Uneventful flight (after last minute rerouting) into Kansas City. My friend and I headed for the skeet range for a loosen-up couple of rounds. I proved again that any pheasant which might fly into my pattern was exceptionally unlucky.
We attended the Pheasants Forever banquet in Norton KS where my friend won a Henry .22 rifle in a door prize drawing! Steaks and sides were donated and 25 rifles were raffled off so it was a great fundraiser. Not a packed house, but easily 250 people attending.
More hunters than last year and we saw (and shot) fewer pheasants. Weather was beautiful (about the same as here - cold in the morning, warming to shirtsleeves in the afternoon).
The dog work (Springer spaniels) was great fun although one dog only seemed to lock in on hens this year. Highlight was a point/kill/retrieve in a field that a group of hunters had just passed through.
Here is an early afternoon result (yes, I had my red vest on while I was walking around):
Of these, I got one clean and shared the shot on a second. The 28 worked fine but I traded off barrels and got 2 with the 20 ga the next day. I was 1 for 1 on quail.
Side note: every day we saw BIG whitetails all over the place and a couple of mule deer. One 8-point whitetail was so busy thinking about something else that he almost bumped into my friend and dog after running across an open field for 100 yards!! Ran within 20 feet with hunter standing still in the open and dog at heel. Bad news is that Kansas out-of-state whitetail tags are ~$450
Next event may be a late season (March 2017) hunt on a preserve in South Dakota (look for “Wild Wings” on YouTube). I went last year and had a great time. Attendance depends on a kitchen pass (permission from my wife).