I just possibly got an unexpected chance to go hunt a couple of days in NE Kansas, but it would take a lot of string pulling to make it happen. I've never been there before. Being from the South, I was just wondering are they still gobbling decent in that area. Or, If things have already wound down, I can wait and take advantage of the opportunity next season, when I can plan it out ahead of time. Thanks in advance for any info. -
I don't currently live in KS, but I have heard them gobbling and called them in as late as the last day in May. In general they should still be going strong right now in mid-May, though talking to my friends back in KS it sounds like the overall population is down compared to years back so there is that to factor in...
They are still gobbling. Friendly reminder NE KS is a one bird area. Bird numbers are way down in this part of NE KS. Its to the point I did not even purchase a tag. Good luck.
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Numbers are so far down in s.e. ks I have decided to not even fill my tag. Have private ground to hunt in the river bottom and you may hear 1 Tom on the roost, on a good day 2 as far as you can hear up and down the river. Starting to get like quail, it's nice if you see or hear them.
Myself I would pass unless you just want to go take a look around.
I've hunted eastern Kansas for around 20yrs or so and this Spring is the first year Ever that I didn't kill a bird.
Its sad to see what was once a tremendous state for turkeys become a desert for birds these days.
I hunt private and have access to a lot of ground,I know disease and flooding have taken a toll on birds,but compared to even 5-6 yrs ago its hard to believe there were ever turkeys there in the first place.
Greg
Ditto what everyone else said. I told all of my OOS buddies to stay home this year. Sad to see what's happened in the past 5 years, even in the "good" areas. That being said there's still a few cooperative turkeys out there and if you don't do it there's 15k other guys trying to do the same thing.
Take a gun and plan on doing some "armed scouting" for next year. If you do stumble across a bird, great. If not, you already knew what you were getting into, so nothing lost with only knowledge gained.
Killed a bird thier first part of May that had Avian Pox bird couldn't have even weighed 12 pounds! I wouldn't go there population has dropped too much to be as good as it should be.
Seems like Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have suffered similar fates in recent years. Once-great turkey hunting states that have really fallen on hard times. Hopefully the populations will rebound some, but I don't think we will ever again see the numbers of birds we saw 10-15 years ago.