The foundation of Kansas’ bird hunting renaissance is well-managed public-access. Their Walk-In Hunting Access program (WIHA) controls over 1.5 million acres of private ground and coupled with patches of publicly-owned real estate is a treasure-trove of opportunities for uplanders searching for warmer late season weather or a change of scenery. Kansas will always be the red-headed stepchild in the pheasant hunting family, but several attributes move it to the top of my list.
Maps, such as this, can be found to show walk-in-access properties in Kansas. (Photo courtesy of Scott Linden) The Game Birds of Kansas That’s the joy of Kansas: you never know what might rise from that fence line your plucky cocker spaniel is exploring with such joie de vivre. The state harbors pheasant , two types of quail, and greater prairie chicken (the lesser chicken is now off-limits).
Pheasants are the premier bird, gaudy and haughty, stealing the spotlight from the more workaday bobwhite or unsung prairie chicken. If your quest is for an alternative to the Dakotas, you’ll be well served in the western part of the state.
Like other ringneck-rich states, Kansas has its share of history to discover as you follow your dog. One windy, frosty day we surrounded an old homestead shack, walls sagging with the weight of droughts and blizzards, hard times and dashed hopes. We turned spaniels loose and held our breath. Like confetti blown by the relentless wind, three roosters erupted from the foundation, scattering as shots rang out. A cut-corn field across the county road harbored ringnecks hunkering in the downed stalks and busting from a nearby draw, pushed out by a coyote as we stood, open-mouthed, still assembling our shotguns.
With multiple species of quail, Kansas provides great hunting opportunities. (Photo courtesy of Scott Linden) Two Kinds of Quail The icing on Kansas’ cake is quail hunting … strong bird numbers, and a cornucopia of terrain and habitat.
The hotbed is southeastern Kansas … bobwhite country. Venture south, and the country looks like Oklahoma and so do the quail. Scaled (or blue) quail are found in the lowest latitudes of the state. We plodded over deep sand that had been a river in decades past, once explored by Kit Carson. Every once in a while, a stopped dog wasn’t waiting for a sand burr to be pulled. It was pointing a rare cooperative cottontop held fast by a quivering long-tailed Pointer, nose flaring.
Hunting Greater Prairie Chicken Greater prairie chicken hunting is alive and well in Kansas. Early in the season, hunt them as you would sharptails, roaming the big country of the Flint Hills and Smoky Hills with pointing dogs, questing for small coveys and singles. Significant numbers can also be found in the breaks that parallel streams of northwest and west-central Kansas. Late-season hunting is more like waterfowling, setting up along field edges in hopes of pass shooting a covey going to roost.
It’s a no-brainer for Patrick Mahomes to lob a squib pass to the tight end skulking undefended in the deep secondary. But so is taking a long hard look at Kansas as a prime bird hunting destination .
