Opinion: Bird hunting season nears
Phil Taunton
Friday, October 17, 2008
I looked out the kitchen window this morning as the coffee pot perked the last of its steaming hot brew and wondered if the little hen ruby-throated hummingbird would make an appearance.
She and several others were such a joy to watch this summer as they dipped and zinged around the sugar-water feeder, giving chase and perching on the limbs of the crap apple tree, jockeying for position to face another challenge.
The others have already left the area and I haven’t seen her for five days now. I don’t worry about keeping the hummingbirds here too long, being dependent on an artificial food source and meeting their demise once freezing weather comes.
A good rule of thumb is to remove the feeder a week after your last sighting. Mother Nature will let the hummers know when it is time for them to get on with their migration and move further south. Oct. 19 is our average first freeze date, and what a welcome to all you allergy-sufferers it will be.
With cooler weather on the horizon, I also wondered how many of my bird-dog brothers have been getting their charges out for exercise and brushing up on their training. With this thought in mind and almost on cue, one of my pointers whined as if she knew I was up and about, what I was thinking and if this would be the day we would go out and play. That’s scary! I need to keep my defenses up — I thought only Wifeus could read my mind!
In years past, Pop and I would have already had the dogs on their toes and ready to go. Permission to hunt, even on places we had hunted all my life, would have been secured. And by now, I would know whether my favorite coverts had birds. Yes, it is definitely time to get me and the dogs out for a little scouting and exercise. Hopefully you will have already gathered permission to hunt and not bother the land managers during their busy time of harvest.
The 2008 Kansas Upland Bird hunting season has been rated good to excellent, even though ice storms last December caused some fatalities and wet spring weather with damaging hail storms hurt brood rearing efforts in some areas. It looks like we have good numbers going into the opening of pheasant season on Nov. 1, but upland game bird hunters will need to do some pre-season scouting in order to be successful.
A special youth season for pheasant and quail will be held the weekend of Oct. 25th-26th all across the state. During this special season, youth 16 and younger may hunt under the supervision of an adult 18 or older. Adults may not hunt, only supervise. The bag limits for this special season are half the regular-season limits of four roosters a day and eight quail. The regular quail season statewide opens Nov. 8. Both seasons will close Jan. 31, 2009.
An estimated 887,000 rooster pheasants were harvested last year in Kansas. This was the highest recorded harvest since the 1987 hunting season. Northwest Kansas looks to be the best place to go, but the prospect of finding huntable populations of birds has improved all over their range.
Historically, wild pheasants aren’t found in our area. Some feel the ground is too muddy; the heavy deposits of wet gumbo clay build up on the feet of chicks, causing fatigue and wearing them down. Another thought is that heavy infestation of chiggers cause mortality in the young. Nothing biologists can really put a finger on. My best explanation of why we don’t have pheasants around Emporia is that the minerals in our soil, namely calcium and barium, aren’t found in the right combination for the pheasants to use, resulting in failed nesting efforts. But, that’s just my two cents worth.
Quail numbers look to be about the same as last year, with the best areas being in the central part of Kansas from the eastern Red Hills north to Nebraska and eastward to the Flint Hills. I have had reports of people seeing good numbers and others report neither seeing nor hearing the covey call of a single bird. One thing is for sure: they are where they are. Perhaps that is why the sport is called hunting.
For more detailed information, and for a report on prairie chickens, go online to the KDWP website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us and enter “Upland Bird Regional Forecast in the search box. This will take you to a complete report across the state.
Outdoor Adventures is interested in your outdoor experiences, especially your deer and waterfowl hunting adventures. Please contact sports@emporiagazette.com or call me at 620-342-5016 if you have a story to share.
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