16ga.com ~ View topic - Moderately chilly in NC Kansas this weekend

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Moderately chilly in NC Kansas this weekend. Unfortunately 2 of us saw 6 birds the whole weekend. Sad, sad state of affairs in Kansas. We need moisture badly. Without it the situation will not improve.

A very nice picture. "Moderately?"
Guess it wasn't so bad the weekend. Bet it is below zero there right now.
Sam Ogle, Lincoln, NE

Yeah, a little bit of sarcasm. On Saturday it really wasn't that bad except for the wind. Sunday was quite cold and windy, but any day out and about is a good day.

James

Joined: 07 Sep 2011 Posts: 567 Location: wheeling, wv

You know what they say, a poor day in the field is better than the best day at work. What are you shooting? Nice dog!!
I went muzzle loader hunting in Ohio on Sat. and it was 4 degrees when I got out of the truck. Saw 3 coyotes before I finally saw some deer, as it was my last day to hunt, I put some meat in the freezer with a fat doe. Our pheasant season ended yesterday.

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1698 Location: Minnesota

Great Pic. Glad you were able to get out. Whats the gun?

My personal experience so far this season and from what other people have told me, lead me to believe that pheasant and quail populations in the McPherson area (Central Kansas) are about normal. I hunted the McPherson Valley Wetlands last Tuesday and found 15 pheasants in an area probably 80 acres in size out of the 750 or so acres they have. This area gets hunted pretty hard early on in the season, but the cover on most of it is very good. Waist-high native grass.

The Gun is a Chapuis Round Design Progress 16 ga. I just got it at the end of last year. So far I am very pleased. It is the first fitted gun I have ever had. I can't say that i don't ever miss but it sure is a pleasure to shoot.

We hunt mostly NC Kansas including Beloit, Russell, Scandia and Morrowville. Bird numbers are ~ 20% of what they were 5 years ago. I have no doubt that there are pockets of better populations, which I would speculate are areas that got a little better rain, but overall populations are poor at best. At least that has been my experience.

James

Found three coveys on the west side of Kanopolis Lake this PM. Unfortunately, my marksmanship wasn't up to parr, so dropped one bird with six shots. The great thing was, my one year old Brittany/Shorthair pup put it all together today. She has been working well, but has not pointed or retrieved...until today. My hunting partner dropped two birds out of one covey rise. As it turned out, they both hit the ground mobile. Lottie and two other dogs worked the area where they came down without making a retrieve. We missed Lottie for a short time and then she came out of the plum thicket with one of the birds. A couple of minutes later, she brought the other one out. We moved over a ridge looking for the singles and Lottie made her first point on another covey. I dropped a bird and she retrieved it.

We were hunting on public ground that usually has had a lot of hunting pressure by this late in the season. There was no sign that anyone but deer hunters had been in these areas since our last snow fall. I'm thinking that a lot of hunters read the reports about low bird populations across Kansas and have stayed home. Our area was lucky enough to have enough moisture to have pretty good bird populations. Guess we got lucky.

McPherson is a real nice area. We used to hunt around Great Bend a little but I have not for several years. Seems most of our hunting is North now.

The greatest part of hunting is when you see the light come on in a new bird dog. They go from out wandering about without a purpose to single minded focus, which is so cool. All of a sudden mice and rabbits etc don't seem so interesting. Hunting comes down to three things for me. Friends, dogs and decompression. Oh, and I am awful fond of a 6# 16 ga sxs.

This is part of the custom engraving on my Chapuis. It is a portrait of the same dog above. He has been my best 4 legged buddy for the last 13 years and this was likely his last serious pheasant hunt. He does OK in milo stubble but has a hard time in any thicker cover.

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Nothing so honorable as an old dog/hunting companion.

So nice, so nice
Mike