Report here!!

Here is what I got from a banker friend in Ness County. He states many of his farmer friends never saw a single hen while cutting milo. Lots of hunters opening day that never saw a single bird. He says it is so bad that it may take 10 years to bounce back. I do however feel that a couple of good hatches in back to back years will be all it will take.

Lots of optimism on this forum but the reality is that the pheasant population is in trouble. I just hope that it can rebound. Once the quail and prairie chicken disappeared in SEK they never came back. Have been gone for over 20 years and will probably never appear again. I love pheasant hunting and my time living in western Kansas but without pheasants I simply moved back to southeast Kansas.
 
If we get the habitat back, the pheasants will be back strong.

Yesterday before Indy got cut, we got into a good group of Prairie Chickens.
Getting PC pointed this time a year is pretty good, they usually blow out pretty quickly. But that shows what some good cover and hatch and do for you. I hunted this spot last season a couple times and didn't see any.
 
Hunted all day Friday and until lunch today. Four of us with two GSPs. Overall, what cover there was looked pretty good. Covered a lot of ground. Focused mostly on tree lines and draws bordered by cut milo or wheat stubble (mostly private mixed a little WIHA mixed in). In all, saw 4 roosters, 8 hens, and a covey of quail that had about 8-10. We got 1 rooster and 2 quail singles once we broke up the covey.

The GSPs belong to a good family friend. I hadn't hunted with them in a couple years and man have they developed into great dogs.

In all it was a great few days back in Kansas. Had a blast catching up with family and friends. Some pictures from about 30 years ago got pulled out earlier today of my dad and some of his old hunting buddies. It was fun just listening to their stories again.
 
Hunted with my dad for the first time since I joined the Army in 1983. Thought we would start by jumping ducks at first light and then pheasant hunt the rest of the day. Did not have high expectations for either species, but since there is one good pond when I wanted to go we figured it was worth a shot (at least we could get Molly a good workout).

Hit the pond right at daybreak. My dad stayed in the truck with Molly and I popped up over the bank and got the only duck on the pond. After hearing me shoot, Dad brought Molly down to the pond to see if she would retrieve from the water. As he got close to the pond, pheasant took off all around him. Molly was locked up behind and off to the side of him. 7 hens and 3 roosters took off in that group. I called over and asked why he didn't shoot. He left his shotgun in the truck since he did not have a waterfowl stamp and did not expect to see any pheasant.

Molly retrieved the duck and we started hunting back to the truck. The field was pretty small, 4 or 5 acres. Two more hens flushed wild. As we got close to the truck, Molly hits the breaks and locks up. Rooster flushes within a second, good shot, and a nice retrieve. At the truck I unloaded the steel shot, Dad got his gun, and we headed back into the same little field. At the far end the grass was over my head and Molly was working pretty well. I am watching her work and she locks up again. This time I watched her for 20-30 seconds and the bird holds. I move in from the side about 10 feet in front of her and the bird flushes 10 feet further from Molly. Again a rooster, shot, and retrieve.
IMG_3281_zps6a757e4b.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

IMG_3285_zpsdaf86244.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

We then went and hunted some Milo. Thick stuff!! We had two hens and a rooster flush about 70 yards ahead. The wind was pretty stiff and the birds were skittish now. We did jump two big does out of their beds and they almost ran Dad over getting away.

We saw 7 roosters and 12 or 13 hens while hunting and driving. All in all, better then I had expected, and an awesome day. Would have been a little nicer if it had not reached 75 in the afternoon.
IMG_3290_zps58ab4a33.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
IMG_3290_zps58ab4a33.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Picture of Dad, Molly, and the prize!!
 
This is only 1 of the only 2 rooster me and my dad seen. The other rooster we couldnt find. It was hot and windy. This rooster flushed as me and my dad were heading back to the truck. My dad pretty much stepped on it. Killed it with a head shot. I have never seen the bird population down so much. I hoping it comes back and not stay like this forever. I dont want KS to end up like Iowa. I also hope it gets cold and snowy soon so it will bunch up what birds that are around the area. Seen big bunch of turkeys but the famer didnt own the land they were on anymore which sucked. Just thought id let everyone know how i did since this is my thread.
 
On opening day there were fourteen of us in our group. We hunted in Osburn County the first day. By the end of the day we had six birds. The odd thing is, I got two of them. These birds had full plumage, good color, long tail feathers but were very small for what we are used to for birds out here. On Monday we hunted some in Mitchell County and we got two birds. By then there were only five of us. On Tuesday we hunted a place in the Southern edge of Smith County. We covered a large cut field with no results and then on our way back to the truck we found four roosters walking through a wheat field. We brought two of them back with us. They were larger birds but still on the lean side. I noticed that none of the birds we got had any fat on them. In the past all the birds we have taken have had some fat. I wonder if this will effect their ability to make it through the winter? On a positive note, we saw about the same ratio of hens to roosters as before, though not the numbers. Hopefully this will insure the future. I sure hope so.
 
Made my first trip of the year this past weekend. I'll have to admit, it was tough going. It was just me and a close friend of mine. We took 4 dogs, and lots of water! We probably should have taken a few more with the temperature as warm as it was. We were on the ground for about 5 hours on Saturday. We saw 2 roosters all day. One while driving, and one in the field. We also got some nice dog work on one of the biggest coveys of quail I have seen in years. Sunday we hunted for about 2 hours on a different WIHA before heading home. We moved another large covey there. All in all, it was a great weekend. Windy and warm, but certainly better than working!
 
Out a first light, saw 14 hens, one rooster flushed 100 yards ahead. Did put up one covey of quail, a dozen birds or so. Shot one for Molly to retrieve. A lot of walking. Ended the day on ducks. Final count: One teal, one bobwhite.
 
Hunted several hours at a spot where my Dad and I took a lot of birds many years back. My shorthair had a great point- on a possum. No birds at all.
 
birdhunter65 said:
Hunted several hours at a spot where my Dad and I took a lot of birds many years back. My shorthair had a great point- on a possum. No birds at all.
Click to expand...

At least it was not a skunk :D

I have another day or two before Indy gets his stitches out.
Not sure where we are going to go, but I would like to get my two into some pheasants. Or it will be a trip out to Scalie country.
 
I found those quail in head high grass that was a butt-kicker to get through. Normally good for a rooster or two, but not this time. Molly sort of pointed and started moving again. In the thick stuff she stays pretty close to me. She went another 10 feet and the covey broke.

I did find someones walk-in hunting atlas, with notes. They have not been doing any better then most of us. Notes said 9 Nov, 12 miles, 1 pheasant. 10 Nov, 8 miles, no birds.

We walked some places that I would have bet that we would find some birds and found nothing.

In the areas were we found birds, they held well. Molly did not point well, and ran over 4 birds that flushed under or behind her. I think that she is feeling sick and will get her to the vet tomorrow. She gets bladder infections quite often and I think she has one again.
 
Thrasher said:
I found those quail in head high grass that was a butt-kicker to get through. Normally good for a rooster or two, but not this time. Molly sort of pointed and started moving again. In the thick stuff she stays pretty close to me. She went another 10 feet and the covey broke.

I did find someones walk-in hunting atlas, with notes. They have not been doing any better then most of us. Notes said 9 Nov, 12 miles, 1 pheasant. 10 Nov, 8 miles, no birds.

We walked some places that I would have bet that we would find some birds and found nothing.

In the areas were we found birds, they held well. Molly did not point well, and ran over 4 birds that flushed under or behind her. I think that she is feeling sick and will get her to the vet tomorrow. She gets bladder infections quite often and I think she has one again.
Click to expand...

Do you think,that maybe, who ever owned that atlas, might of just threw it out the truck window,and said "screw it" and drove home?:)
 
Maybe!! I am seeing quite a few hunters in the area then normal. I guess that the doom and gloom out west has people seeking other areas. Last year I saw two other bird hunting groups. One was after quail and the other pheasant. The area where I found the large numbers of hens has been well hunted. The area where you can park has been torn-up by trucks. I little snow would help concentrate the birds.
 
Got Indy's stitches out today, so I put a long sleeve under armour shirt on him to cover his legs. Then put some Duct Tape over the sleeve so they don't get destroyed.

We hit one Walk-in Area that we had found a covey in. Didn't find the covey so we headed into a big CRP patch, that just looks like it should have pheasants in it. Nothing. Did see a couple of old Prairie Chicken feathers, but that was about it. That was the 2nd time we hunted that area. It looks way to good to not have any birds in it, but so far nothing.

The boys really needed to burn off some energy. They were both at 15+ miles at 11.5 mph. That was moving pretty good in that heavy cover.
 
Last edited:
Just hunted South Dakota for 5 days and it was very nice to see a bunch of birds. Although the numbers were way down and wild as hell we still managed to see hundreds a day and get a 6 man limit 3 out of the 5 days. I wasn't a fan of starting at 10 a.m. but by the third morning it was nice sleeping in. I know my shorthairs are dead tired but they had a lot of great points and retrieves.
Heading to Yates Center to chase some bobwhites this weekend while some family is in town.
 
Stitches out

Good to hear that Indy ran well. Glad the vet visit give good results.
That is a good pace. You must have had them down for near 1 1/2 hours. How long before they shorten up ?
 
KansasCowboy said:
Just hunted South Dakota for 5 days and it was very nice to see a bunch of birds. Although the numbers were way down and wild as hell we still managed to see hundreds a day and get a 6 man limit 3 out of the 5 days. I wasn't a fan of starting at 10 a.m. but by the third morning it was nice sleeping in. I know my shorthairs are dead tired but they had a lot of great points and retrieves.
Heading to Yates Center to chase some bobwhites this weekend while some family is in town.
Click to expand...

I'll be about an hour north of you doing the same thing:thumbsup: A few locals are saying good things about the quail #'s, but I won't believe it until I see it. It's just been too long since I saw good #'s there.

Good luck KScowboy!
 
murphya said:
Good to hear that Indy ran well. Glad the vet visit give good results.
That is a good pace. You must have had them down for near 1 1/2 hours. How long before they shorten up ?
Click to expand...

It depends on the cover. In heavy CRP like yesterday, they will be over 10 mph average for 3-4 hours. In thinner cover like Montana or Prairie Chicken hunting here, Indy will be in the 12 - 14 mph range for several hours. Ace seems to stay in the 10-11 mph range no matter the cover. In thin stuff, Indy will really fly 16+, that is one reason he gets cut up.

I need to get out an hunt more this season. Work, family issues and dog injuries have really limited hunting time.

Seeing a few quail, and have seen 1 pheasant at 200 yards :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top