I have my first long distance (Houston to Kansas) pheasant hunting trip planned for December. I am going for a week and bringing my lab. I am driving a crew cab half ton pickup. Any advice from those that have done this trip. I am not looking for bird finding advice. More...what to bring, tips...anything.

Do you you guys do the drive in one day?. Do you bring 2 guns? Do you keep the dog always locked in the truck instead of the crate in bed when stopped for lunch? Can I expect to get a duck hunt in? Best to over pack/under pack?

Make sure to have some WARM clothes with you, can get very cold up there. Lots of ducks and geese, plan accordingly. Lots of the public hunting places require non-tox shot for everything, make sure you have some on hand.

The drought hit as hard up there as it did down here. Where I hunt, I was told that lots of crops were lost and the bird population suffered bad.

Its a 6-7 hour drive from Dallas to where I hunt, you can make it in a day, but it will be a haul.

Good luck on your hunt.

We made it in a little under 14 hrs driving from Houston. Take your time getting there. Better yet, if you're chasing ditch chickens, hunt your way to your destination, your dogs will be grateful.

make sure you have your hunters safety card. kansas has the toughest rule on needing one. i have hunted around 12 states and never needed one unti i went to kansas. unless your oldet than 65 or so

where are you from

I live in Houston. I moved to TX 1.5 years ago. I have my hunter safety course. Thanks for all the advice so far.

i mean where are you from before you moved to texas


i was in the same boat as you when i moved to texas/ houston area 6 years ago. never HAD to travel so far before to find birds until i moved here. i came with one dog. now i have 3.
in my opinion when you start hunting a full days drive and a week at a time you are at the beginning of what i call a traveling bird hunter and that changes the whole ball game. i am now hunting 2-3 weeks at a time myself and 2 long days of driving one way. so i look at anything that can break down on me and kill my trip i will have a back up. the biggest factor is hunting one dog for a week strait is alot to demand on that dog. too much in my opinion. your going to definitely run out of dog power after 2 or 3 days hunting. unless you hunt your dogs several days a week here in houston he wont be in that kind of shape. so i suggest you start running that dog today to get him in shape as much as possible. everyday . another reason for another dog is injuries. all it takes is one blown pad and he is ptetty much done for the trip. 2 dogs will keep you going there too. hunt one dog one day and alternate so one is always resting. obviously it is too late for adding another dog but it gives you something to think about if your going to do this every year. but for this trip get that dog in top shape

another thing i like is a camper shell for your truck. keeps you gear out of the weather and locked up. helps keep your dog warm when in a crate with a kennel cover over the crate

I am originally from Calgary, Alberta where I only had to drive 1.5 hours to into great pheasant, huns, and sharptail hunting. I recently moved from Seattle WA were good wild pheasant hunting was stil only day trip hunting. I have 2 dogs but one is almost 13 (retired) and the one I am taking is 14 months. I planed this as a solo week trip to get the bugs worked out. Everything you noted makes sense. My setup is not optimal without a camper shell and only one dog. I agree that I may only get 2 or 3 real hunting days with one dog in a week. I am sure the trip will be a cluster.
Thanks for your help

hunt the northern part of Ks. bird population is way down in the south and s.w. part, another thing thats hard on dogs is cut milo, those stalks can injure a dog.

And with that one of the things that allows me to get more out of my dog and extend a hunting road trip is to have dog boots and a chest protector handy for those situations. One of those ripstop chest protectors from cabelas work great for hunting in a cut field and they are very inexpensive.

Absolutely not! You will have a great time. I am one of those traveling hunters blanked speaks of. Trust me. Just go and everything will fall into place. Here are links to a couple past hunting road trips of mine that included Kansas. This season, I will probably be doing a more waterfowl based road trip that takes me into Kansas, but I will of course do some upland too. Good luck, I am sure you will have a great trip.

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1056287

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/113078

boy would i love to hunt around calgary. are bird numbers around there dropping over the last 20 years like most places?


like sniper john said you will have a great time. things i am talking about takes time to get to that level but in the mean time you and your dog will have a foundation to build on in the future. and have fun doing it


one other thing. you asked about traveling lite or over pack.
again you have to learn this over time but be prepared to move to new areas and new motels until you find bird numbers your happy with. dont get settled in the same motel for the whole week unless you get lucky and pick the right part of kansas to find birds the first time



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I would go straight up I-35 to Salina and nose around there, see if you can find a feed store and talk to some locals, Sniper John is right, on the dog vest, take clothes that you can layer on and off, cold monings, sometimes warms later in the day, oh, be prepared for WIND..you can take off in any direction out of Salina and probably do okay

We hunted Liberal Ks the last 3yrs and around Clay Center for 6yrs. Birds are way down in Liberal so We did'nt gro. My buddie's went to Clay Ceneter and thid year and took 5 pheasant's and quite a few qauil. And Yes We all take a back up shotgun. Good Luck.

Lived in Kansas for years, and chased pheasant every year at least 3 days a week. Now that I live in Fort Worth I make the trip every chance I get. Once so far and leave again tomorrow. The hunting is not great but I will tell you some of the less popular areas have been good this year. I'm not alking about limits everyday, because thats not what its all about to me. But you will shoot some birds and see quite a few more.

As far as packing, man really just like your going on a day hunt, but enough clothes for 3 days plus 2 extras. Dog boots are good, but in most areas you won't need them. For sure bring a spare gun.

Have fun and enjoy what I think is gods country.

This will be my first time hunting WIHA. It seems simply enough. The regs say that you can only park in designated parking spots (don't park on the farm roads or on the property). Does every single property have a "parking spot"?

Just don't pull into the field, unless there's a little parking opening... Park alongside dirt road, off it as much as you can. It's rarely a big deal. You're usually hunting out in the middle of nowhere... Will most likely not be a vehicle passing your parked vehicle except only like every 10 or 20 minutes. And they can see your truck a mile away from both directions. But just for a little added insurance I occasionally hang a blaze orange hat on side mirror — just so it can blow in wind and catch drivers' attention a little more... Just in case someone is texting or whatever and not paying attention at all. I've also set my cooler behind truck a few feet so it would be hit instead of truck... There really is nothing to worry about though... No one has ever hit my truck or messed with anything in it. About all I hunt is WIHA and have taken roughly 25 trips to Kansas since 1995. Go 2 or 3 times most years. (When a good snow is predicted, I usually head up there if at all possible).

I haven't read all the other posts... But dog boots are often a must. You CAN'T risk not taking boots unless you have someone very thoroughly scout the area for you in advance. In some places sand burrs are a complete nightmare. Dog gets drenched in them and can't move... I once was hunting near Ness City and had to carry my dog (a Bourbonnais) and my A-5 a good 120 yards to get her out of the sand burrs and to a point she could walk the rest of the way back to my truck without getting 2 or 3 burrs every step. They are often much fatter and have larger and harder spikes than burrs in Texas. They really are a nightmare in some areas, especially in milo that's cut low and ditches next to milo.

Chest protector is very important too... Especially if CRP is really low (hits dogs belly like sandpaper). Milo stocks can be really rough on dog too.

Also a very good idea to gob vaseline on dog's armpits, ears and part of each leg that has that weird dry spot on outside of each ankle. Vaseline helps prevent a lot of cracked and bloody skin... In many areas of Kansas, dog is continuously being rubbed by one type of vegetation or another... Basically never getting a break. Not like Texas where usually have big spots with very lower or no cover and just scattered patches of taller/thicker cover. Have to remember how dry the air is in Kansas too.. Just adds to likelihood of a dog who's fine hunting in Texas ending up with cracked and bloody spots when hunting in Kansas.

Also remember that the often very low humidity up there means dog's mouth dries out VERY quickly. If you're gonna be in a field longer than 30 mins, then packing water bottle in your vest is a must... That is unless you don't care about dog being miserable and don't care that it's nose will dry out — and thus gather scents a lot less effectively. Bring a tiny bowl (empty large size cat food can is good) and bring plenty of water. I like a 1.75L liquor bottle.. Shape of it lays again back better than a 2 liter coke bottle and slides from side to side of vest a lot less. And liquor bottle is more durable.

Do a lot of stopping when walking. I mean dead stop for at least7 or 8 seconds. Sometimes freaks birds into flushing, ESPECIALLY when you're casting a long shadow. Don't worry about seeing a bunch of birds getting up way out of range.. If cover is decent, there will usually be one or two that stay behind. Trust that your dog is working them and not the ones that flushed wild.

When it's like 24 or below and windy, focus on the wind breaks BIG TIME... Of course shelterbelts are usually the best bet but places like backside of a pond dam, creek with a few trees, or even a fence clogged up with tumbleweeds will have birds "stacked up"..

Best time to go is when there's a fresh 3 or more inches of snow on ground. Many birds will hold incredibly tight, even if it's very late in the season. Sometimes when dog points you can look really closely and see tail feathers sticking out of the cover (cuz of not being such good camouflage against snow compared to dead grass). And of course snow means you can see if birds are actually in the area you're hunting. Three or four times I've tracked a bird right to the end of its tracks and bagged it when it flushed, but usually tracks get mixed up with other tracks and there's no way to tell where a particular bird is likely holding. In other words, tracks just tell you birds are likely still around, but rarely do they pinpoint location.

Don't cheap out by buying wussy shells... I shoot 1 3/8oz Fiocchi Golden Pheasant (the ones that are 1485pfs) and 1 1/4oz Federal Premiums, which as far as I know are all 1500fps. Pheasants are tough birds with thick bones, lots of meat,and often lots of fat. Loading up with a 1200 fps quail load, that's only labeled "Pheasant" cuz it's 6 shot instead of 7 1/2 shot, is just asking for half or more of the birds you shoot to either fly or run off crippled. Shoot high fps shells in 5's and 6's early season, 4's in late season. There's no need to buy 3" "magnums"... 1 1/4oz in a 2 3/4 shell is a plenty good enough pattern, even if shooting 4 shot.

I love my A-5 but usually hunt with over/under cuz it is nice for second shot to have a tighter choke if you miss the first shot or are going for a double. And nice to click over to tighter barrel if a bird is running on dog and you think it's likely it will flush 20-30 yards up ahead (when you'll obviously only have one, long shot for which you want at least modified).

As for crippled birds, one of the most common things is seeing a bird flying off with one foot dangling. If at all possible, run to highest ground and watch where that bird puts down (which could be half-mile away) and eventually get dog down wind of it — if it landed in a legal place to hunt. Obviously the bird can't run so if it didn't fly (after putting down) and dog hunts dead well at all, it's going to be very close to where you saw it glide down.

Unless you have a dog that's really, really good at hunting dead (and he's always around when bird goes down), you will have times in thick cover in which bird looks like it dropped dead as a rock but seems to have just disappeared when you look for it... If you can't find it within ten minutes, wrap orange painter's tape, toilet paper (or whatever) in general area bird went down and then go hunt for more birds.. Come back an hour or two later to look for the downed bird. A lot of terrain up there looks almost exactly the same, and WIHA patches often a full section or more in size... Unless you are really observant about tiny differences from one part of field compared to another, there's no way you'll be able to come back hour or two later and find area where bird went down — unless you put up a marker.

Don't be afraid to ask permission to hunt... About 1 in 3 times I get permission. But private land hunting has never been critical to me.. Just a nice bonus to occasionally get. But could be very important this year due to all the WIHA CRP that was mowed.


Okay, last "expert" tip for now... ha ha. Unless you have a dog that ranges way ahead and/or doesn't listen well, don't be afraid at all to hunt a WIHA patch that borders right up to a major road like 156, 283, or even I-70. Most of those patches don't get hunted much at all. I've had very good hunts right along I-70.

Over pack. The temperature and conditons will change up there in a week. Bring everything you have for your dog. A week of hunting will wear our your dogs feet and chest. Bring something to protect them and put it on before you see the blood. If you have a good dog, let it ride with you in the cab. Mine ride with me and sleep in a bed in the motel.

Make sure you have the public land booklet. Download the current maps to your gps or phone or both. We hunted two newly added pieces of land that were not in the paper booklet. They probably hadn't been hunted this year.

Take lots of pictures.

Thanks everyone for your help. I have the dog boots and chest protector on order from gun dog supply. I am trying to figure out the google maps app sync to the WIHA info. In short....I have a much better (more mobile) game plan for my trip. I will take a lot of pictures and post my results when I am back

One other thing that I do is take antibiotics for the dog, some eyewash for dogs. I took cefelixin (sp?) in case of small barbed wire cuts that can get infected (this happened to me this
year in SD and it was just a small cut and I just cleaned it every day but it got infected and had to put him on the antibotics and that took care of it. As far as the skid plate goes, my dog was rubbed red on the underside and the nose and inside the ears, so if I can get a skid plate that will not rub
him raw on his legs I will definately use one next year. I hunted my GSP for 6 straight days but all I can go by is the miles he hunted (around 15 or 19 miles a day by the gps)but he is run 4 to 15 miles every 2nd or 3rd day year around. I keep my
dog in a kennel in the back seat for the ride up and back and get him out every 2 or so hrs. to potty,drink,eat or just strech
his legs, he rides fine just loose but I am worried about if I should hit something or slam on my breaks he will go flying.good luck and let us know how it goes. I drive up to SD in one day (980 miles and 16 or 17 hrs.).

how do you guys take care of the meat when your on a week long trip? Do you clean them the same day and then put the meat on ice in a cooler for the rest of the trip?

I know most motels in SD will freeze the birds for you and just
keep them on ice on the way home. Don't know about Kansas, but
keeping the cleaned birds on lots of ice should work just fine.

Some of the hotles have a community freezer. Freezing is best but you can ice the meat for a few days.

Headin to kansas tomorrow from fort worth. Lookin forward to the road trip and the hunting. We are doing a guided goose/duck hunt up there, and also gonna try to get on some pheasants(but have no dog, so we'll see how well it goes). All y'all info was helpful. Good luck to ya cj6530

We are leaving tomorrow for Kansas also to see if we can find a public pheasant anywhere. Not expecting much other than to see some new country.

Hey CnC when are you going to pick up the 30-06 you said you would buy from me?