Upland Bird Hunt Planning

Rural mud roads exist throughout our Iowa and Missouri lease area and that of northern Kansas and will offer slow go or no go travel with as little as a 1/4 inch of rain. Southern Kansas rural roads have more sand than dirt and are easily traversed during wet weather. Self recovery will be faster than finding a farm tractor to pull out a vehicle.

Snow is rarely a concern by itself. Snow driven by wind will close roads for a day or two on county black tops and longer on rural mud roads. Northern Missouri and our Iowa region will hold snow on the ground longer than our southern Kansas leases.

Ice road conditions are more frequent than snowfalls.

Winter weather conditions while they may attenuate a hunt rarely stop a hunt.

Weather	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan
Average High	69	54	40	37
Average Low	44	33	21	16
Mean	57	44	31	27
Average Precipitation	3.8	2.3	1.5	1.1
Record High	95	84	70	73
Record Low	18	-2	-27	-17

Heat may be an issue for cold weather loving dogs and on most every hunt the hunter will need to carry water for his dogs. October ad November frequently have 50 to 70 degree temperature days.

Other geographic concerns are the limited towns with such amenities as grocery stores. All should plan to eat lunch out of their trucks. This limited services orientation extends to self recovery in the event of vehicle breakdowns.

A little prior planning and looking over weather forecasts immediately before the trip may avoid these kinds of ice covered conditions. Hunting reservation may always be changed right up to the day of the hunt.

Regional Planning

All should come with a plan A and B. An illustrative example is the diagram below.

For someone planning a hunt to Kansas bring three regional lease map and lodging lists. Plan to hunt the favored area and if the weather should change so can the hunt plans during the hunt itself.

Bird Dog Specific

What upland bird hunters need not plan on is often as much a relief as a benefit. Snakes, alligators, porcupine or cactus needles are of no concern.

A set of bird dog boots, gauze and tape may be a good idea for fixing sore pads as all bird dogs will get in a full day's run in each hunting day. A bottle of Skunk Off may be a good idea for those with young bird dogs.

Take from this picture the size of the crop field and the distance of the far side fence line. This is great plains quail habitat where on the great plains agriculture is king and the linear nature of the quail edge runs form many miles. Just the outside edge of a 1/4 section (160 acres) is a 1/2 mile each edge or two miles walking. Add to that the edge miles of waterways, creek drainages and interior fence lines and that one 1/4 section may easily turn into a 2 hour hunt. Each hunter will have more of these type farms to cover than daylight hours available to hunt. This type of terrain allows dogs to run fast as they can for miles upon miles.

Medium thick quail cover. Do not take as example from all the point pictures on this website that most points are in clear cover. The reality of points is as often as is as not. A point only beeper is mandatory to find most dogs on point.

Upland Hunter Specific

As far as the hunter himself a selection of shot from 8's for quail and down to 4's for pheasant is probably no surprise. Having a game bag/vest that will carry water for dog and hunter makes for a more pleasant day. Nothing extravagant as all we carry are three 1 litter bottles and usually 2 of those go to the dogs.

Leather boots should also be no surprise to the hunter just as a pair of chaps or heavy pants for briar protection.

Upland Bird Hunt Planning

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Geography

Regional Planning

Bird Dog Specific

Upland Hunter Specific