Self Guided Kansas Pheasant Hunting Continued

Kansas Hunts

Bobwhite Quail

Upland Birds

 

 

Pheasant Specific

Pheasant Habitat

Pheasant Hunting

Pheasant Hunt Variance

Self Guided Hunts

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Upland Bird Topics

Habitat 1 2

Overview Article

Comparison

Bird Dogs

Forecast

Hunts, Hunters & MAHA

Wild Birds & Natural Habitat

The vast majority of our Association Kansas pheasant hunting CRP properties are in high grass. This one aspect alone accounts for some of our best hunts in terms of total number of birds seen during a hunt. It is in such grass that the stories of seeing 100+ birds in a day originate. This is also a case where every benefit has a consequence.

Ideas gathered from many good pheasant hunters intended for the first time MAHA self guided hunter. Those that find this material elementary should use the links at left.

The first pheasant hunt specific consequence is the dog power that pheasant hunts best is a slow dog with long standoff. Hard running dogs will simply make too much noise and push the pheasants to run or long range flush. This is often times the cause for the large number of pheasants seen in a day.

The pheasant hunter that hunts quiet with a slow, close working dog will see fewer birds and have more in his bag in shorter time. This pheasant habitat is a prime example how some dogs and hunters are better matched to other pheasant hunting conditions or find the grass to be the very ideal. Within MAHA our do it yourself pheasant hunts allows each hunter to make such choices.

While the tall Kansas grasslands will hold many birds and consistently so throughout the season it can be monotonous to walk on every day of a pheasant hunt. What many have found to be more enjoyable while on a  Kansas pheasant hunting trip is to hunt the grass for a day then go to one of the nearby upland bird units and hunt some brushy draws, fallow pasture and other habitat types to get into quail as well as find more roosters. The greater advantage of changing habitat types may also be for the dog that on the same hunt may find plenty of quail and pheasant action over a variety of conditions making him better at target habitat overall. For the upland bird hunter, a day of walking crop edges along the draws will be a welcomed rest from the tougher to push through tall grass pheasant hunts.

Kansas pheasant hunts in the tall grass and brushy draws does require a beeper collar, as a dog on point three feet away may be completely covered by grass.

Burs, snakes and fence lines are virtually nonexistent in these areas with the most significant safety requirement is for the hunter to wear an orange hat and carry water for the dog. This is a type of habitat where shooting blue sky birds is the rule. Shooting downward or horizontal may yield a hit on bird, dog or partner.

Kansas Pheasant Habitat

This grass picture is deceptive. The grass is running six feet tall and thick. The depth of this picture at grass level is probably 24 inches. The overall terrain is gently rolling as seen in the picture and broken by dray drainages.

The best tall grass is 3 to 6 feet tall, thick to limit visibility allowing birds to hold for point, damp when hunted to keep dogs cool and scent hot with a 5 to 10 MPH wind to make a scent cone. Take away one of these ideal conditions and hunt quality declines. While we can get the hunter to the right field the weather variable we cannot control.

Hansas pheasant hunting land

A tall grass field. This field is better than most as the wooded waterway would allow for a quail hunt on the same walk. Total contiguous tall grass acres at this one spot is 440 acres on 480 acres of land surrounded by row crop and pasture.