Kansas opener

[tennquailhunter]

I have heard from some friends that it isn't looking good , they didn't see but 7 all day and that was from several differnt spots. where we hunted last year wasn't even any signs of nesting like we saw last year. We didnt get to make the opener due to wife having medical issues, but looks like we may wait till December or maybe even January. hope it rebounds. they didnt haave much rain at all this year,
T.Q.

[SetterNut]

It was 80F and gusting to 40 mph, you didn't miss much.

[topher40]

Time better spent trialing IMO

[tennquailhunter]

Well we went down to Lake fork Texas fishing in September instead of our annual family tradition of pheasant hunting 7 days . I had heard it wasn't looking to good. we plan on trying to hunt a few snowy days maybe in December or Jan

TQ

[tennquailhunter]

http://www.kansas.com/2012/11/10/256403 ... s-for.html

[SetterNut]

Went out again today. Still way to windy.
But we saw a few pheasants, a covey of quail, and a group of 6 Prairie Chicken.

Didn't shoot any birds, and ended up with both dogs dinged up. Had to staple a good sized cut on the pup.
Everyone is going to be fine, but this is not the start to the season that I was looking for

[whoadog]

Saw a surprising number of birds (both pheasants and quail) given the conditions and early reports. Was hunting with inexperienced hunters in an area I was unfamiliar with and it cost us a number of birds. Had we been better hunters, 8 of use could have come close to limits on both days. Much of the CRP has been cut for hay so some tactic changes are necessary but if you can figure it out, it has concentrated the birds. I hunted a favorite spot on Sunday that my nephew hunted on Saturday. He saw one rooster, we kicked up about 25. I'd say the numbers are down but not as bad as most people will believe after the weekend.

[rkappes]

Any birds around Belleville?

[duckn66]

Saw a surprising number of birds (both pheasants and quail) given the conditions and early reports. Was hunting with inexperienced hunters in an area I was unfamiliar with and it cost us a number of birds. Had we been better hunters, 8 of use could have come close to limits on both days. Much of the CRP has been cut for hay so some tactic changes are necessary but if you can figure it out, it has concentrated the birds. I hunted a favorite spot on Sunday that my nephew hunted on Saturday. He saw one rooster, we kicked up about 25. I'd say the numbers are down but not as bad as most people will believe after the weekend.

There will be spotty bird action such as what you ran into and it will be few and far between. OVERALL Ks bird numbers are drastically down.

[whoadog]

[

Any birds around Belleville?

We were near Glen Elder.

There will be spotty bird action such as what you ran into and it will be few and far between.

True. However, my point was a change in tactics can yield some reasonable results. I hunted the very same field as my nephew. I saw birds, he didn't because I hunted it differently than he did.

[tennquailhunter]

whoadog
we have stayed at glen elder in the rv and hunted around there just north of the lake about 3 miles up. had luck there, last year we stayed in Beloit and drove to Osbourne and hunted with friends we know from there. They said they where not having much luck down that way. lots of hunters showed up that usually hunt southwest andcentral kansas.

[whoadog]

We actually stayed with the friend of a friend in Beloit. It was the first time I have hunted the Glen Elder area. Had I been more familiar not just the area, but with how the fields we hunted in were layed out, we would have had a good open day despite decreased numbers.

[whoadog]

By the way, the moisture this year was funny in that area. Much more spotty than normal. I think that's why the birds are spotty as well.

[whatsnext]

Any birds around Belleville?

rkappes are you or did you go to belleville? If so how did you do?

[rkappes]

Any birds around Belleville?

rkappes are you or did you go to belleville? If so how did you do?

I haven’t gone but I was thinking a late season trip to Kansas, after all the seasons have closed here, would be fun. Belleville doesn’t look like it’s real far into Kansas so I thought it might be a good spot as far as distance from here. I was on the Kansas DNR site and it looks like they have some public land around that area. Not sure how the birds are but thought it would be fun to head down to Kansas for a long weekend.

You ever hunt the Belleville area?

[whatsnext]

No i have not hunted belleville before but i will be on the weekend of Dec 1st, Hopefully i can get the pup into a few birds.

[rkappes]

No i have not hunted belleville before but i will be on the weekend of Dec 1st, Hopefully i can get the pup into a few birds.

Good luck. I hope you get the pup on a few birds. Let me know how it goes and have fun!

[whatsnext]

No i have not hunted belleville before but i will be on the weekend of Dec 1st, Hopefully i can get the pup into a few birds.

Good luck. I hope you get the pup on a few birds. Let me know how it goes and have fun!

Hopefully i will get some pics to post, either way i will let you know how it went.

[CHJIII]

Headed out west to Ks. tomorrow. Not expecting great things, but a good time will be had by all. Taking GSP's Ranger, Ruby, EP Molly and LLew. Sweets. Delivering pups on the way there and on the way home. 12 week old pups will get some time in the field, sans guns. Birds or no birds...we're planning on having a good time.

[tfbirddog2]

Good luck! Where ever your heading in my great state!

[TAK]

Hunted from Atwood to Norton... Low bird numbers and very spotty. The birds that we shot were mature birds. Cover was not what it has been in the past either. Had fat dogs, now they are skinny!

[SetterNut]

I got out today and hunted a spot that I have hunted for many years. I was shocked how short the grass was. So I took a picture in the same spot that I had taken one when Ace was a young pup.

Three years ago. My son walking in on a covey of quail.



This season, didn't see any bird in the area.


Pretty easy to see why the hunting is going to be tougher this season.

[whatsnext]

Went around Belleville Kansas this past weekend, Saturday was a mess with all the thick fog and the pup bumped the only pheasant we saw but it was a hen at least. Saturday evening the pup busted a covey of quail and most of them flew to ground i could not hunt, he did find two singles but bumped them too, stinking rookies . Sunday morning was clear and cool around 37 degrees, about an hour in he pointed and held a covey of 10 or 12 birds i marked the ones i could and shot at a late flier from the covey and missed. He had a hard time pin pointing the singles but did point three more finds from that covey but this is the first time i have shouldered a shotgun in 7 years and it showed . By 10:30 it was to hot so i packed up and went home, all in all for my first quail hunt and the pups first hunt on wild birds it was not too bad, But i do not think i will ever go when it is going to be that warm again i will just wait until the highs will be in the low 40's or so.

[SetterNut]

I wouldn't put all that on the pup. We have had some very honest and experienced dog bump some birds and have a very hard time locating singles.
Way to dry and hot for even marginal scenting conditions.

[whatsnext]

I was surprised how hard of a time he had locating some of the singles, i just let him take his time and work it out. There was one where he went on point but i could tell by the way he was moving his head he wasn't sure and kept searching, i walked by where he was pointing and out one flew.Hopefully with any luck i can get him out enough to get good at it.

[cmc274]

When we were out a few weeks back, those things disappeared like virgins on prom night.

Any time a single meandering cow leaves a cloud of dust in its wake, you know it's dry.

[topher40]

The 10 times I have been out bird hunting this year I have only seen 2 roosters. On the other hand I have seen TONS more birds while out deer hunting, trialing, and working dogs but only 2 roosters while hunting. I havent hit the same place twice this year and usually dont. Birds are at a premium this year in Kansas and cant understand for the life of me where the all went. On opening weekend I hosted a trial and found 3 different coveys, 3 days later couldnt find a single one. Thats why they call it hunting I guess! :roll:

[whatsnext]

i have a question for you veteran quail hunters, When pursuing singles after the covey flush do you wait a certain amount of time or just head after them? Any other tips would be appreciated too

[topher40]

If you care about the population you dont hunt singles. Hit your birds off of the covey rise and then leave them be. If you must chase them you dont need to wait.

[whatsnext]

If you care about the population you dont hunt singles. Hit your birds off of the covey rise and then leave them be. If you must chase them you dont need to wait.

I figured if you just take on or two singles and leave the covey at no less than eight that would not be too greedy, but that's why i am asking to see what the right thing to do for the long haul is. I am more interested in dog work than birds in the bag i only shoot at birds that my dogs point.

[RoostersMom]

If you care about the population you dont hunt singles. Hit your birds off of the covey rise and then leave them be. If you must chase them you dont need to wait.

I figured if you just take on or two singles and leave the covey at no less than eight that would not be too greedy, but that's why i am asking to see what the right thing to do for the long haul is. I am more interested in dog work than birds in the bag i only shoot at birds that my dogs point.

No less than 8 is a bad strategy. "Why" you ask? Because when a covey is shot down to below say 5 or so, they will most often bunch up with another covey - making a covey of 10 or more.....major problems if you start shooting that covey down to 8, then you've effectively taken a couple coveys and reduced them significantly. The only really accurate way to manage for quail and hunting losses is to have a good indicator of the population level on the "farm" and only plan to shoot 50% of those birds. I know that's not possible on most public land, but it bears repeating that a "leave 8 in the covey" strategy is basically flawed - especially later in the season.

[whatsnext]

I was hunting private land not public ,but i see what you are saying about how to manage harvest, and even on private land it would be hard for me to know how many quail are on the property that i will only be on a couple times this year at most. I guess for now i will keep my harvest to a minimum and maybe after two or three seasons i will have a better understanding of each farms quail distribution and population.

[SetterNut]

If you have a good sized covey, taking a few singles is not an issue in my opinion.

Now as far as how long to wait, I have tried several methods. Going straight to them will work if the scenting conditions are good. But generally I have had the best luck getting after them in about 5-10 minutes.

I don't know that there is a best method that works for all situations. Some of the quail I have hunted will run like crazy if they land in an area that doesn't have much ground cover. I have seen them land under a hedge row and run 100 yards in no time.