Category: Kansas

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

Quivera 10-19-2007 11:02
– – –
Tomorrow is the big day for our low plains late season Youth opener!! I will have 4 dads and 6 kids (2 of which will be sporting BB guns only)in the blinds tomorrow morning. I hope everyone will try and expose a young one to this great sport as they are the future life blood of waterfowling.

On to what I know…….scouted some late this week after the big rains and found ton’s of water holes everywhere I looked. Surely this will spread the local ducks like crazy after tomorrows 1st pounding. Expect area that are holding ducks today to have good action in the morning, but Sunday will be a challenge and require some Saturday afternoon scouting. Quivera had numerous outlying pockets of ducks, but nothing in real numbers. Surrounding areas were very hit and miss, some had small squadrons of mixed ducks and other that look great were empty. Hard to say how they will fly in the morning, but many of the ducks are flying back to the refuge to roost. Should be a windy blue-bird day on Sat (good shadows) and Sunday may bring some clouds into play.

I’ll report our success or lack there of after the weekend. Hope everyone gets out and enjoys a safe and action packed couple of days.

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

10-14-2007 20:12
– – –
wow guys, opening weekend and no reports?????

Went to the bottoms and saw a small amount of birds compared to what i was expecting. Seemed like the birds flew late, however did fly until approx 930 or so… Ended with a 2 man limit, so not to bad considering the hunting conditions at the bottoms…

From what we heard from the rangers, it was very poor overall around the bottoms with big groups avg. 2-3 birds.

Wait for more cold weather up north

Posted By:
jwilson504
Guest

Waconda Lake South Fork 09-21-2007 11:34
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – Over 70 Degrees
Good number of birds and did manage to knock out a limit, been a while! Another group of hunters with a spinner up got some shooting. I didn’t have any deke’s and only had on high boots. No problems with mud or ducks. Scouted around the North and South forks, looks real good if we get water. As is there are a lot of big ducks too and very ducky conditions a little more water (about a foot or two at most). I’m gonna try the last two days. Anyone wanna go pm me and I’ll see what we can do.

Willie

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

Quivera Area 09-20-2007 16:33
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Hot, hot, hot, I mean too hot for Teal hunting, but I did it anyway. Hunted Wednesday morning on east side of the refuge. Totally surprised by the number of big ducks that hit our little spread (dozen dekes and 2 spinners). Didn’t go 5 mins without mallards, gadwall, widgeon and a few pinnies coming to us. Plummage is very poor right now and somewhat difficult to determine species until close in (except for the pintails set back wings of course). Guessing the “local flocks” grew in numbers to start with, then had tremendous brood success. Whatever the case, a crazy number of big ducks for mid September.

Only two of us crazy enough to swat mesquitos and flush out frogs in the blind (snake too, glad he was little) to shoot Teal, but glad we did, limits in short order (all bluewing).

Observations thus far after driving thru the refuge everytime I’m in the area, seems a fair to low number of Teal groups in Little Salt Marsh area and a better concentration of Teal groups in the Big Salt Marsh area. Heard some great reports of opening day on and near the refuge on opening day, but success fell off hard after day one. Scouting is essential if you want to get in them right now. Hot, dry weather to last thru Sundays close, then were off to the races to get everything ready for 1st split opener of the regular duck season. Bird counts overall are up 14% in the North country and if mother-nature cooperates, we should have some big fun this year. Good luck this wknd to those who choose to take on the heat and not long to wait for those sitting this one out.

As always, take care and take a kid with you when you go!!

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

MI County 09-17-2007 11:23
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted a bit before working on some land this weekend…typically see good numbers of ducks but had only one group of about 5 teal come by and then later on, a single. A few woodies and some big ducks were moving as well, but not many. Had not scouted at all…got a few but was mostly good to dust off the gear and be outside.

good luck on the final days of early teal.

Posted By:
Royo
WFC Sponsor

Clinton Lake 09-11-2007 18:02
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Went out Morning of 09102007 out at Clinton lake . I saw Pintails and Wood ducks and even saw some Canada Geese. I did not have any teal come into my decoy spread to where I could get a shot at them . I am going to try and go Tomorrow morning and maybe over the weekend .

Posted By:
mdavis3
Guest

09-10-2007 17:55
– – –
Need to correct dates on previous posting
9-7-07 and 9-8-07. I don’t want you guys to think I started the teal a week early.

Posted By:
mdavis3
Guest

Mcpherson County Private 09-10-2007 17:53
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Had a good hunt on 9-1-07. Three of us limited out in 12 minutes on blue wing teal.
We had 3 nice flocks of 30 to 35 teal per flock.

On 9-2-07, we were only able to get 9 teal before we called it a day. We saw much smaller flocks and not very many birds in our area. We did notice 2 flocks of big ducks riding the jet stream south.

Posted By:
Water SWAT
Guest

Marion County 09-02-2007 07:22
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Had a good start to the hunting year. 4 of us killed 53 Dove. Would have stuck it out for the limit, but by 1000 my boys were ready to come home. Haven’t seen many Teal down in these parts yet.

Posted By:
Water SWAT
Guest

03-03-2007 14:10
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Bout time Willy. Can’t wait to see you again. Bring me some of your gear!!!!

Posted By:
jwilson504
Guest

japan 02-16-2007 22:08
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
FINALLY back home in June! Next sesason ducks, geese, fence-line orphans, quail, homo’s, and other critters beware!!! You all may see me eventually!

Naked Doc (thanks Reno504)

Posted By:
Bernie-Jones
Field Editor

north sedg co. 02-08-2007 20:02
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Been busy trying to get the last few weeks of goose in. Man has it been wild. Shot limits almost every time out with a few snows here and there. Still tons of geese in the fields north of of Wichita. Good luck too all.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Arkansas River 01-28-2007 20:11
– – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Well it was a busy week for us, hit em hard starting on Wed. afternoon. Usually don’t hunt the river in the afternoons but noticed the ducks were using it so decided to give it a try. The following is a brief recap of the last week of our season starting on Wed night.

Wed Night-Started out as a scouting hunt, trying to see if the ducks were really there in the afternoon-Headed out by myself and set up 10 decoys and shot 2 wigeon and 3 greenheads in 10 minutes. The ducks were there as advertised. Stayed a extra hour and watched nice flocks of mallards pass over.

Thursday Night-Took 2 partners with me-broke a lot of ice and had a sweet hole along a backwater slough. The ducks were on us early heavy-slower late, not as many ducks as the night before. Ended up with 10 ducks-nice mixed bag. Still lots of ice.

Friday morning-took off work and let my boy miss school. The divers were on us heavy and hard from the get go. Not many Mallards for some reason. Ended up with a bag of 10 ducks-3 teal,2 wigeon, and the rest divers. Great limit minus the greenheads.

Friday night-set up a few decs and was really just scouting again-trying to see if the ducks were using any certain area. Me and my son ended up shooting 8 ducks-once again no mallards.

Sat. morning- 4 of us headed out hoping for a little green. Saw more Mallards, some late in the morning, not many early. Ended the day with 14 ducks, some wigeon, some mallards, 1 teal, and some golden eyes.

Sunday-Lots of ducks working us early, not much shooting on the River, not sure if anyone was hunting or what was going on. The River had opened up the day before with the warm weather but the slush was out in force and causing termoil. Ended up taking 16 ducks. Mostly Mallards with a couple divers mixed in. It was a nice way to end the season and to end a very good week. We were hoping the numbers would stay the same as last weekend, clearly there wasn’t as many ducks around as the previous week but still had a good number. It was really something to see all these divers on the river, having hunted it forever and never seeing many before. Ended up shooting goldeneyes, ruddy ducks, bluebill, merganser, ringneck, mallards, teal, and wigeon. Saw some Pintails but didn’t get a chance at them. What more could you ask for for the last week of the season, truely a very weird and different week.

Posted By:
Bernie-Jones
Field Editor

Ark river 01-23-2007 19:40
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Hunter the river Ssat morning and man, what a sight. Literally thousands of ducks in the area. I watched wave after wave leaving the sand pit to the south of me. Shot 4 greenheads and a nice Barrows golden eye and 2 honkers. Hunted the same spot Sunday morning and shot 3 greenheads and a nice huge honker. the cold weather deffinately brought the ducks in. More geese around the north side of Wichita than I have ever seen. Fields up here just packed with the lessers. Seems the geese are staying in the field just about all day right now. With just a few weeks of goose season left, we will be hitting it hard. Good luck to all!!

Posted By:
RugerPup
Guest

Neosho River, Neosho Co. 01-21-2007 20:56
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Set up on the river today i the same spot as yesterday. Sat. 3 of us shot 15 greenheads in an hour and 20 minutes, great day hunting, despite the 1 mile hike in.

Today, different story, set up, and didnt have a single duck come in the decoys. Saw at LEAST 3000 mallards, and a bunch of ringnecks and teal, but they all had different plans. Hope some of this ice thaws out this week, so we have more options this next weekend for the closer. Good Luck

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Arkansas River 01-21-2007 19:48
– – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Well I made it to the River this morning. We had a 10yd by 20yd patch open so we were in business. Wasn’t expecting much with the whole river frozen. What I really wasn’t expecting was to do as good as we did. Set out about 20 land decoys around the hole and watched as flock after flock of Mallards ignored us. Smaller groups of 2 and 3 looked at us a little and some singles came in. Just many many birds in the area. Ended up taking a 3 man limit. 1 goldeneye, 1 wigeon, 3 ringnecks, and 10 Mallards. It was simply beyond words shooting a mixed bag like that at this time of year off the Arkansas River. Is anyone else in Kansas hunting, I’m starting to think I’m talking to myself here. We did have a nice hunt today didn’t we? Yes we did son, one for the books…………

[Edited By Col4600 on 2007-01-21 19:49]

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Arkansas 01-20-2007 20:43
– – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Hunted NE Arkansas Thursday and Friday. Lots of birds there, even more water. I’ve never saw more spoonbills in my life. The area we hunted was basically a whole section of flooded rice. We did see lots of birds but let me just say, these birds were field tested. It was a very good time, something I would love to do once a year. The guys that invited us were first rate and lots of fun to drink with. Our pit ended up with 1 spec, 1 can, 2 greenheads, 2 pintail, 2 teal, and 15 shovelers. Hoping to get back in the field Sunday morning even with the snow. Reports I’m getting from my sources are that there’s plenty of Mallards around, just no open water. I’m cutting into the Arkansas River in the morning……

Posted By:
one more trip
Web Member

Thinking of a trip 01-17-2007 17:12
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How will the cold weather and ice effect the late season??

Posted By:
wycohunter
Guest

lv count 01-13-2007 14:01
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Hunted a private pond we normally do well at, figured we would do good considering the weahter. All the geese were either stayin put in the fields or at the ponds they were already at. Gave up at 12 with no birds, never saw one goose flyin.

Posted By:
Water SWAT
Guest

HV County 01-07-2007 20:00
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Well I didn’t get to get out this weekend but the others in my group did. They killed Honkers on Saturday. They called me when they were done and tell me that one of the floater decoys had decided to take a swim. They thought that the weight had slipped of the ledge and it was free floating. Long story short I went with the boat today to retrieve iy only to find about 500 Mallards sitting on the pond. Little Bastages anyways. Hope they hang out for a couple of weeks.

Posted By:
Bernie-Jones
Field Editor

Sedg. county 01-03-2007 18:17
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We did alot of hunting over the past week with little or no results on duckies. We didn’t see many and didnt shoot any. They seem a little sparse in the northern part of the county.
Geese on the other hand. WOW!!! Tons and tons of geese. Wee hunted a field that was packed the morning before and sat up a few dozen silos. There was about 15 in the first bunch that came in and we dropped 3 out of them. The second group was the shocker. We let the first 100 or so land right in the dekes and the other 1000-2000 were right behind them. NO KIDDIN!!! we dropped all of our limits out of this bunch. Gonna try and get in on the speks before the end this weekend. Good luck!!

Posted By:
jroetman
Guest

Neosho county 12-30-2006 20:42
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Just got back from visiting your state for the last three days. My son and I and two friends were totally amazed by the number of waterfowl that is in kansas. We had a great experience and found everyone to be very friendly and helpful. You should feel very lucky by the way your state manages your wildlife area. It allows hunters to get close to the birds, and even if limits are not taken, the experience of just seeing the birds is something my son will never forget. We do not have the same possibilities here in Iowa, even though we feel we have decent hunting. My son shot his first drake mallard that was in full plummage, and the bird will be going on his wall. It came from our first flock of birds into the decoys which numbered around 35, After that he and I quote, could not get his leg to stop shakeing for the rest of the day. I also shot a banded drake that I have not recieved the info back on yet. The most spectacular sight was having hundreds of birds drop into the flooded corn field at dusk while were were watching them. It was something I have never witnessed in person, nor so closely before. Thanks to everyone in SE Kansas for the great hospitality. James and Austin Roetman

Posted By:
RugerPup
Guest

SE KS (CR CO) 12-30-2006 18:43
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 50-60 Degrees
Set up a big spread this morn on a 15 acre irrigation pond surrounded by cut beans. Put out 8 doz mallards, 1 1/2 doz. canada floaters and 2 doz canada fullbodies. Had more ducks flying sky high til about 9 am than I have seen this year, and I assume they were migrators, heading SE at a good clip, not to intrested in our dekes (no mojo). Ended up pulling 3 giant canadas (all 16+ lbs) 3 mallard drakes, 2 ringnecks, 2 gaddies, and a loner snow looking for company. After about 9:30 we didnt see many large groups of ducks, but a few small flights and only 1 group of geese. got soaked.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Arkansas River-farm pond 12-29-2006 22:57
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Tues-Ark. River- Could only hunt till 9 so decided to set up down river on a area that the ducks like to circle. We set up and had 30 Mallards hovering at 20 yards before shooting time-landing 70 yards from us. Next a trio of gadwalls landed in the decs-still not shooting time. Some jackasses 300 yards up river opened up early, 7:05 to be exact and everything got spooked and flew off. The next 2 hours were hell, every bird we saw was spooky. The few groups of doubles that we had circle us wouldn’t finish. The birds were acting like they had been in country awhile. Ended up with a big 0.

Wed-Arkansas River-Set up at are normal place this morning. We saw singles and doubles-one or the other-about every 15 minutes. Most of what we saw early we shot. Didn’t see any nice flocks till 8:40. The flocks we did see weren’t interested, decoy shy, call shy, skybusters shy. Ended the day with 6 fat Mallards.

Thurs-Millet pond-N. of Cheney lake- Pulled up to the pond and scared off 70 or so cans. Some teal were on us early, no big ducks. Lots of Mallards flying high, looked like migrators, high and in Vs heading for the lake. Had 4 cans go over us at 70 yds, bank 100 yds out and cut in on us. Slow, cupped, perfect, should have had all 4, managed 2. Ended the day with 3 teal and the cans. Heard lots of shooting from the lake so headed over there when we were done. Talked to a couple boys and both had their limit of mallards.

Fri-Arkansas River- Headed back to the River, after seeing the migrators Thursday figured there would be some new ducks around. If they’re here, they aren’t using the river yet. Everything we saw looked the same as early in the week. Saw some nice flocks, mostly high with a different agenda. No birds in the air after 8:30. A few field hunters I know had a nice hunt the night before. 15 Mallards, hopefully the birds arrived in town and were just spending Thursday and Friday feeding. On the way home we checked on a few cornfields we sometimes hunt and 1 was full of Mallards at 10:30 in the morning. We usually fieldhunt for ducks in the afternoon so I’m thinking these birds were replenishing. Looking to have a good last weekend…….good luck to all………

[Edited By Col4600 on 2006-12-29 22:58]

Posted By:
mdavis3
Guest

Flint Hills 12-29-2006 20:25
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
I don’t know why I’m even still hunting this season, I can’t make the right decision at the right time or some other plans interfere with a potentially good day. Enough female caninein. On 12-28-06 finally got a day off of work, well we got set up late due to an act of kindness, one flock of geese missed. Second flock of geese missed while parking 4 wheeler. Didn’t see a mallard slip in on us. Worked a pair of mallards took them alittle to high put them in thier death glides. Went to see if I could recover the pair, looked for awhile but got hungry so I went to the truck and got some food and decided to go see where all the geese were feeding at. After about 10 minutes my partner called and asked where I was, he proceded to tell me I just missed a flight of 30-35 geese that worked right into the decoys and they killed 4 nice geese. So I went and started running ponds by myself no birds were found on any ponds I have permission for except one lone prairie chicken I was able to get it. The geese seemed to feed all day I stayed on one pond until 5:30 pm but nothing ever came in. I did notice one large group of migrating ducks heading southeast at about 4:30 pm. This late in the season and still hunting like a rookie.

[Edited By mdavis3 on 2006-12-29 20:27]

Posted By:
wycohunter
Guest

Basehore kansas 12-29-2006 19:22
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Hunted this morning, we shot a 3 man limit of honkers, 4 mallard drakes, and 3 ring necks. Luckily one of the mallards was banded. Really didnt see alot of geese moving, ducks were pretty slow as well.

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

Kansas 12-29-2006 14:02
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 45-50 Degrees
I am a coward. The lightning kept me from going this morning. The season is about over and we have yet to see the push of ducks or they have gone on by. Just like I said in my first post of the year. They start the darn season to early.

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

Kansas 12-28-2006 15:29
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
I scratched a limit of mallards this morning. They are extremely call shy and decoy shy. I’ve not used a mojo all year. Would be nice to get some different birds before the season is over.

Posted By:
Marshman54
Guest

South of Quivira 12-28-2006 14:24
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted same location this morning got a 4 person limit of ducks 1 pintail, 1 GW Teal, 1 hen widgeon, 17 drake mallards. Couldn’t pull in big flocks of duck, but the singles came in good. Used mojos today don’t know if the ducks liked them or not. They seem to flare before they would finish. Also scratch out two cacks. Lots of geese in the area. Another good morning. Keep the reports coming.

[Edited By Marshman54 on 2006-12-28 14:26]

Posted By:
Marshman54
Guest

South of Quivira 12-27-2006 16:15
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Me and a buddy hunted his cattail marsh this morning. Shot two limits of mallards (all greenheads), two limits of canada geese (small variety), one shy of a limit of specklebellies, and a bonus blue goose (my first eagle head). Great morning. Going to try it again tommorrow with a few more friends.

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

South of Quivera 12-26-2006 18:18
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Christmas Eve morning brought a decent hunt, nothing spectacular as we had 2 weeks ago. My oldest and I ended up with 6 greenheads and 1 gw teal. Not nearly the number of birds in the area, but enough to make it interesting. Still very decoy and call shy.

This morning a little better as far as decoying, we were able to get a few more to hit the spread instead of moving up and away. Hunted til 11:30 and ended with 5 greenheads, 2 hens (sorry, it was slow) and 3 widgeon.

Need some more ducks bad, feels like we are hunting the same ducks over and over. Few more days until the 1st split is over then it’s wait and see what Jan 20-28 brings. Going home to Louisiana tomorrow and will miss the rest of this split in KS, but hope to get another shot a some of the ones that got by us while hunting in Louisiana Delta. Will report back on results next week. Going to Stuttgart for 3 days at the open of their 2nd split Jan 13-15, hope the timber and rice fields will bring good things this year, last year was terribly dry and without ducks. Good luck for the balance of this week.

Posted By:
kerhonk
Guest

reno co. 12-26-2006 17:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted a slightly flooded field on Fri. Had two 8th graders with me and we managed 9 ducks. Not a bad hunt. They had a ball. All mallards except one gadwall. No big groups , mostly pairs and small groups of four or so. Saw more geese than I could count.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Farm pond=Reno county 12-25-2006 20:58
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Decided on a change of pace for Sunday morning so decided to hit our millet pond. When we got out there it had a thin sheet of ice covering it. We had lots of ducks on us early, mostly teal. We managed to take 5 Gw teal before the ducks shut off. We then had a trio of cans buzz us at 40 yards, thought they were going to come on in before they scooted off. Would have shot but my brother was working on his gun and was trying to buy a little time. Had a group of about 40 cans give us a look next, they were cupped from about 150 yds out till about 80 yards before they pulled off. Probably shouldn’t have put out any decoys, these ducks and geese were using this pond for the last week. Going to give this pond another shot later in the week if the water will stay open.

Is there anyone else in Kansas hunting? The reports are really lacking…..

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

River 12-25-2006 20:40
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Hit the River on Saturday with little success. We didn’t see near the numbers as the week before. Not sure the reason-no major coldfronts came through, just a little rain. Many of the Mallards we shot last weekend had throats full of corn. Wondering if maybe they were gearing up for a major puss when we hit them last Sunday. Anyway, we did manage 5 Mallards and could have had a few more. Most of the birds were coming from the East, usually when that happens we are in for a slow day. Maybe the wind and pressure had something to do with it. Going to give it another go in the morning……

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

South of Quivera 12-23-2006 19:32
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
This mornings hunt brought a fair number of high flyers that seemed to move in spurts as if someone was knocking bigger groups off some large water impoundments in the area. Difficult to get the majority of the ducks to decoy, appeared to be call shy and mojo shy. Dropped the mojo’s and changed over to very light calling and had slightly better success. Ended with 6 ducks (mallards and a greenwing) and should have shot a few more, as the story always goes. Feels like most of the concentration of ducks have moved on, still a fair number around, at least enough to keep it interesting. Heard a light amount of shooting in the area today, reflecting similar results for the other group hunting the area. Going after them again in the morning, off Christmas and back at ’em next week. Good luck all, let us know how your doing with your hunts.

Forgot to add, still have Geese out the wazoo, they flew all morning but not too close.

[Edited By Greg-Haygood on 2006-12-23 19:35]

Posted By:
Water SWAT
Guest

50 Hwy Corridor from Newton to Emporia 12-21-2006 08:06
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Little late posting this, but last Saturday we traveled to Emporia for the wife’s graduation. Saw geese the whole route.

Hunted Sunday in Sedgwick County. Saw numerous geese going to feed, couldn’t get any interested in the water. Also not seeing very many ducks at all. Saw about 20 Mallards all day, managed 1. We picked up at about 1100. On our way home the geese at Newton were still feeding. Don’t know if it had to do with the impending front or the low cloud ceiling that night.

Posted By:
kpsriverdice
Web Member

12-19-2006 11:31
– – –
Boys get ready western ne is suppost to get 4-10 inches of snow tonight and wednesday!

Posted By:
mdavis3
Guest

Flint Hills 12-18-2006 21:07
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
Three of us ended up with a limit of geese. Saw a couple of thousand geese working the area most birds we have seen all year. Duck numbers continue to be low for this area as compared to the previous years. We have only harvested 11 mallards from this area the entire season. At best it has been very slow for us this year. Hope the late season brings us better luck.

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

S. of Quivera 12-18-2006 12:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted Friday morning, quick hunt with mild success. 3 mallards and a gadwall finished of the morning. Really a planned work day setting new blind, crane & backhoe came early ending the hunt prematurely. Anyway, not near the number of ducks as we experienced the wknd prior. From all the good reports below, sounds like many of last wknd ducks moved SE along the river. Congrats to you guys for getting out and giving them a chance to “make your day”. Those are great memories to get you thru the rough/slow times. Wishing I would have hunted Sat/Sun instead of working on the grounds. Planning a lot of hunting days over the holidays, will report back results.

Wish everyone the very best this Holdiay Season and hunt often and safely.

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

Miami/Linn Co 12-18-2006 10:25
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Same experience as some of the other posts — lots of birds in the area. I was afraid the freeze up and thaw would push birds out and then scatter whatever was left, but that doesnt seem the case.
Our setup wasnt ideal though and we couldnt get many close enough for shots, plus the spot had been hunted hard the day before. Ended with 4 greenheads that took some reach. Scouted a bit Sunday and saw good numbers of ducks and geese on a couple of my other private spots…unfortunately, with holidays and work I wont be able to hunt for over a week now. Hope those birds stay put.

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

Kansas 12-18-2006 08:39
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
I had a good hunt on Saturday. Had five drakes before 8:00 am. Can’t tell you where as it is public. Lots of birds working and I wasn’t in the best of spots but good enough.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Top secret location somewhere in Central Kansas 12-17-2006 21:09
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Hit the Arkansas River Saturday morning. 4 of us cleaned up. The ducks were on us heavy from 7 to 8am. Had enough come in after that to keep us interested, had our limits by 10 am. The ducks were working perfectly with minimal effort, just a unbelievable day. 19 Mallards, 1 wigeon.

Wasn’t sure what to expect for Sunday, just knew we had to head back to the River and give it another shot. Picked up another gun and hit it. The duck numbers doubled. Mallards, Mallards, and more Mallards. I’ve had good days hunting and I’ve had bad, this one would fall under the TOP 5 EVER hunt. The dogs would be in the water retrieving and more ducks would come in. I would be in the water retrieving and more ducks would come in. I think I could have had flares on the sandbar and ducks would have come in. We had our limit, picked up our decs and were driving back out of the pasture by 9:15 am. I’ve seen the numbers before, just haven’t seen the willingness to commit this late in the season before. If it keeps this up it could be a memorable Christmas break. No time to look for bands for this cowboy. 25 Mallards today, 20 yesterday, great weekend. Since my location is top secret and I don’t want to let you guys know where I’m hunting, all I can tell you is we were hunting between the Mt. Hope bridge and the Bentley bridge on the Big Arkansas River. GPS cordinates forthcoming…….If it’s private land it doesn’t hurt to give your locations boys……

Posted By:
kux99
Guest

Clinton Lake 12-16-2006 19:36
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
I went out today to Clinton Lake. I saw many ducks flying. I ended up shooting 4 mallard drakes and 1 drake widgeon.

Posted By:
duxbutt
Guest

Nebraska 12-13-2006 10:38
– – –
Hi Folks, I am trying to contact some Kansas Members in here that want to help with a delta waterfowl Chapter. I originally started tryignto get one going on the south Central Platte around Elm Creek and Kearney area and have gotten the commitment from one other Waterfowler. So I guess I am looking to see if there is anyone around the Phillipsburg area that wnats to join in and get a ne/ks Chapter Started. I have talked to Delta and told them that I would try to get it going bymyself and they said no way that I had to have soem help. I am looking to get three more volunteeers. any help down in kansas? Let me know. thanks All, Dan

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

12-13-2006 08:44
– – –
Yeah, thats what I’m talking about Greg. Love to hunt the river.

Posted By:
Bernie-Jones
Field Editor

N. Sedgwick county 12-12-2006 20:41
– – –
Congrats on the hunt Greg. Our Sat was not that exciting. Did a little field hunting Sat morning. Had to compete with several thousand geese just down the road. Did manage to pull a few honkers in and take a few home. Hunted another field Sat evening. Someone had jumped the roost. Bad deal for us. We did manage to have fun watchin the mallards hover around. The had another destination in mind though. We did manage to pull a nice group of snows in.

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

S. of Quivera 12-11-2006 13:06
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Hunted Sat morning on Ninnescah River due to marshes still be frozen (kind of surprised given the warmer temps during the day out there). In any case, proved to be a good decision, we had the best hunt of the year on any river we’ve hit. Mallards in the dekes (only 18 floaters, 1 mojo used) before shooting time and never quit. We picked up after our limits and they were still wanting in. My gun was not functioning at all (I put the thing back together poorly after cleaning the weekend before) so after my buddies limit and banded grnhead, I used his gun to shoot mine. As soon as he handed me his gun for my round at them, we had a group of 40 lock up on us and they were pulling in other groups in the air at the same time. I put the gun down and we just called my guts out for 10-15 minutes. When we were done calling, I bet we had a couple hundred mallards/widgeon/gadwall down in this tiny river just going crazy. It was an amazing experience, and bet the group hunting just down from us thought we were crazy for not shooting these ducks. For us, the sight and experience was much greater than if we’d shot the 1st group dropping in. A memory I will have for some time. Anyway after that it was selective jewelry hunting. I wanted a band as well, but didn’t end up getting one. Had to settle for my 4 greenhead 1 widgeon limit. They were all close in single shot opportunities. Way too much fun!!! I’m pretty used to bellyaching about this time after a hard freeze-up, but things have really worked out well for us. Thanks in part, to the several big clubs around us that manage to keep their marsh water open during the lock-up and keep a large number of birds around the area. My buddies Drake Mallard band was from Alberta, Canada banded 08/17/04. As bad as I wanted to, didn’t hunt Sunday. Will report back after this weeks hunts.

Posted By:
jwilson504
Guest

12-09-2006 17:40
– – –
wtrfwlr44 shoot me a personal message. sorry to hear about your bad luck. stay motivated.

Posted By:
wtrfwlr44
Guest

12-09-2006 17:37
– – –
Thanks for the replys. Became a moot point. Finally got my household goods on the 5th. On the 6th i was moving some hunting stuff the grain barn, and on the 4th trip out fell. No it wasn’t ice. The step gave way. Broke my right wrist, both bones. the radius badly into several pieces, the ulna in two. Had emergency surgery got pins put in. Darn bad luck for my 1st season here. 6 weeks with a plate and screws then? Will post up observations around here.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

12-06-2006 21:26
– – –
Wtrfwlr44, once the ponds freeze over around these parts the birds move to the rivers. The Arkansas is generally a great river to hunt if you can get on it. When the Mallards pour into Kansas in force, even if the ponds are open, the Ark. River really heats up. If you can stand the cold, somedays literally thousands of Mallards will be using the River. The area from Wichita to Yoder rd seems to be the best in my opinion. There’s large quantities of corn available close to the river around the Haven and Mt. hope areas. This is the meal of choice for Mallards around these parts. Get close to any of these areas and you will generally do good from now till the last Jan. segment is over. Hope this helps you out a bit.

A cattleman buddy called tonight and said the birds that weren’t at the River last weekend are there now. Spotted 4 or 5 large flocks using the river as he was feeding cows yesterday afternoon. My guess is it’s going to be a very nice weekend of hunting……..

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

kansas 12-06-2006 08:30
– – –
Probably moved to some moving water, a river

Posted By:
wtrfwlr44
Guest

local reservoir 12-06-2006 07:32
– – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
1st year hunting Kansas. With all the ponds iced over hit a reservoir on 4 Dec. With all the open water available there expected to see a lot of birds. Figured the geese would be roosting the open water and ducks would be present in good numbers. I was shocked at the lack of birds. Saw 15 Geese and maybe, just maybe 200 ducks. Sure wouldn’t even give me the time of day. In Virginia the birds moved to the big open water and were usually plentiful when the ice and snow hit. Figured to at least see some Bluebills or maybe some cans, or the hearty midwest mallards. Do the birds move on here due to the ice and snow in the fields (lack of food sources)? Or could it just be that big old bright moon?

[Edited By wtrfwlr44 on 2006-12-06 07:34]

Posted By:
Bernie-Jones
Field Editor

Ark River 12-04-2006 16:55
– – –
Hunted the river Sat. morning. Hundreds of ducks in the area. Not much hitting the river though. We managed 5 mallards and 3 teal. Thousands of geese heading north of Wichita over around the Valley Center area.

Posted By:
Bumper
Guest

Kansas 12-04-2006 16:42
– – –
I saw a lot of mallards Southwest of St John on the rattlesnake creek on my way home from Wichita last nite. Just after sunset they were going to feed. I assume these must be the ducks form Quivera after the freeze up. I saw geese everywhere.

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

S. of Quivera 12-04-2006 16:32
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
Tough weekend, all our flat water marshes had 2-3″ of ice, even with adding new water, just froze right up. Hunted the Ninnescah yesterday and scratched out 2 greenies. Several groups of high flyers, but relative to our awesome hunts last week, much, much lower duck counts. Geese on the other hand, wow!! Thousands of new geese have hit the scene and specifically a wheat field just nw of where we were on the river the “vortex” was in full form. If a guy could have gotten under those rascals he’d of had a big time. In driving around, look like most normal holding areas were locked up hard. Hopefully the warmer temps this week will re-open some more productive time in the blind. Our 2 miles of the Ark River were also useless this wknd as it was locked up or pushing major chunks/slush, impossible to set dekes or any kind of a suitable spread. Also, didn’t see one duck when I scouted the river on Saturday. Lots of geese in the field along the river, but no ducks.

Posted By:
Col4600
Guest

Ark. River 12-03-2006 20:55
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
Was expecting more then this. Saw 4 ducks total-shot 3. Expecting 1000’s of Mallards-got 4! This isn’t my first rodeo, I have been hunting the River since 6th grade(22years) and I can’t seem to remember a major front pushing thru, ponds froze over, and no ducks at the river. I hope this isn’t happening because of a total lack of water around the area. Excitement has given way to depression. My friends have officially put me on suicide watch……I’ll keep you posted…..

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

Milford 12-02-2006 18:29
– – –
We loaded up for milford this a.m. for the first time this year. What a disaster!!!! There were more hunters blowing some of the wierdest sounding duck calls at every flock of ducks that were a mile away. Had 5 other groups with us this a.m, within a 1/4 of a mile (closest 100yds) Overall, No birds, 3″ of ice….Need I say more!

[Edited By wtrfwlhunter on 2006-12-02 18:30]

Posted By:
MrMallard88
Guest

Milford 12-01-2006 18:21
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Went out to Milford this afternoon in hope that the ice would have weakened up with highs in the 40s today … got there and that wasnt the case. There were a solid 2 inches of ice covering the entire marsh … so decided to walk back to the car and trade my floater mallards for my full bodies. Set out 18 full body mallards and ended up working a few ducks passing over. Ended up killing 2 … a redhead drake and a shoveler hen. A little strange after the front we just had! Didnt see any mallards. Im assuming they were all out on the lake or ponds around the area. Right after shooting time ended I saw a bunch of ducks and geese going out to feed from the lake.

Might be time to start field hunting…

Posted By:
Royo
WFC Sponsor

Kansas River west of Topeka 12-01-2006 11:13
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 10-20 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted Just West of Topeka on the Kansas River on Weds Nov 29th. Got there around seven . did not see any ducks until almost 9am and then it was like it was raining ducks. We had groups of 50 to 100 Mallards coming into our decoys. very little calling was involved.My Buddy and I took a full limit of Mallards.
We hunted the same spot on Nov 30th and got skunked.

[Edited By Royo on 2006-12-01 11:14]

Posted By:
wtrfwlr44
Guest

SE KS 11-30-2006 22:33
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted 29 Nov prior to the front hitting hard. Had 6 teal in the dekes at legal time. Waited for big ducks. Had 5-6 groups of 4-20 teal come through the dekes. waited for big ducks. Moved here from Virginia, never waited for big ducks there, shouldn’t have yesterday. Got a lot of looks from mallards and Gadwal with none committing. Ended up with 5 teal between 2 of us. Could have shot a limit of them in a half hour. Teach me to be a duck snob. Saw a tons of ducks moving yesterday

[Edited By wtrfwlr44 on 2006-11-30 22:34]

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

11-30-2006 14:22
– – –
Couple of things, one I’ll update all my recent hunts later on, but news flash Quivera has reopened for hunting as of 12pm today!! We have between 3-5 inches in North Wichita already (2:20pm) and it’s really cold out there (ambient temp 15, windchill -3). Think the actual snow line is between Wichita and Huctch, very little precip to our west, but given all the reports from states north of us, the dance is on!! Hope you all can get out and enjoy this major migration event this weekend (if your not deer hunting that is). I’ll try to report after each hunt starting tomorrow.

Posted By:
rt4mu
Supporting Member

perry lake 11-30-2006 13:58
Cloudy, High Winds – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
LOTS OF DARK AND WHITE GEESE MOVING SOUTH!

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

11-30-2006 13:26
– – –
This is the big push fellas, if you are out there dont forget to put something down, what you see etc….dont have to give location, just let all know if the birds are moving south still or stopping to get a bite to eat (hopefully some steel) and drink.

Posted By:
sadie1950
Web Member

Didn’t hunt 11-30-2006 12:24
– – –
Edit-

Good luck fellas

[Edited By greenhead1949 on 2006-11-30 15:09]

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

11-30-2006 11:13
– – –
Arkansas hunter needs snow report badly!!!
How much snow cover did you guys receive and what effect will it have on the Waterfowl movement.
Thanks for any help.

Posted By:
wycohunter
Guest

11-29-2006 18:39
– – –
All i can say is thank God for the cool weahter, lookin to go out these next few days and whack some honkers i will keep you all posted, good luck.

Posted By:
Marshman54
Guest

Kingman Co 11-29-2006 10:54
Cloudy, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted this AM with the front moving in. Saw 4 migrating flocks of geese while I was out seems like they(ducks and geese) are finally on the move. Me and hunting partner ended up with 3 mallards , 1 widgeon, 1 gadwall, 1 red head, 3 GW teal, 1 bonus bull Canvasback, and 1 honker. Pretty good morning. Love hunting cold fronts.

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

11-29-2006 10:44
– – –
Along lines of WtrfwlHntr’s point – I am surprised there hasn’t been a migration alert or update or anything related to this weather…would like to hear more info on any birds moving down…the last one was before TGiving.

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

11-29-2006 06:18
– – –
outside putting x=mas lights up last night, the wind swithched from the north at about 15-20 and got cold. Looked up and just in from on this cold front were a ton of geese, riding the waves of the wind. Hopefully they stop and play

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

NE KS 11-27-2006 21:15
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Too nice for ducks lately but tried anyway – two different farm ponds in the days before and after TGiving. One pond had no pressure and tons of ducks, had a great day. The other had a little pressure a week ago but none of those birds would commit. With the calm winds and nice weather, I had same issues as some of the earlier posts (not committing and flights over early).
Looking for the weather this week to change things, even if it just shakes up the “stay safe” routines the local ducks have taken on lately.

Good luck – will post more at week’s end.

Posted By:
Greg-Haygood
Web Member

11-30-2006 14:22
– – –
Couple of things, one I’ll update all my recent hunts later on, but news flash Quivera has reopened for hunting as of 12pm today!! We have between 3-5 inches in North Wichita already (2:20pm) and it’s really cold out there (ambient temp 15, windchill -3). Think the actual snow line is between Wichita and Huctch, very little precip to our west, but given all the reports from states north of us, the dance is on!! Hope you all can get out and enjoy this major migration event this weekend (if your not deer hunting that is). I’ll try to report after each hunt starting tomorrow.

Posted By:
rt4mu
Supporting Member

perry lake 11-30-2006 13:58
Cloudy, High Winds – 10-20 Degrees – Ice
LOTS OF DARK AND WHITE GEESE MOVING SOUTH!

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

11-30-2006 13:26
– – –
This is the big push fellas, if you are out there dont forget to put something down, what you see etc….dont have to give location, just let all know if the birds are moving south still or stopping to get a bite to eat (hopefully some steel) and drink.

Posted By:
sadie1950
Web Member

Didn’t hunt 11-30-2006 12:24
– – –
Edit-

Good luck fellas

[Edited By greenhead1949 on 2006-11-30 15:09]

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

11-30-2006 11:13
– – –
Arkansas hunter needs snow report badly!!!
How much snow cover did you guys receive and what effect will it have on the Waterfowl movement.
Thanks for any help.

Posted By:
wycohunter
Guest

11-29-2006 18:39
– – –
All i can say is thank God for the cool weahter, lookin to go out these next few days and whack some honkers i will keep you all posted, good luck.

Posted By:
Marshman54
Guest

Kingman Co 11-29-2006 10:54
Cloudy, High Winds – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted this AM with the front moving in. Saw 4 migrating flocks of geese while I was out seems like they(ducks and geese) are finally on the move. Me and hunting partner ended up with 3 mallards , 1 widgeon, 1 gadwall, 1 red head, 3 GW teal, 1 bonus bull Canvasback, and 1 honker. Pretty good morning. Love hunting cold fronts.

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

11-29-2006 10:44
– – –
Along lines of WtrfwlHntr’s point – I am surprised there hasn’t been a migration alert or update or anything related to this weather…would like to hear more info on any birds moving down…the last one was before TGiving.

Posted By:
wtrfwlhunter
Guest

11-29-2006 06:18
– – –
outside putting x=mas lights up last night, the wind swithched from the north at about 15-20 and got cold. Looked up and just in from on this cold front were a ton of geese, riding the waves of the wind. Hopefully they stop and play

Posted By:
Tim-Carrigan
Guest

NE KS 11-27-2006 21:15
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Too nice for ducks lately but tried anyway – two different farm ponds in the days before and after TGiving. One pond had no pressure and tons of ducks, had a great day. The other had a little pressure a week ago but none of those birds would commit. With the calm winds and nice weather, I had same issues as some of the earlier posts (not committing and flights over early).
Looking for the weather this week to change things, even if it just shakes up the “stay safe” routines the local ducks have taken on lately.

Good luck – will post more at week’s end.