Gun Dog Forum

With our bird numbers in a steady decline for many years,I was worried that the deep,long lasting snow and cold we had last winter was going to make things worse.From what I saw on opening day I believe our already low bird numbers are quite a bit lower yet this year.Talked to 4 other hunters yesterday who had the same opinion,not many birds this year.I"m afraid we may be in the worst season ever as far as numbers

You are probably correct. I bought an out of state KS license last year and might hunt my home state saturday morning (more of an excersize outing hoping to find a bird or two) and that will probably be it. KS is complaining of low bird numbers this year but I don't think to many Jayhawks have hunted low bird numbers (MO). Might even miss the opening morning of Deer season here to go to KS and hunt Pheasant in the morning of Nov. 12th. Good luck to all.
Ross

Isnt EVERY year the worst year ever in Mo? :roll: Sorry I couldnt resist. Kansas will also be down as a whole this year, although there are still a few hotspots in the state.

I bet its still better than GA!

topher40 wrote:Isnt EVERY year the worst year ever in Mo? :roll: Sorry I couldnt resist. Kansas will also be down as a whole this year, although there are still a few hotspots in the state.

Your pretty much right in your first sentence,but when you sharply decline from already poor numbers,I believe we are in real trouble.We definately need a mild winter this year but predictions are we aren't going to get it.There were some good reports on here a couple of years ago about quail in the exteme southeast part of the state,hope they are still hanging in there.I will still be out there,my dog and I can both use the exercise,but it looks pretty dismal.

oh don't tell me that, I'm going out this weekend some will let ya'll know what i find i did see a couple average size coveys(12-15birds) 2 weeks ago and a few weeks before that seen a large covey with some young birds, sign that that may have raised two broods this year? i sure hope so! good luck sounds like were going to need it

I think that this year won't be as bad as people think. Or let them keep thinking that way. I heard several birds this summer and look forward to getting out soon.

hpvizslas wrote:I think that this year won't be as bad as people think. Or let them keep thinking that way. I heard several birds this summer and look forward to getting out soon.

Granted, I'm not in MO, but we saw better than normal numbers dove hunting and lots of chicks...

Hunted hard this morning,my dog found 1 covey and did a really nice job pointing and retrieving.Should have been more birds the places I hunted,but at least I got some good dog work and the dog and I got a little leaner and meaner.Good luck to the rest of you Mo. hunters!

Will be hunting wild birds for the first time this year on Sunday, I'll post what we run into here in North Central Mo.!

I'm worried about taking my dogs out this weekend with the youth deer hunt on. I'll probably get them out anyway, but I'll pick and choose the right CA's. It sucks that the first three weekends of quail season coincide with deer hunters. But we know what makes the MDC more money.

Chuck

I am headed out in the morning as well. I don't think it will as bad as what u guys think.

Mike

I've come to believe that MO is the fescue capital of the world...


hunted 2 hard days this week, 3 dogs, 3 hunters. not one bird flushed. dang

Well we went out a little this weekend got pushed out of the way on most ground due to youth season but ended up finding 2 coveys the first only had 5 birds and the second was a nice size covey probably around 15 birds. Came home nearly empty handed as my pup just kinda flash pointed the larger covey then flushed em so I didn't shoot but later he worked a single from the covey real nice and my father made a nice shot on my pups first official wild bird!
I didn't think we did too bad for having limited access to most our normal spots.

Went out today and had 0 contact with birds! They won today!

went last weekend up North, daughter lives in Kirksville, stopped at the mdc office to get a few maps, the quail girl was there, it was real gloom and doom from her, said sever was the best bet they did a whistle count there, 20 covies, another mdc person went there friday morning 4 dogs 0 birds, we found one covey and it was small

while deer hunting this season i have seen more hawks and owls than i've ever seen in the past and i also seen 5 different bobcats and was able to put 3 of them down, this has got to be killer on the bird numbers, also im one of the believers in the theory that turkeys will eat quail and we have as many turkeys as we do ticks it seems!!!

southernblues wrote:I've come to believe that MO is the fescue capital of the world...


hunted 2 hard days this week, 3 dogs, 3 hunters. not one bird flushed. dang

lol i hunted sunday at pony express sun up to sun down 000 birds two dogs!!! went out monday hunted 9 til dark at settles ford south of garden city 0000 really sad

i dont no were u guys are from but . i live in the bootheel 2 1/2 hrs south of st.louis and since opening day i bet we have jumpd around 150 to 200 birds just about everywhere we go around he u can almost bet u will jump a covey of birds smallest covey i jumpd this year had about 10 to 15 birds in it its better down here this year than in the past 2 years so good luck

budlight11 wrote:i dont no were u guys are from but . i live in the bootheel 2 1/2 hrs south of st.louis and since opening day i bet we have jumpd around 150 to 200 birds just about everywhere we go around he u can almost bet u will jump a covey of birds smallest covey i jumpd this year had about 10 to 15 birds in it its better down here this year than in the past 2 years so good luck

is there any public hunting there i would love to come see for myself???

i dont no were you guys are from but i live 2 1/2 hrs from st.louis and we have jumpd about 150 to 200 birds since opening day. this year has been the best year we had in the bootheel in probably 2 or 3 years. i just now got back from hunting and junpd 5 coveys about 10 to 15 birds in each one. we kill lots of birds every year around here but this year is just great for us so good luck to you guys and hope u have a good hunting season

i met a 65 yr old man name vernon from ky. him and his friend came over with 5 pointers these guys shot their limits all 3 days they were here and told me it was so much fun and it was in their top 5 best hunts they have been on in 20 years

budlight11 wrote:i met a 65 yr old man name vernon from ky. him and his friend came over with 5 pointers these guys shot their limits all 3 days they were here and told me it was so much fun and it was in their top 5 best hunts they have been on in 20 years

lets go im just one guy with 2pointers

I live in northeast Missouri and have hunted three times thus far this year. So far I have have found more birds than I did last year although I haven't killed as many. I don't think Missouri will be exceptional hunting, but I do believe it will be better than last year. I have heard that no one has had any luck at the Thomas Hill CA areas, but my private ground has produced coveys of good numbers. One place I hunted last year had a covey of six and now there are two coveys there with 15 + birds. Now that deer season is over, quail season should get as good as it gets around here. We need another drier spring to help things out around here.

Went this morning. Got into two covies
So far this yer has been about the same as the last several. Finding one to two covies
After opening day I am seeing hardly any other hunters
And I hunt all public ground ]

My son and I went out this morning and had a nice two hour hunt. We found two coveys, one of which was very large !! We got a covey rise but they flew a long ways away and crossed a highway !! This place only had one covey last year.

Went out again today with my son and good friend from Illinois. We hunted three hours with three dogs, found three covey and brought home four birds!! To top off the excitement, my dog got SPRAYED by a skunk !!! Needless to say I made my first visit to the local pet spa for a deskunking !!!! We still had a great time !!!!!!! So far Missouri has produced eight covey in five hunts !!

Anyone been out to Bilby Lake CA this year? Last year I got into a few phez and a covey or two but have not had a chance to make it up yet this season. Lots of ground to cover up there.

nhachman wrote:Anyone been out to Bilby Lake CA this year? Last year I got into a few phez and a covey or two but have not had a chance to make it up yet this season. Lots of ground to cover up there.

Have not been yet, been waiting for the deer hunting to thin down. That place is a bit over 5000 acres I think, counting all water and land. Never been but the last time I looked they said bird #'s were good.

Went out on private land for 2 hours tonight and still not one wild bird, WTH! Going to Bilby this weekend, maybe things will improve!

I think last year and this year in Missouri have been pretty poor, I keep walking and trying. I am finding small pockets of habitat that hold birds and other really nice looking covers that are barren. We have way too many predators not to mention farmers owning their own bulldozers and batwing mowers.

That's the way to do it. Keep pounding the leather and taking the few successes and running with them. Big Dave, Headed up to your neck of the woods midweek.

I got into a few birds over christmas found 2 coveys on public land on top of a ridge 1 was in some blackberry brush and the other was just inside the woods close to an old hedge tree that had been uprooted. the first covey had about 15 birds and i pulled off a double and then the second covey had roughly 12 birds, I got one then we worked a single off of it so i ended up with 4 birds from an hour hunt, not too bad. I also found a covey of 6 on some private land but did not take any figured i needed to leave em as that is the only covey I have found on the place this season.

Went out on Jan. 3 got into 2 decent coveys 10-12 birds each covey not much luck on them. Dog wasn't working them very good. This was our 5th time out this season and only 3rd covey we have seen. Going to try some CA's up in NW part of the state to see what they got going up there.
I am really looking forward to getting back to training and getting a bunch of birds up over my Gsp and get back into test mode.

This season has proven to be a little better than last for me. I had two days last weekend where I walked and walked without seeing a bird and then found two coveys close together.