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Kansas
#5986641
10/21/15 02:46 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
Have any of you ever pheasant hunted in southwestern Kansas around the Houghton area? Going there for the opener on November 14th and I've never been to Kansas. What is the land like? Any reports on birds from that area?
Thanks
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5987948
10/21/15 11:10 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,114
Flashprism
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,114 |
TXPAN
I hunt north of there in Sherman county. Should be similar. All agriculture with wheat, milo and corn. Also some CRP. Should be a very good year as conditions were quite good.
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Re: Kansas
[Re: Flashprism]
#5988149
10/22/15 12:55 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
TXPAN
I hunt north of there in Sherman county. Should be similar. All agriculture with wheat, milo and corn. Also some CRP. Should be a very good year as conditions were quite good. The landowner I'm in touch with also has some land in Sherman county. I am so excited I can barley stand it!
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5988213
10/22/15 01:37 AM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,165
shock_n_awe
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,165 |
We hunted Liberal north to Garden City and points west for a few years during the drought. Great bird area when populations rebound. It was a grind for a while. Mostly Pheasant. Larger quail populations are farther east. Good luck and have a blast!
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5988222
10/22/15 01:41 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,626
Erichugh22
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,626 |
I'm going to be in Kansas first week in December, can't wait. Half day pheasants and half day waterfowl all week long.
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Re: Kansas
[Re: Erichugh22]
#5988258
10/22/15 02:00 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
I'm going to be in Kansas first week in December, can't wait. Half day pheasants and half day waterfowl all week long. I would be right there with you if I could get a week off haha
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5988590
10/22/15 12:26 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825
poisonivie
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825 |
Going opening weekend again. This will be the last year if I don't see marked improvement. We go to Atwood usually. Last 3 yrs have just been too poor to keep making that 10-11 hr drive.
Pee on Photobucket
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5988925
10/22/15 04:01 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296
stxranchman
Obie Juan Kenobi
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Obie Juan Kenobi
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296 |
I have been going to NW Kansas in Sherman, Wallace, Logan and Thomas for the last 4 yrs. Sherman and parts of Wallace and Logan had good birds numbers last year. This year in western Logan and southern Logan the numbers are way up but they got more rain than Sherman and Wallace. Western Wallace, western Sherman and parts of Wallace did not get the rains that they had east of them. The southwestern part of the state was and has been really dry for sometime now. I never see many birds on the roads traveling through that part of the state for the past 4 yrs now. The areas that had the rains, had really good dryland corn and milo. All of it seem to make pretty good crops. The areas to the east of Sherman and Wallace had 22"-28" rain for the year when I was there in Sept. I saw more birds in the CRP next to standing grain than I did in the CRP alone. Some WIHA's had a lot of birds, but saw more on private land CRP.
Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5989662
10/22/15 11:38 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
ranchman I appreciate that detailed report. The guy I'm going to be hunting on said he has seen more birds sitting in his combine seat this year than the past 5 years combined, however, that may not be that many! He said they are plenty huntable so I guess we'll see how it goes. It's only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from door to door for me so even if it's not a blowout it'll still be easy and fun.
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5989922
10/23/15 02:23 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 14,523
changedmyname
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 14,523 |
You guys hunting public or private?
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5989974
10/23/15 02:56 AM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 56
tick-magnet
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 56 |
Hunted Hugoton area for several years. Had best luck south of town to the Okla. state line. West of there is tumble weed country, more scaled quail country than pheasants. The WIHAs are fewer now than in the past but some private land owners are receptive, others can be real jerks. North of Liberal can be okay but east of there is pretty poor. Expect to meet the Ranger, they stop everybody. However, what they are looking for is information: like how many birds have you got, where you are from i.e out of state, etc. They use that info to compile a report. You may notice them filling out a big spread sheet after they have stop someone. The young ranger at Hugoton can be a pain, hopefully he has mellowed some. We quit that area in 2012. That area was the heart and ground zero for the drought. The drought really knock down the bird population along with the emergency CRP harvesting. Almost all the cover was gone. It use to be good but will require some time to rebound to what it was. But you might see some blue and bobs along with pheasant. We always did.
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5990135
10/23/15 11:36 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 46
kgbill
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 46 |
We've hunted all over Southwest Kansasover the last 15 years, and over the past 3 years northwest and south-central as well. '11 still had birds around hugoton if you were willing to work for it, but they all but disappeared after that. I've never seen pheasant fall that far. It'll take at least another year of good rain to bounce back imho. I'm going to nm instead this year to chase the blues while we got 'em.
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5990341
10/23/15 02:20 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,657
colt45-90
Texas colt45
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Texas colt45
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,657 |
area northwest of Dodge City had horrific hail and storms this summer, around the Kalvesta area was 50-70% hail loss, one storm blew in with 100mp wind.
hold on Newt, we got a runaway
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#5991482
10/24/15 03:09 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
We will be hunting mostly private land, but the landowner said that we might have some luck in the walk in areas early in the day. I'm a law follower so the ranger thing doesn't bother me. I guess we will take a trailer full of dogs and see how it goes! Thanks for all the input.
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: colt45-90]
#5991485
10/24/15 03:10 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
area northwest of Dodge City had horrific hail and storms this summer, around the Kalvesta area was 50-70% hail loss, one storm blew in with 100mp wind. We had the same kind of storms all summer in Amarillo
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6031886
11/16/15 12:37 PM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,443
stinkbelly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,443 |
TXPanhandler, that is great to hear there are some birds. I am hoping to make it to Kansas for Christmas. What part of the state were you in?
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6032017
11/16/15 02:08 PM
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 55
jmoss454
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 55 |
Headed up there today!!!! Nice post.
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Re: Kansas
[Re: stinkbelly]
#6032055
11/16/15 02:28 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528
TXPanhandler
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 528 |
TXPanhandler, that is great to hear there are some birds. I am hoping to make it to Kansas for Christmas. What part of the state were you in? West of Liberal, extreme southwest
upshaw-insurance.com
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6033188
11/16/15 10:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,146
Matpk
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,146 |
Good job...I believe it was a do it yourself hunt.????
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6034648
11/17/15 04:11 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825
poisonivie
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825 |
Here is my report from another thread. I just got back from Atwood (NW) yesterday. I saw more birds on the scout day Friday than I have seen in the last 4 yrs combined. It was stacking up to be a banner year but the birds had other ideas. What we found were birds that would not hold or flush. They only wanted to run. Fields that we knew to have birds, were good for only 1-3 flushes and those were mostly far ahead of us. We managed 5 birds in two days between 6 hunters. IDK, maybe we just stink as hunters. I felt like the 28-30 degree nights and 68-70 degree days were not conducive to birds holding. Figures, it's blizzard conditions there today. I'm glad yall had such a good trip. I wondered about staying south this year but we've been going to Atwood area for 5 yrs now and stayed with it this year. I may try to get one more in this season but will have to see how that goes. On the other hand, it was a great trip because my dog who is 4 this month, managed to flush, mark and retrieve her first pheasant Sat morn on the first field and first bird we found. It was awesome!!! It has been a long hard road since she came home from the trainer gunshy at 1 yr old. I have been patiently working her through it and it paid of. She is 100% cured of her gunshyness. She worked very well and every field we hunted she just got more and more sure of herself and figuring out what I wanted from her. I did find out that her "whoa" is broken when she finds a runner. Twice I had to call her back with a shotgun blast from 3-400 yds out at a dead run after a running bird. Luckily, she wanted to retrieve bad enough that she immediately came back to the sound of the shot. Her performance was enough to make the trip memorable for me.
Last edited by poisonivie; 11/17/15 04:11 PM.
Pee on Photobucket
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Re: Kansas
[Re: poisonivie]
#6034677
11/17/15 04:25 PM
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Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,146
Matpk
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,146 |
Thanks for update... Is there any out fitter you can recommend..?
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6034706
11/17/15 04:38 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825
poisonivie
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,825 |
I don't know of any except Beaver Creek Outfitters out of Atwood and I don't know anything about them. I've heard that Scotty Carlson of Carlson Chokes in Atwood does outfitting but no knowledge again. We do Walkin Hunting Areas and hunt a little private on locals we have met over the years.
Pee on Photobucket
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6034948
11/17/15 06:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 15,556
reeltexan
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 15,556 |
We hunted not far from there about 5 or 6 years ago. At that time the CRP up there was about shoulder high. We had to kick our way through it, pushing birds to the edges. Nearly wore out a pair of boots. The dogs would just disappear in that stuff.
Very tough hunt. But we shot the birds. Lots of 'em.
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Ronald Reagan
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Re: Kansas
[Re: TXPanhandler]
#6035411
11/17/15 10:02 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,471
bassfishinglawyer
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,471 |
My take from yesterday afternoon east of Dodge City. The dogs did better than me, even though the birds were in heavy thistles (tumbleweeds) and sand burrs.
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