Gun Dog Forum

We all know the numbers are down historically speaking but I would love to hear from anyone that goes out opening weekend. Right now I am planinng on heading to central Kansas around Hays based off of what some buddies have told me while working in the area this spring and summer. Good luck to anyone that heads out and look forward to hearing about it. Just to head this off before it starts, there always seems to be guys on here that give people heck for stating where they did well and giving away the, "honey holes". Fellas just looking for reports on different regions.... If that upsets you just bypass the conversation.

Just got back from Nebraska. After a great spring and summer bird numbers are much better than last year. Not as good as 3 years ago but better. Had a good 3 days of hunting. Quail really up. R. Taylor

Anyone have any luck this past weekend?

I thought Kansas opened this coming Saturday?

Kansas opens this coming Saturday, the 8th.

Sorry about that.... Well, I would love to hear about it this weekend if anyone goes. Found a cheap house to rent in Alden that I am considering. Just with the low bird numbers I hate to be tied down to just one area. Especially when I have not hunted that specific area before. Good luck to anyone headed out this week!

Good luck this weekend to all going! Hope to hear some good feedback!

Kansas opens up today and my wife's uncle and cousin went out there to get on some birds. It's going to be tough for them. They only have one dog and she is a 13 year old lab. We will see how she does.

From what I saw this morning, the numbers are good. I came 1 bird short of limiting out with both Pheasant and Quail. Saw one of the biggest coveys of quail I have ever seen.

Deets wrote:From what I saw this morning, the numbers are good. I came 1 bird short of limiting out with both Pheasant and Quail. Saw one of the biggest coveys of quail I have ever seen.

Pics??

Pics? What is this facebook?

I think the bird numbers where I hunted were the same as last year. However the Game warden I talked to said he thought numbers were down. Which I thought was funny since the official kdwpt report says the numbers are up.

Here is the obligatory photo

Deets wrote:Pics? What is this facebook?

Haha. Thanks

All reports I have been hearing, reading, and seeing indicate bird numbers are still way down. Fella's one decent year isn't going to bring back the pheasants. Seems like we are basically starting over again in a sense. May be some quail around now but next year could be boom or bust on them. Their numbers are so low and spotty that if you have a bad year for nesting then there are few to no birds. If a good year of nesting and everything is perfect then it's like a very bad year back when we had quail before the early 90's. I hate that the quail are taking it in the shorts. I love everything about those little buggers. Some day we won't have any to hunt I'm afraid of.

Sure you wil find areas that had good populations last year and either have good carry over or had a good hatch but by far it's not a statewide thing or really even a regional deal possibly. I think it's more of type a deal that this certain section has what it takes no matter the weather. Just because one guy goes out and kill limits of birds on the farm he hunts certainly doesn't mean the bird numbers are back.

Give the pheasants time and they will hopefully return in big numbers. Unfortunately farming practices seem to make this nearly impossible though. We will see.

But even hunting with few birds stil beats sitting around watching football or twiddling your thumbs. I'm headed out today for a little inspection on a propery not far from house that I can hunt. Haven't been on it yet but it sure looks good. Think I'll just take a camera and snap some pics of the dog and maybe if she is lucky she will run into a covey of quail.

Well guys I guess we better just sell out and quit. According to duckn66 the quail are going extinct, and the phesant aren't far behind. I must have accidentally stumbled onto the only public land in Kansas with quail on it, and it must have been by dumb luck that I found phesant on every walk in tract I hunted..........Guys don't belive everything you read on this site, bird number are not the best they have ever been, but they are out there. If we stop going hunting the the quail and phesant are in real trouble. Look at the history of whitetailed deer, turkey and waterfowl. They were all in trouble at one time, and it was the conservation acts of hunters that brought them back. I dont see why the same can't happen for upland birds.

Deets wrote:...Look at the history of whitetailed deer, turkey and waterfowl. They were all in trouble at one time, and it was the conservation acts of hunters that brought them back. I dont see why the same can't happen for upland birds.

Why?...because birds are different critters...ones less able to adapt, in many cases.
Deer and turkey thrive in most environs...birds, especially the early successional ones, find their home constantly and steadily aging out of prime.
Those that find a home in Ag are affected by cyclical markets and politics.
Each are affected by human progress.

I don't really buy the habitat loss theory. There are a lot of areas that have not been touched since the 80s & 90s when the bird numbers were up. I think something else is going on.

Deets wrote:I don't really buy the habitat loss theory. There are a lot of areas that have not been touched since the 80s & 90s when the bird numbers were up. I think something else is going on.

Loss of set-asides or a decline in the consistency of set-asides plays a role in pheasant decline...as would drought, et al....habitat change is never the single reason....just the most popular one.
Especially not for birds elsewhere which are not named pheasant...so, I would agree....something else is always going on and it's harm is based often upon where each bird specie sits upon it's own population decline curve.

And then there is Wisconsin with all kinds of habitat and still no pheasants. And I remember when they brought the first turkeys back to Kansas and they were saying that a small area next to the Arkansas River was the only place where they could release them because they couldn't exist anywhere near people. Kind of like the deer, coyotes and foxes to just name a few.

Ezzy

I was just merely pointing out that it's going to take more than one mediocre nesting season to get numbers back up. Can you find birds here? Sure! Are they thick? im sorry if I offended you deets. It's not like I was calling you a liar or anything. If you took it that way which apparently you did I'm sorry.

I think it is Oklahoma I read that biologists were looking at old aerial photos of areas and comparing them to current Google map images and were surprised at just how much things have changed. Trees where there weren't trees years ago and other changes.

SE ks has changed dramatically since the 70s. Farms that supported quail are now overgrown with trees/brush and no longer support birds. The farm next to it may be good but it can't support all of farm A's birds along with its own. So those birds from farm A are left without a place and go away. Put that scenario on a grander scale now. It's happening all over.

This is the internet so nothing offends me. I can't really intelligently argue the reason why bird numbers are historically low because I'm not a biologist. I was just trying to point out that their are still enough birds to make a trip worth wild. Alot of people might look at the post on these sites and give up before they even try. We need to recruit, new hunters not scare them away.

Central Kansas came back with a good report from my buddy. They got into both pheasant and quail on public ground and said it was a fun hunt with enough birds to keep the days exciting. I am excited to head that way next weekend!

Friend of mine got back last night and gave a good report. Most quail he has seen in a long time with more pheasants then the last couple of years. He was hunting north central on private property. He thought he would of done better if he had better dogs. He had one lab and one britt both 10 years old. Trying to convince him to take me and my 4 GSPs!