NC Hunt Report

Fenway

Fenway

Member
Just got back from a Wed.-Sat. hunt, but really 3 full days because we arrived on Wed. and left on Sat. noon. We almost didn't go because of the snow, the farmer called Sun. said the many of the roads were still closed, but the weather forecast was for a warm up so we decide to go, with the reports on the lack of birds we wondered if we would see any birds. The weather was great 20s at night 40 during the day lots of sun so the snow was melting fast so in most spots the walking was OK crusty in the morning and muddy in the afternoon which was tough on the dogs feet. We did see a fair amount of birds, they were very spooky and ran instead of holding which is what I expected at this time of year. The first day or two we got had good luck in Milo stubble, but the last two they seemed to just run or flush out of range. We did find a couple of CRP fields with good cover and the roosters held better and we took a couple but we didn't see as many in the CRP as I expected. The melting snow made the roads a disaster after about 10 so our travel was limited so we had to stick with several spots we'd seen birds instead of trying more areas, so that was a trade off for the nice weather. It was just 2 of us and one dog so the big fields were a challenge to get the bird flushed in range and unfortunately allot of the draws and scrub areas which would be good for a couple of hunters and a dog were under water or full of snow, so we had to stick to larger fields.
100_1427Kan.jpg
This was my Son in laws first hunt so I let him do as much of the shooting possible and he had some hits and misses, but we did get some birds and we did see enough to keep us busy. The dog got lots of work and is beat up and resting, we did see only one covey of Quail which was a disappointment. Lots of walking and mud, I didn't see the birds I see in the Dakotas but there not open now. My SIL had a great time as did I, and I think I'll be back next year, but earlier. P.S. we didn't see another hunter we did hear some shooting sat.
100_1425Kansas.jpg
 
Last edited:
Three of us hunted west and south and found the roads to be better than what your picture shows. We had to be watchful because we would be driving down a perfectly fine road and then you would come up to a spot with an extremely high water table and there would be an almost unpassable mud bog blocking the road. The roads that are not passable now will probably not be passable again for many weeks to come.

The crusted ice in the fields in the early morning made it impossible to sneak up on the birds but the snow was almost gone except for the drifts on the north and west sides of the fields and in the north facing ditches.

The birds were inconsistent and very quirky. We had hunted after the big snow two weeks prior to this weekend and in areas where we found 100s of birds then, we now found 10 to 15. It was almost as if they had spread back out instead of remaining bunched for the remainder of the winter. Amazingly there is still standing corn and milo in certain areas and the birds were obviously centering in on those few remaining areas of standing crop.

We hunted ground in five different counties and in my estimation covered at least 8 miles on foot per day. We shot 12 pheasants on Friday and found 11 of them. We shot 13 on Saturday and found 11. We shot 6 on Sunday and found 5. I think we also shot somewhere between 3 to 5 quail every day. I hate losing birds and I believe all the standing water out in the fields negatively impacted our dogs ability to track the wounded birds. Then again some of those late season birds are simply flying around with armour plating.

The warm weather was intoxicating and the people of Kansas were extremely hospitable as usual. To sum it all up we had excellent dog work, the opportunity for a limit of birds the first two days, and we didn't get stuck. It was a heavenly glimpse.

Good luck to everyone over the remaining two weeks of the season.:cheers:
 
Awesome reports guys!! Congrats on some pretty decent late season hunting. It was very nice being out. You all certainly saw a lot more birds than I did this weekend.
 
Its nice to get out and at least enjoy some warmer weather and even get the chance to kill some birds.

You should ditch those AT tires and get something with a little more open tread design that self cleans. I ran the AT street type tires on my truck until they were shot then put on some goodyear tires with big open cleats and my gosh what a difference. I hardly ever put it in 4wd now. Those tire tracks next to yours look like mine! LOL
 
duckn66 said:
Its nice to get out and at least enjoy some warmer weather and even get the chance to kill some birds.

You should ditch those AT tires and get something with a little more open tread design that self cleans. I ran the AT street type tires on my truck until they were shot then put on some goodyear tires with big open cleats and my gosh what a difference. I hardly ever put it in 4wd now. Those tire tracks next to yours look like mine! LOL
Click to expand...

Surprisingly I don't drive in mud very often,but they are good in WI snow and ice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top