Rooster/hen ratio and roosters holding tight

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
Am I the only one who has seen WAY more roosters than hens this season?

I suspect the ratio is at least 3 roosters to every 1 hen I've seen. My son and I have been recording most of our outings, so I can verify that, but I can assure you without looking that estimate is close.

What about roosters holding unusually well? Anybody else getting a lot of their roosters over points?

I'm not seeing many flush out of gun range, but the season is still young. That said, I hunted some WIHA over the w/e and all but 3 birds (couldn't be identified) held tight enough they had to be flushed by a hunter's approach.

I know one thing, when all the roosters are being pointed, I feel like a much better shot:D
 
Opening Saturday we saw more hens than roosters, probably more than double if I were to just guess. 2 were definite points, 1 was a flash point and flush 10 yards ahead of the dog a bit later, 1 was trailed 1/2 mile through a milo field before running out of real estate, 1 flushed when my buddy was shooting at quail 50 yards away and we stopped to see what was going on. Hens were holding pretty tight to where we got a lot of points. Only had a few flush to where we couldn't determine what they were.
 
That's good to hear! I think (and hope!) we're walking over most of the hens. I know that it's typical for more roosters to be hatched than hens, but seldom do I encounter the ratios I've seen in my first 4 days afield this season.
 
I should be hunting with the rooster magnet. Last Sat. saw mostly hens - but there was one dumb rooster. :p Did see a majority of cocks on opening weekend, come to think of it.
 
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BritChaser said:
I should be hunting with the rooster magnet. Last Sat. saw mostly hens - but there was one dumb rooster. :p
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You know that door is open anytime. I'm not sure if it's our luck, the dogs, or the spot I've spent the most time in, but it's been pretty one-sided so far.
 
It's been pretty even for me this year. I like seeing hens, the more the better. Last year I was very concerned with the lack of hens.
 
We are seeing 8 or 9 hens to every rooster. Way more hens they I normally see in the areas I have hunted this year. It looks good for next year!! Still have not been way out west, but I will get there sometime.
 
ratio of sex

the ratio does not favor the roosters by much. weather, competition for food, predators, and loss of fat from chick raising are the big reasons on any given day you may see more roosters than hen, then again, some days it is all hens as the roosters have smartened up and have gone off by themselves into hiding. come spring, the roosters have done better surviving.

cheers
 
In CO I've seen probably 4 to 1 roosters to hens (put another way I've seen 8 rooster and 2 hens!), in SD my experience for my first trip was probably 3 to 1 roosters to hens. It did seem like the hens in SD got up and out ahead and the Roosters held which seemed weird.
 
Same thing I'm finding. I don't know what the actual ratio is, but I'm seeing waaay more roosters than hens. Also, most birds taken have been very late hatch birds.

Just got back from a week in North Dakota, found the same thing there. Ratio wasn't quite as lopsided as Kansas, but close. Many of the birds that we shot (2 of us) were late hatch birds just as we've found in KS.

Very strange season. Not many birds but getting a few shots here and there. I'd say I'm seeing 4-6 roosters for every hen.

Hunting has been tough enough to take a break for a couple of weeks. Don't mind a few long walks, but I'd sure like to see some more birds! The lack of hens is a bit concerning.

Point!
 
This past Friday we took to the area and saw 13 roosters and 17 hens. We got into the field at 10:30 and finished up about 4. The rooster I shot was a yearling from what I would guess would be the traditional time of the hatch.

One of the fields we flushed four hens and one loner quail. Why there was a single loner quail in this field is still puzzling to us. Normally there are between 1 and 3 coveys in this CRP.
 
Point! said:
Same thing I'm finding. I don't know what the actual ratio is, but I'm seeing waaay more roosters than hens. Also, most birds taken have been very late hatch birds.

Just got back from a week in North Dakota, found the same thing there. Ratio wasn't quite as lopsided as Kansas, but close. Many of the birds that we shot (2 of us) were late hatch birds just as we've found in KS.

Very strange season. Not many birds but getting a few shots here and there. I'd say I'm seeing 4-6 roosters for every hen.

Hunting has been tough enough to take a break for a couple of weeks. Don't mind a few long walks, but I'd sure like to see some more birds! The lack of hens is a bit concerning.

Point!
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I went back through our notes last night with the boy. We are averaging closer to 4:1/R:H.

We've only taken 1 mature rooster. The majority have been what I'd consider regular size/timely hatch birds, but we have seen a few that hadn't even grown tail feathers yet and they were small.

Thanks for the replies gents! It's good to know I'm not alone, but I wish there were a few more hens out there!
 
CharBroiled said:
This past Friday we took to the area and saw 13 roosters and 17 hens. We got into the field at 10:30 and finished up about 4. The rooster I shot was a yearling from what I would guess would be the traditional time of the hatch.

One of the fields we flushed four hens and one loner quail. Why there was a single loner quail in this field is still puzzling to us. Normally there are between 1 and 3 coveys in this CRP.
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Was that 1 lone quail on WIHA?
 
About 1:1 is what I'm seeing. The birds I've shot have been off point. The roosters I've shot have all been mature birds, the quail were young birds, Used to seeing a 1:4 (R:H) ratio in previous years.
 
kansasbrittany said:
Am I the only one who has seen WAY more roosters than hens this season?

I suspect the ratio is at least 3 roosters to every 1 hen I've seen. My son and I have been recording most of our outings, so I can verify that, but I can assure you without looking that estimate is close.

What about roosters holding unusually well? Anybody else getting a lot of their roosters over points?

I'm not seeing many flush out of gun range, but the season is still young. That said, I hunted some WIHA over the w/e and all but 3 birds (couldn't be identified) held tight enough they had to be flushed by a hunter's approach.

I know one thing, when all the roosters are being pointed, I feel like a much better shot:D
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We got back Monday from our trip down near Dodge City and we saw more hens than roosters, which was a good thing:thumbsup::10sign:

It wasn't the glory years, however we all managed to get our fair share, one guy limited out on Saturday.

It was mostly on private ground.

Greg
 
You are probably getting more pointed birds because they are young and not yet educated and they are not around a ton of educated birds that lead them in the flush.
 
KATroutman13 said:
You are probably getting more pointed birds because they are young and not yet educated and they are not around a ton of educated birds that lead them in the flush.
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Great response! We've only shot one old bird this season. The area we hunt doesn't have enough birds for "waves" to take off when you walk into the field either.
 
1:2 (R:H) on the second weekend. Compared to last year hunting same area with probably 2:1 (R:H). And we actually saw more birds this time around over same amount of time.
 
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