Upland Bird Hunting page 2

A member's upland bird hunting trip account talking mostly about pheasants with some quail on a mixed bag upland bird hunting trip during the middle part of the season.

Sunrise on the prairie enjoying the quiet beginning of the day. The rest of the day was just as enjoyable as we did not encounter a hunter anywhere, the weather great and the birds were on every field.

Started the day on a Milo field of about 160 acres with another 80+ in a long time fallow pasture of volunteer grass and weeds. Plenty of feed on this field that is a no-till field now planted in wheat. The quail gave us fits as they surprised us in the open milo and scattered in every direction. The dog about ran himself out on the singles.

Hunted a second field of no-till corn also planted in wheat. Plenty of food for all winter long left behind as this was the third week in December. This field had a mile long dry creek running though it with plenty of weeds along its way. Finished up on another Milo field within a short drive of the first to make the day's end with several roosters and plenty of empty shells in the bag.

Twice a day Rimadyl and cold weather allows my 13 year old to hunt a couple of days all day long, sort of. We have slowed down some just as he has. The picture with the birds is from the second day or our only full day hunt. A combination of draws and crop fields repeating the first day regarding the combination of feed and cover. Lots of birds to give us a good hunt.

I hunted with my cousin the priest who expressed that shooting ability is not within the inventory of God's graces and that when it comes to quail if there is God's grace, it is to the quail. This is the same priest that has Led Zeppelin CD's. Not what I would consider the typical stuffed shirt religious leader we see inside the church.

Thanks for the great land, John

Peak

Two high use periods occur each year and the first is the last weekend in October when Iowa upland bird season opens and Kansas and Missouri is closed. In Iowa we have a set amount of acres and a set gun limit per upland bird unit. With only that limited acreage it is not long until all lease land is booked and not all will be able to hunt. This is an example of how we will state up front to all we are not the perfect answer to all hunters and we have limitation that we are careful not to oversell.

The next high use period is Kansas upland bird opening weekend where we will get all the one weekend a year bird hunters to include those without dogs and the duck hunters that have had several weeks of waterfowl hunting. In this case it is not our land availability that is the problem to overcome as by the time Kansas opens Iowa and Missouri are open and the bird hunters have settled into their favorite regions. The problem is motel room availability due to limited number of motels in the rural areas and the larger number of overall opening week hunters within and without of MAHA.

In each case of the opening weekend and weeks until December comes around the typically warm weather and standing crops limit hunter success. Dog heat fatigue and far too much standing crop protective cover keeps many birds safe until the more dependable cooler weather comes around in early December. These two effects plus that of our limited membership and hunter pressure further enhanced by hunting discipline and residency distribution makes our middle and late season hunting to be just enjoyable and away from the hunter that believes success is only possible on early season dumb birds. Those wit the willingness to walk, shooting ability and dog power will find good bird hunting throughout the entire season right until the end on the last day in January.

A good day for two on any day.

Safety

One safety concern does exist during the Missouri rifle deer season with their tags over the counter purchase and cheap makes for a lot of deer hunters during their short firearms season. This occurs during the middle two weeks in November and during this period we shut down the upland bird hunting due to safety concerns of moving hunters and running dogs in the presence of larger numbers of deer hunters. During Iowa and Kansas gun deer seasons there are not enough tag holders due the limited deer tag draw to close upland bird hunting.

Bobwhite Quail Hunting

Pheasant Hunting

Upland Bird Hunting page 2

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Peak

Safety