Back from Kansas for Lesser Prairie Chickens...

1_pointer

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2000
Messages
18,089
Location
Indiana
It was a pretty good trip. Lots of driving (~2500 miles total), but I got to shoot a quite a few birds and hit a few. We were hunting about a 40 mile radius around Dodge City, Kansas. About the only place we could find that allows lesser hunting that has public access.

Though I am by far not a good shot I did shoot better this trip than in South Dakota back in November. Only sluicing was of rabbits...:D The talley for Mark and I for the full five days of hunting is 14 pheasants, 7 lesser prairie chickens, 4 bobwhite quail, 2 cottontails and 2 jackrabbits. I will say that lesser's are quite the challenge. They like to flush WAY out, like 60-100yds out and then fly for a couple of miles before landing again. However, we did catch a few stragglers after jumping the larger coveys and caught a few by sitting over places we'd glassed that they like to fly over when flushed from certain areas. All in all it was a blast! Here's some pictures:

My first lesser prairie chicken, which I made a 50yd passing shot on (unlucky bird ;)):
my_first_lesser_prairie_chicken.jpg


Mark's first lesser, which completes his 'slam' of all the grouse species in the Lower 48. He's pictured with a local, Craig Kenobe who put us on the birds and got us permission to hunt on some farms:
_craig_kenobe.jpg


My first pheasant of the trip. It was COLD that day:
me_with_1st_pheasant_of_the_trip.jpg


First day's take:
s_total_take.jpg


Day 2:
day_2_total_harvest.jpg


Day 4:
day_4_total_harvest.jpg


First four day's take 8 roosters, 7 chickens, two bobwhite, and 2 cottontails:
s,_and_2_cottontails_1.jpg


Day 5's take was 6 roosters and two quail:
day_5_total_harvest.jpg
 
Nice Pics and looks like a great trip:cool: Reminds me of a book I read of a guy and his dog that traveled throughout the US hunting all the upland gamebird species. Can't remember the name of the book But it was a good one. I'll have to dig it out again as it was a good read. Very cool:cool: :)
 
It was a pretty good way to start the new hunting year.

Runner- I'd be interested in that books title and author. Sounds like it'd be a good read.

Dan, here's a better picture of a lesser for you and I agree they are pretty birds.
male_lesser_prairie_chicken.jpg
 
pb190001.jpg
[/IMG] Looks like fun. We're headed out there for the last trip of the year, or I guess it could be considered the first! :D Either way, I've never really tried attaching any photo's on my own, and figured this would be a great time to at least try

This was the last trip out to KS for just birds. End of November. We had a trip scheduled for the weekend before christmas. The wife was planning on making quail for 12 people on christmas day. If my picture shows? :O You can see we were a little short of that goal. Unfortunately we had a family trajedy show it's ugly head December 17th so that trip was nixed... So was quail dinner for that matter! :(

Hard to beat a day in the field w/ the dog, shotgun and a few close friends. The occasional shot at a bird doesn't hurt either. ;)
 
Guess I better keep working on my posting skills... If you look real closely there's a chicken mixed in the bunch somewhere there in the middle... LOL
 
OSOK- picture would have worked if you had put the following brackets around it with no spaces
or you can use the "insert image" from the options. Also, you linked the thumbnail and not the full-sized pic. Now post some more pics.

Tyler, awesome pics you bird murderer, although it doesn't look like you are having much fun in the third pic. And could you find an uglier stocking cap? What are you trying to out-do Moosie? :rolleyes: :D

Good stuff man.
 
OSOK... Cool pictures man and good looking shorthairs. 1 pointer. I'll see what I can do about digging that book up. It was a pretty good read.
 
Holy crap, I finally figured it out! ;)

Thanks!

Ya, a guy kinda gets attached to the lil pain in the azz'z huh. :)

Hopefully I'll have some more pics to post after this weekend...
 
Osok- Thanks for the picture! That looks like a good day. Do you know if the chicken was a lesser or a greater?

miller- That's the same hat I had in WY. Ugly yes, warm even bigger YES. Love the windstopper for my big arse ears. I'm cold in the third picture. It was 4ºF that morning and a bit windy. BBBBRRRRRRRRrrrrrrr.....
 
Pretty sure it was a lesser. They are tough little bugger to come up with. We knocked down a couple of em' the 2nd day, just happening upon them like you said. Most of the time them things are gone before you can even get close. There were hundreds of them all bunched up in winter wheat fields. Pretty cool lil birds. Not to bad for eatin either. My favorite by far has to be the quail though.

When it comes to keeping warm, I'm all for functionality. Only impression a bird needs, comes from the end of an 870. Who gives a fugg what you look like when your out there. Least until you get back here and hear about it right! ;)
 
Was just curious. The lessers are in the SW part of the state and the biologist we talked to said there is very little overlap between the greater and lesser ranges in KS. Like you we saw lots of them, but getting lots is a whole 'nuther story, congrats! I disagree on the impression thing as mine comes from the ugliest Mossberg 500 ever made:

My_first_chukar.sized.jpg
 

Forum statistics

Threads
111,200
Messages
1,950,886
Members
35,076
Latest member
Big daddy
Back
Top