Pheasant Hunting Heaven

This report is by my guest author and brother Mike Thomas
of Austin, Texas

 

Recently some friends of mine invited me to go on a pheasant hunt outside of Concordia, Kansas.  I have never been pheasant hunting before, so I agreed to go and try something new.  I grew up in west Texas hunting dove and quail, but I haven’t been bird hunting in at least 15 years.  I decided to meet with my brother Ed in Lampasas, TX to get some shooting lessons and tips.  After a few dozen clay birds and some instruction from Ed, I was on target and breaking clay birds with confidence.   

  Having talked to other pheasant hunters in the past, I assumed that we each might have the opportunity to get several birds a day.  I was surprised to find out on our way up to Kansas that the outfit we were hunting with did not have a set limit of pheasant you could harvest, but allowed you to shoot all the birds you could find.  Not only that, since this was a controlled shooting area and most of the birds were stocked, you could take both cocks and hens.  Another unexpected bonus was the hunt included chukar and quail.  The outfitter also supplied a field guide and dogs for each group. 

Black Pheasant

 

Here was our total take for each day.

Day 1 - 52 pheasant /chukar.

Day 2 - 40 pheasant / chukar and one quail.

As I recall, the total breakdown was around 80 pheasant and 12 chukar and 1 quail.

Our group of 4 hunters from Austin, TX (left to right in photo) included:

Rickey Hall, Richard Todd, Sonny Haro and Mike Thomas

 

 

To say that this hunt was more than I ever expected is an understatement.  This is one of the best bird hunts I have ever been on.  The owner of Kansas Creek Gamebirds, Rod Zohn, runs a first class hunting experience and he was a real pleasure to meet.  You can check out their website at www.kansascreekgamebirds.com/    All of the guides were top notch and their dogs were even more amazing. At the end of each day the guides would clean and process all birds and bag them up for you.  All this for around $320.00 per day.  (Room and board not included.)

One more thing that really made our trip outstanding was the accommodations.  Just down the road from Kansas Creek Gamebirds is a little B & B named Kansas Creek Inn.  It is a two story log home with a green metal roof and large barn out back.  When you walk through the door you will find it furnished with many quarter-sawn oak antiques and the smell of fresh cookies just out of the oven.  The 4 rooms are all cozy with patchwork quilts and comfortable beds.  There is large den in the back of the house with leather couches and a big screen TV that we watched football on each night.  Our meals were home-cooked by Betsy Keri and included pork steaks smothered in cherry sauce, steaks, twice stuffed potatoes, homemade desserts and wonderful side dishes and salads.  Rooms were around $55 dollars per night and meals were $15 per day.  (A bargain if I do say so!)  This place made an already awesome trip even more special.  You can reach the B & B at:

 Kansas Creek Inn‎
1330 Union Road
Concordia, KS 66901-8009
(785) 243-9988

My heartfelt thanks to all the guys I hunted with.  Thank you Sonny for inviting me to go on this awesome hunt. I will always remember this one!  Special thanks to Rickey and Richard for the privilege of hunting with you.  Both are good sportsmen, excellent shots and a pleasure to be around.  I hope we get to share many other days enjoying the outdoors!

Looks like a great trip to me, only problem is that I was not on it with you guys, Wild Ed