Spent extended weekend hunting WIA areas from Wakeeney to Hill City to Norton.
With regard to all of the info on Kansas having the best pheasant population in 20 years and advice that I received from Kansas officials, all I can think of now is "Economic Stimulus Package"...... meaning they just want my Gas, Hotel and Food money that comes with the "attempt" at hunting Kansas pheasant.
Drove many miles, hunted many areas, walked many miles, wore my dog out....... saw 3 roosters per day!!!!
We (the dog an I) found incredibly good looking country everywhere, just no birds.
To be fair, here are some factors that may have contributed to my results:
1. Crops still standing around most of the places I happen to pick to hunt. Could be a million birds in those standing fields of milo and corn. Did hear a lot of roosters cackling in the fields at the end of the day near sunset.
2. Hunted alone, so no blocking.
3. Only one young dog.
4. 70 degree temps
5. WIA may be private land, but they are really just like public land, since everyone can hunt there. Don't get me wrong, however, as I really do appreciate the fact that so much WIA land is available.
With crops down and some snow on the ground or, at least, some colder weather, I do believe the results good be much better.
I did flush 5 different coveys of quail with 20 to 30 birds in each covy, so if one was hunting quail, it would be pretty good.
Once the frustration wears off, and I hear that the crops are all down and the weather is colder, I may go back for one last attempt in KS.
By the way, in my annual ND trip, sometimes the crops are up, sometimes they are down. When the crops are up, we see 1,500 to 3,000 birds per day. When the crops are down, we see 150 to 300 birds per day. That means, when the crops are up, we only see about 10% of the birds that are actually there.
Since, including hens, I did see about 30 total birds in KS, if that same ratio holds true, I would expect to see about 300 birds once all the crops come down. That would be ok with me.
With regard to all of the info on Kansas having the best pheasant population in 20 years and advice that I received from Kansas officials, all I can think of now is "Economic Stimulus Package"...... meaning they just want my Gas, Hotel and Food money that comes with the "attempt" at hunting Kansas pheasant.
Drove many miles, hunted many areas, walked many miles, wore my dog out....... saw 3 roosters per day!!!!
We (the dog an I) found incredibly good looking country everywhere, just no birds.
To be fair, here are some factors that may have contributed to my results:
1. Crops still standing around most of the places I happen to pick to hunt. Could be a million birds in those standing fields of milo and corn. Did hear a lot of roosters cackling in the fields at the end of the day near sunset.
2. Hunted alone, so no blocking.
3. Only one young dog.
4. 70 degree temps
5. WIA may be private land, but they are really just like public land, since everyone can hunt there. Don't get me wrong, however, as I really do appreciate the fact that so much WIA land is available.
With crops down and some snow on the ground or, at least, some colder weather, I do believe the results good be much better.
I did flush 5 different coveys of quail with 20 to 30 birds in each covy, so if one was hunting quail, it would be pretty good.
Once the frustration wears off, and I hear that the crops are all down and the weather is colder, I may go back for one last attempt in KS.
By the way, in my annual ND trip, sometimes the crops are up, sometimes they are down. When the crops are up, we see 1,500 to 3,000 birds per day. When the crops are down, we see 150 to 300 birds per day. That means, when the crops are up, we only see about 10% of the birds that are actually there.
Since, including hens, I did see about 30 total birds in KS, if that same ratio holds true, I would expect to see about 300 birds once all the crops come down. That would be ok with me.