having a hard time!

J

jcfd129

Member
Hey guys we are in Wakeeney right now and have only flushed one rooster in two days! we are hunting stubble in the morning and CRP in the afternoon, all walk-in. We have found a ton of quail and been having a great time working them with the dogs but would like to hit some roosters! any tips please! We have targeted really thick cat-tail like stuff too to try and find those roosters that are buried in there but to no avail! thanks ~MATT
 
Can't help you, but having too many quail and no roosters is what many of us would not consider a problem. :)

Hope some one will chime in on the roosters up that way.
 
jcfd129 said:
Hey guys we are in Wakeeney right now and have only flushed one rooster in two days! we are hunting stubble in the morning and CRP in the afternoon, all walk-in. We have found a ton of quail and been having a great time working them with the dogs but would like to hit some roosters! any tips please! We have targeted really thick cat-tail like stuff too to try and find those roosters that are buried in there but to no avail! thanks ~MATT
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you hunt totally opposite of me i do crp early in the morning and hunt the feed middle of day!
 
M. R. Byrd said:
Can't help you, but having too many quail and no roosters is what many of us would not consider a problem. :)

Hope some one will chime in on the roosters up that way.
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man i second that:cheers:
 
We are staying in Dodge City, basically the same thing. Are the birds not here or are they scattered due to pressure and mild weather. Hunted north and spent much of the day driving and looking - just did not see any pheasants. Would like to find some of those quail though, have not ran into any of those yet. Headed north again in the morning.
 
Where do we need to look for quail on WIHA? Same habitats or something a little different. Would like to find a covey, not seen a covey rise in several years - they are basically nonexistent now in AR.
 
I'd look for quail in cover next to feed plots, that's where I usually see them. They are sometimes also in that real nasty thick shit you can't even walk through (those are the smart ones I suppose). We used to hunt up by Tuttle Creek Lake all the time when I lived in Manhattan, and they'd always be in what we call "the red shit" (I have no idea what it's really called, but it's really thick, stringy grass stuff that has a red color).

I think I'm gonna step out tomorrow morning and chase some quail myself up in NE Kansas.
 
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I'm in the same mind set as Bob and Pointer. Grass in the morning, feed from about noon til dark.

Finding quail isnt to hard. I found three coveys on one 80 acre walk-in patch and then one covey on another and I only walked down and back. Find a tree row/shelter belt with cedars or a pond with some trees about. Find few trees and you might find some quail.
 
jcdf129 up in this area you need to step back and think what would the birds be doiong usually depending on wheather the birds tend to stay ion the grasses and loafing areas much of the day especially if it is warm like it has been and you may be walking over them i know everyone hunts slow and behind the dogs but you would be surprised just how many you actually are walking over even with the dogs since it is so dry they cant get all the scent and they also walk over them so my suggestion is slow and in the grass first feed later usually in the late afternoon around 3 or so
 
jcfd129 said:
Hey guys we are in Wakeeney right now and have only flushed one rooster in two days! we are hunting stubble in the morning and CRP in the afternoon, all walk-in. We have found a ton of quail and been having a great time working them with the dogs but would like to hit some roosters! any tips please! We have targeted really thick cat-tail like stuff too to try and find those roosters that are buried in there but to no avail! thanks ~MATT
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As some of the others suggested, I would try the thick cattails at dawn. Maybe you're in the right area, just the wrong time. I would hunt the thick stuff early, then hunt the feed fields after you stop finding them in the CRP. If you're out all day, you should see them flying back into the thickest cover just before sunset. That would be my experience anyway.

Congrats on finding all those quail. I bet your dogs aren't complaining.;) My poor girl had so many beautiful points on hen pheasants last weekend. I'm sure she would have gladly pointed a few shootable quail instead.
 
Matt-

Been thinking about your dilemma at WaKeeney and it has me puzzled. As a helpful Kansan I would be willing to help out where I can. If you would PM me the GPS coordinates or WHIA tract numbers, Murry Dog and I can reduce those quail numbers so they won't interfere with your pheasant hunt.:)
 
"spent much of the day driving and looking"

Pheasantphan said:
We are staying in Dodge City, basically the same thing. Are the birds not here or are they scattered due to pressure and mild weather. Hunted north and spent much of the day driving and looking - just did not see any pheasants. Would like to find some of those quail though, have not ran into any of those yet. Headed north again in the morning.
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"spent much of the day driving and looking"

I may have found some of your problem.
 
I do not expend time or energy trying to hunt wheat stubble unless it is weedy.

When looking for good WIHA to walk it must have good cover and be next to a corn, milo, sorghum field. Hunt the grass in the morning and late afternoon. I have hunted grass at all times of the day and it has been better than any wheat stubble every was.

Sorry you are having a tough go of it. Been there myself. Try going further west and north.
 
I know it may kinda sound unproductive, but if you are down to being desperate, it may help. After you walk an area where you think there should have been birds without finding any, fire off a shot in the air and see if any gets up. I have done that a time or two just to see if I am spinning my wheels or not. You know how when one bird flushes, you fire, then the rest of the field gets up... same scenario. Granted it probably will not offer you a shot at any birds that get up, but at least it may give you a clue as to whether or not there are any birds there. On the other hand, it may not help a thing, but worth a shot... so to speak.
 
I agree with the others about hunting the grass in the morning and then the feed later in the day. Hope you run across some roosters. In the meantime, keep enjoying the quail.
 
thanks for all of tips guys!! we focused on grass today and gunned down to roosters! We found a grass patch that has bare ground on one side and milo across the road! Magically the birds were there, go figure! We did find another covey of quail. The quail numbers have been a pleasant surprise and the dogs are loving those tight holding bobs. We are gonna try one more day and hope the results are similar if not better!! thanks for all of tips fellas!! ~~MATT
 
Ended up finding a few more pheasants on second day. The driving/looking from day one paid off as we were able to look at several WIHA that helped us narrow down our search. It was our first time to ever be in the area and it is hard to beat some time on the road scouting and learning to understand how everything lays out. Thanks for all your tips guys, they really help.

Went on to look for turkeys and found no sign on our land we had permission to hunt. Unfortunate, but that is the way it goes sometimes.

Ran across an interesting monument to George Washington Carver, a couple of neat old bldgs, lots of deer, saw a bobcat as well as a few prairie chickens - we had a great time - thanks Kansas.

Hope to be out that way again and thanks again - now lets see what we can do about some AR ducks/deer/geese.
 
I have been there a time or two-
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Did you happen to see these?

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