Missouri Upland Bird Hunting
Missouri Pheasant
Amongst Missouri's upland birds of quail, pheasant, woodcock and grouse in that descending order of probability of seeing on a hunt beyond quail the pheasant is most likely to be encountered. That is more so north of highway 36 with Missouri allowing pheasant hunting north of highway 70 and a few other isolated localities.
Pheasant hunting in general
Iowa pheasant hunting
Kansas pheasant hunts
Missouri Bobwhite Quail
For the upland bird hunter seeking a predominance of quail over that of pheasant this region of the most dense quail populations matches that of the Missouri's heavily agricultural areas.
A good day's hunt and one tired seasoned dog.
Missouri Quail Hunt
We have several pictures of Kevin and his bird dog PJ. He is a long time upland bird hunter covering mostly Kansas and Missouri. In this case Kevin took along another member and his dog for a Missouri quail hunt that will not be long forgotten by the other hunter. It was a day that showed what one high power quail dog can get done.
The elements to a successful upland bird hunt are the ability to calibrate an eye for the right habitat, the willingness to walk, shooting ability and the most base element of all, a dog that can be cast out along the miles of linear quail habitat of the central mid-west and dive into the target habitat to find the coveys.
Once the covey is found the true high power quail dog further demonstrates the ability to quickly find flushed singles right after the covey break up. PJ is just such a bird dog. And, Kevin will readily admit, a quail dog, not a pheasant dog.
PJ has the speed to cover a lot of ground in short order finding the coveys in much less time than most other upland bird hunters can muster with two dogs. This is not a brag just a statement of observation of a 40+ year bird hunter (maybe with some envy, but not boast). That same speed that makes for one of the best quail dogs in the Association is also the defeat mechanism to a successful pheasant hunt. In the case of PJ he is a specialist. A high power quail dog that renders only frustration in the tall prairie grass pheasant hunts. Possibly not the upland bird dog of choice for our area, however he is everything Kevin wants in his bird dogs.
Take away just one of the successful quail hunting elements and a day even with the best dog can be equally frustrating. For Kevin and PJ our Missouri upland bird hunting with few pheasants and an abundance of quail fit their bird hunting style.
Kansas Bobwhite Quail
Iowa quail
Bobwhite Quail overall
Wild Bobwhite Quail and Pheasant
Bobwhite Quail is the primary Missouri upland bird pursued by most of our hunters. While Missouri does have an overlapping range of two upland birds, the second being the pheasant across its northern tier counties, the bird hunter is there due to Missouri's superior quail hunting. The converse is true for the Missouri pheasant that while it has an overlapping range it is limited in density with the better pheasant habitat is to be found in Kansas and Iowa.
For the most part hunters find Missouri's upland bird region to have the ideal combination of lightly wooded fence rows, weed patches along with scrub and in general soft edge row crop fields that create the most effective Bobwhite Quail holding habitat of cover and wintertime food with the best seasonal hunting.
The large fields of pheasant cover ringnecks like so much such as tall prairie grass is not as abundant in Missouri as compared to Kansas. Similarly the primary Missouri upland bird hunting cover, the drain or creek bottom is more likely to be wooded rather than brushed in further discouraging pheasant populations while aiding quail survival.
Knowing this distinction of Missouri's upland bird habitat takes some of the mystery out of why we have varying populations and hunt quality by state and region within a state. The driving topography for Missouri upland bird hunting habitat and its quail is that northern part of the state is heavily cut by the Grand River Watershed and rolling terrain to the point of inhibiting human impact on the deeper creek and river bottoms than elsewhere leaving the trees to grow large. That combined with the heavier yearly rainfall as compared to Kansas makes for more of the water dependent large grain agriculture with a profit margin greater than that which can be absorbed by the tall grass CRP contracts.
Comparison
Our self guided Missouri upland bird hunting along these cut grain fields makes for easy walking conditions and for much more eyes on the dogs than compared to Kansas' tall prairie grass pheasant hunts. For the most part the upland bird hunter will find a covey when his dog goes on point and the occasional pheasant a some time surprise.
For the solitary bird hunter the linear nature of much of Missouri's quail habitat will create a shooting challenge as the quail do seem to have evolved to always flush to the opposite side of the hunter. Upland bird hunting partners that split such cover will find many times the slow to rise coveys offer the easy straight away shots in the open that also allow for a quick camera picture opportunity of a retrieve.
This linear cover gives the upland bird hunter that has dogs that will cast out along a fence or wood line even less walking as a good dog will circumvent many of the small fields and the un-pressured nature of the coveys will allow them to hold until the hunter's flush.
Occasionally, the lucky Missouri hunter will find his bird dog on point inside of the crop field that frequently allows for the ideal blue sky quail shooting conditions that just as easily lends to one in the bag or a double as it does chuckles as the hunter wonders how such an easy shot was missed. Such is the nature of our Missouri upland bird hunting.
Upland Bird Season
Missouri upland bird hunting seasons run between that of Iowa and Kansas upland starting the first of November and ending the 15 of January making Missouri's upland season one more option for the bird hunter.
Upland bird hunting
Bobwhite Quail Region
Overall, our quail populations extend across the northern to the the southwest regions of Missouri with our having leased more land within that region than any upland bird hunter can hunt.
Every bird hunting trip can include the extra adventure of exploring a new county from the rolling ridges between the watersheds to the flat valley floors heavy with crop. Many upland bird hunters traveling from the east will break up their drive to Kansas with a day or three in Missouri for its quail hunting
Missouri Hunt Quality
Probably the best part is that most of our bird hunters much prefer a finely composed picture of their bird dog on point than simply feeling the pressure to make every flush and shot count. Missouri's more open edge bird habitat give plenty of opportunity to capture in a picture the hunter's favored companions on point that will last longer as a memory than a row of lined up quail on a tailgate.
2010 Missouri Upland Bird Hunting Land
