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Had a first this evening. The wife and I decided to take a boonie cruise on the sxs and head West a short way into the Flint Hills. Not far from the house, we had a prairie chicken land just in front of us along a field edge. He stayed close to us, strutting his stuff. We took several pictures with our phones, this being about the best of them. On our return trip home, 3 more birds flew out of the cut bean field headed back into a pasture. I had not seen chickens in this area for 20-30 years. Am going to try to get better pictures next week with my camera.
Very cool! I saw a small flock of chickens earlier this week. Don't see them very often anymore.
I got about 20 or so that live on my place. Cool little birds!
Awesome picture! I could hear some booming on my place the other morning.
I see them booming every year. They will get in an open area where they can be seen. Look for them in corners of pastures where the native grass is tromped out by cattle. I heard them booming last week while I was fishing a pond. I did see two groups on Saturday.
I had a funny thing happen Saturday. A cousin and myself were going fishing and I slowed to look at an area where I sometimes see booing chickens and thought I saw a dropped antler. I backed up to make sure and my cousin said I see it is a drop. I kept backing and we were looking a two different drops. He retrieved a matched set (we did tell the land owner that we had picked them up when we saw him later). This was a good mile from any actual deer habitat.
The bird stayed close to us, whenever we started to roll, it would come towards us head down like he was going to attack. This was the furthest it got from us. He was dancing up a storm.
Nice find Lee. Most of the sheds I've found that way were out away from cover.
Randy.....was he just out there dancing all by himself or were there other chickens around?
Randy those are neat pictures. Unfortunately, we have only a fraction of the Prairie Chickens that we had thirty years ago. I often take drives this time of year and a little later just to try and see the Prairie Chicken ritual. My Dad told me that the Prairie Chicken population was very low around 1950 and season was closed for a few years. They were plentiful within 10 years. I looked at the harvest statistics on the Wildlife and Parks website and the harvest records show a huge decline in harvest in recent years. I hope they can make another comeback but, I am afraid that rangeland practices(double stocking pastures, higher percent of the pastures burning every year etc) have changed too much and they may gradually continue to go away.
I know Kstate did a research project in Southeast Chase County a few years ago. A rancher where they did some or all of the research told me that he was told by researchers that very few nests were successful in producing a brood. Coyotes were the main culprit in destroying the nests. Other animals such s skunks and raccoons also liked Prairie Chicken eggs. I presume this was because the nesting sites were not adequate cover wise to prevent detection by the predators. Writer may know the specifics of the study.
Jason, when we came back by later, three other chickens flew out of the bean field back into the pasture. If you look at the last picture, where the grade drops down into a dip just to the left of the bird, there are possibly three birds there. I truly believe he was offended by the sound of my Ranger, was out to defend his girls from it.
Lee- I have heard they often go thru 5 yr cycles. The field we hunted most often, always on Thanksgiving Day between 12-1pm, had 100-150 birds in it every year. Five of us would walk about 50 yards out into it, walking them up like quail or pheasant, shoot 10 chickens and go home, typically gone from the house no longer than 30minutes to an hour. Most of the time, we would flush more birds on the walk back to the truck. The last time we went, same as always. The following year, we saw nothing, no nesting signs, no piles of crap, they were gone. Nothing changed in the area around it, same house North of it, the only one within 2 miles of the field. The same crops were planted in adjacent fields, no major weather events involved. The owner never burned the pasture. He grazed the same number of cattle on it every year, 10 or less. I scouted the field the next 2-3 years hoping the chickens would return, they never did. Two other places I chicken hunted had the same results, plenty of birds, then boom, nothing.
My friend had half a dozen courting in a wheat field 150 yds from his house in Butler County a few years ago. He called me trying to figure out what they were and I drove straight out. He thought they were hen pheasants lol
One thing we figured out especially in the early season, they are better eating then. If you spook a flock and they bust out far ahead of you, Beat feet it up there, they always leave one or two. Had a good pointing lab once that would do it all, dove, quail, pheasants but would NOT pick up a chicken. Dropped a chicken in a pond once and he would go out and swim around it and say "here it is" but would not grab it.
Smart Dog Dave. Nasty tasting.
It all boils down to habitat. Prairie chicken, like duck, can be danged good. That study showed Flint Hills populations dropping an average of 30 percent of the year because of burning, then double-stocking. Numbers are pretty strong in the Smoky Hills where neither is done. Lesser prairie chicken populations are good to great in the western Smoky Hills. Had 53 on one lek today, which is about 15 more than I’d ever seen and possibly the highest in recent times. Two other leks about a mile away had 29 and 18. At least 140 males amid 8 leks on the place. Numbers dropped in the 1950s because of drought, same as the 30s. Only two small flocks of lessers somehow survived the Dust Bowl, which happens to be their range. Amazing birds.
What do you guys mean by the term “double stocking “?
I’ve been noticing more and more chickens on our ranch in Chautauqua county. We’ve done some habitat work for them (mostly removing cedar) and it’s really paying off.
Hardly seeing any here south of Manhattan. Had a few groups I could keep pretty close tabs on the last few winters and a couple consistent leks. Wondering if the drought through this area got to them last year. Was hoping quite a few would hold off on burning with little to almost no cover on many of the pastures, but that was wishful thinking. Instead of waiting for the wind to lay down this year, they’re waiting for good stiff breezes so they can still get a decent burn.
Maybe when the liberals officially take over and ranchers have to start paying carbon credit fees to burn, the Flint Hills chicken will again stand a chance. :)
T-Roy, The traditional pasture grazing season is April 15th to October 15th. The grass is higher quality during the first two or three months of the season. There has been a move over recent years to put twice as many cattle on the pasture and remove them by July 15th. The idea behind this is that way more than 50% of the gain is made during the first three months when the grass quality is best. This leaves very little grass in the pasture. If we get good summer rains the grass grows and provides cover for the chickens. Unfortunately, summer rains are inconsistent and may years there is very little cover through the winter and not enough cover for good nesting the next spring.
I actually would be in favor of gov't regulated burns. We see a lot of patients with breathing issues during the spring burns. Pastures don't need burnt yearly to prevent cedars. Every 3rd year is plenty. Weeds still come up, sometimes more than if it wasn't burned. Really the only reason they do it every year is because it supposedly gives the cattle a faster weight gain. Many other states don't burn, and their cattle do just fine
There have been many studies done by K-State that suggest otherwise. There are several reasons to burn annually, or at least biannually, the most important being superior gains. The higher the percentage of succulent green growth in the diet, the more weight cattle gain, and at a faster rate. An unburned pasture will have far less tender forage available than a recently burned one. This is also why Intensive Early Stocking (Double Stocking) has become so popular as of late. The cattle gain significantly better when the best forage is available early in the season, even at double (or more) the standard stocking rate.
Thanks for the explanation, TwoDogs. I appreciate it!
On a similar note, I burned off about 35 acres of CRP last weekend for mid contract management practice. I would guess between 150-200 pheasants flew out during the burn. I was extremely surprised and encouraged to see that many birds come out of that patch. Our numbers around here have been down for quite a few years, but we have seen some improvement in bird numbers the past two years.
I have heard that the Iowa pheasant population saw quite a jump this last year, and that last pheasant season was the best in a long time. Makes me glad to hear! Hopefully this is the start of an upward trend. I’ve always wanted to go pheasant hunting in Iowa, might have to arrange that if they have another good hatch this year.
Seems I'm not the only area resident that has seen the bird in this thread
I ran into a friend that lives 4 miles West of me that asked if I had seen the chicken. He told me he sees him out there about every day. He said one local resident had stopped, gotten out of his truck to take pictures of him, the bird came right up to him. The bird started his dance routine, circling out away and came right back up to him. He supposedly grabbed the bird, quickly releasing him when the bird started pecking and spurring the snot out of him lol.
I went over again last evening to video the bird, but they were burning a nearby pasture that drove us away from the area due to heavy smoke blowing over us.
I saw three separate prairie chickens flying in west central Kansas, earlier in the week. Think they are lesser variety .
Use to see them by the hundreds in Ellsworth county, then for years, nothing. Saw 8 this last deer season flying daily from pasture to cut milo
they taste great, cut breast in to strips , dip them in egg/milk, then put them in a bag of seasoned flour, shake, and deep fry them...
Drove from Eldorado to Emporia a few days ago and everything from horizon to horizon was burnt. I almost wish some tree hugging group would sue to stop the frequency of it all. I'm not against burning, but they need to be forced into alternating units and only only be able to burn every 2nd or 3rd year. No ground nesting birds can proliferate or survive when 10 miles of grass is burned. The only grass I saw standing was overgrazed and had hundreds of cattle on it.
"The only grass I saw standing was overgrazed and had hundreds of cattle on it."
Welcome to the "Beautiful Flinthills". :( Always talk and praise and glory for the beautiful flinthills of Kansas and the bluestem grass. Worked out there for 20 years and NEVER seen it. I remember my high school years of gathering at the "Prairie Chicken Capital of the world" for morning breakfast before opening day of Chicken season. Back then The Fish and Game actually had a reasonable season length on them and didn't try to kill them all from an extended season.
Hey, Chief, you really think hunting is to blame for declines in the Flint Hillls? Same season in the Smoky Hills and birds have been increasing or holding steady for years. The shorter seasons saw more hunting pressure than the “extended” seasons ever have. “Kill them all off” yup, that’s the goal. Best lek we had while catering to the evil non-resident birders was 53, with several others over 25.
Hey, Chief, you really think hunting is to blame for declines in the Flint Hillls? Range burning every year, chemicals, million head of cattle eating every twig in the hills, with the tallest grass being a whopping 4 to 6 inches tall, and yes, fish and game having a season when there ain't enough chickens to make grease in a pan. Management at it's finest. But yeah, probably the drought in the 50's. I hunted around bean fields NW of Eureka in the late 50's that would have 50 hunters scattered around the field, and chickens galore. Non resident coming to Kansas to hunt prairie chickens! I'd say that would be a non factor.
Remember a couple real active leks in this neighborhood but no more, it's now Colbert Hills golf course.
Agree with Writer. Hunters are not the reason for the Prairie decline in the Flint Hills. All you have to do is look at the harvest statistics on the WLP&T website and you will see that we are not shooting very many in recent years. There were many more taken by hunters when the season was shorter than since the season as been extended. I to remember the days when there would be three or four hundred coming into a field to feed.
“...ain’t enough chickens to make grease in a pan” Must be some Depression-era thingy like, “...he’d complain if he had a loaf of bread under his arm.” (My dad said that a few times) Remembering listening to those leks, Dave. Thanks for the reminder.
First the prairie chickens declined heavily in numbers, then the quail, now the turkey in my area. Mild winters? Drought? Predators? Disease? Hunting pressure? Pesticides and herbicides? GMO grain?
I would tend to believe the chemicals play a much bigger role than anyone will be willing to admit, especially where I hunt. Nothing has changed in the habitat, same as it was 40-50 yrs ago, except for farming practices.
great little bird! Several years ago, I crawled right into the middle of a lek with my camera and shot several pictures of them dancing and strutting around.
This was a special year for burning. I bet it's been a decade since I've seen this much ground burned, certainly not the norm. I know it's the first time in probably 7 or 8 yrs that we burned. It's usually too dry, windy, or at a time that the pasture doesn't need it. We saw our chicken numbers drop way before burn practices changed more towards yearly instead of ever 3-5. I'm not saying it isn't ranching practices that has caused the decline, but as suggested above our numbers dropped very abruptly and I find it highly doubtful that the entire region had ranchers changing their method of livelyhood all at once. I always hoped it would be traced to a parasite or disease that could be treated, but nothing conclusive yet. I also wish my quail numbers were back up to what they were at that time. We still have quail but it's hard to shoot into a covey when there's only 8 birds in it and there is only 1 covey where there used to be 4.
BEFORE
BEFORE
While in a hotel lobby in NW KS Sunday night, I ran into a good sized group of “birders” from Europe in 2 cargo vans with some tour group (I think out of Colorado) but the vans had California plates?
Anywhooo, a German fella was gracious enough to text me some of the pics he took from the next day.
What a beauty of a bird!
My favorite!
My favorite!
Classic Chicken!
Classic Chicken!
Squaring Off!
Squaring Off!
I got some pics from a guy that was observing them in the same area, he's not European...but I heard he was wearing a Speedo?
Most of our groups did the Wray, Colorado greaters the day before after they were with us. A very photogenic bird if you can get right to a lek. Only three more groups this spring.
Do you guys have both Greater and Lesser prairie chickens in Kansas, and is there much difference in the two besides size?
Yes we have both. In fact about half of the total lesser prairie chicken population lives in Kansas. Greaters are found statewide where suitable habitat exists (primarily in the Flint Hills and the Smoky Hills) while the lessers are restricted to the west/southwest. Lessers are more birds of the yucaa/sagebrush scrubland, while greaters live in more grassy, prairie type areas. Lessers are a little bit paler, and have a slightly different, higher pitched "voice". Fascinating birds for sure, I always love to see them.
Crested, great pictures. Prairie are fascinating birds. Growing up and living in the heart of the Hills I did not appreciate them when they we numerous. Now that I am older and they are fairly scarce I enjoy just seeing them.