Looking to take a group of guys pheasant/quail hunting. Would prefer to stay in the Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas area. Willing to drive a bit further for the right hunt.

I was hoping for a guide that could set us up on some natural birds, and a good hunting experience. (Willing to drive to Nebraska if that's affordable and good hunting).
Im not looking for a canned or expensive corporate hunt- like where you have to kick them to get them to fly. I would consider released birds, if the hunt and price are right. My 1 and only experience with released birds was kind of fun, but not really what I would consider true hunting. But we did get to keep everything we were able to shoot, so we wound up with lots. I'm open to being wrong about my view of released birds- so fight me on that if you want.

Who have you used? What was your experience?

Upland Inn, Greensburg, KS. I've hunted there last 3 years and will be going back this year. Top notch operation. Owner is big time into managing habitat and giving birds chance to thrive. Lodging and chow is pretty good. Guides have all been good as well. Run into a couple Ags up there that post on OB as well.

farmer95 said:

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Upland Inn, Greensburg, KS. I've hunted there last 3 years and will be going back this year. Top notch operation. Owner is big time into managing habitat and giving birds chance to thrive. Lodging and chow is pretty good. Guides have all been good as well. Run into a couple Ags up there that post on OB as well.

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This. Went there last year and had an awesome hunt!

cupofjoe04 said:

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Looking to take a group of guys pheasant/quail hunting. Would prefer to stay in the Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas area. Willing to drive a bit further for the right hunt.

I was hoping for a guide that could set us up on some natural birds, and a good hunting experience. (Willing to drive to Nebraska if that's affordable and good hunting).
Im not looking for a canned or expensive corporate hunt- like where you have to kick them to get them to fly. I would consider released birds, if the hunt and price are right. My 1 and only experience with released birds was kind of fun, but not really what I would consider true hunting. But we did get to keep everything we were able to shoot, so we wound up with lots. I'm open to being wrong about my view of released birds- so fight me on that if you want.

Who have you used? What was your experience?

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Just go to Tulia and hunt with Dane at Tule Creek Outfitters. Will put you on birds. Can crane/duck/goose hunt with him as well.

Those are pen raised pheasants. But Dane does run a good operation.
The duck hunting was a bust this January. But only because nothing was froze over.

We went to upland Inn(www.uplandinnhunts.com) the past three years and was a lot of fun. I'm part of the group that met farmer95 and hunted the same weekend a couple times. Its about $400 a day which isn't cheap, but includes everything except alcohol. That's lodging, food, access to hunting fields they maintain, pointing and retrieving dogs, bird cleaning/packaging. I would definitely recommend it. I think everyone in our group looked forward to it every year. They don't release pen raised birds in the traditional sense. Although they do supplement the fields with pheasants. They hatch pheasants and put them in a surogator when they are really young(i believe 1 week old). The surogator is then placed in the field. It has food and water for the young pheasants until they can get out and fend for themselves. They spend 95% of their life in the wild and don't behave like pen raised birds.

Our group decided to do something different this year and we're going dove hunting instead of pheasant hunting. Its a long drive up to Kansas for some of us that live in Southeast Texas and we have some older guys in our group that can't walk the fields quite as well.

Our group has been hunting every year for the past 10-12 years in southwest Kansas. Look forward to it every year.
My two Son in laws and my grandson are going again this year. I will be celebrating my 60 birthday after a Saturday hunt this year in Sublette surrounded by my family and long time hunting buds.
Life is good. Life outdoors is great.

You can tell him you want to hunt wild birds and he will accommodate.

We went to Prairie Skies in Platte, SD last November and are going again this year. The drive is a little more than you outlines, but the hunting is top notch for wild birds. The drive from Houston is right at 16 hours. We break the drive up with a stop in Salina, KS on the way there and OKC on the way home. Tom put us on birds and Barb cooks more food than you can eat. I think the hunt came out to right at $1,000 per gun plus fuel to get there.

Don's Guide Service in Glen Elder, KS

https://www.donshuntingandfishingkansas.com/

anyone have any recs for texas somewhere?

highvelocity said:

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anyone have any recs for texas somewhere?

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Texas doesn't have the wild bird numbers of states to the North. There are wild birds, but most places in Texas release pen raised birds before you hunt. I did some research last year and couldn't find any places in Texas that are comparable to States up North.

thats helpful, thanks

You don't happen to hunt with Dave at Lazy J in Sublette, do you?

Corps_Ag12 said:

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You don't happen to hunt with Dave at Lazy J in Sublette, do you?

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Yes we do.
Dave is a great guy. He and his staff take great care of us.

hopeandrealchange said:

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Corps_Ag12 said:

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You don't happen to hunt with Dave at Lazy J in Sublette, do you?

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Yes we do.
Dave is a great guy. He and his staff take great care of us.

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Agreed, i hunted with him for three years in a row before last year as we didn't make it up there. Hope to make it up there this year!

highvelocity said:

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anyone have any recs for texas somewhere?

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We used to have awesome wild bird hunting in the northern panhandle. Then the drought of 2011 happened, and our numbers have never recovered to pre 2011 levels. I almost wish they would close the season for a year to try and get the numbers back up. I wanted to get some pen raised birds last year to take some family hunting, but they were all sold out to the big guide services.

SunrayAg said:

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highvelocity said:

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anyone have any recs for texas somewhere?

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We used to have awesome wild bird hunting in the northern panhandle. Then the drought of 2011 happened, and our numbers have never recovered to pre 2011 levels. I almost wish they would close the season for a year to try and get the numbers back up. I wanted to get some pen raised birds last year to take some family hunting, but they were all sold out to the big guide services.

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Closing the season for a year would not help. Not even a little bit. That's why they don't do it. Hate to friendly fire a fellow Panhandler but that's not the problem.

When I was a kid every group of 30 hunters would shoot a limit. Now you can't even find a combined 30 hunters in two counties. Hunting pressure is down drastically. Hunting just does not impact pheasant numbers.

If you want to have less deer what do you do? Shoot the does. Would shooting a buck change how many does get bred?

What percent of hen pheasants get shot during pheasant season? I'd guess 2 percent or less.

What percent of roosters get shot during pheasant season? Anything less than 90 percent will have no impact says the science. The actual number that gets shot is way less than that. Hell Id say half the best spots don't even get hunted anymore.

Imagine it like this: you're 18 years old, your plane crashes, your stranded on an island with 14 Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. The future of mankind depends on you. How many of them could you accommodate? Now you are a rooster pheasant.

The reason the pheasants are so bad is because farming is forever changed. Its too efficient these days. I cant tell you how many of my best spots don't even exist anymore. They call that habitat fragmentation. Pheasants aren't coming back unless they have somewhere to live. It's the hens we need to worry about, not the roosters.

Hunters and hunting season are about the only hope that 806 pheasants have.

That's why I said "almost"...

We are not burning fields anymore, we are not deep plowing anymore. We are leaving grain and stubble on the surface most places, which should provide some habitat. And numbers of hunters have been way down since the pheasant numbers took a dump in 2011.

The pheasant numbers just aren't coming back.

Burning promotes forbs. It's good for almost all wildlife if it happens on purpose.

Pheasants don't die of starvation. There's grain everywhere. They aren't lacking food. Shoot one the last day of season and look for yourself, craw so tight with grain its about to pop. There's as much grain as there has always been.

Stubble is just not pheasant habitat. That's the big problem. Look around you next time you go to Greensburg. Or just pull it up on Google Maps and look at the difference. Count going down the highway what percentage of each section a hen pheasant could nest in. Miles and miles of grass, bunch grasses, waterways, shelter belts, etc. They can not nest in ground that's being farmed.

I went to North Dakota to pheasant hunt and it was eye-opening. They literally kill thousands of roosters every year at this place. Double JJ Outfitters. I saw more pheasants in one day than I've seen my whole life. The last weekend of their 3 month long season they have a family and friends only weekend (with 50 guests) and shoot 300 roosters! It makes sense when you see the landscape up there and compare it to here.

Every pheasant is impacted by the acres in a 4000 acre square. So even if your section is wonderful, what did your neighbors do? They farm the old tailwater pit. They took down the old weedy corrals. Hell some people even mow their grass corners! They farm cotton in the corners. On and on and on.

You yourself could be the best steward of pheasant habitat, but if you become an island you are sunk. Unless you're an island that's over 4,000 acres. That's habitat fragmentation.

Pheasants took a dump in 2011 because of the drought. They didn't die of thirst or hunger. They died when the hawks ate them after the CRP got grazed and the weeds didn't grow. It was the landowner's response to the drought that killed all the pheasants. And for the record I don't blame them one bit. Making a profit comes first in any business.

That is the most brutally honest assessment of why we don't have large numbers of pheasants in the panhandle anymore. I applaud you for posting that.

Until we get a large scale CRP program going again, things aren't going to improve. When I taught Ag in Parmer County in the early 90's, there were 1/4 and 1/2 sections of CRP dotting the countryside. Those are all but gone now because the CRP contracts expired and the rates for the new programs since then (if you can even get land to qualify) are a joke.

Just like with the decimation of our bobwhite quail populations throughout Texas and the rest of the country, it goes back to habitat.

SunrayAg said:

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highvelocity said:

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anyone have any recs for texas somewhere?

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We used to have awesome wild bird hunting in the northern panhandle. Then the drought of 2011 happened, and our numbers have never recovered to pre 2011 levels. I almost wish they would close the season for a year to try and get the numbers back up. I wanted to get some pen raised birds last year to take some family hunting, but they were all sold out to the big guide services.

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This is exactly right.

My younger brother used to have some good hunts out on the farm. There was no charge for anything, but a donation was suggested to help pay for the food and beer. Getting invited could be tough, though.

Speaking of North Dakota, that's my favorite pheasant hunt destination. Western, South-Central where we have hunted is the most scenic area of the plains in my opinion. Their season opener has been a week before South Dakota and opens Oct. 10 this year. Less likely to have snow on the ground that early but it does happen.

PANHANDLE10 said:

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Burning promotes forbs. It's good for almost all wildlife if it happens on purpose.

Pheasants don't die of starvation. There's grain everywhere. They aren't lacking food. Shoot one the last day of season and look for yourself, craw so tight with grain its about to pop. There's as much grain as there has always been.

Stubble is just not pheasant habitat. That's the big problem. Look around you next time you go to Greensburg. Or just pull it up on Google Maps and look at the difference. Count going down the highway what percentage of each section a hen pheasant could nest in. Miles and miles of grass, bunch grasses, waterways, shelter belts, etc. They can not nest in ground that's being farmed.

I went to North Dakota to pheasant hunt and it was eye-opening. They literally kill thousands of roosters every year at this place. Double JJ Outfitters. I saw more pheasants in one day than I've seen my whole life. The last weekend of their 3 month long season they have a family and friends only weekend (with 50 guests) and shoot 300 roosters! It makes sense when you see the landscape up there and compare it to here.

Every pheasant is impacted by the acres in a 4000 acre square. So even if your section is wonderful, what did your neighbors do? They farm the old tailwater pit. They took down the old weedy corrals. Hell some people even mow their grass corners! They farm cotton in the corners. On and on and on.

You yourself could be the best steward of pheasant habitat, but if you become an island you are sunk. Unless you're an island that's over 4,000 acres. That's habitat fragmentation.

Pheasants took a dump in 2011 because of the drought. They didn't die of thirst or hunger. They died when the hawks ate them after the CRP got grazed and the weeds didn't grow. It was the landowner's response to the drought that killed all the pheasants. And for the record I don't blame them one bit. Making a profit comes first in any business.

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I'm going to have to disagree with you a little bit. I find nests and eggs in corn and sorghum fields all the time. Especially in fields with residue and stubble from the previous crop.

Yesterday I scared up 3 sets of hen and chicks out of one sorghum field, with no crp anywhere close.

We don't have any fewer acres of crp around here than we had prior to 2011, and actually may have more because several of my customers have put crp on corners in recent years. Most of the playas are crp, lots of old tail water pits are grown up.

I just didn't see chicks in 2011. No hatch. And 2012 and 13 were not much better than 11 weather wise. We have had a few decent years since then, but the pheasant numbers are still a fraction of what they were. A friend who works in the Perryton area said there is a road between perryton and Booker he drives down to get to a farm that used to be called pheasant alley, because you couldn't drive down it without seeing 100 or more . All the habitat is the same, but post 2011 up until now he said you rarely see 4 or 5.

Corps_Ag12 said:

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hopeandrealchange said:

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Corps_Ag12 said:

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You don't happen to hunt with Dave at Lazy J in Sublette, do you?

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Yes we do.
Dave is a great guy. He and his staff take great care of us.

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Agreed, i hunted with him for three years in a row before last year as we didn't make it up there. Hope to make it up there this year!

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Would either of you mind giving me a bit of info on your experiences with Dave? What are his hunts like, lodging, etc? How were bird numbers? Is Dave directly involved in the hunts, or just subbing it out to local guys?

I emailed him, and he got right back to me. So it looks like I could possibly set something up with him for this year. Just wanted to get a little feedback on his outfit.

You're making his point. They were reduced to such crappy environment that they had to roost in stubble. Not a chance in hell they would choose that if there was a better option. It's also why survival and ultimately growth numbers are so bad.

It's the equivalent of you sleeping in the middle of a highway during a zombie apocalypse.

If what you say was correct. Survey numbers would be showing exponential growth with good seasons and minimal hunting pressure since the drought. In 9 years it would be back to normal.

I was pheasant hunting in Hale, Parmer, and Castro counties last year, and saw quite a bit of milo stubble (after grain harvest) being cut and baled up into big square bales. I'm assuming it was going to the giant dairy farms in the area to be mixed into feed rations. That makes it even tougher on the remaining bird population.

Do some research, and you'll find that pheasant numbers have been declining all throughout the traditional hunting states, even Kansas and South Dakota. Iowa used to have pheasant numbers that rivaled the dakotas, but that is no longer true. A lot of folks believe there's a strong correlation between the decline in pheasant numbers and the ethanol boom from a few years back and changing farming practices, possibly the increased use in chemicals for cleaner fields.

AgLA06 said:

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You're making his point. They were reduced to such crappy environment that they had to roost in stubble. Not a chance in hell they would choose that if there was a better option. It's also why survival and ultimately growth numbers are so bad.

It's the equivalent of you sleeping in the middle of a highway during a zombie apocalypse.

If what you say was correct. Survey numbers would be showing exponential growth with good seasons and minimal hunting pressure since the drought. In 9 years it would be back to normal.

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Ok what I am trying to say...

I moved to this area in 1995. We had good numbers from 95 to 2004. In that general time frame conservation tillage really took off in this area. From 2004 to 2010 we had great numbers. The habitat now is no different than it was in 95 to 2010. If anything , rough acres and crp has increased in my area.

But the numbers are not rebounding.

How can you blame it on habitat degradation, when the habitat is better than it was in the good years?

With the habitat being the same or better in your area, what in your opinion has kept pheasant numbers from rebounding?