What I saw last week out west.

fsentkilr

fsentkilr

Active member
So I went out to put up a trail cam on my farm in Finney County last week. I drove around in the evening and morning in parts of Ness, Lane, Ford and Finney counties. One thing I noticed is a lot of the birds I saw were very young, like barely able to fly. A couple friends told me there are a lot of very young birds. The most birds I saw were in Finney County, in one place the road was covered with young birds, and I also saw quite a few around Dodge. I saw more birds everywhere than I have since the before the drought years. There are also good numbers of quail again, something some friends also told me. Tons of doves, I don't think I have ever seen so many. I may take a trip out there to shoot some if we get a break from corn harvest due to weather. They have a very good milo and corn crop coming on, and there is tons of cover.
 
Thanks for the report , I have been hearing good things from my friends from that area , here in The Northeast seems like a decent number of Quail for the cover we have saw a young rooster going into a food plot I put in with the Farmers approval . Also saw 3 broods of Turkey .

How are things looking down your way in S.E. part of the state ? We have quite a bit of permission near Redmond and we saw a fraction of the Quail last year compared to the year before .
 
KSBrittman said:
Thanks for the report , I have been hearing good things from my friends from that area , here in The Northeast seems like a decent number of Quail for the cover we have saw a young rooster going into a food plot I put in with the Farmers approval . Also saw 3 broods of Turkey .

How are things looking down your way in S.E. part of the state ? We have quite a bit of permission near Redmond and we saw a fraction of the Quail last year compared to the year before .
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I would say quail are about like last year. We have had a lot of floods which couldn't have helped them. I was seeing some broods before all the rain, but not any lately. I usually don't see too many until the crops start coming out. We have had so much rain some of the soybeans are dying from wet weather.
 
KSBrittman said:
Thanks for the report , I have been hearing good things from my friends from that area , here in The Northeast seems like a decent number of Quail for the cover we have saw a young rooster going into a food plot I put in with the Farmers approval . Also saw 3 broods of Turkey .

How are things looking down your way in S.E. part of the state ? We have quite a bit of permission near Redmond and we saw a fraction of the Quail last year compared to the year before .
Click to expand...

So much flooding down there this year and last. I’m guessing it’s taking its toll.

Talked to a guy at work who’s family farms out around Colby and said he’s seeing few birds on his farm and the area. Said they had a ton of rain and severe weather, some recent.
 
fsentkilr,

Did you have heavy rains on your Finney County land while the pheasants were on their nests?

The hens will start over if they lose their first nest before the eggs hatch. The Minnesota DNR says that pheasants can hatch as late as the end of August if the weather caused the hens to lose multiple nests. (I don't know how this translates to Kansas conditions.)

Hopefully the small birds you observed will be nice and fat before winter hits!
 
No not really a lot of heavy rains over there. I was back out today and again saw some normal size chicks for this time of year, and again some very young ones.
 
My bad, I though your OP suggested they were small relative to the time of year.

Any tips on scouting your acreage while working on the farm? (Especially since you have land in pheasant country and land in quail country.)

I almost never see birds on our farm in the off season unless I literally step on them! We are in Kingman Co.

Thanks, Rod.
 
Heard today that SEK quail numbers are way up. Have a buddy who family has a lot of land down around Garnett and he said he’s seeing more quail there and on his land than he’s ever seen.
 
I don't know who your buddy is, but if he is around Garnett I know him and he knows me. There are some birds, but a long ways from more than I have ever seen. Maybe he is a young pup.
 
I am in Montgomery/ Chautauqua counties, and the quail are certainly doing better than they have since the “good old days”. It seems like the past 5 or so years the population has really exploded, but this year might be the best hatch so far (in recent years). I am seeing and hearing quail absolutely everywhere.
 
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