My dad has finally decided he wants to get back into upland game hunting and wants to  go for pheasant this year. The issue is, we don't know where to start in looking for somewhere to hunt. He is expecting to travel to hunt, and heard SD and Kansas and Eastern CO are all great... Where do I even start? I have googled around a bit for the best hunting towns, pheasant outfits, etc, but there are so many I just don't know how to narrow it down...

I know we need lodging, but have our own guns, and though my dad wants pheasant, I'd like to mess around with qual if we have time. Can anyone recommend a place or two, or where to start? Are there any fundamental differences between the areas?

Thanks

Kansas and CO are at record lows for pheasant populations.  You will likely be shooting a lot of pen raised birds in those states.

KS has had better numbers for quail as of late.

SD is at record lows as well but any well managed outfitter will have plenty of shooting opportunities for wild pheasant.

Personally I would do two separate hunts.  A KS quail and a SD pheasant.

That's too bad. Do you know why they are so low? Over hunting? Depredation?

I think we would prefer wild birds, it just seems more honest, no offense to anyone who hunts the raised. I understand most/many are raised without any exposure to humans and then released into the area. Two separate hunts may be pushing it time wise, but I appreciate the advice, may think about swapping to quail.

Anybody have any recommendations for lodges or outfitters?

Loss of habitat, wet springs, and summer drought but the main culprit is loss of habitat.  For the past 10 years the amount of habitat that has been plowed under is staggering.

You probably can't get around shooting the occasional pen raised bird as many outfitters have gone to supplementing with pen raised birds in addition to the wild birds.  They are not placed minutes before the hunt like most places but are still pen raised nevertheless.  

I have never been a big outfitter person because I get more enjoyment out of doing things myself and with my dogs.  There are some guys on a gundog forum I visit that do lots of the outfitter hunting you are looking for, I will ask them.

If you are looking for a wing shooting experience you will never forget I highly recommend a ptarmigan and/or grouse hunt in AK.  Many units you can take 15 ptarmigan per day and eight grouse per day.  There are three species of ptarmigan and four species of grouse.  Where you can kill both ptarmigan and grouse together you are only likely to run into two species of ptarmigan and two species of grouse but that is plenty for lots of action.  

Plus you can do a combination cast and blast.  Grouse/ptarmigan in the morning and salmon fishing in the evening.  Your window is closing as these only go through the end of September early October at the latest in AK.  

That cast and blast sounds like a great deal. I'm going to  try and push for that, but it may end up having to wait for next year. My dad has been to Alaska a few times in the past couple years, just for vacation, and he loved it, so that's something he will probably be on board with.

I really appreciate the help btw!

No problem.  Good luck out there.

I shot more pheasants in south central Kansas the past year than I have the last 10 years before that combined. From what I saw, last years brood was excellent for pheasant. They were everywhere, it was awesome. Ton of hens too, so hopefully things will be getting better.

Quail is a different story. Ran into a couple coveys down south, and a few up north close to  Nebraska, but still pretty low.