mid January quail/pheasant hunt to north central Ks. ( staying in Lucas ). Bringing 3 Brittany's and a Lab.

Prepare to be either frustrated or wowed. There seems to be no in between in Kansas. It is very spotty. Nothing seems to be “pretty good” bird hunting wise. It’s either great or abysmal, and there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason.
 
I know of a couple of groups of guys who have been going for sometime with generally good to really good results. That said all we can do is scout and put in miles behind the dogs ! FYI hear in VA. quail and grouse are essentially "ghost" birds ... so just about any success is appreciated.
 
s.davis said:
Prepare to be either frustrated or wowed. There seems to be no in between in Kansas. It is very spotty. Nothing seems to be “pretty good” bird hunting wise. It’s either great or abysmal, and there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason.
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The rhyme or reason is "modern" farming which is destroying our environment/habitat and mother nature. Thank the Chemical and Seed companies which have through brain washing, money/purchasing legislation and sheer size/might have managed to throw our ecosystems into turmoil.
 
birddogs4evr said:
This will be our first trip to Ks. , any info or advise would be much appreciated...
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Welcome - just be prepared to move around - follow the weather for the area you plan on going to - pay attention to any hail storms, flooding, drought, untimely rains etc between now and when you show up - hunting could be good could be horrible and you need to move 1 hr or 3 hrs away or even 5 miles.

Mother nature is responsible for some of the bird spottiness, but the biggest culprit is lack of habitat - go where the habitat is and you'll find them good year or bad - just depends on how many you'll see.
 
Agree with Sdavis, hunted Kansas for the first time this last year and had whooozer days and really boring days. It's hunting, move around a lot and don't expect a tailgate picture of limits every day. Just like any other state now. The good news is that there are a lot of places to walk
 
January is tough, pheasants especially are wild as hell, many have moved off WIHA's and are holed up on private ground.
door knocking takes time, but if you can get on private ground you should be much better off....
there are birds on walk in ground, weather could help, birds will be running hard.
 
KsHusker said:
Welcome - just be prepared to move around - follow the weather for the area you plan on going to - pay attention to any hail storms, flooding, drought, untimely rains etc between now and when you show up - hunting could be good could be horrible and you need to move 1 hr or 3 hrs away or even 5 miles.

Mother nature is responsible for some of the bird spottiness, but the biggest culprit is lack of habitat - go where the habitat is and you'll find them good year or bad - just depends on how many you'll see.
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Thanks ! We plan to be mobile, game plan is to be in 2 trucks so we can cover more ground ( both scouting and hunting ) . As I said earlier our option in Va. are so poor ( preserve only ) really any birds @ all will be considered successful.
 
Alaskan swamp collies said:
Agree with Sdavis, hunted Kansas for the first time this last year and had whooozer days and really boring days. It's hunting, move around a lot and don't expect a tailgate picture of limits every day. Just like any other state now. The good news is that there are a lot of places to walk
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We are really looking forward to the walk in areas , Va. has no such program. We'll make the best of it either way . A day following a birddog followed by a good meal and a Bourbon or two is hard to beat !
 
birddogs4evr said:
This will be our first trip to Ks. , any info or advise would be much appreciated...
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If you don’t already have lodging, you might want to consider one of the cabins at Wilson State Park. It’s a short drive from Lucas. I did the season before last and really enjoyed it.
 
Nothing improves pheasant hunting like a recent fall of snow.
 
Nick said:
If you don’t already have lodging, you might want to consider one of the cabins at Wilson State Park. It’s a short drive from Lucas. I did the season before last and really enjoyed it.
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We checked into those cabins but settled on a house in Lucas. The dogs are spoiled , they want their own bedroom and a full kitchen. We plan to work them hard so they'll earn it !😁
 
birddogs4evr said:
In general or just birds ?
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Birds ,It was sarcasm. But I wouldn't lock down lodgeing in one place for more than a couple of days. Because you might end wanting to move. Lodging is easier to find than birds if they aren't there. Hot spotting, out of state pressure has been pretty steady on the quail the last 4 or 5 years
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
Birds ,It was sarcasm. But I wouldn't lock down lodgeing in one place for more than a couple of days. Because you might end wanting to move. Lodging is easier to find than birds if they aren't there. Hot spotting, out of state pressure has been pretty steady on the quail the last 4 or 5 years
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I figured ( sarcasm ) given the state of this Country I had to ask though ! We plan to be in 2 trucks so we can scout/ hunt more ground to locate birds. Being from Va. ( no wild birds ) we aren't nessasarily looking for limits just enough to keep the dogs in the game.
 
You have the right attitude for an enjoyable trip.
 
Bd4evr, thats a pretty long drive to Lucas. But it can be a fun trip, my Britt and I head to Kansas from Va. each year. Access is so much easier than trying to find birds in Va.
 
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