NW Pointers

F

FlyLow

New member
Last year was my first year hunting Kansas. There were 3 of us with 2 dogs and we ended up getting 9 Roosters and 12 quail based out of the Hays area during Thanksgiving. It was a great time! This year we are going to be based in the NW area and have been trying to put together a plan. I am worried as we will be starting on opening weekend. I would have rather postponed a bit, but due to work schedules and family obligations that is about the only time we could all make it work.

Being from out of state (Utah), it is hard to know what to expect without being there. I am mainly worried about the crowds opening week. Can you tell me what to expect. I have actually kicked around the idea of purchasing a NE license and hunting there for the first couple of days but would rather not if it is not needed. We will be hunting public ground unless we can get lucky by knocking on doors. Thanks for any advice you can give!
 
It’ll be pretty busy on WIHAs. I’ve done it many times on opening weekend and usually do alright. We have some private to hunt this year so that should help. Not sure how far you’re going but I have never hunted up in that area. I am making assumptions based on my experiences in SW and west of Hays where we always hunted in past.
 
What are you considering as NWKS? I might be able to answer some questions.
 
I've not hunted NWKS, just further south and east. The other parts of Kansas I have hunted on opening morning, if you get to WIHA's an hour or so before first light, odds are there will already be trucks there. Many split their trucks to park one at every corner of the field to show that they are there and waiting. Pretty much after the first field of the morning, you'll be hunting a field that somebody else has already hunted. I know all this, and I still go every year.
 
The experiences shared so far are very consistent with mine. For a couple years we started on a half section of WIHA on opening morning. One year we shared it with three other groups. Being a half section, it was big enough to share as long as we knew the other groups were there. This was central Kansas, not NW

I don't think you'll have to face this issue on Monday or further into the week, but that's only a guess.
 
3 or 4 years after wiha first started there was a field over by Burton that had a lot of birds in it. Opening weekend I had a couple of my friends drive separate. Like you say by shooting time I bet there 30 other people in it with us.We still managed a half a dozen birds in a pass up and back. The only other time I've hunted high traffic wiha on opening day was south of I 70 and the same experience you described,,, first field to yourself and then the rest of the day hunting fields people had already been in.
 
cheesy said:
I've not hunted NWKS, just further south and east. The other parts of Kansas I have hunted on opening morning, if you get to WIHA's an hour or so before first light, odds are there will already be trucks there. Many split their trucks to park one at every corner of the field to show that they are there and waiting. Pretty much after the first field of the morning, you'll be hunting a field that somebody else has already hunted. I know all this, and I still go every year.
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This, all of this, you need to scout and have options 1-4 in close proximity to each other picked out. Birds are really tough the days following opening day, but there are birds to be found...
 
I have seen tons and I have seen almost none on opening weekend. One thing that I can say is that the hunters in Kansas have always been polite. They have always let you have a field if you were the first one there. I can't say the same for other states I have hunted in.
 
FlyLow said:
I have actually kicked around the idea of purchasing a NE license and hunting there for the first couple of days but would rather not if it is not needed. Thanks for any advice you can give!
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I hunted the NE opener. Stayed in Alma and hunted all public west of there to Beaver City. Not many birds.
 
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FlyLow said:
Thanks for the responses everyone. I appreciate it.
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going to skip the opener, for obvious reasons, and go after TG, when, finally, most of the corn/milo/hunters will be out of the fields.
the birds that don't end up in the freezers, will be staying in uncut fields during the day after Sat/Sun...yes, i will see less birds, but i will gladly deal with that.......
 
hunter94 said:
when, finally, most of the corn/milo/hunters will be out of the fields.
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Uncut milo and corn seem to vacuum up the pheasants.
 
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