I am wanting to go out of state next season for some quail and pheasant hunting. I'm thinking Oklahoma and Kansas. How many of you guys do this? Any tips or pointers? I am thinking public land. Do you take a camper up with you or just stay in motels? Let's make this a good informational thread for others to refer to when planning an out of state upland hunt.

Thanks,

Daniel

We are getting on the lease that that we hunted in Oklahoma last weekend. More birds than I've seen in Texas in a few years. We will more than likely stay in the same motel next year that we stayed in last weekend. The only public hunting in Oklahoma I have done is the Black Kettle & it has been pretty bad the last few years. Good luck.

I hunt Oklahoma in Texas, Cimmerion, and Pawnee Counties

I hunt in the OK panhandle (Texas and Beaver counties) and hunt private land and the WMAs (Wildlife Management Areas). They have lots of public hunting and it gets very little pressure up there. You can get into some good quail, but most of the pheasant is a little further north and west of the main WMAs. I am from the area, so stay with friends, but there are hotels in Guymon, OK and Liberal, KS, or a couple of small ones in Hooker.

I also hunt ipublic and private land in Kiowa County, Kansas and the public hunting up there is in the WIHA (walk in hunting areas). I have stayed in my truck camper and with friends in the area, but there are hotels in Coldwater and Pratt (used to be ones in Greensburg before the big F-5 tornado wiped it out). Closer over toward Dodge and down toward Liberal has better pheasant hunting (at least over the last few years). I just don't know much about the areas over there to justify going over there.

I hope that helps a little. Best of luck with your planning.

It takes me almost a full day to get out of Texas. How much are you paying for the lease up there?

i go out of state all the time with a 17 foot casita travle trailer. its all fiberglass so they are light weight, easy to tow with a 1/2 ton truck and extremely well built. i hate staying in motels especially with dogs. i dont like being around crowds when i need to let the dogs out to pee. i dont have to drive long distance each day to get to a motel. camping right on your hunting grounds away from loud people in the motel parking lot is the way to go

I tend to go someplace different every year, including out of State. But I could easily talk myself into making Colorado Sage/Sharptail/Blue Grouse and Kansas Pheasant/Quail an annual thing. I'm poor so on public and camping or cheap lodging is the way I roll.

I hunt outa state every year--North Dakota or Montana or Kansas or Idaho. Louisiana for ducks. Might try New Mexico this year. I aim for states with good public hunting for birds, talk to biologists and look at maps to narrow down the choices.

We have a 26 foot TT that I use, pulling it with my F-250. We normally use state parks for camping. One nice place in the middle of terrific pheasant hunting last year cost $10 a night! Last year we stayed in a KOA campground in Montana for $20 a night (splint 2 ways.) It even had 60 channels of cable TV. We hunted all day, then came in to eat, have an adult beverage and watch the baseball playoffs. Very nice. And I KNOW its clean. Ya never know with some of these motels how clean they really are....

I live 60 miles Southeast of Dallas & it only takes me four hours to get to the motel (thats closer than any lease I have ever had!). The motel is like 12 miles from the ranch. Not sure how much yet, but I know it will be less than we have been paying. And I know I will be hunting there.

thats all I do any more. I guide in the Panhandle of Oklahoma. Beaver County. the Birds were ok at best this year. we would average 5-8 covy a day, thats doing a lot of walking and hunting all day. Better than last year but still not good. maybe this is as good as it's going to get. I also hunt kansas around Huggington. it's about the same for quail.

I'll take 5-8 covey days. Better than 5-8 day's per covey!

you are right about that. My concern is more for the Bird than for me. I continue to see the decline, it seems no matter what we do, and we work hard in keep ing the habitat and food source avvailable for them, they just have a tough time making it.

Slam Point - do you guide at Beaver WMA or on private land? Ever get over to Optima? How is it comparing lately? Does Schultz have any birds left (if you ever get there)?

I hunted Beaver a little in 2008, but it sure isn't what it was in the 80s. You could just drive the roads, see a covey, and start your hunting right there, immediately on birds. Then you never got out of them, as you kept running into new coveys chasing the prior one. Good days.

I only Guide for the Diamond Nine Private Ranch. And your right things are not what they use to be. It's sad to think about it but they may never be that good again.

as a hunter I'm always looking for new places to hunt. I only guide to help pay for my hunitng habit. I would love the opportunity to meet and hunt with other avid hunters. A lot of my old hunting partners have given up on the sport stating it's too long of a drive for such a gamble of a hunt. to me I love seeing my dogs work and even if I find one covey a day it's worth the experience of just being there.

i hunt north-west alasaka in winter and south-west arizona in summer

Never been out of state hunting

Weird situation but I have never really hunted in state lol

I was born and raised in Texas but the first hunting I ever did was for quail in Bryan county Oklahoma with my grand father who was a hard core quail hunter.

I never had the oportunity to do much hunting in Texas since my father didnt hunt and the cost of hunting in the lone star state is so crippling.

I had the opportunity to by a lifetime residents license in Oklahoma when I lived there for a short time so I did.

The quail have not been in huntable numbers for years in Oklahoma but people severly under estimate the deer and duck hunting in the sooner state, especially since its just and hour north of Dallas.

Its a shame that the cost of hunting in Texas has gone to the point of forcing people out of it. I guide hunts in Oklahoma and have taken some very large deer, but when I mention I hunt there my friends from Texas act like they feel sorry for me.

Shoot, I wouldn't feel sorry for you, there are some great deer in Oklahoma!! I would love to just hunt up there but the dang non-resident licenses are so expensive and a little complicated. I thought oklahaoma had some good quail hunting though?

They had good quail hunting in Bryan county until they stopped farming peanuts around there.

The licenses are expensive but if you bow hunt you can hunt from oct-jan for one liciense fee.

the lifetime liciense was the best investment i ever made as for the Texas lifetime that I thought about purchaseing....

$1,000.00.....to $1,800.00 in one year-----F&*% Y*& Texas Parks and Wildlife!

Went on a pheasant hunt in South Dakota a few years back. Great hunting! Tons of birds and it really wasant that expensive. Too long of a drive though. If I go back I'll fly next time. Wasted 3 days getting there and back.

I have been hunting the Walk In Areas in Kansas the last two seasons. I stay in a motel but my wife and I have been giving some thought to a camper. In Texas, bird hunters are second class citizens at best, in Kansas bird hunters are welcomed. The owner of the motel had flyers on the counter listing all the restaurants and community groups who were having special events for the bird hunters. He even pointed out the events that were taking place while we were in town and told us to check with him if we needed directions. I was able to get my dogs into a lot of birds both pheasant and quail and I don't plan on buying a Texas hunting license in the foreseeable future. Hopefully I can afford a trip to Montana in the next few years.

Wow! not even gonna buy a Texas license huh?! You're serious! I still have to get me some deer meat so I can't go without a texas license but I sure do want to try out this new bird dog of mine next season! Looks like I'm probably gonna have to go out of state to really get him into some wild birds.

AMEN!!

Unlike a lot of hunters I did not grow up hunting. My dad would take us fishing but that was it. When I was 19 or 20, I met a guy from church who had bird dogs and hunted quail. He let me come along with him when he would take his dogs out. It didn't take long until I was hooked. I bought every book or magazine that I could find about pointing dogs and bird hunting. My dogs and I are still learning as we go.

I acknowledge that with the growing deer population in Texas more deer hunters are needed but I just don't have any interest in it. As for not buying a Texas hunting license, it boils down to a simple issue of trying to get the most value for my limited hunting dollar and for me "value" means getting my dogs into birds. I think it is more beneficial to my dogs for me to spend my money driving to the prairies where the wild birds are.