I am from Florida and have been pheasant hunting in South Dakota for the past few years and absolutely love it, but I am curious how pheasant hunting compares in Kansas. I have looked for past harvest information for Kansas but can't find anything other than past crow forecast. Any info is appreciated.
Pheasant hunting in Kansas
- Thread starter dogbo2013
- Start date
BritChaser
Well-known member
I mostly hunt in Kansas but have hunter SD three times and ND twice. Currently there is no comparison. The Dakotas are much better.
BrownDogsCan2
Well-known member
Where I hunt, SC and SW parts of the state I think quail will be down and pheasant s up. Maybe a bit optimistic but I would think pheasant harvest statewide will be about 6-800k on someting like 130k? licenses. The states upland forecast will come out here and about a month.
Britchaser, Gumboot, and KDGJ, thank you for the insight. I am curious what years you have hunted the Dakotas? Was it previous to 2013? Although I have only hunted pheasant in SD, guys that I have hunted with say that I have never experienced great pheasant. The first year I went to SD was 2013 and the state pheasant forecast was down roughly 64% from 2012. We almost cancelled our trip because of the forecast. Im glad that I didn't because I fell in love with pheasant hunting because of that trip. I have been every year since and have struggled to put together a group of guys to make the 1800 mile (27-30 hour road trip). Although the numbers have been down we have still managed to have good trips in my opinion. We hunt hard with pointers all day on a mix of private and public land but all fair chase birds. I have killed an average 12 birds each year over a 5 day period. Is it unrealistic to expect a similar hunt in Kansas on public land?
I've been pheasant hunting Kansas for the past 20 years and have been pheasant hunting South Dakota for the past 15 years. Kansas is good (minus the drought years), but South Dakota is better. South Dakota was REALLY good in the mid to late 2000's and above average the past 5 years. We (4 guys) hunt all public ground in South Dakota and a mixture of public and private in Kansas. You can find good bird hunting in Kansas, but your odds are better on finding good bird hunting in South Dakota. There's a reason it is the pheasant capital. If you end up coming to Kansas PM me and I'll try to steer you in the right direction to get you on some birds.
Toad
Active member
I took most of last year off, and I've heard that numbers improved some, but the past few years before that I know I was not shooting anywhere near 12 pheasants in a 5 day trip. Probably in the "fat" years before the drought, that would have been a pretty reasonable expectation.
BritChaser
Well-known member
I think you'd have to get lucky and shoot well to get 12 in five days in KS. Also, a significant part of the KS range had a single snowfall of up to 24" in late winter. KS hunting equaled my later Dakota hunting only in the mid-90s when I returned to the sport. I remember a few openers back then when my buddy and I had our four bird limit by lunch time and walked the line unarmed after lunch to help our friends bag some more birds.
westksbowhunter
Well-known member
I have long wanted to go to North Dakota to hunt pheasants. Lots of public land. Something that Kansas does not have.
At 12 birds for 5 days, you're averaging just over 2 birds/day, almost 2.5. You don't say how many "we" is, but if everyone has that kind of success and if it's more than just 2 or 3 of you, that's outstanding. With access to good private ground, you could expect that in Kansas or even better. I can think of at least 3 hunts last year where we did better than 2 birds per hunter, but with only 2 or 3 hunters. These hunts were a mixture of WIHA and private.
But, it doesn't sound like you have access to good private ground. If you shot 2 birds per hunter per day in Kansas hunting exclusively WIHA, you'd be doing very well. You'd probably be top 10% in terms of success based on the last year or two. 1 to 1.5 would be a much more reasonable expectation.
But, it doesn't sound like you have access to good private ground. If you shot 2 birds per hunter per day in Kansas hunting exclusively WIHA, you'd be doing very well. You'd probably be top 10% in terms of success based on the last year or two. 1 to 1.5 would be a much more reasonable expectation.
KDGJ
New member
I hunted ND in the mid-2000s on private land. I've hunted KS since 1993 on private and public land. Even the best years in KS (prior to the drought) just don't compare to ND. However, KS is still great to get out there and chase a few birds just don't expect limits.
Ken
westksbowhunter
Well-known member
I would be curious as to how many are hunting because the possession limit is 16 per person.
this is not a good year to be going to the Dakotas.
CharBroiled
Active member
Very interesting because I was just in South Dakota on vacation. We're at Mt. Rushmore and this gentleman asks me to take his family picture. I do and we get to chatting, as I found out he's actually been to my hometown as he lives up there in South Dakota. The conversation moves to pheasant hunting. He asks me how it went last season and then he says the numbers in South Dakota are way down and the hunting hasn't been great.
Hey, I just moved to the Kansas City area, I'm looking to figure out where would be a good place to take my 8 year old Chesapeake Bay retriever for an hour or two once a week. I'm not familiar with any of the public hunting areas but looking for a relatively close place were there are a few birds for him to get on their scent and have a good time.
You'll be able to find ample quail within that distance. Pheasants will be around, but you really need to go further west for them. Look at the Kansas WIHA map.