ShopPosts Tagged ‘kansas’
Coming in 2012: More Public Hunting Ground in Kansas
Monday, November 14th, 2011
The new Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Improvement Program (VPA-HIP) will open up new private acres to public land hunters in 2012
If you’ve been a member of Pheasants Forever over the course of the last four years, you probably recall reading about “Open Fields” in the pages of the Pheasants Forever Journal. The concept for Open Fields was to create public access on private land with additional habitat improvement made on those acres. Thanks in large part to emails, letters and phone calls from Pheasants Forever members to our nation’s elected officials, Open Fields legislation was included in the 2008 federal Farm Bill. Today, that “Open Fields” legislation is known as VPA, or Voluntary Public Access.
States apply to the feds for grant dollars to implement VPA. Kansas has received a $4 million grant to enroll Continuous CRP acres in their VPA-HIP (Habitat Improvement Program) for access in 2012. The cherry on top of this habitat and public access sundae in Kansas is the fact that these VPA-HIP contracts are for 10 or 15 years. So if you come to Kansas next hunting season, look for these new VPA-HIP lands and you could find yourself a new pheasant honey hole for a decade.
Make your Kansas travel plans and request a Kansas hunting atlas today at www.TravelKS.com.
Special thanks to the Longspur PF Chapter and the wonderful Miller Family for hosting the Rooster Road Trip during the Kansas leg of our trip.
October 2011
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
Are you counting the days till October too?
As the snow falls out the window behind me again today, I can’t help but think about pheasant hunting season. Apparently, I’m not alone. According to our website’s analytics, the most commonly searched term driving pheasant hunters to our website the last few weeks is “October 2011.”
My hunch is that folks are already planning their 2011 fall pheasant hunting calendar. While not all states have announced their 2011 pheasant seasons yet, I’ve been able to find opening day dates online for most of the top pheasant hunting destinations. So here you go!
2011 Pheasant Hunting Opening Days
(These dates are tentative, please be sure to check your state’s regulations)
Colorado Not announced till July
Iowa Saturday, October 29
Kansas Saturday, November 12
Montana Saturday, October 8
Minnesota Saturday, October 15
Nebraska Saturday, October 29
North Dakota Saturday, October 8
Ohio Not announced till July
South Dakota Saturday, October 15
Wisconsin Saturday, October 15
The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.
Where Would You Go Pheasant Hunting in January?
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Pictures like this get me thinking about a late season trip to chase roosters in January.
The other night, I received a phone call from my dad in Michigan. He requested I contact one of his buddies to provide guidance on where to hunt pheasants in January. While bird hunters in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska aren’t even ready to call it mid-season, my personal 2010 pheasant hunting opportunities are quickly disappearing under two feet of a white Christmas here in Minnesota . . . not to mention mounting Pheasant Fest 2011 obligations. Consequently, day dreaming of a January bird hunting excursion was a fun exercise for me. In shorthand, here’s what I recommended to my dad’s buddy.
1. Nebraska: Our visit to the “Cornhusker State” was my highlight of Rooster Road Trip 2010. Basing our hunting out of the McCook area gave us easy access to thousands of acres of public lands with new CREP plots enrolled in the state’s CRP-MAP providing the best hunting of our week-long adventure.
Season Ends: January 31, 2011
2. Kansas: A very close second was the “Jayhawk State.” In no other state can you bag 4 roosters and 8 quail legally in a day’s hunt. In my opinion, Kansas rules the upland hunter’s roost in terms of total birds harvested annually. On the Rooster Road Trip, we hunted out of Norton and I wouldn’t think twice about heading in that very same direction this January.
Season Ends: January 31, 2011
3. South Dakota: While Minnesota was getting pounded by snow last weekend, I was chasing roosters from Hitchcock, South Dakota’s Gun Shot Acres. Although the 40 mile-per-hour winds created white-out conditions on Saturday morning, only two or three inches of snow hit the ground. If you’re headed to SoDak, you should still find it to be the “Pheasant Capital of the World.” Focus on the cattails and the roosters will be there.
Season Ends: January 2, 2011 (a great place to celebrate New Year’s!)
4. Colorado: I can’t claim to have ever pheasant hunted in CO; however, I continue to hear that the eastern third of the state is the best kept secret in pheasant country. If I had a wild hair to explore new ground, I’d look hard at Phillips, Yuma, Kit and Carson Counties.
Season Ends: January 31, 2011
Remember to mark your calendars for Pheasants Forever’s National Pheasant Fest 2011 in Omaha, Nebraska on January 28, 29 & 30 . . . YES, you can still hunt Nebraska while you’re down there for Pheasant Fest . . . hmmmmm, interesting isn’t it!
So, if you were going to plan an end of the season pheasant hunt, what would be your destination?
The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.
Day 5 – Nebraska Hunt, Kansas PF Banquet
Saturday, November 13th, 2010
The Rooster Road Trip has already shown great habitat provides great pheasant hunting.
The Rooster Road Trip Day 5 stop in Nebraska was, in terms of birds harvested, the most successful day of the journey so far – 8 in the bag (yours truly missing a gimme shot in the morning is all that stood between us and a 3-person limit).
There were a number of reasons for this, front and center being the habitat that exists on Nebraska’s Conservation Reserve Program – Management Access Program (CRP-MAP) lands. We heard a few gunshots sound out in the distance and saw a few fresh tire tracks at some public hunting areas, the hunting pressure was light. While it was during the week, I think we all expected to see a few more blaze orange clad fellows around the countryside, especially on a Friday. Birds that had been hunted for a month in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota have only half as much pursuit time in Nebraska, and that showed with all young birds in hitting the ground. Finally, scenting conditions for the dogs were darn near perfect, and that’s a distinct advantage.
We’d be lying if we said we hit it hard today, and that last bird could surely have been ours had we wanted it. Despite the luxury of an early shooting time (compared to Minnesota and South Dakota, our customary hunting states), we took the liberty of sleeping in till 7AM, took an extended lunch break to blog, Twitter and record video, and finally we packed it in about 3 hours before shooting time closed. Add it up, and our boots were in the grass for only three hours today, but for day number 5 of hunting, that was enough for us. We’ve been hunting hard and hitting the pavement hard, and also had evening plans.
We crossed state lines for the final time this evening, motoring from east of McCook, Nebraska, down to Norton, Kansas. From a hunting standpoint, our day in Nebraska stands out, but the highlight of the trip has to be the Longspur Pheasants Forever chapter banquet we attended tonight in Norton. The chapter’s 19th annual event was a raucous one, raising thousands of dollars for habitat and youth conservation education projects and leaving every pheasant hunter in the audience of 300 with a good feeling heading into the state’s pheasant hunting opener tomorrow (Saturday, November 13th).
And that’s where we’ll close the Rooster Road Trip out tomorrow. From a hunting standpoint, we look forward to bagging a few roosters and successfully completing our goal of finding birds ONLY on public land in 5 states in a 7-day time period. Bird numbers like we’ve seen result from habitat, which means Pheasants Forever is doing something right. Speaking on behalf of “The Habitat Organization,” we’re very proud of what we’ve seen and want only to build on it.
For those of you who’ve stuck with us this far, thanks for riding along. While Kansas may be the end of Rooster Road Trip 2010, each day in pheasant country can be the beginning of the road. Tomorrow, we hope it’s both.
Are Possession Limits Additive Over State Lines?
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Anthony, Andrew & I pose for a picture in my front yard before launching our Rooster Road Trip.
As we embark on the Rooster Road Trip, it’s obviously important for us to follow the letter of the law in each state we visit to pheasant hunt. Most issues are pretty clear (non-toxic vs. lead shot, shooting hours differences, private lands access programs, etc.).
However, there is one issue we began to get concerned with addressing: possession limits in hunting five different states consecutively. Are possession limits additive based on the number of different state licenses you have to hunt pheasants in your possession?
For instance, how should we identify birds bagged in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska to make sure a conservation officer in Kansas doesn’t issue us a citation for having more than the possession limit for pheasants in Kansas on their opening day?
Likewise, is it legal for us to bag our South Dakota 3-bird individual limit by noon and cross over into Minnesota with those SoDak birds in the truck to chase Minnesota roosters till sundown?
To obtain the answers, I emailed the wildlife department of each state’s natural resources agency. Turns out, these questions aren’t asked very often. Easy to see why! And, yes, I’m probably over-estimating our expected success. However, I live by the “better safe, than sorry,” mantra. Anyway, here’s what I’ve found.
Pheasant possession limits are additive by the state licenses in your possession . . . mostly. The best guidance offered was to bag each bird individually with the hunter’s name, license number, the state harvested, and date. They also all reminded me that it’s important that each bird has the proper body parts left on for identification (wing, head and/or leg).
Although the burden of proving wrong-doing falls upon the state conservation officer, it’s pretty guilty looking for three guys to be in possession of a couple dozen birds in a cooler on Kansas’ opening day. Our Road Trip would certainly present trouble for a conservation officer that encounters our ugly mugs.
The solution may be to simply fire up the Smokey Joe each day and cook our harvest as we go. At least that will give us a few built-in recipe blog entries along the way.
The other recommendation given was for us to gift birds to folks in the state we’re hunting. For instance, in Minnesota the law requires the donor to write his/her name and address, along with the recipient’s name and address on the bag. The law also requires the donor to date the gift, including a description of the gift (number of birds and species), and the license number the animals were taken under.
The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.
Rooster Road Trip – Kansas Preview
Friday, November 5th, 2010
The trio of Rooster Road Trippers hope to add a few quail to the mix in Kansas.
As I look forward to next week’s Rooster Road Trip adventure, I’m stoked for our final destination. Kansas is the only state on our tour that I’ve never hunted and it’s the second highest producing pheasant and quail state in the country. In fact, I wrote in an earlier blog, I believe Kansas may hold the distinction as the nation’s top upland state when considering the combined yearly harvest of all upland species. Residents of South Dakota and Texas have a pretty compelling argument as well, but without a doubt Kansas is in the conversation.
We’ll arrive in Kansas like dust in the wind on Friday evening just in time to attend the Longspur Chapter of Pheasants Forever’s Banquet in Norton. We’ll join the festivities bearing gifts: Rooster Lager.
We also happen to be arriving on the eve of the state’s pheasant opener, which means we’ll be celebrating “Christmas Morning” for the second time this autumn. “Christmas morning,” you ask? That’s how excited I am about pheasant openers; like a kid on Christmas morning.
Additionally, Saturday is the state’s quail opener. While Anthony and I have bagged a few Bobs in our career, this will be Andrew’s opportunity to “Audobon” a quail on his first covey rise. While the season will be closed during our visit, Kansas also has the last remaining open hunting season for lesser prairie chickens. During our visit, we’ll be focused on hunting Walk-In Hunting Access tracts.
Kansas Quips
- A non-resident small game license costs $72.50. The license is good all season.
- The daily bag limit is 4 roosters and 8 bobwhites.
- Hunting opens daily 30 minutes prior to sunrise and closes at sunset all season.
- Kansas has more than 2.7 million acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Only Montana and Texas have more CRP lands. More than 1.2 million of those acres’ contracts are set to expire in the next three years.
Road Trip Recommendation
Quail Forever Membership: If you haven’t joined yet, please consider helping the cause of quail conservation through Quail Forever. Pheasants Forever started QF in 2005. Today, Quail Forever has grown to over 100 chapters doing habitat work on behalf of America’s quail. I am a life member of Pheasants Forever, a life member of Quail Forever, and my dog (Trammell) is also a dog life member of Pheasants Forever. Please consider joining today . . . and through this special link, you’ll get a $10 Cabela’s gift card with your membership.
The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.
What State Rules the Upland Roost?
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
In my estimation, the universal symbol for a dog on point is seen more often in Kansas than in any other state.
There is no doubt South Dakota rules the roost when it comes to pheasant harvest. Year in and year out, hunters bag between 1.5 and 2 million roosters in SoDak. In fact, SoDak’s rooster kill is twice as high as the second closest state in most years.
On the bobwhite quail side of the ledger, Texas typically knocks down the most bobs and adds desert quail and pheasants to the mix. Ruffed grouse are led by Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. California quail . . . you can guess that one.
So, if a bird hunter were to look at the big picture of all upland bird species across all the states, what state offers the most shooting?
In my estimation, Kansas hunters shoot the most birds of all upland species combined.
In most years, Kansas registers as the #2 pheasant harvest state and the #2 bobwhite quail harvest state. Add both species of prairie chickens to the mix and Kansas may not offer as wide a variety of species that some western states (Montana, Idaho, or Oregon) boast, but the total number of birds shot each year is likely tops in the “Jayhawk State.”
With this bit of trivia in mind, I admit to having never hunted in Kansas. That will change on the final day of Pheasants Forever’s Rooster Road Trip this November 13th. I can’t wait!
Okay Texas and SoDak, let’s hear your counter-arguments.
The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.
A Bird Dog’s Life List
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Me & Tram after putting a checkmark next to ruffed grouse on her life list.
Over the holiday weekend, I caught up on some reading. An article in the most recent issue of The Pointing Dog Journal particularly caught my attention. The piece titled “My Bucket List” was written by Tom Davis, also a contributor to the Pheasants Forever Journal. As the name implies, Tom writes about the hunting adventures he’d like to have before he passes on. It was an interesting read and likely follows thoughts many of us have this time of year as we review our calendars, health, and dog power for the coming autumn. I wrote a similar blog post a year ago titled “My Bird Hunting Bucket List.”
However, what really grabbed my attention was Tom’s tally of the wild upland game bird species shot over his bird dog. Turns out, this sort of “Bird Dog Life List” is fairly common. A couple of guys; Joseph A. Augustine (English Setters) and the renowned Ben O. Williams (Brittany) have even penned bird dog hunting books on the topic. The consensus is twenty different North American upland game birds constitute a “Grand Slam.”
So as I look toward my own German shorthaired pointer’s fourth season, I have taken inventory on Trammell’s own bird hunting life list. Here is Tram’s current tally: a) species I successfully shot over her point, b) the year it occurred and c) the state in which it took place.
- Ruffed Grouse, 2007, Michigan
- Pheasant, 2007, Minnesota
- Timberdoodle, 2007, Michigan
- Hungarian Partridge, 2008, Montana
- Sharp-tailed Grouse, 2008, Montana
In some respects, I look at that list and feel guilty. There’s the greater prairie chicken I missed in South Dakota’s Fort Pierre Grasslands last year. And there’s the doggy plane ticket to Georgia I couldn’t afford preventing bobwhite quail from hitting her list.
On the other hand, three seasons with Tram have been the best three seasons of my hunting career. And if you consider the dozens of states and subspecies necessary to reach double digits, a guy could go broke chasing this list. Plus, I’ll be in the Fort Pierre Grasslands in three weeks and I smell redemption. Come to think of it, I’ll be in Nebraska (bobwhite quail) and Kansas (lesser prairie chickens) in November too. Hunting season is here and things are looking up!
In the comment section below, post the following: a) your dog’s breed, b) your dog’s name, c) your dog’s age, and d) how many birds on his/her life list so far?
Nothing Lesser about the Lesser Prairie Chicken
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Thanks to CRP, LPC range is expanding and the birds can now be found in counties where they haven’t been seen in decades.
Along with my son Jason, his friend Tanner, springer Rosie and lab Jazz we headed for Kansas to close out the 2009 bird season in pursuit of lesser prairie chickens. I’d never hunted LPC’s but had heard much about them the past few years both about their possible listing under the endangered species act and more positively as a species that has really responded to habitat provided by the Conservation Reserve Program. What I know now is that chasing LPC’s post-Christmas is a great way to burn off excess Holiday indulgences.
We hooked up with friends Barth and Tom and the five of us spread out across some incredible southwest Kansas prairie. Not the typical 10-15 yards apart to chase roosters, but more like 35-50 yards apart to cover ground – lots of it. We hunted some of the finest remaining native sand-sage prairie in southwest Kansas. Mixed grasses dominated by little bluestem with a fair amount of sand plum thickets (bobwhite quail magnets), a little yucca and prickly pear. And we walked, gentle hilltop and ridge to large flats and walked some more. Passing roost sites one after another kept us going and then a flush , if you can call it that. Seeing a brown dot glide away from 500 yards plus would soon become routine. But the dogs kept on working and we walked some more. Looking down from a small ridgetop I noticed Rosie and Jazz working pretty hard in front of Jason and Tanner. Finally a bird flushed chose enough to warrant a shot or two from Tanner and the next thing I saw was a bird going down. Success! It was a heck of a shot and we all gathered to admire Tanner’s trophy. A beautiful adult male lesser chicken in hand. Our first bird of the day and we’d been hunting for less than an hour. I had visions of a closer flush nearby me and we walked some more. Several hours later we’d seen a few dozen birds mostly at several hundred yards. I did try one quick shot at one of the closer birds but no luck. We picked up one more bird right before sunset and ended up with two for the day.
Honestly it was one of the finest hunts I’ve ever been on and I’m hooked for more. LPC’s are a tremendous trophy upland game bird. Walking that Kansas prairie and thinking about early settlers to the area makes you apprecieate even more the tremendous array of wildlife that benefit from prairie and CRP and how important they are to preserving a high quality of life in areas like this. Thanks to CRP, LPC range is expanding and the birds can now be found in counties where they haven’t been seen in decades.
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