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Hootch
PostPosted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 9:06 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 1460
Location: Eagle, Nebraska

Anyone have any reports on NW kansas pheasants?
Thinking on Jan late season hunt.
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fourtown
PostPosted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:08 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jan 2014
Posts: 223
Location: MN

I just talked with a Biologist in KS. He said the entire state has been very warm and dry all fall. Pheasants and quail are spread out and haven't moved in to winter cover.

He was hoping for a little snow this weekend. He said scenting conditions for dogs have been poor. Any rain or snow would help that. He said to concentrate hunting around any area with water or moisture.
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fourtown
PostPosted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:20 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jan 2014
Posts: 223
Location: MN

Below is the link to the drought map for KS. The NW is very dry.


https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?KS
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Barnyard Drake
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 3:55 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 21 Jan 2019
Posts: 48
Location: Indiana

North Central Kansas was the same in mid December.

Saw very few and never pulled a trigger.

The sunrises & sunsets, though....good for the soul.

BD

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Timn
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:59 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Nov 2016
Posts: 44
Location: Oklahoma

Made the trip in late November saw very few birds hunted all private. We have been going up to this area for 25 years worse I have ever seen this.
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Timn
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:00 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Nov 2016
Posts: 44
Location: Oklahoma

Made the trip in late November saw very few birds hunted all private. We have been going up to this area for 25 years worse I have ever seen this.
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df
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:22 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

Opening day, eight of us and two labs hunted west central Ks, private land, CRP with food plots. The limit for this group was 32 roosters. It took us six hours but ended up being 31 roosters short of our limit. It was depressing.
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fourtown
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 5:21 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jan 2014
Posts: 223
Location: MN

My wife and I are leaving for Central Kansas this morning. We have never hunted that part gf of the state, new adventure, going in totally blind, but will let you know what we see when we get back. Most of Kansas got some snow on Sat.
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3birddogs
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:03 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 07 Sep 2011
Posts: 567
Location: wheeling, wv

I've heard that with the prolonged drought alot of CRP was cut and baled, or had cattle turned out into it. So dont pass up any heavy cover you find. Friends that hunted around Hill City in NW Kansas, did not do as well this year. Same situation in Montana and SD so I've been told.
I'm headed to SD in mid January--never been there before.

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Hootch
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:16 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 1460
Location: Eagle, Nebraska

South Dakota has a lot of grass hayed or grazed also. I felt like there were not as many birds there compared to last two years. But was pretty nice weather around thanksgiving, and birds spread out all over the place.
Late season, given right conditions, you will see birds in the cattails near corn.
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fourtown
PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:14 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jan 2014
Posts: 223
Location: MN

Central Kansas Trip Report

Sorry this report was delayed. This was our first time in this area of Kansas, we basically threw a dart at the map and went there, so I have no reference to previous years.

We had a wonderful trip, the Kansans thought it was cold, but us Minnesotans thought it was normal. There was one to two inches of snow most of the time which made for great tracking snow. We saw quail tracks much more than we saw coveys.
We didn't go back to spots where we saw tracks, but we had planned to on our fourth day.

Because of the drought, the cover was generally short. Many grass patches were hayed, and the grazed area were grazed shorter.

The "bad" roads were "less bad" than than in up near the Neb. Border. Because it was so dry, the roads did not get so greasy if they thawed out. Also in some areas the limestone is right at the surface, so there is much more rock available to put on the roads.

After three days, our game bag overall was pretty light, but we had opportunities on coveys every day.

At the last spot on the third day we found a spot with good numbers of pheasants feeding in a milo field. We schemed how we would hunt it the next day.
We checked the dogs over, fed them, and went straight to a place for dinner.

When we got to back the motel our eleven year old griffon could not get up. She screamed when I tried to pick her up. Her shoulder was very sore. I had to carry her out to pee and hold her up in the process. Even with some vet-profen, she cried most of the night as I laid beside her on the floor of the motel. Her breathing was sometimes very fast and then very slow. I was concerned she was going to die that night, as her condition had deterioirated so rapidly. She had a lump on her shoulder the size of half a softball. The next morning she was stable, but still could not get up or walk. We headed back to MN and made a vet appt for the next day.

The vet took an xray and said there was also another mass behind her shoulder. She thought the lumps were caused by an infection, likely from a fence encounter. She prescribed pain pills and antibiotics. Maggie improved for two days and then declined again, the lump had shrunk and then got bigger. They scheduled a surgery the next day and removed three masses. The surgeon thought one was likely cancer, the other was fatty and the third was a huge blood mass. She didn't really recover from the anesthesia and we took her back to the vet the next morning. The vets were really concerned with her condition. About 30 hours after surgery she perked up, got up and walked around, and has been improving since.

The masses were sent out for pathology screening. Yesterday we got a two minute voice mail from the vet. We were concerned. The pathologist had found no sign of cancer, just various mixtures of fat and blood. We were relieved beyond words.

We hope that all us, and you, will be able to hunt birds again next fall.
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fourtown
PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:23 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jan 2014
Posts: 223
Location: MN

Post script to previous report

We had only ever seen prairie chickens once on our trips to Kansas. This trip we saw them in three different locations. 14 of them flushed at 45- 50 yards at one spot, I didn't fire, but s very tempted'

We also saw bobcats in two different locations.

Western meadowlarks and Harris' sparrows are common.

We saw many different raptors, including a prairie falcon.
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Cheesy
PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:14 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Oct 2015
Posts: 163
Location: SWMO

Prairie chicken permit is now required in Kansas now.. You might know that already.

Glad your pooch is improving.
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