Missouri Opener

S

smizell

Member
Anyone hitting the Missouri opener? I will be heady up to Bilby with a few buddies if anyone wants to hook up.
 
mo hunting

i might i will have to ask a few friends that are going with me the thing about bilby is so crowded opening day kind of scarey!
 
We usually try to get there early and hike to the middle. I just seems like we have the best luck there looking for quail and pheasant. I dont hunt Missouri as much as I used to; I sure like Kansas now.
 
mo

I used to hunt mo all the time i grew up there but your right ks is the only way to go are you hunting all public?What kind of dogs do you use?
 
I have two shorthairs that I run. I mostly hunt public land. I only hunt public land in Kansas as I have no connections there. We mostly hunt out near Lincoln and Sylvan Grove. I had a chance to hunt with Kansas Brittany last season, but couldnt make it work out. I would love to hook up with someone and hunt some private land this year.
 
I will be out in Missouri on the opener, been that way for 25 years. I have a friend that has property by St. Joe and normally is very good for both pheasants and quail. Last year was the worst year out of the 25. Saw very few if any birds when we went. I hope they come back this year, I have not seen the forecast yet as MDC has not put one out yet. I too hunt near Silvan Grove and Lucas. Do you stay at the Post Rock Hotel?

Zeepo
 
I have not seen a forecast for this year yet either. I am hoping that it will be improved over last year. Although the more I figure out Bilby the better we do there. I don't think we were ever skunked up there last year. I do stay at the Post Rock in Lincoln. The Post Rock was full for opening weekend so I got a room in Ellsworth. I have never stayed there before but I guess I will give it a try. Another option is there is supposed to be a guy that has land and a old farmhouse just west of Sylvan Grove. He charges 50 dollars per person per day and that gets you on his private land to hunt plus pays for you to stay in his farm house. This sounds like a good deal but I would like to see the land first.
 
I have looked at his place and it looks pretty good. The one we looked was south of Lucas 3 miles and 2 miles east. Another spot you may want to look into is Lovin hunten lodge in Sylvan Grove, Marc and Collen Lovin 785-525-6366. Real nice people. Go to Lindas in Lucas coldest beer in KS.

Zeepo
 
Thanks for the advice man. If you ever want to walk a field or two together let me know I would definately be interested.
 
That area can be really good its to bad I quit hunting that area as much a couple of years ago. My main farmer put all his land in walk in and my other farmer leased his land to a oil field company. I still have contacts in the area but we hunt further west now. The quail population in that area really took a hit about 6 years ago. Its was great until then and even last year we hunted it one day we didnt see any quail. If you need help in that area let me know I should be able to point you in the right direction. Have you tried Nodaway Valley in MO? Its managed for ducks but you used to be able to upland hunt there also, have done well there as well as Bob Brown.

Gary
 
Hey guys, new to Missouri hunting even though I live here, always hunt WIHA's in Kansas and do alright. A contractor I use called me Friday wanting to go to Bilby. Said they've gone there for years and always seen at least a few birds. Any ideas on how many a guy will see? We'll have one decent shorthair, and a house-dog lab that is unproven.

How crowded will it be? I've hunted Talbot for doves on opening day, pretty much had to take a number to be able to have a spot in the field, not my idea of great fun, but it beats sitting on the couch right?
 
It will be crowded but not so bad that you may not feel safe. Try Nodaway Valley or Bob Brown I always did well there.

Zeepo
 
There will be people there for sure, alot of them make one big cast and leave. I get there an hour or so before sunrise and try to walk to the middle. Not alot of people want to put in the effort it takes to get birds there. I run two shorthairs, and usually have a good chance at getting my two roosters, if I am shooting decent. I usually always see at least a covey or two of quail also. It is a big big place so dont be afraid to walk a little. There are plenty of ponds to keep the dogs watered all day also.
 
Takeld to the biologist from St. Joe and he told me that the spring rains hurt the June hatch but they were seeing a lot of young birds in the last month for both pheasant and quail. So he thought that it would be better than last year but still below average. For the guys who do not want to go to Bilby, Pony Express can be a good hunt.

Zeepo
 
pony

tell me about pony did you see lots of birds?Seems liuke years ago i hunted some public up around bethany east and got a covey of birds there locals said there are pheasnts there to but i never seen any.
 
Saw lots of birds, both pheasants and quail, if you go hunt up by the buffalo lake area more pheasants in that area. All the areas hold quail and in good numbers. What I did was to hunt the thickest area I could find. Its a nice area to hunt and I manly hunted during the week but saw very few hunters. By Bethany I hunted Lea Seat area and saw plenty of birds.

Zeepo
 
The Seat area is my second favorite place to hunt in Northern Missouri as well. I am glad to hear some info about Pony; I have always wanted to go there. People always tell me that it gets slammed because it is so close to KC and St Joe.
 
I found it not too bad but again I hunted during the week. If I had one spot to hunt it would be Nodaway Valley, very people hunt it and it has some good hunting. Its set up more for waterfowl.

Zeepo
 
I have never been to Nodawy. Do they let people hunt upland birds there during duck season? At some of our waterfowl ares down south of here they dont let you hunt upland birds during duck season. I would also have to assume that you need to use steel shot.
 
You need to call the office up there as I have not hunted it in 3 years. From what I remeber is the waterfowl guys had to be out by noon and then you could upland game after that but like I said call and make sure. Yes steel shot only, but they do have the birds because the habitat is great. It was dryer when we went but we would hunt these slough islands and they were packed in them. we took limits of pheasants almost everytime we went. Just dont have the time to hunt much in MO anymore.

zeepo
 
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