Lesser Prairie Chicken experts????
- Thread starter tod osier
- Start date
w.gammill
Active member
Tod,
Have been seeing some Greaters on Ft. Riley,however if you really want the Lessers
I think you will have your best luck out in the Cimmarons. Wasn't that where you went
last year? Also look at the Kansas department of wildlife and parks web page for (WIHA)
walk in hunting areas. That is private land the state leases for hunting purposes. In west Ks.
there are some really large blocks of land enrolled in the program.
Good Luck,
William
Have been seeing some Greaters on Ft. Riley,however if you really want the Lessers
I think you will have your best luck out in the Cimmarons. Wasn't that where you went
last year? Also look at the Kansas department of wildlife and parks web page for (WIHA)
walk in hunting areas. That is private land the state leases for hunting purposes. In west Ks.
there are some really large blocks of land enrolled in the program.
Good Luck,
William
Worth Mathewson
Active member
Ted, I was interested in your post regarding lesser pinnated grouse. (Yep, I am stuffy about correct names. Charley Waterman loved to give me a hard time about that. He would come up with some of the most obscure nicknames for birds he could think of when we talked.)
I can't offer any help regarding Kansas for lessers. I did shoot my greater there. But in 1985, '87, '88, and 1991 Marge and I went to New Mexico for lessers. To say that our success was excellent is lacking. In the '80s there was a very strong population around Milnesand and Pep, New Mexico. In those years there were a lot of milo being grown in the region. My guess is that is why there were so many grouse there. Also all hunters (and there were a lot opening weekend, in fact the Milnesand Community had a "chicken" breakfast for hunters at the fire station)
shot the birds as they flew out of the prairie into the milo fields. Much like a dove shoot.
Marge and I walked the prairie for them. I was using a 12 bore pigeon gun, and those full/full chokes were certainly a big help. Close shots were 50 yards. Most we didn't even shoot at.
When we went back down in 1991, all the milo was gone. And we had to walk about 10 miles each day in order to find the few birds we did. I think it was just a few years later that the season was closed in New Mexico. I have no idea what the current status is.
But what may or may not help you, is I think (???) Texas still has a two day season for the grouse. I think the area with the grouse is directly west of Lubbock, right on the New Mexico line. One ranch we hunted in New Mexico was right on this line, and it seemed that flushing birds flew over to Texas. As I am certain you know, pinnated grouse fly a very long ways!
I wish you all the best in your quest to bag one. Of all our upland birds, I rate these grouse (both greater and lesser) pure treasures, without equal. Best, Worth Mathewson
I can't offer any help regarding Kansas for lessers. I did shoot my greater there. But in 1985, '87, '88, and 1991 Marge and I went to New Mexico for lessers. To say that our success was excellent is lacking. In the '80s there was a very strong population around Milnesand and Pep, New Mexico. In those years there were a lot of milo being grown in the region. My guess is that is why there were so many grouse there. Also all hunters (and there were a lot opening weekend, in fact the Milnesand Community had a "chicken" breakfast for hunters at the fire station)
shot the birds as they flew out of the prairie into the milo fields. Much like a dove shoot.
Marge and I walked the prairie for them. I was using a 12 bore pigeon gun, and those full/full chokes were certainly a big help. Close shots were 50 yards. Most we didn't even shoot at.
When we went back down in 1991, all the milo was gone. And we had to walk about 10 miles each day in order to find the few birds we did. I think it was just a few years later that the season was closed in New Mexico. I have no idea what the current status is.
But what may or may not help you, is I think (???) Texas still has a two day season for the grouse. I think the area with the grouse is directly west of Lubbock, right on the New Mexico line. One ranch we hunted in New Mexico was right on this line, and it seemed that flushing birds flew over to Texas. As I am certain you know, pinnated grouse fly a very long ways!
I wish you all the best in your quest to bag one. Of all our upland birds, I rate these grouse (both greater and lesser) pure treasures, without equal. Best, Worth Mathewson
Yes William I was on the Cimmaron National Grassland - I did find a few birds there. I was given a bunch of WIHA spots in the sand hills by a State Biologist I talked to, but they all were painfully overgrazed and I didn't see a bird (other than pheasants and quail).
Thanks Worth, I've read your stories hunting Lessers. They are wonderful birds, I've shot Greaters in SD and enjoyed those hunts greatly. As an Easterner, wandering in the seas of mid and short grasses is about the most wonderful and otherworldly experience I've had. I feel the same way every time I get on a big patch of nice grass.
On the trip last year I did get a couple flushes on Lessers in KS and found some birds where I could have killed a bird pass shooting the birds if I had a couple days more to try. The birds that were flushed were at ranges that I wasn't embarrassed to miss, but I was embarrassed to have taken the shots. They were running and we couldn't get them in the air, I'd rather they were flushing wild, I think. I was there after the season was open a couple weeks and the birds knew the drill and production was poor, so we were dealing with mostly adults. I went knowing that might be the last season, but that wasn't the case. I had good information on where to find the birds, I just couldn't get the stars to align right.
I'm going to be in the area this year again during the season, I'm trying to decide if I can resist the temptation.
Tod
Kris Schaumburg
Well-known member
Tod,
I'll be very interested in this trip. I have a 7 month old boyking spaniel, and my thoughts for the future are to do traveling upland trips, one a year, until we've covered the gambit of North American upland. Well that is the plan for now at least. We'll just work on training around here this year. Till now, I've traveled extensively to hunt, but the focus has always been waterfowl.
Good luck in your quest.
I'll be very interested in this trip. I have a 7 month old boyking spaniel, and my thoughts for the future are to do traveling upland trips, one a year, until we've covered the gambit of North American upland. Well that is the plan for now at least. We'll just work on training around here this year. Till now, I've traveled extensively to hunt, but the focus has always been waterfowl.
Good luck in your quest.
hahahahahahahahah
Worth, I find it amusing for someone who is so "stuffy" about correct names, that you misspell the name of the person that you are posting to.
Tod, wish I could help you out but I do look forward to reading your stories and seeing pictures of your trip if you make it out.
Dani
Worth, I find it amusing for someone who is so "stuffy" about correct names, that you misspell the name of the person that you are posting to.
Tod, wish I could help you out but I do look forward to reading your stories and seeing pictures of your trip if you make it out.
Dani
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Thanks William, last year with the 2nd? 3rd? 4th? year of poor production, so populations were low and the birds that remained were seasoned. Talking to locals when I was out there last year, there was talk of people getting out to get their bird because this may be their last chance, so pressure may have been high. I heard "get one for the wall before they close the season" more than once. The numbers put out by KSDWP reported about .11 birds per day hunted by non-residents last year (.45 for KS residents).
If brood survival was good, that may make the decision for me. I haven't seen season forecast numbers yet. Thanks for the info.
T
Kris, you have a fun road ahead if that is the plan. I may be able to do it with Pete, that is a goal - I'm doing really well for the lower 48 if you don't include weird stuff like Snowcock, which I have no interest in. I don't have a whole lot left after the past couple years as far as upland left, mostly quails (Mearns, Blue and Mountain) along with the Lessers. Feel free to contact me, I don't know all that much but I'll help as I can.
T