Rate This Year

C

CowboyBirdDogs

New member
I went out to NW KS the second week of the season with a buddy and we saw about 50 birds a day and we put 4 birds in the bad after 5 1/2 days of hard hunting. Had a lot of great points on hens and saw a lot of roosters flush up about 100 yards ahead of us. We didn't find any quail but we had a good time. On the way home we drove down through Dodge City area and looked at some of our honey holes from last year....that was depressing. 2 had been grazed down to stubble, one was no longer a WIHA due to deer hunters, and another was plowed into winter wheat. This was my 3rd time to get to go to KS and hunt pheasants, I went to DC last year twice. So my question is this: What would you rate this year as far as bird numbers go? What would you rate last year? How long will it take them to make a good comeback? As a rookie I'm just wondering how long it takes pheasant to bounce back. I really enjoy hunting up there and I plan to go back late January.
 
I hunt the NW only. Last year was a 10 on pheasant, a 4 on quail. This year is a 7 on pheasants and a 2 on quail.
 
I'd say last year in the SW/C area that I hunt pheasants were an 8 and the quail 10 compared to what I experienced the 10 or so years prior.

This year I'd rate the pheasant population a 2 and haven't spent enough time to tell you about the quail. I determine quail #'s through hours in the field. I can give an estimate on pheasants just by driving the backroads at key times out there. I saw exactly 4 roosters in 40 miles of driving on my one trip there this season and they were all together.

On another note, I'd rate SD awesome! Despite the % of alleged decrease in #'s there we saw loads of birds compared to even good years in KS.
 
See I've only hunted up there the past 2 years so I don't even know how to rate last year. It could've been a 10 in the grand scheme of things or a 4.
 
I normally like to stay close to I70 or not really go much further north and then head west and south to the borders.

In that entire area of the state Id rate the bird population crap. Its the worst I have seen it since we had a string of drought in the early 2000's. I think then I found more birds.

Now I have quite a few more years experience and better dogs so Im able to make the most out of a down year. Ive given up on quail a few years ago and look at them as an after thought.

This year is a bit depressing. As someone else said I do some judging by my time afield and in driving at particular parts of the day. Im used to in certain areas seeing dozens and dozens if not sometimes hundreds of birds fly across the road at dusk or dawn or move in a particular field. This year I think the biggest bunch I saw was around 50 or so (In a spot last year we literally saw hundreds) bust out of a shelterbelt when it snowed during deer season.

Anyways, we've been getting some decent moisture since fall set on, there is a lot of CRP being tore up, but the wheat crop is coming up very nicely and getting the moisture at the right time. If we get the right ingredients the rest of winter/spring and not another trip to hells kitchen next year Im sure the pheasants should see a rebound.

What Im liking with the thinned out cover, if we get the right ingredients this year, we could see a massive quail crop. Im kind of glad some of the old CRP was decimated. A lot of it the only thing that would live in there is field mice and deer. It was simply too thick to be of any benefit to pheasant or quail chicks or any ground dependent bird.


If it tells you anything I really want to concentrate on hunting Prairie Chickens vs quail or pheasants the rest of the year. #1 they are harder to hunt, and #2 in some places I get into just about as many Prairie chickens (if not more) than pheasants. I was able to get 2 on Sunday. One over point due to dumb luck of stumbling across them. One a wild flush while the dogs were acting like idiots and busting them. I think my 2.5 yr old needed to taste the bird and get some blood in her mouth. She worked and pointed the last flock I found of the day flawlessly. Last year she had numerous contacts but always screwed it up.

The setup I had yesterday morning if the dogs behaved, I could have gotten 10 or more points on birds that would have held. I dont know if I'll ever get a setup lke that again. It was fun seeing them but agitating neither of my dogs were cooperating. It was well worth the view and the 2.5 mile Round trip hike to the back of the walk in I was in.
 
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kansasbrittany said:
I'd say last year in the SW/C area that I hunt pheasants were an 8 and the quail 10 compared to what I experienced the 10 or so years prior.

This year I'd rate the pheasant population a 2 and haven't spent enough time to tell you about the quail. I determine quail #'s through hours in the field. I can give an estimate on pheasants just by driving the backroads at key times out there. I saw exactly 4 roosters in 40 miles of driving on my one trip there this season and they were all together.

On another note, I'd rate SD awesome! Despite the % of alleged decrease in #'s there we saw loads of birds compared to even good years in KS.
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I would agree. Last three years or so I had great sucess in Kansas. Last year I would rate an 8 or so. This year a 3 or so. We really need a good spring nesting season with adequate moisture. There are birds in the NW, but I am waiting for some nasty weather to chase them. On a totally unrelated note, I would also agree SD to be awesome this year. I would still only rate it a 7 or 8 by it's standards, and a 12 or so by kansas. I don't totally understand. I have acess to awesome cover in NW Kansas, much better than some spots I hunt in SD, and never get into the birds like I do up there. I think this is the depressing trend. As farming is done more cleanly with more pesticides and such, the birds are more likely to suffer from tough weather patterns. Hopefully with a mild winter, and a not to dry spring and summer, and we could be singing a different tune next fall.
 
carptom1 said:
I would agree. Last three years or so I had great sucess in Kansas. Last year I would rate an 8 or so. This year a 3 or so. We really need a good spring nesting season with adequate moisture. There are birds in the NW, but I am waiting for some nasty weather to chase them. On a totally unrelated note, I would also agree SD to be awesome this year. I would still only rate it a 7 or 8 by it's standards, and a 12 or so by kansas. I don't totally understand. I have acess to awesome cover in NW Kansas, much better than some spots I hunt in SD, and never get into the birds like I do up there. I think this is the depressing trend. As farming is done more cleanly with more pesticides and such, the birds are more likely to suffer from tough weather patterns. Hopefully with a mild winter, and a not to dry spring and summer, and we could be singing a different tune next fall.
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SD has their own "breeding program"........:thumbsup:

as for Kansas, in some areas it will take 2 good years of favorable weather to help bird numbers recover to any degree.....
 
I have shot my limit all 5 days I've been in Sw Kansas this year and last week my friend who was along limit 1 day out of 3 and should have limited the other two days but was missing. I have been in Ness county 2 or 3 years the last 10 and saw fewer birds than this year so far. We probably saw 100 birds a day. If you get into spots with good cover and feed I the birds are really bunched there. We have a patch of 600 acres of wheat stubble with some tumbleweeds scattered around in it, that are just full of them. I think all the birds for miles must be in there. I talked to 2 other hunters in Ness that shot 6 the day they hunted. They were surprised at the number of birds they saw as well. We shot more quail out there last week than I did any hunt last year, but there were several coveys staying within a few hundred yards of my windmill, I am done killing them for this year. We did see several coveys of quail each day also. There are enough birds on the places I'm hunting to have several more good hunts this year. On the birds rebounding, if they have a good hatch next year there are enough of old birds you will be surprised how well they come back. They had a really bad hail storm where I hunt a few years ago, and there were hardly any birds, they had an awesome hatch the next year and it was as good as I had ever seen.
 
So with favorable conditions pheasants can make a comeback in 1 year? The DC area looked terrible. Up north didn't but hunting up there seems to be a different ball game for some reason. I guess I just need more KS experience.
 
Personally, I don't think 2010 lived up to the hype as far as pheasants are concerned. In the areas I had permission and the WIHAs I walked, I thought it was down from the prior year. I think 2009 is about the best year I can remember, 2010 was still pretty good, and 2011 was average.

That being said, I didn't hunt the SW this year due to my hunting buddy out there having some health issues.

We didn't get very many chances at roosters this year, but we saw a good number of hens in the NW, which makes it fun to hunt and puts energy back into tired legs. I'm optomistic for a rebound next year, especially since it will be Junie's first real season and Daisy is still in her prime.

I hope I have more success finding some local quail next season. Not that I'm totally giving up for this season, but I'll probably focus on trying to blast a January doe and giving Daisy a workout on some geese. At this point, unless I get into a pile of quail, I will probably just camera-shoot them and wish them a happy new year.:thumbsup:
 
This is the worst year I have seen in the past 20 years in SW KS. See just as many deer as birds when hunting for birds.
 
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