The world is a hair dryer, or Opening day in Kansas reports:

J

Jakeismydog2

Member
Well that was an interesting one! 5:30 am and the thermometer read 64... Ouch. I literally shed a layer (undershirt) before I got in the truck. Hunted public - walked a bout 10 minutes before we hit birds. They were flushing wild and way ahead of us. Thought to myself at that point, "at least we saw some pheasants today". Then something strange happened we started getting a few birds to hold. By 8 we had 6 in the bag and a 7th I rocked hard twice but did not go down. We watered the dogs up took a break and were back in the field looking for the injured seventh bird at 8:15. By 8:45 the wind really started to howl and it became obvious the day was over.

I am amazed we got six birds in those conditions. Sunday ought to be better.
 
We gave up at about 11. Dad let one rooster corkscrew him into the ground and never did get caught up to it. No other shots fired by our group of 3 that usually does pretty good. Did have some points on a few hens. Saw very very few birds and the WIHA cover where we were at was mostly baled or grazed. I knew it was going to be bad going into it, and it was worse than expected.
 
It dismal where we hunted. We stuck it out until about 2:30 and the grand total for rooster SEEN was about 5. We knocked down 3 and picked up 2. Especially disappointing was the lack of hens. We saw fewer hens than roosters. The wind was brutal, as everyone else noted.

Today was no better. We hunted until about 12:00 and killed one. There were 12 people in our group.

At least we got some rain and had some fun and got some exercise.
 
Was told by the father in-law that Southwest Kansas was bad, but we went anyways. Hunted about 2 hours Saturday morning around Ulysses and couldn't believe how bad it was. We seen 3 birds, got one and felt bad afterwards about shooting the poor guy. Been hunting the same family ground for 12 years and never thought I'd say the words "we gotta leave Southwest Kansas to find some birds", but that's exactly what we did. Headed North and got into a few birds here and there. Ended up with 5 birds for the 4 of us. Pretty rough hunting, didn't see many hens and scenting conditions were as bad as I've ever seen. May take quite a while to recover. Most of the hunters we spoke with were all saying the same.
 
I went out for about 4 hours around the house today and tromped through the mud which was much welcomed!

Dog bumped 2 hens which wouldn't hold for squat. Nice to at least see them!

Saw a nice covey of quail after my dog about impaled himself on the end of a log sticking up. He turned on a single quickly and hit this stick. Then I went over to see what the heck happened and where I had been standing about 20 got up.

Last spot he pointed a small covey of about 6 or 8 birds. Shot way behind them but oh well.

Good to get out with a gun in hand behind a hunting dog again! Next weekend it's a trip a little further west and north.
 
4 adults and 2 kids hunted Saturday morning for 4hrs--0 birds taken. Saw a handfull in the distance and 4 hens set for the dogs to work. We kicked up 1 14 bird covey and a 5 bird covey of quail. Both were on private land.

2 adults and 2 kids hunted milo Sunday morning for 3hrs--1 bird taken over a solid point. 1 rooster escaped; 3 hens were seen. The bird I bagged had 27" tail-feathers and weighed 10.2lbs.

Saw a group of 3 trucks, a convoy of 10, and an older local gentleman. It was strange being there for an opener without all the traffic. My step-mom worked a hunter breakfast and evening feed. She said she saw about 50 people, but recognized nearly all of them.

We had 2 dogs, but as another poster stated, these were the worst scenting conditions I've ever seen. Sunday was better after the rain, but there still weren't many birds. Heavy winds persisted both days.

I consider it the best opener yet. Both of my sons took serious interest in our tradition this weekend. After putting in a few honest miles chasing wild birds each morning, they went back to grampa's house and chased a few pen-raised birds. The kids shot the heck out of 'em over some good points. I'll share some pics when I get a chance. Anyway, had the weather conditions not been so poor, we never would've bought birds and spent the day focusing on the kids;) Quality time spent with family:thumbsup:
 
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Sound like you got the boys hooked now for sure,Chad.
Congrat's!!! Me and the boys truely missed making the trip,even if there aren't any birds.
My normal crew(only 4 went) only shot two birds,had to quit by noon,due to the wind and dust.Have not talked to them today to see how they did today,but from what I am reading,doesn't sound very good.
Hope that my youngest,Garrett, gets his deer soon,so we can try to find some quail!Althought,that also doesn't sound to good around here either.
Maybe we can hook up later on,to chase some birds together,just to say we did.
Good Luck this season,and be safe
Joe
 
Today was a tad disappointing. Took Ox out by myself first thing this morning. Went to a place where we always find quail. He got birds then busted the covey without a point, so no shots taken. The covey was only about 6-8 birds. Then immediately found a single, again flushed not pointed. At first glance I thought it was a sparrow, but indeed it was a bobwhite. Perhaps the least healthy I have ever seen. With the covey looking so bad I hope no one else goes in there and shoots any of them... I almost want to put up a sign, "please don't shoot the last 6 quail on this WIHA"

Then after church we went back out to the field from Saturday. I thought all the birds that flushed wild on us then would be easier to get in the cold. They were no where to be found. A few wiley hens and one rooster was all we could rustle up. I dropped the rooster. It was a tough but fun weekend, and I can take solace that I did not miss a bird the whole weekend. :)
 
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This was one of the worst openers yet. 3 of us saw 5 birds total. None in the ditches or flying across the roads. Managed to shoot one with a retrieve. One got away from the dogs and us, but cant blame them, he fell in some thick stuff and the wind was blowing 30mph at that time.

This year will be so bad I dont plan on hunting birds on purpose again until after Deer Season is over. Never thought Id say that, but next weekend, Thanksgiving weekend I am just going to go out, get a hotel room and do some deer scouting in my deer haunts. If the weather is nice I may run my younger dog to see if I can find some Prairie chickens. I drew a mulie permit and plan on putting it to good use and seeing if I can best the other one I have on the wall.

This will be one of the worst pheasant/quail seasons in a long time.

If you're from out of state, cancel your trip and plan on going to SD or another state that didnt get "b_tch slapped" by the drought/heat again this summer. Or just go to WIHA #77 in Finney county or to the Cimmaron grasslands. All the birds migrated to those two spots. Im sure many limits were taken there this weekend.

I do like seeing the thinner cover. Will be some good brood rearing/loafing cover if the weather cooperates next year.
 
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Our opener was pretty much went as expected. We saw no birds because we stayed home. The muddy rain Saturday afternoon/evening was much appreciated. The rain came so fast that I'm afraid that not much of it soaked in. We got .8 and, if nothing else, got the grit out of the air

Headed out Sunday morning to a "sweet spot" and hunted corners on 6 circles. Saw a total of 5 pheasants (4 roosters, 1 hen) and a covey of 5 quail. Shot an old rooster that got up wild. We don't shoot a covey with 8 birds or less in it so they will be left alone.

Spoke to a party of 19 hunters that shot 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the weekend went exactly as expected. Although these numbers were anticipated, my real concern is the future. Yes, the birds will come back but it will take quite some time in most areas. It is likely that I will see good numbers again, but my dogs probably won't. At 6 years old, they're in (or just past) their prime. Should numbers double next year it will go from horrible to very poor.

Good luck to all...you're going to need it.
 
yes, it will take 2 mild winters and 2 wet springs for the birds to come back to huntable levels.......i am surprised to hear that some locations had lots of pressure, i guess the old tradition of going for the opener was too much for some to ignore ......tough situation for all.
 
Hunting some great habitat with 3 guys and 2 good dogs we saw 2 roosters Saturday and got one over a nice point. It did not rain where we were and Sunday seemed like worse scenting conditions. 1 quail out of a 12 or so bird covey and 1 rooster. I wonder if the state shouldn't cancel the season in some parts of the state. Worst I have seen it in 15 years.
 
nwkansnative said:
Hunting some great habitat with 3 guys and 2 good dogs we saw 2 roosters Saturday and got one over a nice point. It did not rain where we were and Sunday seemed like worse scenting conditions. 1 quail out of a 12 or so bird covey and 1 rooster. I wonder if the state shouldn't cancel the season in some parts of the state. Worst I have seen it in 15 years.
Click to expand...

it's pretty well documented that closing the season won't make any real difference, plus the state won't give up the license revenue already generated...there are plenty of hunters who will pack it in for the season, based on their experience with the opener.
 
Well, I know we were in for it but the wind just was a kick in the nutz on top of the drought.:mad: 14 of use at the house hunted till 1;30 saturday and took 8 roosters. It was the 29th year of the start of the group and my 23rd year and by far this was the worst. The only saying grace was the amount of deer we saw that we will go back to hunt in Dec. We did have a great time otherwise. I have enclosed a pic of the hats we got some of our guys so they know their job assignments. Mine said "Dog Handler":D which is correct casue I did't shoot a bird. I did manage to bag a Yote with my #5 at 15yds:D
 
What's goin' on in that photo? Is he blocking the entrance to the bathroom?:laugh: geez, I wouldn't invite that guy back... :D
 
Waiting for them to feed us at the Bison Hunters lunch. We were hiding from the wind in an old building entry way across the street. Actually the guy wearing the "Blocker" hat was the guy who introduced me to Rooster hunting 25 years ago so I blame him for my addiction. :eek:
 
Well as many have said an interesting day 76 degrees about noon wind howling along at 40 to 50. Then about 2:30 temps dropped 30 notches and it rained lightening thunder and hail. What the heck. Hunted east of Goodland all private ground. Saw more birds than I was expecting but they were smarter than we were. However I did manade to drop a nice old bird and was rewarded by my wirehair making his first to hand retrieve. I was pretty happy with that and that made my trip. Sunday we saw a lot of birds but again pretty wild. Conditions were not so good lots of the carp was cut and it was really dry. The little rain on Saturday was nice but not enough to amount to much. I hunted with family and it was a good trip ~ it isn't just about killing birds its is watching the dogs working and being out with good friends. Hope y'all enjoyed as much as I did.
 
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