A five star hunting resort in Kansas? Better believe it. You have to be a member or a guest of one to hunt here. Bill and I are not members but were fortunate to have a friend, Bland, who is a member and who eventually gave in to our pleadings to take us.



The resort has evolved over the last 25 years and is a bird hunting paradise. Pheasant, Quail and Chucker are the primary targets but there is also a top ten sporting clays course as well as skeet facilities available for time between hunts.



What I found interesting is that it is not a typical "put and take" operation. The birds you hunt up are just whatever is there - not what is stuck out and dizzied 20 minutes before you head out. Of course it is a preserve and the birds come from somewhere. In this case, the birds for the field hunt come from the driven shoots. Others are stocked wild or the result of breeding of birds on the ground.



The driven shoots include several varieties from 8 to 78 shooters. We were on the 78 shooter / 39 station hunt. In the briefing before the "European shoot" they urged us to shoot early and shoot often. They said the man that comes in and says he shot seven times and killed seven birds just does not understand this game. They recommend the ATV method - "Accuracy Through Volume". No plugs were required and hens were legal. It was not hunting it was pure shooting.



Birds were released in the woods and came out over the top of the trees toward you like squawking vapor trails. About 60 percent were killed. The escapees flew to the fields to be hunted on another day in the field hunts. As a policy they do not hunt the adjacent fields for a couple days after the "European Hunts" in order to allow the birds to adjust to the surroundings.



For sentimental reasons I took my dads 53 yr. old Wingmaster. It has a long full choke barrel.



The blinds have posts at the corners defining the safe shooting window. As one guide said, "the only thing we take seriously is safety".



No shot greater than 6 is allowed. Shot greater than 6 can break glasses. Since hunters are circling around the release site this is a serious consideration. After each release the hunter moves clockwise to another blind. Eventually you complete the circle and the hunt is over.

Flint Oaks motto is "Eat, Hunt, Eat, Hunt, Sleep". They have the details down pat. The food is fantastic, the rooms are excellent, the shooting is great, birds are cleaned, packaged and placed in coolers for you. They even include recipes for preparation of the game taped to the top of the coolers. The employees are local people and they are fantastic.



After the European shoot we relaxed in the lodge and then shot some sporting clays on one of the top ten courses in the US. You have to have a lot of respect for their rules such as no gambling on the number of hits, no participation in shooting games after an alcoholic beverage has been consumed etc.

The following day we did a field hunt followed by a fantastic lunch, gathered our pre packaged birds and drove home. Its great to have the right friends.

quote:

That looks a lot like public areas in MA on opening day pheasant, except that instead of the hunters being stacked neatly in that weird bus-thing, they're behind every tree and bush, looking to rain #6s on anyone's head within 100 yards.

Never done a big money resort bird hunt, and probably never will, but it looks like it's got some things going for it (I assume there are single malts available for tasting back at the castle/lodge).

KG

Actually Kamo, they restricted us to 7 1/2s and required us to wear safety goggles because of the rain of BBs.

I never thought of that load for pheasants but it worked suprisingly well even at those high overhead shots and the next day it was perfect for the quail and chuckers in the field hunt.

Bill and I did manage to do justice to a newly opened bottle of 14 yr. Oban and a bottle of 16 yr. Lagavulin but it took us two days to accomplish it. Getting old sucks.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
Actually Kamo, they restricted us to 7 1/2s and required us to wear safety goggles because of the rain of BBs.

I never thought of that load for pheasants but it worked suprisingly well even at those high overhead shots and the next day it was perfect for the quail and chuckers in the field hunt.

Bill and I did manage to do justice to a newly opened bottle of 14 yr. Oban and a bottle of 16 yr. Lagavulin but it took us two days to accomplish it. Getting old sucks.

Funny about the shot size. I wasn't hunting when lead was still legal, but one time a few years ago playing executioner for a master hunt dog trial type thing in CT, I was shocked to find that the ammo provided was 12 ga 2.75" # 8s in lead. It involved a large slingshot type rig that had a sear, and after squashing the hapless victim ducks in the ammo pouch thing, kicked a release, activating the slingshot. Said duck would be launched up to about 50 feet, totally corn-fused and pretty much helpless. Then I was to pop said condemned duck with the #8s. I should have worn a black hood, but nevertheless I was a bit worried, having been used to 3" #4s and #2s for ducks. But let me tell you, a load of those wee 8s in lead stoned those birds dead every fooking time. I was fair amazed. I only did it once, as I didn't like the whole slaughter thing, but the experience was enough for me to wish that I'd hunted ducks with lead for even one season. Devastating it was on the little buggers. Anyway, thanks for posting, Palmer.

KG

Looks like a great time.

I do a similar quail hunt down in Georgia every year with my company and our best customers. Not a hunt, but simply a numbers game.

About the discussion on shot size, this past weekend my mother and father-in-law visited for the holiday weekend. I took the father-in-law out for a pheasant shoot at our local pheasant club. He used my 12 guage, #6 shot with an improved cylinder choke tube. I used my 16 guage with #8 shot and a modified choke tube. I can assure you the birds hit with the #8 shot fell just as hard and just as dead as those hit with the #6s.

Thanks for posting the pics.

I lived in Wichita from '96-'01 and I'm still kicking myself for never going to Flint Oak. Used to hear about it all the time.

One year someone took all the Ortho residents out there too.