Upland Bird Hunting
What Our Upland Bird Hunting Is
Upland bird hunting with Mid-America Hunting Association is season long, self guided private land hunting in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. We are a hunt execution only organization. No dog training, pre-season land access, commercial dog work, no guided hunts, no gang or drive hunting. We exist for the average hunter who wants to enjoy his dogs in the field.
This page will cover more than most will want to read. All should not hesitate to call for a discussion narrowed down to their specific hunt plans, day/evening 913 773 8110.
Go to these sections: Pheasant Hunting or Quail Hunting for more detailed information on each.
Our hunts are only on wild birds on existing grain farms crop fields, brush filled draws and tall native grasslands.
Hunting is primarily for pheasant and Bobwhite Quail. Some Prairie Chicken, Woodcock and a rare Ruffed Grouse may be encountered.
Hunter owned pointing, retrieving and flushing dogs are all welcome.
Those that hunt migratory birds will find dove and waterfowl hunting available through the Association.
How We Operate
How our self guided hunts are conducted is foremost to agree we are not a hunting club.
The rest of the details are:
Our system has been tested since 1965. It represents a method that insures parity to all Association hunters. It is not a perfect system for all hunters and we do not claim to be the right option for all. We do make our management system easily understood on this page and in our rules. We want any on that applies for membership to do so with a clear understanding of what it is we offer. We also do not negotiate our Association rules. All comply to the same rules, have the same land access and the same service.
The points most want to know right off include all may hunt on their schedule andy time during the season as often as they want. There is more. These additional aspects contribute to having as good of upland bird hunting as it is possible to have on with wild birds on natural habitat.
We lease private land for our exclusive use. We do not have any affiliation to any other group. We do not franchise our land and do not allow any other hunting use by any other.
Access to this land is by means of an annual membership fee paid in full before membership material is issued, most notably the land location maps. This land access entitlement is to all Association lease lands that are available for the all members to hunt in one form or another (exceptions, wetlands for example are for waterfowl hunts only).
The annual fee is a 365 day/year from the time paid until that anniversary the next calendar year.
The other membership entitlements allow upland bird hunting during any portion of the state authorized seasons, for state regulated bag limits as often as desired. No additional chargers per field day or birds harvested.
We also recommend to the first year Association hunter where he should spend his time upland bird hunting for his bird and habitat preference. After that first year we will continue to offer ideas where to hunt. It is that most hunters find a favored area and spend more time there. That favored area stays good until bird densities fluctuate and its time to try another locality. An advantage of this Association is our range of land from Iowa through Missouri to western Kansas. One area over another from season to season has up and down years. The Association hunter willing to travel to where the better bird hunts will be will always have a good season.
Land access and subsequent upland bird hunting is through a telephone reservation system where "units" of land may be reserved at the hunter's discretion.
Upland Bird Hunting Unit Of Private Land
The sample map shown is reduced in size of a single upland bird hunting unit. The map sheets area available to Association hunters through the online map library.
The highlighted spots are Association lands. The road and thin lines are section lines. Or, one mile squares of 640 acres. The smallest rectangles are 80 acre spots. The small squares are quarters. Or, 1/4 the section making for 160 ares. The large rectangles are 1/2 sections, 320 acres. Red labels are road names. Road signs are posted at the road intersections. Individual lease land spots are numbered. This land number comes into play that if an upland bird hunter reserves this map sheet or unit of land he may hunt all of the highlighted spots on that map sheet. If there should happen to be a deer hunter on one of the numbered farms that upland bird hunter will be told which one and asked to stay off of that one spot.
We Recommend Where To Hunt
Knowing what is where is one more piece to knowing where to hunt. We watch birds 12 months of the year.
Knowing where to hunt makes hen sightings of value.
Hunter satisfaction
When a bird hunter sends in photographs like this one below that shows pride in his bird dog it is clear that he has found the tranquility of a good upland hunt. This intangible aspect is the hardest to quantify and what most desire.
This Association has been hunting since 1965. The picture above is from almost that long ago. It was taken by a 110 camera. Something many hunters today may not know what a 110 was.
A Quail Hunt
Background: Traditional family last day of the season quail hunt where dad takes pictures and TJ gets to do all the shooting.
The hunting story:
"...late start, ended early...three coveys...fair bit of shooting...three quail in the bag...bonding with TJ the best part..." -- wild quail hunt
Integrity drives us to show far less than limit pictures as that is what wild quail hunting is. Limit days are great. there are more less than limit days on any hunt.
A unit of land has a variable amount of acreage. The amount depends upon how much land may be posited on a single map sheet before it is shrunk down to be hard to read.
They are also divided in terms of habitat type and lease area. If going to a large unit of land that upland bird hunter may spend more than one day on that unit. If going to a small unit of land, meaning one have less huntable habitat than a full day's hunt, that hunter may reserve more than one unit.
For quail management units no hunter may hunt any one unit more than 2 days per month, or six days for the season. The idea on the quail units is to prevent those with the idea of hunting coveys to extinction. Pheasant units can take more pressure.
Each unit of land or leases has a set gun limit meaning the total number of pheasant or quail hunters that may reserve any one unit per day. An example would be a 4,000 acre unit may have a six gun limit meaning a total of six hunters may reserve that unit for one day of field time.
Unit gun limits come into management at two periods during the upland season.
The first annual period is the Iowa state upland bird hunting season opening weekend before Missouri and Kansas seasons have begun. During this weekend the Association hunters may converge on Iowa and they are limited to the unit gun limit. With the Missouri and Kansas season not yet open there will be more hunters attempting to access our Iowa upland bird hunting units than space available. After Missouri and later Kansas seasons open the hunters are spread across the entire inventory of acreage rather than just the limited amount of this one early opening state.
The second period when unit gun limits affect membership reservations is the opening weekend of Kansas pheasant season. This is the one, 2-day period of the year when the one weekend a year pheasant hunters hunt. Most dedicated bird dog hunters take a more relaxed approach and discount the opening week waiting until the more reliable cold weather of early December sets in for the better dog work. Or, they hunt Iowa as after the earlier Iowa opener as there is little pressure on that land.
Our upland bird hunting land units server a greater purpose than gun limitations.
The season long purpose is that units distribute bird hunters to avoid unnecessary hunter pressure in any one area. In the case of our quail predominate units we prevent any one hunter from overly pressuring any coveys to include that of hunting them to extinction. We manage this by two means.
The first is illustrated by way of an example.
Any given county in any of our states may have anywhere from 1 to 6 upland bird hunting units. For any member that is the first to call in his reservation to hunt any particular upland unit on any given day he has his choice of all the county's units to select from for the days he wants to hunt. The next member wanting to hunt that same county as the first on the same days has the remaining units to select from and so on.
Should all the upland units have one hunter or party and the gun limit not been reached then the gun limit per unit comes into effect. This means that the 4,000 acre unit with a six gun limit may have two or three parties of three to two bird hunters each.
Not all listed land is huntable. The best upland bird hunting is within agricultural farming regions of grain farming. It is this food source, waste grain, combined with protective cover that has the best hunt quality. This is opposed to the best looking cover in cattle regions of no crop land would offer nature walking not good hunts. The consequence to this crop farming benefit is land usage ranges form 45% to 55% in farming. This leaves at best 50% on average of any one upland bird hunting unit of land to wildlife protective cover. Of all that protective cover that exists not all will support upland birds. This is where planning the hunt with one of the two Association partners fits well. They will get the hunter to that land that has more huntable protective cover on grain farms than daylight hours are available to hunt.
Where To Hunt
Where we lease our upland bird hunting land is not accidental. It is based first on the right region of the state that has historic production at above state wide averages. Second, within those regions we select for the right pheasant or quail protective cover and food source habitat. That habitat must be in proximity to the other to make for better bird hunts. Meaning more time on the ground than time driving from spot to spot.
There are limitations to what we provide in terms of upland bird hunting. Our land locations have been selected for pheasant and Bobwhite Quail. Our upland birds of choice. There are other species within the three states where we lease land. In every case of the other species they do not exist in huntable numbers to provide reasonable chances at a good hunt. There go we do not promote them as much. Although if on our lease land, they may be hunted compliant with state hunting regulations.
Upland Bird Habitat Within The Right Region
For good hunts habitat is the key. No surprise in this statement. our attempt is to come to agreement what that good habitat is.
Second, is having that right habitat in the right region of the state. We take that mystery out of the equation by getting the hunter to the right region and to the right lease of where to park his truck, step out and hunt.
Picture at right. Edge habitat. A bean field in a quail region. Easy walking and a mixture of open sky and woods shooting. Mild winter temperatures. We will hunt through the entire season as snowfall is not a hunt stopper in our locality. Winter means to us firm roads to travel to the better spots.
First limit.
We offer family discounted memberships for those that are dependents. All others have the same membership as this organization survives on parity of a business towards its customer/hunters rather than bias that may exits in a club.
When To Hunt
Several points for this discussion.
The first is centered on the self guided hunter of his own dogs. It should be understood there is no need to have the opening week mentality. Our upland bird hunting is good through the end of the season. And, we do hunt the entire season as of central mid-west location has temperate winter conditions. Those with some time on the ground and have average to good dogs may expect limit days at the end of the season as much as the beginning of the season.
In general terms November is a warm month. Warm enough to be concerned with dog heat fatigue. Carrying water for dogs is a must.
A November morning may begin with frost. Most mornings though are not likely to be frosty. Many days will be in the 40's through 50's at sunup. Even on the frosty mornings once the sun rises most will shed their jackets. Many days will have the hunter in a T-shirt by 11 AM. November with less frost and humidity than later in the season makes for tougher scenting conditions compound by dust.
Beyond the dry, warm conditions it is the wind for the entire season that degrades any hunt. Windy days are best hunted in sheltered creek bottoms for quail. Calm days, anything less than 15 mph winds allow for the better open lands pheasant hunting. More so in pour part of the country than other places wind predictions are part of about every weather forecast.
December onward has more reliably cooler weather. This is the time of the season when we see the emergence of the local upland bird hunter. Most of the early, warmer season November hunts are traveling hunters anxious for the first hunt of the season. December is likely to have the frosty mornings that reduce dust, increase humidity making for better dog work. December does come with liabilities.
Those that hunt November will be hard pressed to keep their dogs out of ponds. Come December those ponds can be death traps for dogs. The problem is the cycling freezes and thaws that will make donut ice rings in a pond. The near shore thick ice will support a running dog that closer to the center open, deeper, water, the ice thins allowing dogs to break through. Now having scared the hunter with this condition be well advised no upland bird hunting dog has yet been reported to have drowned. We have lost waterfowl dogs however. The point is to be aware of such concerns and all will find ponds easily avoidable.
January is a new month to hunt for many. It is also when the tranquility effect comes into play. By this third month of the season rolls around most have had their edge worn down. Dogs are in shape. Weather supports all day hunts. This all combines into a realization the land is there, the birds are there and the hunt can be more enjoyed for the hunt. The ego need for limits usually wanes by this time. The enjoyment of the dog gains greater importance. This includes the pictures of the perfect point, retrieve, flush and so on. It will be these pictures that go on the wall that will bring good times back to the hunter come the summer heat of July.
For January, watch the snow line. It is at its highest in Iowa and rarely down to south Kansas. If the snow line does go south it is for a short duration. Hunting the margins of the snow line both north and south. This yields easy walking and cover. Hunting south of the snow line is as good as anywhere else any other time of the season. The point for all is winter snow is not a reason to stop hunting. Icy road conditions if occurring are the worst effect.
Pheasant And Bobwhite Quail
The Association's central mid-west geography/weather makes for a two bird hunt each trip.
Of what to hunt be it pheasant or quail depends on the hunter and his dog power. Each may be hunted. The difference is a matter of densities as there does exist predominate pheasant regions with some quail. Likewise predominate quail regions with some pheasant. Of all these areas from the furthest outside edges of each pheasant or quail region to the other is an eight hour highway driving time.
One plan is to stop over at the nearest region for that first day's hunt. This is as much to shorten driving time as to maximize hunting days. Come dark travel a bit to another region hunt a day or several. When needing a break to rest up travel to a third locality. Such a trip would show one regional difference in cover, weather and pheasant or quail density more to the liking of the hunter and fitted to that dog.
Working with the Association partners will help narrow this plan down to individual upland bird hunting units.
How To Be Successful
The first year Association hunter will do well to talk to one of the two Association partners, Jon Nee or John Wenzel. Each trains and hunts over their own bird dogs. Better than that they track year round the conditions that make for the better hunts come fall. They are also motivated to insure all have as good of a hunt as possible to insure return hunts for years to come.
The two partners will help develop an itinerary for the entire trip. That planning will include a Plan A and B just incase the first ideas do not work out due to weather or other. That is the easy part. The hard part is time on the land. The rest of this discussion is not for the local hunter. It is for the traveling upland bird hunter new to our Kansas, Iowa, Missouri region.
The first hunts and the first year will have the worst hunts - guaranteed !
The first year central mid-west hunter is the challenge. Our hunts are on wild pheasant and quail over farm and grasslands. Nothing like the hunt test or field trial. To get this first hunt and year off as good as possible is to get that hunter to walk every field recommended to hunt. This includes the fields that do not look to have good cover from the road. This effort needs to be brut willpower and self determination to learn what cover/feed source produces birds. Much if not most of this first hunt/season self guided upland bird hunting will not be productive. It is a matter it takes experience. Experience that is both failure and success to learn what works for that dog and hunter. The motivation to stick with it, tenacity, is that all that do say their hunts improve with every trip.
Common success includes finding the dog power works well on quail, better than pheasants. Other the reverse. Rarely does a hunter have a dog that is good on both pheasant and quail. Some find the tall grasslands ideal. Others the crop edge, waterways, scrub lands and draws. It all comes down to those that hunt the most each of their early days rather than driving around dismissing fields as unworthy gain the greatest success the fastest.
The common failure. Coming to hunt with the expectation that because this is paid private land hunting means limits are easy and regular. We offer real hunting that requires a great quantity of willingness to walk, shooting ability and dog power. This upland bird hunting is at the top of all wild upland bird hunting anywhere. It is tough, it is rewarding. Anything less than the tenacity to walk different fields every daylight hour will mean less success.
Who May Want To Consider Hunting In This Association
Our self guided upland bird hunting is just for that, the hunt. We do not allow any pre season dog training. Our land is for upland bird hunting only.
We impose further restrictions on dogs. We limit each member to not more than two dogs on the ground at one time. Not more than 3 per party regardless of the number of members in that party. The rationale is we are an organization for hunters that enjoy working their dogs as the primary activity. The harvest of birds a necessary secondary effect to what we really seek. If this is in contrary with any hunter's objectives than the hunter need not apply for membership.
We have other screening criteria for our membership that we do not advertise. Those criteria largely make the difference between who is allocated a membership and those we simply inform do not meet our criteria. We never provide any explanation for any declined membership application.
We are and have been for a long time in position not to have to accept all that apply. We have a good Association, we know why it is good, this is confirmed by our high hunter renewal rate. We know how to maintain that quality. We are committed to this and have employed the screening criteria that has sustained our do it yourself hunter organization since 1965. The benefit to the wild upland bird hunter is the opportunity to avoid all the issues with knock on door and public land access.
Intimidation
It has come to our attention every so often a comment that readers of this web site feel a bit intimidated by its content. The many limit pictures, fine looking dogs on point, many bird in mouth retrieving pictures bring some to question their hunting skills, dog training ability and shooting. As a self guided hunter organization the only judge present in the field is the hunter himself. No one can be intimated by himself.
It takes only a handful of hunters to send in a limit, retrieve or fine point picture but once a year for there to add up over the many years of Mid-America Hunting Association has been in operation. What appears on the web site are a good many fine pictures to the point it seems that all hunters all shoot limits, or should. That is not true. There are more one bird and less than limit pictures. As that is the reality of wild pheasant and quail hunting. This web site covers the entire range of upland bird hunters from the first dog owning hunter to that senior citizen on his 20th dog.
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