Friday morning, Joyce and I joined dignitaries from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and representatives from numerous Kansas tourism related groups at Horse Thief Reservoir in Hodgeman County for the 2014 Kansas Hunting Showcase.
Shining like a jewel in the otherwise empty western Kansas landscape, the 400-acre lake sort of sneaks up on you, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere as you top a hill about 10 miles west of Jetmore.
Horse Thief Reservoir is a recreation and water management project of the Pawnee Watershed Joint District No. 81, which by the way is the largest watershed district in the United States, encompassing more than 1.5 million acres in nine southwest Kansas counties.
Besides pleasure boating and water skiing, Horse Thief has 42 campsites with full hookups and many primitive campsites, plus two cabins and a yurt that can be rented. There are also hiking and bicycling trails and an archery range that’s open 24-7 for the public to use.
The fishing at Horse Thief is coming into its own, with good catches of largemouth bass being reported. Walleye were stocked this past spring and crappie and channel cat numbers are growing steadily with time. The hunting showcase was held in a very nice, large heated/air conditioned multi-purpose building which is available to rent along with the rest of the facilities for church functions, concealed carry classes, etc.
The 2014 Kansas Hunting Showcase promoted the quality of our state’s hunting (and fishing) and highlighted the importance of hunting (and fishing) to the Kansas economy. Here are some astounding figures shared with us by Assistant Secretary for Parks and Tourism, Linda Craghead:
• Hunting brings in over $401 million to the Kansas economy each year.
• Fishing brings in over $211 million.
• Non-resident hunting and fishing license sales bring in $10.7 million each year; while accounting for less than 16 percent of total license numbers, this is 60 percent of the total license revenue.
• Resident hunting and fishing license sales bring in $7.8 million.
• Hunters and anglers coming to Kansas spend on average 32 percent more during their stay than traditional leisure travelers.
We also heard the forecast for this year’s pheasant, quail and waterfowl seasons.
Pheasant: Conditions throughout the spring and summer have reflected a statewide increase in summer brood counts by 70 percent. Remember the past 2 or 3 years pheasant populations have been paltry at best, mainly because of the drought, so numbers are just now rising again to where they had been prior to the drought years.
Quail: Roadside surveys reflect a statewide increase of 50 percent compared to 2013. The drought years affected quail numbers also, but 50 percent is a nice increase.
Ducks: American fall flight estimates show breeding duck populations up 8 percent since standard surveys began in 1955. Kansas is situated smack in the heart of the Central Flyway where breeding ducks surveyed this spring showed numbers up 68 percent above the long-term average.
Geese: While I wasn’t able to find specific percentages or numbers, everything I read placed goose populations as a whole above objective numbers.
Isn’t it amazing how rainfall or the lack thereof affects wildlife? Many parts of the state have gotten good rainfall amounts this year and wildlife in those areas has responded. Our trail cameras are recording many nice young deer this year, pheasant and quail numbers are up dramatically, there is water in most of the waterfowl “honey-holes” again and even though wild turkey populations state wide are just considered “stable,” turkey populations around us are booming; all good reasons to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
And while you’re at it, check out Horse Thief Reservoir in Hodgeman County just west of Jetmore and on the website www.horsethiefres.com.
Steve Gilliland can be contacted by email at [email protected].