Rader lodge

Right there with you - we've all hashed this out a few times here - on various FB ks hunting groups etc -- Deer issues have led to hunting access problems we have now

Couple that with farming and Big ag practices and it doesnt help much.
Deer hunting and deer management has had a horrible impact on all forms of hunting in Kansas. It is the focus of legislature and the KDWP, and everything else gets pushed to the side. Every change they make to bring in NR's deer hunters is another thorn in the side of upland bird hunters. We have NR hunters harvesting nearly 40% of the deer each year in Kansas. These outfitter don't lease 1000 acres they lease tens of thousand of acres. WIHA is coming out and going to outfitters so every time I here someone on these forums wanting to line the pockets of greedy outfitters I just have to voice how I feel. Maybe I am wrong but I just go by how my hunting has been impacted by legislation and outfitters. It is getting impossible to get young hunters involved in hunting due to the lack of access.
 
I learned to hunt in the 80s with my dad door-knocking. Rural Kansas has changed a lot since then. Even in the 80s, the chance that the person behind the door owned or controlled the land you were going ask about was less than 100%. But today, that chance is almost nill. The owner often doesn't even live in the state and the person behind the door you knocked has no idea who farms it. A guy and some equipment show up once in a while. He does his thing, and he's gone.

It's more like phone-ringing than door-knocking these days. Permission can still be had, but it takes research and relationship building. Never forget that we are an intrusion, a distraction, a risk, etc.
They don't really care that people ask to hunt.You need to develop a method, when asking.Pull out a 6 pack of old Milwaukee, and you're in.
 
A cattle farmer we met last year shed some light on why the pay to hunt areas may be really hurting the native birds. They raise pheasants, load them up with antibiotics and then release them to be hunted. These super immune birds bring diseases to the native populations that do not hurt the immunized birds. Then the native birds die off.

This is a theory quite easily disproven by South Dakota, where pay-to-hunt operations release about 500K birds per year.
 
Just wanted to circle back on this thread. thank you for the info/replies and PM's.
Very much looking forward to visiting your great state of KS and hunting pheasants.
 
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