eudephew. Bumped up lots of hens which holds out promise of a good hatch for next year. Will be back in this area in December. Hunted Friday AM and got two roosters before temps got to 70 degrees. One group of hunters who stopped by while I was cleaning up mentioned they had seen one rattler. I then packed up and headed south to Houston.
Overall it was a good year. Better than last but not the best in memory.
