Gun Dog Forum

ok i am planning a trip but i am new to the travelling thing so i haven't researched many areas. the time of year is dead set so there is no changing that, last week of nov first week of dec. my final destination is central KS to do some bobwhite/pheasant hunting. i want to hunt public land, free is key. i am driving from greensboro, nc and plan to overshoot KS but keep travel time below the 30hr range from greensboro.

where would be a good destination to get into as many wild birds (quantity not types) as possible. giving the dogs a good dose of wild birds is my plan here. OR if you think central eastern Kansas is as good a place as any and wouldn't recommend travelling the extra miles i am open to that too.

When are you planning your trip? The first few weeks of the season are pretty crazy, atually until Deer season then pressure drops dramatically. The problem then is educated birds. As far as areas, try and think like the other hunters and avoid them. try and get 3-4 hrs west of any major metro areas and away from the interstates. A decent area is the Lacrosse to Larned, Jetmore area.

Send me a pm.

I agree with MuddyC try the Stockton,Smith Center, Beloit,Glen Elder,Cawker City.Contact Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks and get a state reg book and WIHA( walk-in-Hunting-area)book lats of info on FREE places to hunt.Door knocking will help too.You can PM me too and would love to help.

My grandparents were born in Smith Center and I hear about the pheasant hunting every year. show offs.....

Try the Phillipsburg area I have always had success in that area. The Long Island area can also be good. The local hospitality is also top notch.

Kansas bird populations vary greatly year to year depending on the hatch in each area, dont limit your self to any one area. generally the western third of the state is best lately. But that could change. Wait till the season is open to decide and be set up to move a 150 miles if birds are scarce where you first land.

I forget when deer season opens but avoid it

do the bird populations really differ that much from say Junction City to the western part of KS? reason i ask is i have buddies that duck hunt in junction city and would like to eventually make it there to end my trip with a little duck hunting. i am willing to travel out of KS maybe to NE, WY, or NM. just looking for the highest concentration of birds (NOT PHEASANTS) to give my dogs the maximum wild bird exposure.

I guess I am a little confused, you don't want to hunt phez? You very well could find some birds around Junction City, Milford res. is there and I have heard there are some birds there. Another spot would be Ft Riley, I know they open it up, just not sure of the rules. I would still suggest going a couple hours west around the Salina area. If you base there and travel in a 100 mile radius you should find birds, but you will have other blaze orange friends. In that area there are quail, phez and chickens. Most of KS is having some serious quail declines, but that general area is doing the best. Sounds like you are willing to drive farther, so I would again suggest heading a little further west for birds that have not been pressured as hard those around JC. You have to remember that area is an easy drive from a few million people. Just my 2 cents.

yeah, not really interested in going to a place loaded with pheasants, i just think they are a little confusing to young dogs. so is everyone in the consensus that i should stay in KS, maybe just a little farther west than planned? i don't mind staying in KS then i would only need to buy 1 out of state license, those things add up.

I hate to let these secrets out but the Abeline are is very good too.A really goo mix of birds, your not, not going to see pheasents and if you have good control on the dogs youll be fine.Abeline is about a half hour or so west of JC, but I to would bet money on N.Central. the amount of birds I saw just turkey hunting two weeks ago in SC and stockton was a pretty good indacater for me I will be making my plans this year.Ftriley does have some funny regs but you can hunt there, look out for elk.

Rifle deer season should be Dec.3rd to Dec. 14th

tfbirddog2 wrote:I hate to let these secrets out but.....

I was really suprised to see some of you commenting on the open forum about these areas. i was expecting regional areas by state, heck most duck hunters wont even give you that. i guess i will save some license $ and hunt a little more of KS this year. the time of year is set though, we will be there for the deer opener. last year we just talked to those scouting while we were out and asked them where they would be hunting, stayed out of those areas, and never had a problem. being from NC, i like seeing the big buck results from the first two days. made friends with a taxidermist in the area, who prepped my phesant for the ride home last year, he was happy to show me what had been brought in the past 3 days and wow he had some huge deer in there.

If you really don't want to hunt pheasants then stay away from north central KS around Beloit and Cawker City. That area does hold some quail and chickens but pheasants are the draw. It also gets lots of hunting pressure. If you're looking to hunt quail then go to OK, TX or NM and stay out of KS. As was mentioned earlier, quail have had a pretty good decline the last few years in KS (as well as OK). Yes, they can be abundant in some areas but you really won't know where those areas are until a few weeks into the season and, by that time, you'll already be on the road. OK quail numbers have been very pitiful the last two years coming off the one of the best years in memory. NM has had some great scaled quail hunting in recent years but those can be even more frustrating than pheasants. You can always find a good spot in TX since the state is so large but you'll pay to hunt. Honestly, the best hunting in the country on public/walk-in areas is for pheasants unless you want to hunt desert quail in the SW or sage grouse in WY (closed the time of year you're going). ND, SD and KS have great walk-in programs but, again, it's mostly for pheasants. The sharptails and chickens are darned unapproachable the time of year you're going and I would not spend the time/money to target them. In MT, you'll find pheasants and sharptails with a few huns depending on where you are. You'll also find sage grouse on public land the time of year you plan to hunt but you'll darned near be in Canada.

In short, if I were driving from the Carolinas (I grew up in GA) I'd plan on hunting pheasants that time of year unless the quail numbers suddenly rebound which is unlikely. Pheasants can be frustrating for a young dog but they pick it up quickly and their numbers have been fantastic the last two years. I'm primarily a quail hunter but have had to focus on pheasants the last few years with my young dog and he's done very well. We spend some time chasing scalies in NM and they are tougher on the young dogs than the pheasants. One covey will act like bobwhites and the others will run and break up on the ground like little pheasants.

If it was me I would head north for grouse and woodcock. There are lots of good areas, just make sure your're not in any of them during deer gun season!

parshal, that general overview was more of what i was looking for, it may seem a bit general to you guys out west but most of that was all news to me. i have never researched game out of my area and now that i can afford to do these things i guess i am a bit unprepared. pheasants are easy to read about, there is info everywhere, a lot of other game birds are not. i have always heard pheasants are really rough on a young dog but i guess we have to go with what is available these days. maybe i will give it a try


Darby, i would head north for grouse but that time of year might be a bit rough up there. i plan on making a trip up there but not this year. next year i get another week of vacation, planning on taking the trip up there.

If you really get in to the pheasants you'll have the time of your life and so will your dog. I'd wait until later in the summer to pick a specific location based on the hatch and go where things look to be best. I can afford to hunt public land being so close but if I were driving from GA I'd consider a day or two of pay hunts just to be sure we got into birds. It's a long way to go to learn both the terrain and the birds themselves.

As far as pheasents go young dog or old dog they can take either one to school, it just depends on the guy run the show for the dogs helps.I think pheasants get a bad rap more than oftencuase the dog got beat, when in fact the handler didnt pay attention to the dog to read the birds.Give me a call Nate.

I agree with most of the posts here so far, if you're coming to Kansas plan on hunting Phez. Yeah you might get into a covey maybe 2 per day if you are lucky but right now quail numbers are pitiful. If you want more quail see if you can pay for a day or 2 of hunting in SE KS then move west. My opinion is that the further west you go the more phez and less quail you'll see. Just my 2 cents. Whatever you decide I'm sure you'll meet some great people and have a good time.