Opening weekend reports

I hunted in south central Kansas. We had a good time, and took a youth hunting for the first time. So that was great. The bird numbers were down though. Not dramatically down, but definitely less birds than last year. We hunted mostly private with an hour on public mixed in.
 
hunted northeast/central area, only saw one covey and one pheasant in two days. mostly wiha with a little private. most I talked to said they were having similar results
 
SW of Dodge, saw a few. Grass very thick, first year without dogs. If your walking grass, dogs are a must, lost almost 1/4 of what we shot, and we been doing this a long time. I shot one this a.m., one of those rare moments, just happen to be looking the right direction, saw the bird bust, shot the bird, smoked him, I though. NEVER took my eye off the spot, another guy also marked him, nothing.
IF we have a another mild winter with the right rainfall next summer, it will be back like it used to be. Saw a ton of hens, probably 10, 12 hen for every rooster.
We also had some youngsters this year and was able to get them some shots. The youngest, 13 shot his first. What a great moment.
Look forward to reading others reports.
 
I hunted off of I70 just west of Junction City at 2 spots. One nothing, the second, saw 2 hens 2 roosters which popped way out of range.
 
South Central Kansas here, half days both days.

Saturday we shot 2 roosters and 8 quail. Saw 12 roosters, 14 hens, 3 decent coveys and the grass is ridiculously thick. Had one crazy landowner come out to yell at us thinking we were on her land, (which we weren't) and we had a shell blow up in a gun, breaking the gun apart. Fortunately, most of the blast went out of the barrel but the gun was damaged. One of our fields had been walked by law enforcement agents looking for a body on Thursday...a little bit unnerving.

Sunday- Shot two more roosters and five quail. By 10 a.m. it was so dry and the scenting conditions were so awful, I watched the dogs run by the covey of quail I could see. Saw 16 roosters (most with track shoes on), 24 hens and four big coveys. We cut it short after watching the dogs miss the quail but thoroughly enjoyed the time with the group.

One of our guys brought his dad who was visiting. The dad told me today the last time he had been bird hunting was before his son left home for college over a dozen years ago, so he was beyond pleased to have been included.
 
Northeast Kansas , mostly private some public , moved 5 coveys and saw about dozen pheasants . 5 quail and one rooster bagged .
 
Hunte NE Saturday morning. Was done at 0800 maybe a bit before with 4 roosters and 1 quail. All in the first field I hunted. Public ground. Shooting was not up to par. All very young birds. Not very old at all. Probably 70 percent of birds seen were hens.
 
Hunted NW. Hunting alone just the way I like it. LOTS of hunters this weekend. Some groups did well others not so great. I shot 3 opening morning then went on a missing spell. Today moved a little further north. Saw a few but didn't need a gun today.
 
Hunted in between Dodge and Garden. The cover in the usual places we walk was outstanding. We saw a lot of birds but didn't shoot quite as many as we usually do, and we had more people than ever. A lot of birds were spooky and got up wild, and I'm certain we walked past a lot of birds as well. All in all a good weekend and got to see a few big coveys, although we weren't allowed to shoot at them considering the size of our group. I'll stick to 2-3 guys from now on, 60 people walking a field can just be aggravating.
 
Central Kansas.

Down a little, maybe even a lot, from last year. Hard to tell with the odd weather we had. Super warm up until maybe Thursday night, which was pretty cold. Friday was even colder with a very heavy frost on the grass in the morning. I haven't had wet legs from just frost for several years. Also, the grass was crazy thick. We hunted a mix of public and private.

The wiha we targeted for opening morning was very popular. 1/2 section of thick grass. I think we shared it with 2, maybe three other groups. There were other groups that just drove right by without stopping.

Headed SW this weekend to hunt mostly private ground. I think it will be better.
 
Hunted NW. Saturday saw birds none bagged. All busted way out. Not great numbers either day. Wind shut us down for Saturday afternoon. Hunted til noon Sunday. Better luck with 4 roosters and 4 quail. Beautiful morning for hunting. It is very dry and the dogs had troubles. Birds flushed very wild.

The sand burs are terrible thick. Dogs pads are really sore.
 
Hunted southwest solo -- saw a lot of birds Saturday morning, but the dog work and bad shooting did us in. Younger dog was running way out in front and busted a bunch of birds early on. One flew right over my head, I turned 180 degrees and just flat missed. Another was a crossing shot that, though fairly long, I should have made. At one point she ran past a covey, they busted and she jumped up and turned her head like, 'What the heck was that!!'. At least it was funny to see. A little frustrating, but I have no one to blame but myself because I haven't put in the time with them. Colder would be better.
 
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Hunted central ks Saturday & Sunday. Started off in WIHA with a big group. Could hear tons of phez cackling in the uncut private milo across the street. No birds seen/bagged. Went to hunt another public spot, got into 1 big covey. 2 birds shot.

Was leaving and a farmer was coming down the road on a quad. Stopped so I wouldn't dust him out. He pulled up and could see the disappointment on my face as it was about 10 am and I had seen only 1 covey. To my amazement he said I own 3000 acres around here, I leave cover for the birds follow me I'll take you to a bunch. He wrote me written permission and led me to a field of uncut beans left fallow with weeds growing up everywhere. Needless to say it was loaded with birds. Only shot 1 rooster but saw 4 coveys in an hour. My pup got her first wild birds. Couldn't thank the farmer enough for his generosity. Stuff like that just doesn't happen these days.

Sunday I hunted public, scenting conditions must have been bad because my dog ran over 1 covey and 5-6 singles. Never even got birdy. Shot 1 bird and went home.

Ended up being a great weekend given the permission I got. Looking forward to going back sometime soon. Just got lucky!
 
Three of us hunted southwest Kansas over the weekend. We each bagged a bird apiece on Sat. Saw quite a few pheasants and alot of quail up next to farm houses were quail were off limits. Pheasants were a little spooky. It didn't help that my dog was wanting to get out on the edge of range. His collar was cutting out above the third level and one of the guys with us is 73 and has kinda a little bit of his step since last year. About 10 Sat. morning I decided it was best if I hunted my dog at heal.
Sun. morning we hunted until about 10 no birds bagged and very few seen. After a late breakfast the other 2 guys headed home. I went back out a little bit in the afternoon and managed to take 3 along a sand berm that we had skipped on Sat. Hit 3 walk in areas on the drive home. 3 covey in an overgrown old farm stead in the last patch close to sundown. With a overheated dog I thought it best to pass on them rather than risk losing half in the heavy cover.
 
Talked to a buddy who had a group who went out west towards Russell. Shot 1 bird. Pretty pathetic from what he said.
 
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