There’s Still Time to Go Pheasant and Quail Hunting

Upland bird hunters will be happy to know Nebraskas pheasant and quail hunting season will be open through Jan. 31, which means there is still time to spend a couple of weekends out pheasant and quail hunting. Experienced hunters will tell you that the late season is often the very best time to hunt. That’s because hunting conditions are good, crops have been harvested, much of the heavy cover has been knocked down. Hunters and dogs perform much better than when it was hot and dry, permission to hunt on private property is easier to obtain than earlier in the season, there are few hunters in the field and still enough birds to make an enjoyable hunt ..... somebody stop me when I get to the bad part. It’s no wonder that many serious pheasant and quail hunters, those experts who have hunted upland birds for years and have a real passion for the activity, hunt through the last day of the season. They do this even though the birds have become more edgy, more elusive and more difficult to hunt, but by moving slowly, quietly, and deliberately they still put birds in their bag. The most successful hunters avoid slamming truck doors and tailgates, shouting instructions to each other, and yelling at their dogs. Instead, they hunt quietly, move through the fields slowly and deliberately They know excessive noise drives late-season pheasants out of the field even before the hunt begins. The tag-end of the season is the perfect time for one or two hunters and a close-working dog to hunt small patches of cover. The idea is to approach the cover quietly, following along as the dog works its way through the field in random fashion. Hunting into the wind is another good way to reduce the noise made by walking through the cover which makes it easier to get within shotgun range before the birds flush. Experienced late-season hunters would rather eat quiche for dinner every night for a week than miss a morning in the field after an over night snowfall. When it snows birds often congregate in low areas of thick cover seeking protection from the cold and wind. A little snow also provides a chance for the hunter to track birds and learn where they concentrate when it’s cold. If you are hesitant to go pheasant and quail hunting because you don’t know where you can hunt, here are a few suggestions that will help you find a good spot to hunt. If you know a landowner who owns property you’d like to hunt, simply ask him for permission to hunt there. But, don’t assume that because you know the landowner it’s OK to hunt there, the law says you must have permission to hunt on private land whether it is posted or not. If you don’t know any landowners and don’t like asking strangers for permission to hunt on their property, consider hunting Conservation Reserve Program-Management Access Program (CRP-MAP) lands or public hunting areas. Nebraska’s CRP-MAP is a hunting access program in which landowners enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are paid for allowing public walk-in only access for hunting and trapping. The program opens some 180,000 acres of privately owned CRP land across the state to public hunting. The land is plainly marked so hunters and trappers can easily identify it. Each CRP-MAP tract is shown on maps in the 2008 CRP-Management Access Program Atlas, available free at commission offices and at permit agents across the state. This information is also available on the Commission’s Web site at www.OutdoorNebraska.org. There are also about 800,000 acres of public hunting land on some 300 state and federal areas scattered across Nebraska. Included in those areas are 215 commission-owned and managed wildlife management areas and about half of them hold pheasants. Hunting is allowed in season on all state wildlife management areas and federal waterfowl production areas unless otherwise posted. Special regulations apply on federal refuges and on national forest lands. A complete listing of all of Nebraska’s public hunting areas is included in the 2008 Nebraska Guide to Hunting and Public Lands, available free from any Nebraska Game and Parks Commission office or any of 900 permit agents across the state. The same information is also available on the Commission’s Web site. Some local areas are better than others, but generally, if you are willing to get out and walk the fields, and concentrate on spots where there is good habitat, you will probably be rewarded with some shooting opportunities and maybe a bird or two. The hunter who expects to park his truck, walk thirty yards across a picked field and come back with a limit of roosters or bobwhites will probably be disappointed.