Youth Hunt Report

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
We stayed in good ole' Wabaunsee county today. It's beautiful country, but as Setternut might say, it's not typically a "target rich environment".

Overall hunting conditions......POOR! It's awful dry out there. Walking the grass/weeds creates a LOT of dust. If we don't get some precipitation where we're hunting out west next weekend, the conditions are gonna be somewhere between tough and miserable. Scenting conditions were poor and it was hot today....10 degrees cooler than the projected forecast for next Saturday.

My young sons and crew started at a new place that a friend recently acquired. It's way out in the hills. It's not often I get to hunt 3 miles from any road. The terrain was hilly and rocky, the native grass was in pretty good shape. It even had a good pond that was still holding plenty of water. We flushed 1 nice tom turkey, 1 GPC, and 25 or so crows. No quail in our new spot unfortunately.

Went to another friend's place where the boys had flushed a covey, while playing during late summer. The boys took the 2 dogs right to the birds. They had a couple opportunities to take one, but didn't pull the trigger. I considered both of them good decisions. It seemed all the birds flew straight away and though the dogs probably weren't in harms way of a decent shot, they were still in the boys' view. I've never seen both of them so excited about bird hunting on the same day:)

We ended the day by putting a mile or so in at a local WIHA. We didn't see any birds, only ate dust as we followed the dogs through some great cover.

The boys were discussing where we should go tomorrow as they were walking back to the truck. I can't wait to plan a better trip to W KS for 'em next youth season
 
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Glad you guys got out. Times may be tough as far as birds go but it doesn't seem to have dampened those two boys spirits any. That's what I love about the innocence of youth. Hopefully this season will reward them both with a true shot and a puff of feathers, as they both deserve it. Enjoy your season my friend and shoot one for me.
 
It's not what you shoot at or kill it's the memories made that count in the end. And it sounds as if you made some good memories.
 
Agreed! The time spent with your family is precious. Enjoy every moment. It sounds like your boys are a chip off the old block. Very gratifying to pass the traditions on to your sons. Well done friend!:)
 
Took my fifteen year old Son out for his fourth and last youth season. This has become a ritual for us and helps to shore up our relationship during these mid-teen years (whew!). We take Friday off and scout, have lunch on the tailgate, run dogs, etc.

We always hunt WIHA because there's so much of it and it hasn't been touched. This year was no exception. The main difference is that it took us roughly 3 hours to find a spot that held cover we would consider "adequate".

Saturday morning we went to our chosen spot. Conditions were excellent. Heavy dew with a temp of 34 degrees and a 7 mph N wind. We have four seasoned dogs and hunted them brace at a time. We had one excellent opportunity but the bird came out very low and flew directly at the backing brace mate 50 yards away. No shot was taken (applause for my boy). The few birds we saw were obviously mature. Roosters outnumbered hens although the sample size was very low.

We saw no quail.

We hunted in an area of Kansas that is has been known for it's excellent pheasant population over the years. I spoke to the lady at the front desk where we were staying, they're booked for the next couple of weekends.

Given what we saw, I think you'll be able to stay wherever you'd like by Saturday night. Of course there are few birds, but the biggest issue I saw was the lack of cover. I simply don't know where everybody is going to hunt.

Good luck to all.
 
Thanks for sharing Point! It's not the news everyone wants to hear. It certainly isn't what I wanted to see. It's the same situation on both sides of the state it seems (maybe not in all corners, I dont' know). What wasn't mowed for hay is being heavily grazed.

We went again this morning, except 1 county north. The CRP WIHA we've hunted for years was all mowed. It sits by pasture land that's usually pretty decent, but this year it is bare. We've always been able to move 2 coveys there, but we only saw 2 rabbits today.

I'm sure we could've found birds if we could've spent more time looking today. However, the state of our state's upland habitat should be of concern to all of us.

The good news is that the kids are still very excited for next weekend:thumbsup:

Good luck out there gents; most of us are gonna need it;)
 
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kansasbrittany said:
Thanks for sharing Point! It's not the news everyone wants to hear. It certainly isn't what I wanted to see. It's the same situation on both sides of the state it seems (maybe not in all corners, I dont' know). What wasn't mowed for hay is being heavily grazed.

We went again this morning, except 1 county north. The CRP WIHA we've hunted for years was all mowed. It sits by pasture land that's usually pretty decent, but this year it is bare. We've always been able to move 2 coveys there, but we only saw 2 rabbits today.

I'm sure we could've found birds if we could've spent more time looking today. However, the state of our state's upland habitat should be of concern to all of us.

The good news is that the kids are still very excited for next weekend:thumbsup:

Good luck out there gents; most of us are gonna need it;)
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is this the year we should all shoot fewer birds to ensure better overall survival? has the time come to police ourselves?.....hunter pressure is the only thing that can be regulated at this point, the drought and resulting excessive haying leaves the birds at the mercy of the hunter.
 
hunter94 said:
is this the year we should all shoot fewer birds to ensure better overall survival? has the time come to police ourselves?.....hunter pressure is the only thing that can be regulated at this point, the drought and resulting excessive haying leaves the birds at the mercy of the hunter.
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With quail we should always regulate control and police ourselves. Coveys can be shot out.
 
We should always police ourselves with regard to quail.

Rooster pheasants, on the other hand, can and should be taken whenever possible. Given the lack of cover, the carrying capacity is at an all time low. In many areas, tor every rooster that survives, an hen won't make it. If we have enough hens next year, the limited number of roosters will "make the rounds".

Point!
 
Yep, I learned a couple years back to buy quail for filling the freezer. I will continue to harass the wild quail around here, but I don't take nearly as many as I once did. I've never hunted them past 3pm and have always had a good idea of how many birds are in each covey I hunt.

I agree about pheasants though; the fewer roosters we have this February the better. I'll put some effort into doing my part in thinning them out.

And about the boys not seeing many birds this weekend, don't worry, I ain't sweatin' it and neither are they. We enjoyed every minute of it, though the 10yo was a bit disappointed he didn't get to pull the trigger on one, he's ready to go next w/e. Please don't get the impression that I was complaining. I wanted to give my assessment of hunting conditions and bird popultions, even in the N Flint Hills were the upland forecast suggested quail #'s had improved. I didn't see it. In fact, I saw just the opposite in my admittedly small sample this past w/e.
 
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kansasbrittany said:
Yep, I learned a couple years back to buy quail for filling the freezer. I will continue to harass the wild quail around here, but I don't take nearly as many as I once did. I've never hunted them past 3pm and have always had a good idea of how many birds are in each covey I hunt.

I agree about pheasants though; the fewer roosters we have this February the better. I'll put some effort into doing my part in thinning them out.

And about the boys not seeing many birds this weekend, don't worry, I ain't sweatin' it and neither are they. We enjoyed every minute of it, though the 10yo was a bit disappointed he didn't get to pull the trigger on one, he's ready to go next w/e. Please don't get the impression that I was complaining. I wanted to give my assessment of hunting conditions and bird popultions, even in the N Flint Hills were the upland forecast suggested quail #'s had improved. I didn't see it. In fact, I saw just the opposite in my admittedly small sample this past w/e.
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sounds like you might not have to work very hard at thinning those roosters :eek:......good luck.
 
As far as policing quail I couldn't agree more. I never hunt them past 3 and if it's cold out I quit earlier than that. I just hope that there are still a few in some of my old haunts to hunt. Been several years since I've been. But looking forward to going this year with my new EP!
 
I wouldnt necessarily agree that policing yourself on quail has too much to do with the population numbers. The habitat is the issue. Prairie Drifter/Troy has pointed out many times and many studies that show hunting pressure has little to do with quail populations. Most do not carry over from year to year. Their life expectancy is very short.

That being said I do not think its ethical to shoot out an entire covey or if there is crappy weather coming to keep harassing them near dark.


As negative as a lot of people are about the situation, I believe in Western/Central KS the thinning/mowing/grazing of the habitat is a good thing for quail. Not necessarily now, but if we get a good weather pattern, the habitat will be a bit more suitable for quail for a couple years while the ecosystems recover. Quail dont need much, they just need the right recipe and ingredients which sadly are lacking in most places. Id rather see CRP dollars spent on edges/hedgerows and buffers around crop fields etc than large chunks of CRP. If we did that in this state we'd likely be a destination for pheasants/quail again...the state wouldnt have to worry about its deer cash crop, theyd still survive just fine.
 
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Great post....

KSHusker.....howdy from another passionate husker fan...GBR


Your post is right on target and I agree 100% about habitat being the key.
Yes this year's drought was terrible.....however like you said....the warm. dry weather was good for quail and mowing and thinning of some of the CRP will provide long term benefits. Troy has pointed out that ethical hunting will not adversely affect quail numbers.....as upwards of 80% of the population will not survive each year due to predation, weather, and habitat loss.

Here in Kentucky.....we have a good CREP program going on in the Green River drainage area of south central part of the state....over 100,000 acres is currently enrolled in CREP. Most of these fields are small in comparison to out west....quail numbers are really responding well to the increase in habitat.

Good conservation practices, habitat and ethical hunting methods are all very important pieces to our upland game puzzle.

ps.....when will Martinez stop throwing to the other teams receivers?
 
HighBrass68 said:
ps.....when will Martinez stop throwing to the other teams receivers?
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Man I dont know, the past two weeks have not been good for the blood pressure. I dont think I need to workout after watching the game....get all my cardio in from the stress and yelling.

He has improved over last year, I'll give him that. Sadly, he is supposedly the best we have, though this year I do not loathe him like I did the first 2 years. I just wonder about Bo. I dont think people respond well to someone yelling and screaming in your face all the time. I know the refs certainly dont and I believe that is a reason they get some crappy calls sometimes.
 
HighBrass68 said:
KSHusker.....howdy from another passionate husker fan...GBR


Your post is right on target and I agree 100% about habitat being the key.
Yes this year's drought was terrible.....however like you said....the warm. dry weather was good for quail and mowing and thinning of some of the CRP will provide long term benefits. Troy has pointed out that ethical hunting will not adversely affect quail numbers.....as upwards of 80% of the population will not survive each year due to predation, weather, and habitat loss.

Here in Kentucky.....we have a good CREP program going on in the Green River drainage area of south central part of the state....over 100,000 acres is currently enrolled in CREP. Most of these fields are small in comparison to out west....quail numbers are really responding well to the increase in habitat.

Good conservation practices, habitat and ethical hunting methods are all very important pieces to our upland game puzzle.

ps.....when will Martinez stop throwing to the other teams receivers?
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when he learns to stop staring down his receivers!
 
So let me get this straight.
If there is a ten bird covey on a piece of land and i shoot five the first day of the season, and then i come back and find them the next week and shoot three, i will have little to zero impact on the carryover of birds to the next season? Sounds like i had quite an impact on the carryover...
:rollingeyes:
As an aside, i hope Nebraska loses every game they play.... Thats what they get for bolting the Big 12... :)
 
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