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Larry, I don't think anything has happened in the last week or so to get rid of snow. So, that area you mention may still be in it. Check out some on-line cameras or make some calls.

There is effectively zero snow north of Ames, which is where I live, but I don't know how far I'd have to go to get to the snow line. Raptor populations are not super high, which suggests that the snow line is pretty far north of me.

Thinking about heading Northwest tomorrow, but maybe just west. Can't make up my mind.


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My friend who hunted deer for several days in southern Keokuk County--which is SW of Iowa City--said the problem down there was mud. Expect it might depend on how much snow they had to start with. (I know some areas had over a foot.) And then how much rain they got, which would have helped to get rid of the snow. But then you hope for cold weather to freeze the mud.

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Where I live in Kansas is now pretty much a "pheasant free" zone. Up until maybe 5 or 6 years ago finding pheasants was not a problem at all, they were everywhere. Except for some really good pockets they are now scarce. Quail have rebounded quite well but, for some reason not the pheasants. For example, on some ground of ours is a 40 acre patch on native prairie grass. Used to always be anywhere from 5 to 25 birds in it. Now lucky to see even one bird. And NO, absolutely NOTHING has changed habitat-wise anywhere even remotely near there other than normal yearly crop rotations. Why the quail have done well and not the pheasants is giant mystery. Have access to a massive amount of private ground and it is the same virtually everywhere.

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Originally Posted By: btdtst
Where I live in Kansas is now pretty much a "pheasant free" zone. Up until maybe 5 or 6 years ago finding pheasants was not a problem at all, they were everywhere. Except for some really good pockets they are now scarce. Quail have rebounded quite well but, for some reason not the pheasants. For example, on some ground of ours is a 40 acre patch on native prairie grass. Used to always be anywhere from 5 to 25 birds in it. Now lucky to see even one bird. And NO, absolutely NOTHING has changed habitat-wise anywhere even remotely near there other than normal yearly crop rotations. Why the quail have done well and not the pheasants is giant mystery. Have access to a massive amount of private ground and it is the same virtually everywhere.


Interesting that quail # have increased while pheasants appear to have gone the other way. Usually, good cover for quail is also good cover for pheasants. But the reverse isn't the case. Some very good pheasant cover can be too tall and too thick for quail.

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I don't know if quail nesting habitat is particularly different than pheasant habitat, but if it is, that could easily be sufficient to drive the two species in opposite directions, as could competitive battles for key food resources.

Right now in central Iowa and west, early snows flattened a bunch of productive cover making it very difficult for pheasants, so they have concentrated in cattails - which are frozen "early" this year. As a result they are getting pounded hard. Lots of hens but roosters are declining faster than they have in recent years - or at least that is my personal observations.


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What about Northwest Kansas. I may be going there in 2019. My initial intel is that there are few pheasant but some quail. What do you know?

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Originally Posted By: BrentD


Right now in central Iowa and west, early snows flattened a bunch of productive cover making it very difficult for pheasants, so they have concentrated in cattails - which are frozen "early" this year. As a result they are getting pounded hard. Lots of hens but roosters are declining faster than they have in recent years - or at least that is my personal observations.


The CRP cover I hunted a week ago Friday, north of Ames, was in excellent shape. The big storm that hit Iowa early was south of there. The worst, from what I saw as far as snowfall totals, was south of I-80. Southeast getting the most. The storm that followed that one was mostly up along the MN border.

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For the last several years, we have been in a hole in the snowstorms. I haven't plowed my driveway in years.


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So it looks like we are going to Kansas, leaving the day after X-mas.
Probably will start out around Salina. We are not sure if we should focus on heading north or south of I-70 from there. Any recent reports? I spoke to a friend who hunted near South Bend and got into alot of birds at the end of November, but he was guided ($350 per man/day..ouch!) and hunted all private land. We will be hunting walk-ins and any land we can gain permission by asking. Any info is welcome and appreciated.

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That's a pretty stiff guiding fee. But if he got them into lots of birds . . .

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