Tentative or "concrete" season plans and random thoughts...

duckn66 said:
Also had some unexpected expenses this year. I don't go west for the opener, just too many people for me. I'll start my season with Early Chickens, teal season, and then more running dogs in the flint hills for chickens and whatever.

I'll kick the opener off not far from the the house for quail. I would like to go to the sandhills this year for a 3 day weekend just to see what it's like and maybe on the outside chance see a sharpie or two. Over Christmas vacation I would very much like to head down into Oklahoma for some quail hunting depending on the outlook. I know a guy can get just as many quail pointed around here but sometimes it's nice to have a change of scenery.

Should have some good cover to hunt if nothing else. I have left quite a bit of cover on my land instead of haying it all so that I can turn some quail out for the dogs here. I may do that more than anything this year. And come to think of it that just may be what I do for opening weekend.
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western Nebraska and Oklahoma are sand burr hell.....a real pain for your dogs.
 
Around Dodge the dryland milo is looking super and there is lots of it, the CRP and pasture grass is knee high and above and the weeds are out of control. Perfect cover come this fall for hunting, just lacking birds.:(
 
M. R. Byrd said:
Around Dodge the dryland milo is looking super and there is lots of it, the CRP and pasture grass is knee high and above and the weeds are out of control. Perfect cover come this fall for hunting, just lacking birds.:(
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What birds that are there will eat well, sleep well, and hide easily. It's a start on recovery.
 
M. R. Byrd said:
Around Dodge the dryland milo is looking super and there is lots of it, the CRP and pasture grass is knee high and above and the weeds are out of control. Perfect cover come this fall for hunting, just lacking birds.:(
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Spent all day yesterday in Gove and Sheridan counties, 200+ miles off the blacktop resulted in seeing 1 hen. Did see 2 birds this morning after 50+ miles. Cover looked great though. Surprisingly only saw one deer also, a muley fawn. Last 3 years has been devastating to that area.
 
I'm coming back this fall.....It sounds like the birds have caught a bit of a break with more moisture and moderate temps this summer. I sure hope this is prompts nice recovery for the next few years.

My last trip was December of 2010....and have not returned due to the drought and drastic reduction in bird numbers. Felt the birds needed a break and the loss of habitat also was cause for concern. My friends and farmers all say they are seeing and hearing more quail this summer....and at least....the cover will be better.

A 3 year hiatus from the prairie....has really hurt the Nebraska native and I'm going to see some big sky, beautiful KS sunsets, burn much boot leather and God willing maybe bag a bird or two.....

I will be out there Mid December.....if anyone wants to meet up.

RP
 
I'll be heading out for the opener. First time in about 3 or 4 years. Looking forward to some much needed Kansas hunting.
 
I already booked my motel for opening Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Looking forward to some good exercise and maybe see a couple birds as a bonus :laugh:
 
good that the cover is improving.....but bird reoroduction will be slow....sounds like seed birds are scarce.
 
I'll be heading back to Kansas this year after the opener. September 1st will be my first hunt for blue grouse in Colorado and then to North Dakota in mid October and Nebraska at the end of October on the way home. I can't wait for season to start, my youngest GSP had a great first season last year and is developing more and more with each training session, hopefully there will still be some birds for her to hunt this year.:)
 
Central kansas for the opener. Not because I'm expecting to see lots of birds, but more for the social side, to respect tradition, and to maintain friendships for when the populations recover. Last year was *slightly* better than the year before, hopefully this year will be another step in that direction.

Hope to also hit some spots that produced (if you can call it that) in the last two years. I'll also make a couple of trips for assessing populations and maintaining relationships and access. I probably ought to be working more on developing new connections in areas that are better and/or will recover sooner, but that will take a backseat.

We are booked with Uguide for the weekend before Thanksgiving. That weekend allows us to bring the school-aged kids for three days of hunting but they'll only miss one day of school.

I'm considering the antlerless season in October, but even if I shoot one I'll probably hunt the rifle season in December. I'll be out in the youth seaosn with my kids.

Waterfowl if I get the right invitation; Doves for sure (I hate that Sept. 1 is a monday!); I think about early chickens every year, but it never seems to happen.
 
matto said:
Central kansas for the opener. Not because I'm expecting to see lots of birds, but more for the social side, to respect tradition, and to maintain friendships for when the populations recover. Last year was *slightly* better than the year before, hopefully this year will be another step in that direction.

Hope to also hit some spots that produced (if you can call it that) in the last two years. I'll also make a couple of trips for assessing populations and maintaining relationships and access. I probably ought to be working more on developing new connections in areas that are better and/or will recover sooner, but that will take a backseat.

We are booked with Uguide for the weekend before Thanksgiving. That weekend allows us to bring the school-aged kids for three days of hunting but they'll only miss one day of school.

I'm considering the antlerless season in October, but even if I shoot one I'll probably hunt the rifle season in December. I'll be out in the youth seaosn with my kids.

Waterfowl if I get the right invitation; Doves for sure (I hate that Sept. 1 is a monday!); I think about early chickens every year, but it never seems to happen.
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Matto,

Our plans are nearly identical! I plan to go to SD right after our opener. Like many, my priority is to spend time with friends. Hunting is not expected to be great, but I'm certain we'll all get at least 1 shot opportunity.

Which UGUIDE property are you hunting? How did you come up with enough paying hunters? I wasn't brave enough to start a thread in the group builder forum. I've never regretted meeting an unknown UPH'r for a short hunt, but that is a very different level of commitment than spending 3 days with 'em:eek: The cost is very reasonable though. It saves a lot of driving and most (maybe all) of the places provide cooking equipment; you can save hundreds cooking for yourself. Either way, we're blessed to be taking our offspring to SD for a bird hunt this year:cheers:

Our deer plans are the same.

I too will west at some point for the same reasons. And waterfowl will probably only happen if we get the right invitation. I finally tried the early chicken season last year, but it didn't pan out. Steve (Setternut) implies that getting one will require more than 2 miles of walking/1hr of hunting...says it ain't a "target rich environment":D Oh, I'm kinda scared of snakes too. Walking through Prairie Rattler country, looking to shoot a bird that tastes like shoe-leather, seems counter-intuitive;)
 
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We're at "Gunner's Haven" which is in North Central SD, just east of the river. It's one of the tier 3 camps. The tier 1 and 2 properties dont get opennings very often. By the time we got around to booking, there weren't many choices. We looked at SouthDakotaWild too, but Gunner's Haven looked like a better choice.

It was pretty easy to come up with 6 hunters, there's me, my dad, my two kids, my BIL, and his kid. Coming up with the money is a different story. $700 for me is one thing, $2100 for me and my two kids is quite another.

We hunted SD last year, but on the Rosebud reservation with a (required) native guide. While we did better than we did anywhere in KS last year and it was a good experience, it wasn't exactly what we were looking for. And it wasn't even that much cheaper than uguide.
 
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