NE Kansas Report

KsHusker said:
I know personally I dont want to take many birds out of one covey if its smaller in size. There are some coveys I used to hunt near Holomb that would hold 30-50 birds consistently and they were smart as hell! Hence their high #'s so I didnt feel bad chasing them around a bit more. They normally just gave me fits and Id only end up with 1-4 before they all vanished. I dont think Ive ever come across a covey as smart as the large 50 bird one Id always see. Theyd run like pheasants, scatter in all directions, hold so tight youd have to step on one before theyd fly and employ all sorts of tactics. It always made for a fun hunt. Quail hunting will always be my first love but pheasants help to take the place for the time being.
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I've seen large coveys behave in the same manor you're describing. Most folks think you're crazy when you say there were more than 30 birds in one covey. I always responded, "Well then, there must be 2 b/c I know what a 15-20 bird covey looks like".

Also, I find it interesting that a few of you have stated you're quail hunters first and "use" pheasants to "get by". I've always felt the same way. My ideal section of property would have about 15 coveys of quail on it and would provide me the opportuntiy to harvest about 6 roosters/year. Quail hunting is #1 in my book. I've just taken to pheasants so the dogs feel like they're out there for a reason other than exercise.
 
oldandnew said:
Hunted a serious cross section of NE Kansas yesterday, from Fairview all the way to Seneca, and north and south of 36. I have never seen it like this. Zero bird contact! had 3 experienced dogs down, scenting conditions good with lots of ground moisture, cover heavy, and bordered by corn, or milo. Not a feather! Hunted private ground and a little walkin area that has always produced. Message clear, Go West, and probably south west, as reports from NC Kansas and SC Nebraska are not up to snuff either. May take a few years to recover. Looks like it's going to take some serious driving time this year.
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As a famous American said, "Go west, young man. Go west."
 
I guess that I'm trying to state to the board to try and not be so quick to throw their "ethics" or their "ways" to the top of their post just because they don't agree with a statement or photograph. There will never be a post where 100% of the board agrees and that's fine, that's life! Members, as a whole, need to slow down their quick finger pointing and slow down judging on what "should've happened" or what "I would've done different". That is the beauty of this forum though, and yes that is what this forum or any other forum is about, discussion and sharing ideas. We all agree to disagree, that's great, fine, perfect, I've just been noticing a trend growing across alot of threads that have people lashing out against others(against UPH policy) and it's time for it to stop. I'm not pointing any fingers, and I'm posting this here since it seems the Kansas thread gets a whole lot more traffic than any other. Let's just remember that not everyone was lucky enough to be raised in a family that hunted or fished or did any outdoor activities. Alot of people that are members of this forum are self taught outdoorsmen! We should try to encourage, not make people discouraged, to share things with the group.
 
today i hunted about 2 miles west of where labaholic was, took the pup out, she did pretty well, ended up shooting 1 bird out of a really good covey of birds, then shot 2 singles and called it a day, it was about 2 after the last single. got outta there to let them covey back up before the evening. how long does it take birds to covey back up? i usually dont hunt but up till about noon or 1 because in ne ks birds arnt doing so hot, and i would hate for them to not be able to covey back and freeze to death.
 
I had a pen raised quail loose in my garage and it took me 3 DAYS! to catch it. That sucker would get lost in all my junk and I would never see it again!
 
kscountryboy11 said:
today i hunted about 2 miles west of where labaholic was, took the pup out, she did pretty well, ended up shooting 1 bird out of a really good covey of birds, then shot 2 singles and called it a day, it was about 2 after the last single. got outta there to let them covey back up before the evening. how long does it take birds to covey back up? i usually dont hunt but up till about noon or 1 because in ne ks birds arnt doing so hot, and i would hate for them to not be able to covey back and freeze to death.
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Thats a good question, I did a couple quick google searches and couldnt come up with anything. Ive heard them calling sometimes no sooner than 10 minutes after Ive flushed them. Honestly thats how a couple times Ive found a single...ha! I would definitely be interested in the answer.

Im sure theres some studies that were done out there that would give you an idea. Im also assuming (you know what they say about that) that the birds would have the instinct to know if they need to covey back up right away or not depending on the weather conditions? Ive bumped them in the evenings, or near dark when Im out chasing pheasants or heading back to the truck and it seems that when they take off they stay pretty bunched up so im assuming again that they land in pretty close proximity to each other and it wouldnt take much time at all to get the group back together. Those are my field observations anyways.

The two I bumped near dark on Saturday behaved in that way, though I was not able to see them land, it appeared with as close as a formation they were flying in they were going to pretty much stay together.
 
Speaking of large coveys,whats the largest covey that you guys have seen?
I know that time expands size,just ask my wife,but to your best memory,without bs.
One time waaay back,my buddy and I got out of the truck,dropped the dogs walk 50 feet to a hedge row with both sides weedy as hell,good farmer,first dog locked up facing north,second dog locked up facing east,thought that was an odd honer,then all hell broke loose.Not really sure how many birds got up,but you guys who have hunted quail know this,they just kept getting up. I know for a fact that quail keep getting up in waves of 6-10 for 30 seconds,must of been 60-75 birds.Must of been 2 coveys.
Now,back in my day,I was a pretty good shot.Been known to triple on the rise.This day,I couldn't hit the barn with a hand full of bb's.I unloaded the 1100,reloaded 3 shells,shot them,then drop several shells onto the ground.
Didn't drop a feather.My buddy shot 4,and boy did I catch hell from him for a long time.
The really sad thing about it,all those birds flew into the dumps,on someone elses property,so we couldn't even hunt the singles.

Those days are long gone.....
 
Covey Up

The old chestnut rule of thumb was 1 hour before dark. As it gets later in the day they get more desperate and start calling almost immediately. I sleep comfortable if we give them an hour before dark to grab a snack and covey up.
 
i have heard the rule of 1 hour before dark before. just wasnt real what everyone else thought.
 
Depends on the weather, if it's warm we will hunt them up till around 3pm. If it's cold out and snowy or icy we quit sometime around noon, unless we kick up a single.
 
kiotehntr said:
I guess that I'm trying to state to the board to try and not be so quick to throw their "ethics" or their "ways" to the top of their post just because they don't agree with a statement or photograph. There will never be a post where 100% of the board agrees and that's fine, that's life! Members, as a whole, need to slow down their quick finger pointing and slow down judging on what "should've happened" or what "I would've done different". That is the beauty of this forum though, and yes that is what this forum or any other forum is about, discussion and sharing ideas. We all agree to disagree, that's great, fine, perfect, I've just been noticing a trend growing across alot of threads that have people lashing out against others(against UPH policy) and it's time for it to stop. I'm not pointing any fingers, and I'm posting this here since it seems the Kansas thread gets a whole lot more traffic than any other. Let's just remember that not everyone was lucky enough to be raised in a family that hunted or fished or did any outdoor activities. Alot of people that are members of this forum are self taught outdoorsmen! We should try to encourage, not make people discouraged, to share things with the group.
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I would have to respectfully disagree, I don't feel anyone jumped down his throat, or were over judgmental, the first poster maybe could have been a tad more diplomatic, but overall I thought the guys were polite and informative, in pining for the old days maybe. I for one know very little about Quail and learned a few things I will remember when I come down to hunt in Jan. We only say one covey Last year and it was about 8-10 birds with what I read here I won't even shoot at a small covey next time, we missed anyways. I don't think it hurts to pass on some of the rules even the unwritten rules to the younger guys, its up them to decide if they follow them or not, oldandnew even said he probably didn't even know it might not be a great idea to shot so many. We have unwritten rules up here on Grouse and W/C that I might follow but other guys might not but it doesn't hurt to enlighten them, of course politely though.
 
Fenway said:
I would have to respectfully disagree, I don't feel anyone jumped down his throat, or were over judgmental, the first poster maybe could have been a tad more diplomatic, but overall I thought the guys were polite and informative, in pining for the old days maybe. I for one know very little about Quail and learned a few things I will remember when I come down to hunt in Jan. We only say one covey Last year and it was about 8-10 birds with what I read here I won't even shoot at a small covey next time, we missed anyways. I don't think it hurts to pass on some of the rules even the unwritten rules to the younger guys, its up them to decide if they follow them or not, oldandnew even said he probably didn't even know it might not be a great idea to shot so many. We have unwritten rules up here on Grouse and W/C that I might follow but other guys might not but it doesn't hurt to enlighten them, of course politely though.
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And that's great that you respectfully disagree, but, did you read my whole post that you quoted? I used this thread as an example. I stated that over the board as a whole I've been noticing a trend about the members own "ethics" are thrown out like they're the best and nothing else matters! I also stated that I'm using the sub-category Kansas to post this due to it getting so much more traffic than any other thread really. Personally, if I was new to a forum and posted some pictures and told of my success and immediately got flamed and bashed, I'd delete my account and never come back. As a Moderator it's my duty to ensure stability on the board, hence my post. You mention passing on "rules" even unwritten rules down.....What rules am I supposed to follow? The only rules that I need to follow are handed down from the KDWP. I'm sure that people think that I'm being unethical but that's fine. I've hunted with a few of the members and they can tell you otherwise! I've already stated the times that I quit hunting quail to help them out. The whole reasoning behind my original post was to enlighten the board on what was potentionally becoming an issue and to try to nip it before it continued!
 
I just got back from a buddy's house, who hunted up that way with his uncle and one of his friends last weekend. They started hunting around Oskaloosa, and continued hunting public land West to just past Seneca. They didn't see a thing.

I was up there I believe two years ago, when there was a serious ice storm, and I mean serious. I seen a telephone pole cracked in half, it was that bad. I'm going to assume the entire wildlife population is still recovering from that one.

And to digress to the quail covey theory, I honestly have no idea. I've heard them call while in earshot of a busted covey, at different periods of the day. Other times, I've heard nothing.

As a rule-of-thumb... I like to quit hunting quail, and pheasant around 2 o'clock. This gives both species time to find cover for the evening. Not only does this help them fend off the cold weather, but calling to each other at dusk is like ringing the dinner bell for bobcats, and coyotes.
 
-Wildcat- said:
I just got back from a buddy's house, who hunted up that way with his uncle and one of his friends last weekend. They started hunting around Oskaloosa, and continued hunting public land West to just past Seneca. They didn't see a thing.

I was up there I believe two years ago, when there was a serious ice storm, and I mean serious. I seen a telephone pole cracked in half, it was that bad. I'm going to assume the entire wildlife population is still recovering from that one.

And to digress to the quail covey theory, I honestly have no idea. I've heard them call while in earshot of a busted covey, at different periods of the day. Other times, I've heard nothing.

As a rule-of-thumb... I like to quit hunting quail, and pheasant around 2 o'clock. This gives both species time to find cover for the evening. Not only does this help them fend off the cold weather, but calling to each other at dusk is like ringing the dinner bell for bobcats, and coyotes.
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i live just south of oskaloosa, we have had extremly bad winter for the past couple of years, really bad ice storm about 2 years ago, and were were blanketed with nearly 2 feet of snow for around 2 straight months last year, not easy for quail to survive that. i have still been seeing a few coveys here and there tho, not like when i was little tho.
 
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