Upland Forecast

I've got it and it's simple.

West is good.

Central, all birds drowned during the floods.

East has no pheasants but some quail.
 
I know thatI won't really know til I get boots on the ground, but it seems pretty decent. Sounds like it will be a fun year to hunt different spots all over the state.
 
"Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage cap will gradually increase over the next five years. However, there has not yet been any new enrollment. Kansas lost approximately 50,000 CRP acres in 2019, resulting in about 1.9 million acres statewide. Hunters are unlikely to see any immediate upland bird population impacts from these acreage losses. However, with more than 500,000 acres set to expire in 2020, significant population impacts are likely if suitable habitat on CRP lands is lost."

Before all the spin, err, analysis, of the crow counts, whistle counts, brood surveys, weather, etc., there's a section about CRP. The quote above is the first few sentences. Losing 25% of our CRP lands, whether you or I can hunt on it or not, will be a disaster for all of us! I sure hope there is a general signup in the works. Right now even CCRP enrollments are limited. There are only a few practices open, and none of the ones I need.
 
This sounds promising for our group of 4 coming down in Jan. for the first time. Much better news then the SD area we have been hunting for the last seven years as they are 74% below the ten year average. Pretty sad! We're staying at a airbnb house in Lucas. Any feedback on the area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
All the other mid-western states have released actual bird numbers per route. "Better than 2018, and improved numbers" from Kansas aren't convincing enough for me to commit my vacation time. I didn't know there were that many hunters who thought Kansas was great last season.
 
I think they post that on their website in October. You can see mail carrier and other survey data for previous years. This year isn’t up yet.
 
All the other mid-western states have released actual bird numbers per route. "Better than 2018, and improved numbers" from Kansas aren't convincing enough for me to commit my vacation time. I didn't know there were that many hunters who thought Kansas was great last season.

certain counties were pretty good, a lot of the old reliable haunts were very poor....you got to be prepared to move around, birds are not equally distributed.
 
All the other mid-western states have released actual bird numbers per route. "Better than 2018, and improved numbers" from Kansas aren't convincing enough for me to commit my vacation time. I didn't know there were that many hunters who thought Kansas was great last season.

I know lots of folks that had a great season last year. I saw a lot more pheasants than I did in South Dakota.
 
Last edited:
I shot some birds and had several good hunts last year. But overall not a lot of birds. No huge groups. Going to be similar this year. Looks like there are broods but they are small broods. 4 or 5 birds per brood is what I am seeing here. Might be different in other area's but this is what it is. Our game warden here told me 2 weeks ago is is not seeing much at all. We will know in a few weeks. And don't put much stock in the KDWPT report. They are not going to discourage hunters from coming, they are in the business for $$$$$$. What some people consider a good year will always be different from someone else's view point. Regardless I will be logging in miles a foot.
 
I shot some birds and had several good hunts last year. But overall not a lot of birds. No huge groups. Going to be similar this year. Looks like there are broods but they are small broods. 4 or 5 birds per brood is what I am seeing here. Might be different in other area's but this is what it is. Our game warden here told me 2 weeks ago is is not seeing much at all. We will know in a few weeks. And don't put much stock in the KDWPT report. They are not going to discourage hunters from coming, they are in the business for $$$$$$. What some people consider a good year will always be different from someone else's view point. Regardless I will be logging in miles a foot.

pretty accurate assessment of the upcoming season....figure i will need to keep moving if i don't see good numbers, i have a pretty good hunch where to start....after the opening week dust settles.
 
pretty accurate assessment of the upcoming season....figure i will need to keep moving if i don't see good numbers, i have a pretty good hunch where to start....after the opening week dust settles.

The rain really effected the 4 counties around me, I can't say what is will be like in other areas but I have traveled down to Dodge and over to Sharon Springs and saw about the same thing. Haven't spend much time in the NW corner so cant say for sure. Maybe the renesting and late broods have not shown themselves yet but 20 inches of rain in May is not what any of us wanted. Pheasants are a tough bird though and sometimes find a way.
 
Went out this last weekend chicken hunting in Lincoln County and Russell counties. I did not see 1 pheasant or a covey of quail. I know we weren't really hunting quail or pheasant cover, but I usually see some driving back roads, and occasionally get some pointed while chicken hunting. The locals say they haven't seen many pheasants and quail did ok. I can say the cover was really good, and looks like it is going to be a late milo harvest.
 
Back
Top