Where to go next fall?

S

stinkbelly

Member
I have been upland hunting out of state since 2007. I take a trip to Kansas for the opener and SD around Thanksgiving. I am looking for an additional trip to add to my fall season. I am in Texas, so all the good upland hunting is a long way away. I don't mind driving. I am looking for an upland hunt in September or October. I like public land and a decent opportunity to find game. I have only upland hunted pheasant and bobwhite quail. I have 2 deutsch drahthaars. One is seasoned, the other is a puppy.

What game should I look into? What states?
 
stinkbelly said:
I have been upland hunting out of state since 2007. I take a trip to Kansas for the opener and SD around Thanksgiving. I am looking for an additional trip to add to my fall season. I am in Texas, so all the good upland hunting is a long way away. I don't mind driving. I am looking for an upland hunt in September or October. I like public land and a decent opportunity to find game. I have only upland hunted pheasant and bobwhite quail. I have 2 deutsch drahthaars. One is seasoned, the other is a puppy.

What game should I look into? What states?
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I’m going through the same process right now, there are a few state I want to try that are marked off the board due to drought. Everything out west right now is either in trouble or walking the tight rope from Arizona to Idaho.
 
I would look into chasing Prairie Grouse in Nebraska, the Dakotas or eastern Montana. Their seasons open early and its just a different and awesome experience. Hungarian Partridge are open at the same time in most or all of those states and areas. All of these states have had a good (for the birds) winter, so what was there should be good to go. Keep an eye on the the weather and rains this spring and summer to see what happens. Flexibility is maybe the biggest benefit bird hunting has over big game, besides the dogs :) You're not tied to a specific state or region, just go where the birds are.
 
I hunted pheasant in the panhandle of TX years ago and was shocked how good it was. A guy I worked with knew somebody who had family in the area and got us on private farms but we got into a lot of birds. Wherever you end up going, if you're going to hunt west of the Missouri River in warmer weather, I would consider having your dogs go through a snake avoidance clinic that uses prairie rattlesnakes before you go. Not very expensive. I took my dogs up to Rapid City, SD for a clinic. Something to think about. Snakes in some areas are pretty common, especially in early season.

I hunted a new state last year and basically just picked a place on a map and drove there. Hunted huns and sharp tail on public land. I went back a month later and hunted the area again, more for pheasant. I don't go to "popular" well known areas if I have the time to drive further. I prefer remote so I don't even bother asking others where to go. I look at a map and try to get as far away from the borders of MN, WI and most larger cities as I can and keep going west until my truck is covered in dust and I get low on fuel.

We didn't kill a lot of birds but there will always be good years and down years and I got to know the area. I found some clean places to stay, a couple decent places to eat, no snakes and my dogs had fun so we're going back this fall. Finding new places to hunt is always fun.
 
I went to Montana for the first time last fall and if bird numbers are ok, I would suggest you try it in late September for Sharptails and Hungarian Partridge. l have been told the Northeast corner of the state is crowded at times but further west I rarely saw another hunter until pheasant season opened. There is a good amount of State and Federal land, and the block management program has thousands of acres. The main issues are snakes (which I did not see) and porcupines (which my dogs did find!) I did not shoot a lot of birds, but found enough to be interesting and the country is spectacular. From what I read and was told by other hunters, last year was not a good year for birds.
Note that this year all state, block management and federal land is closed to non residents for the first 10 days of the season.
 
I went to Montana for the first time last fall and if bird numbers are ok, I would suggest you try it in late September for Sharptails and Hungarian Partridge. l have been told the Northeast corner of the state is crowded at times but further west I rarely saw another hunter until pheasant season opened. There is a good amount of State and Federal land, and the block management program has thousands of acres. The main issues are snakes (which I did not see) and porcupines (which my dogs did find!) I did not shoot a lot of birds, but found enough to be interesting and the country is spectacular. From what I read and was told by other hunters, last year was not a good year for birds.
Note that this year all state, block management and federal land is closed to non residents for the first 10 days of the season.
 
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