My 2nd central Kansas trip didn't go very good as a lot of my well thought out trips go! I had several private places marked from my last trip. The plan was to gain some permission and just use the WIHA's as fillers to get the dogs ran. Before my buddy had even got out of bed the 1st morning, I was 0 for 4 on the places I had marked because the owners lived far away and no phone numbers! Not to worry though because I had some of the best looking WIHA areas I had ever seen marked. 3 WIHA's and 6 miles of boot leather latter we had moved 4 hens and one covey with no shots fired. Then hit a good one. Moved probably 6-8 hens two roosters and a covey. One of the roosters, Pepper nailed with a good point. I killed it and my buddy killed a quail over a point. Had several points on the hens. So, 8 miles, one rooster and 1 quail. That evening we made the mistake of thinking that if we could just find another or two good WIHA's we'd be ok. Next day and multiple WIHA's later, and with just a few hen sightings to show for it. Pepper had one hell of a fight with the biggest coon I ever saw. I bailed in kicking and screaming until I had it broke up. All three of us were bleeding when it was over. Them from the fight and me from tripping and going down in some brush. Then got a couple hundred yards away and realized I lost my Garmin receiver! Finally found it where I went down. So that night a decision had to be made! Either pay to play or head 3 hrs. east where we had plenty of private ground, but pheasant numbers have been falling for a few years. That wasn't a very hard decision especially since my buddy forgot his wallet!! Then to add insult to injury, we looked at the weather and realized that the extended forecast had screwed us again. High winds and subzero temps headed our way. We discussed hunkering down and waiting it out which was fine as we're retarder/retired but then heard from our wives who said a blizzard was expected back home! So traveled east. Hunted what was once an excellent place. Saw 2 hens. Next day hunted our best place. Almost a full section of CRP. creek bottoms and shelter belts. Beans this year. Scenting conditions were poor. Dry and windy. If we were up wind, there were no points. But 4 coveys and 3 roosters later all was good. We only shot 4 quail but it sure was nice to see that places like that still exist. We saw multiple deer including one bruiser! Found a nice shed but was too far from the truck and it wouldn't fit in my vest! I have never in my life seen so much turkey sign in one area. They were getting up in the CRP. like pheasants. Pepper ended the day with several point and three opossum kills. Made it home last night with 5-8 inches expected today. Hope my tractor will start!
