KPWD Bird Forcast Spin

Well then, looks like I'll be that guy out there with his dog hunting til the bitter end! Looks like we'll have to work a little harder this year. Hopefully lower bird numbers will drive the cock blockers to the preserve tower shoots where they belong.
 
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Well, if SW Kansas looks like the Oklahoma panhandle, there won't be a problem of not being any birds. There will be no cover to hunt. As I drove through the panhandle two weeks ago, I saw VERY little huntable cover. I saw one hen pheasant in over 500 miles and saw that bird while dove hunting near a windmill. I can imagine that the Liberal area looked real similar to the Guymon area.

If I were invited to hunt this area and someone drove me, I would pass it up this year. That is how bad it looks from a habitat standpoint. I didn't see any tall grasses (what we all call CRP). Even most of the irrigation ditches were just a few inches deep. I hate to be a pessimest, but it IS that bad this year.

My parents drove to Colorado on I-70 in August. Dad said that part of KS didn't look too bad.
 
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KansasGsp said:
I'd like to know how many of you are changing your opening day plans because of the bird forecast??? I've been hunting opening weekend in Southwest Kansas ever since I started hunting with my same group of buddies I work with. One of them asked me the other day if we should try somewhere different this year opening weekend and my reply was hell no, she's been good to us for a long time now and I'm not going to turn my back on her in down times, or something along those lines. Granted we may not limit out, but it's not so much about that any more. It's a tradition!
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It will be a normal opener for our group. We as die hard hunters have to be the ones on years like this to keep the traditions alive. I wish the bird situtation was better but that is why the call it hunting. I am going to do something different this year. I am going to explore areas of the state I have never hunted before with my youngest stepson and gaggle of dogs. He had the bad luck of missing a buck Sunday and now going into his 1st opener without too much to shoot, but he is still excited like I am just to go!

Kick'em up!
 
HighBrass68 said:
Kansas,

Great point and question!

As a traveling bird hunter, I look forward to the upland forecast each year.
It is always a good read and I take it for what it is.....general surveys of broad areas of land....mixed w/ weather conditions and habitat gains or losses.

Since I have access to many great farms thru-out Kansas, I am fortunate. If bird numbers are way down.....like quail have been (for past 5 years) in south east ks....I just move on to other areas, where I have access.

I make calls and send emails to my friends / landowner contacts and use their reports as my barometer.

As the small game coordinator, I would keep in mind that several players are involved and must be kept satisfied....ie farmers, hunters (local and non-res) and local business owners / workers in the small towns thru-out the state that so depend on the influx of money we hunters bring to their economies.

Keeping those factors in mind, I would publish the departments findings in that vain...

If an area looks to be great....then that goes to print. If an area looks to be down....same.

Some gloss must be added as the department is also part of the state tourism and must compete w/ other states for hunting dollars.
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S.O.B. What a great respond! your a class act H.B.

Dan Rodriguez
High Tail Setter Gun Dogs
Elizabeth, Co.
 
akp said:
Well, if SW Kansas looks like the Oklahoma panhandle, there won't be a problem of not being any birds. There will be no cover to hunt. As I drove through the panhandle two weeks ago, I saw VERY little huntable cover. I saw one hen pheasant in over 500 miles and saw that bird while dove hunting near a windmill. I can imagine that the Liberal area looked real similar to the Guymon area.

If I were invited to hunt this area and someone drove me, I would pass it up this year. That is how bad it looks from a habitat standpoint. I didn't see any tall grasses (what we all call CRP). Even most of the irrigation ditches were just a few inches deep. I hate to be a pessimest, but it IS that bad this year.
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EVERY word is TRUE, the Liberal area looks just like Oklahoma. I saw one rooster near Guymon and that was it. I was there recently and drove even more than the 500 miles you did. I will hunt the KS opener due to tradition but will move north after a short period when the depression sets in. Now that I am unemployed I think I will go to SD for the opener next month. Heck, what a bad break.
 
M. R. Byrd said:
That's mighty kind of you partner!;)
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You and the folks in and around Dodge are most welcome. I know and understand how much small towns rely on hunting seasons for revenue.

I will visit Angie's place, The Bad Habit and have me a good ole Dodge City ribeye:cheers::10sign: and beer.

Manyard, I really hope y'all get some moisture this fall.

Maybe one day we can meet up. Take care and god bless,

Greg
 
odd they haven't published it yet. When we were going every year, it seems like it was always published by this time. Years ago, they had it out in early Sept.
 
I always read it. Not sure why. Talking to the farmers gives us a much better idea of how the hunting will be each year. I'm going to miss the KS opener for only the third time since I was 12 years old (I'm 44 now). It is dad's weekend at my oldest son's fraternity that weekend, so I'll be in Lawrence with him. Otherwise, I'd be out there birds or no birds because it's a tradition. We always hunt Norton for the opener. Have had some pretty lean years when people in other parts of the state were having great success. The temptation was there to do something different, but the sense of tradition has always prevailed. I'll be out there chasing roosters. May be the last hoorah for my 12 year old lab, so hopefully I'll get her into a few birds.
 
Dad, 2 friends, myself, 1 GSP and 3 labs will be there.

Hold the tradition, be there or be square. :cheers:
 
Who knows, it might be a year that a guy could get plenty of permission to hunt private ground----farmer thinking to himself, "I know there are absolutely no pheasants in that field, so why not let these guys have some healthy exercise? They sure won't hurt the bird population."

It will be a sabbatical year at the Ponderosa and let nature try to heal itself. Twenty-five years ago, I had a sabbatical that lasted three years, before the numbers were at a huntable level. I hope to rebound quicker this time, but who knows the future?
 
I read that there are "undead" zombie roosters from last year that are blood thirsty for all out-of-stater's. I'd be careful! :D
 
About the report; I'm glad I chose this season to visit SD again. There will be paths worn in the WIHA grass in NW and NC KS. KDWP didn't hold back. They could'a summed up that SW regional report with, "Gents, we hate to tell ya, but bird #'s suck bad and the dirt is gonna blow like hell."

You guys think they revised it b/c someone affiliated with them has read your complaints? I doubt it. I do appreciate their honesty though. Though few will appreciate my confessing this, I'm glad some of the pheasant interest will shift to other states. Our state was excessively popular last season.
 
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