Recommended areas for combo pheasant/quail hunt

M

MiUplander

Member
My buddy and I are researching areas for our annual hunt the week of Thanksgiving. We've been to many western states over the years- South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana and Missouri. This is our 18th yr and looking to try Kansas. We like wearing out boot leather on public ground, staying at mom and pop motels and visiting the local restaraunts/bars. We'll have a couple GSP's and a Viszla along too. Any thoughts on say a 3 county area where we could get into some good hunting for both pheasant and quail? Thinking getting into a few coveys a day on the quail would be a real treat. And we don't mind driving a bit from our home base motel as we usually hunt 3 hrs in the morning, make a sandwich in the truck for lunch, and hunt 2-3 hrs in the afternoon.

I've downloaded and checked out the public land guides as well as read the state's forcast. But thought I'd get some of you local guys thoughts as to where you'd head to if you had 5 straight days to chase some birds around.

Brett
 
I can't say much for most of KS, but you might want to try Seward, Stevens or Morton Co. in SW KS. The walk-in gets hunted hard around Hugoton and Liberal but there are decent numbers of quail and good numbers of pheasant. Also, you want to try the cimarron grasslands. You would also get a shot at some blue quail along with bobwhites.
Good Luck
 
I hunted NC kansas last year with pretty good luck on Quail and pheasants. Saw more pheasants than quail though but saw good numbers of both around cawcker city (largest ball of twine). ha We stayed in Beloit KS as well. good hunting in that area. NC is usally pretty good for quail and pheasants.
 
KansasCowboy said:
I hunted NC kansas last year with pretty good luck on Quail and pheasants. Saw more pheasants than quail though but saw good numbers of both around cawcker city (largest ball of twine). ha We stayed in Beloit KS as well. good hunting in that area. NC is usally pretty good for quail and pheasants.
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I'd have to agree w/ KScowboy on this one. NC KS has provided some great combo hunt for me. My best combo hunts over the past couple years have taken place in NC KS, E of Cawker city by a few counties. I'd venture to guess you could have a good combo hunt in just about any 3 county area in KS. There are some good opportunities on the northern tier of counties nearly all the way across the state. There are good combo opportunities clear down to the counties on the southern tier as well. As long as you're not in SE KS, I think you have a good chance of seeing both pheasant and quail on your journey.
 
ne ks

Kb i like beloit to lots of pheasants but seemed like there wernt that many quail prob just my area, i wanted to ask you about ne around axtel i hunted the walk in didnt see a bird but i can see it happening though i liked the area .
 
only a pointer said:
Kb i like beloit to lots of pheasants but seemed like there wernt that many quail prob just my area, i wanted to ask you about ne around axtel i hunted the walk in didnt see a bird but i can see it happening though i liked the area .
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I haven't hunted the Axtell area YET. I'm planning to take my 14yo cousin up there for the youth opener. We're starting in the Axtell area and working our way to Clay Center. He's shot a LOT of pheasants in his short hunting career, so I'm attempting to get him onto some good quail hunting w/ the possibility of kicking up a rooster or 2. I can send you a private message when I return if you remind me. Also, pm Oggie. He's spent some time in the Axtell area on WIHA and has experienced some decent success and he may be willing to share some info with you.
 
combo hunt

I have to agree with Gobadger. One of the best kept secrets is the great quail hunting in Southwest Ks. I grew up hunting quail around Severy, Howard,Moline, and Grenola during the glory days. And I've experienced quail hunts equally as good in Seward and Stevens Co. Pheasant numbers look to be very promising as well. The only cavaet is the hail belt that went through Seward Co. But that area is small in comparison. It ran the entire length of the county from North to South but only about a mile in width
 
I'm not sure what I was vague about. But I grew up in Butler Co. Ks. And during my high school and college days I hunted quail and prarie chicken in the mentioned areas. That was back in the sixties and early seventies. Hunting has never been the same in that area probably for the last 20 years. But since moving to the Liberal area I have been very surprise at the quail population. And its a very different type of hunting. Mostly open shooting very little timber and trees.
 
dogman said:
I have to agree with Gobadger. One of the best kept secrets is the great quail hunting in Southwest Ks. I grew up hunting quail around Severy, Howard,Moline, and Grenola during the glory days. And I've experienced quail hunts equally as good in Seward and Stevens Co. Pheasant numbers look to be very promising as well. The only cavaet is the hail belt that went through Seward Co. But that area is small in comparison. It ran the entire length of the county from North to South but only about a mile in width
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I've seen a number of nice quail coveys in SW KS but in six years of hunting there all but one have been on private land. Maybe the WIHAs that we hit are either hunted too hard for the quail or they aren't the better quail habitat. Are you finding them on the WIHA?
 
SW Ks Quail

Look for CRP that is thinner but with a lot of yucca and plum thickets. Also quail relate to structure, machinery,trees and shrubs. The Cimmaron Grasslands has great quail huntring. I always stay off the river and hunt the draws and plum thickets. Stevens Co. private ground is pretty tough to get in on. Seward Co. is easier to gain permission. I find the secret is you have to hunt one or the other because phesants and quail relate to different cover in most cases. For example on a pheasant hunt we may end up with 8or9 quail. and a good number of phez. Conversely the opposite is true on a quail hunt we can shoot a number of quail and maybe 3 or 4 phez
 
Dogman has said it all. Look for something with structure, thickets, old machinery, choya cactus, a windbreak. I usually hunt quail in the sandhills. I haven't had much luck finding birds in the draws after the blizzard a couple of winters ago. Most days I shot a couple of pheasant and a couple of quail. Also, SW KS has some scaled quail, if you can get them to fly. I've seen then in all 3 counties.
Good luck
 
dogman, GoBadgers, thanks for the cover tips. The cover you describe is very different from our usual WIHA areas. The one covey we did find on a WIHA was near an old tractor shed. On the private land we hunt, there are a lot more trees, brush lines, old farm equipment, etc.
 
The hail strip is about 4 miles west of town. Its about a mile wide and runs nearly north and south the entire length of Seward Co. Wideawake road is the Western boundry of the strip. The area is pretty localized. There's plenty of good hunting outside the strip. I can only think of 1 walkin area that may have been affected.
 
kgbill said:
Thanks. What does it look like up around Plains and Kismet?
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One of our fine members put together a nice map. It is about 20 titles down on the first page of the KS forum. I believe Kansas Hail Map is the title. Based on my own research, I'd say the thing is pretty accurate.
 
That map is really cool, but it's for '08. I just meant that the birds weren't that great around Kismet last year, so I was wondering if dogman or anyone else had been around there this year? I'm sure it'll probably be good just about anywhere in the sw though.
 
I hunted one day west of hutch last season on public and private land. Moved two coveys of quail and quite a few pheasants might be worth a shot.
 
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