Pheasant Gallery 10

Hunting Bird Dogs in Missouri

Bird dog hunters are by far the most selective of all hunters. Bird dogs are worked heavily in Missouri for its higher quail numbers and fewer pheasants. The fields are smaller and the edge habitat more prevalent. Less prairie grass means more eyes on the dogs while hunting and when on point. This last point is evident as when a dog hunter shows us photos of his hunt they are mostly of his dogs pointing birds rather than dog with a harvest.

Bird hunting is split between waterfowl and upland, bird dogs between pointers and flushers, and dog owners between pheasant and quail dogs.

Missouri pheasant hunting means quail also. With a rooster limit of two and limited pheasant preferred habitat quail hunters working crop fields will have to look for a rooster. They are typically an accidental find for the pure bobwhite hunter.

natural bobwhite hunting In northern Missouri it is typical to limit on pheasant before quail.

Northern Missouri offers less CRP than Kansas and a lot more compartmental crop, grass and wood edge are for upland bird hunting. These edge areas offer a lot of hunting and the more open vegetation makes dog work more enjoyable as longer range of eyes on the dog is possible.

For those practicing the hunting art Missouri as a whole offers great dog work and nearly hunter free after Kansas opens later in November. Kansas with its higher bag limits and national reputation for pheasant hunting attracts the majority of upland hunters leaving Missouri largely un-hunted.

North Missouri Pheasant Habitat

private land bobwhite quail dogs North Missouri's predominate pheasant habitat is the brushy draw and over grown crop edge areas. Missouri's rolling terrain, numerous creeks and crop predominate agricultural practices makes for large numbers of compartmental grass fields, crop fields and wood lots with long miles of edge habitat. Occasionally, hunters will find a Bluestem CRP field such as this one. Pheasant hunting these field is typically a worthwhile hunt just to give the dogs a different habitat to hunt.

And, all the more so on a blue sky day such as this.

upland birds

This is a natural grass on a strip between cultivated crop field and a tree lined creek. Pheasant seem to hunker down in this cover to sheltered from the wind while remaining close to a food source. As do quail.

Typically these strips are narrow and when separating a wood lot from a crop field they serve as prime covey cover.

While it may seem we put in a lot of work into the habitat photo spread of this website continuing through it all will allow the first time mid-west hunter to calibrate his eye for what to look for and hopefully allow for much better quail dog hunting.

Contrasting the Missouri pheasant habitat above with the tree blow upland bird hunting down shown here that frequently holds Bobwhite Quail is a good comparison on the habitat to be found on the same property.

The bottom line is that Missouri offers a lot more habitat preferred by bobwhites than pheasants. For those wanting to hunt their quail dogs they may be able to do so without competition from others, all day long and for as many days as they have time to hunt.