Where to go

jeffstally

jeffstally

Member
Hi Guys,

My cousin and I hunted in the Wakeeney area last January and had a great time. We are headed back to Kansas in about 10 days, weather permitting. We plan on hunting the same area for 3-4 days, but wanted to try somewhere new for the first day. Somewhere with more quail but still decent rooster numbers would be nice.

Right now I am looking at the La Crosse area. What do you guys think? Maybe you could PM me if you don't want to throw it out there for the world to see.

I really appreciate any advice.

Thanks
 
walk ins have been hammered, knock on doors, get on private ground or you are for the most part wasting your time.
 
jeffstally,

We are hunting that area over Thanksgiving, I will let you know how it goes. We are hunting all walk-in hunting. I have read that the walk-ins are getting hammered, so the previous post boosted the morale quite a bit.
 
When hunting walk-in areas, go slow. Don't talk at all and walk into the wind. One thing my son and I do is communicate with hand signals. We never talk in the field. If hunting with a dog, make sure he quarters close. Never let your dog out of range. A dog that hups when trailing is worth its weight in gold.
 
I always felt just the opposite. Those big crp fields work great for 2. Just go quiet. Most people talk, hollar "rooster" and etc. I never could figure out what the difference is with a group or a pair hunting a big area. We go slow through, then move over 100 yds and go back through and work an entire field. I think a big difference is my dog. He is out of a MH and line bred on Riks Risky Raider. I bought my first hunting dog in 1980. Since that time I have owned and trained many. This is the best pheasant dog I have ever owned or hunted with. I really feel he makes all the difference.
 
I tried that this week as well (with 3 hunters 2 dogs) and we still had a hard time flushing them up. It seems as though those guys would run like a stuck hog. How did you keep em' from running without some type of block?
 
There going to run anywhere you hunt them, big or small acreage. Its the 1 or 2 that doesn't run that you walk for. We also figure if we get 2 birds out of a place we walked we have done well. Do that 4 times and we have are limit. I have been hunting pheasants in KS since 1984. 20 or so years ago I hunted with a big group. Never have done that again. We very seldom block anything.
 
westksbowhunter said:
There going to run anywhere you hunt them, big or small acreage. Its the 1 or 2 that doesn't run that you walk for. We also figure if we get 2 birds out of a place we walked we have done well. Do that 4 times and we have are limit. I have been hunting pheasants in KS since 1984. 20 or so years ago I hunted with a big group. Never have done that again. We very seldom block anything.
Click to expand...


Exactly.

I've gone out several times on my own over the years with just the dogs. Started randomly walking a patch, sometimes even a half section (320 acres) of undisturbed CRP. So what if the bird runs. The dog gets on the trail, and the bird will eventually hold for a point or it will flush for a shot. Hopefully some of them flush in range, which for me was quite often.

Most of the time I'll get in a field with no real idea on how I want to hunt it, and just kind of randomly follow the dogs. I figure they've got the nose, so let them use it.
 
I hate big groups as well. I will take some advice here and apply it on my next hunt. The only noise I can't control is my heavy breathing as I push through all that CRP. Cheers!
 
I've hunted the same way for years and love crp with a good dog. If there is a little breeze the birds don't hear you walking thru the grass until you are close and the dog gets birdy. I've always had a pointing dog so I know its different with a flusher. I've taught my dogs that when I quietly say "EASY" they slow down to a crawl. I have been wanting to try one of those hawk whistles to see how they work at getting birds to hold. You should have good luck in that area and things should settle down a bit.
 
Really the old saying "You need more guys to hunt a large field" leaves some hunters missing out on a lot of fun. I love a little wind when pheasant hunting. CRP is much better than walking through a bunch a fireweed. I use a soft twill on the whistle to turn my dog. And I never allow him to hunt outside 20 yds. When he gets on a runner, (which is 9 out of 10 roosters), I whitle sit him then release him when I get to him. He never bothers to chase a runner now, but it took 2 seasons of hunting to get him where he is now. The key to pheasant hunting is having a well trained dog. I don't know how you can hunt without one and to be honest to me it seems unethical not to have one. We have not lost a crippled bird this year. Our goal is to not loose one either. We hunt every saturday and sunday plus holidays over thanksgiving and xmas. Have a well trained dog and shoot shells that rate at 1420 fps or better and you will have better sucess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top