I am in north Missouri and am planning a trip over Thanksgiving. I am new to upland hunting and do have a dog that I want to get on as many wild birds as possible. Where would my best chances be for pheasant/quail in Kansas, Nebraska, or South Dakota? I will be hunting public land. I appreciate any help

Check the weather that might help make the decision. Ultimately I think any of the 3 could be really good. Also where would be closer and allow you more hunt time. I’ve only hunted Kansas and Nebraska of those 3 . Highly enjoyed both. If quail are important hunt Kansas or Southern Nebraska

Don't those three also offer CRP/Walk-in hunting on private land?

https://gfp.sd.gov/hunting-areas/

https://ksoutdoors.com/Services/Private ... ss-Program

Might start with those folks for locations

In a normal year, South Dakota would be tough to find rooms this time of year. They also tended to be very expensive for what you got. I often hunted in that time frame and would book my room in Janurary and even then might have to try a couple of places as the first ones were already full. This year might be different but I suspect the prime areas might still have few vacancies outside the high end and maybe very bottom end of the spectrum.

Kansas and Nebraska are my favorites with Nebraska being preferred as it is closer to home. I can leave here in the morning and still get in a couple hours of hunting before dark. Bird numbers in Nebraska aren't what they once were but they are still better than at home. I also never had a problem finding a room, even on opening day.

Kansas was much the same as Nebraska except there were more quail but fewer prairie chickens and no sharptails. If the two states were switched I would still prefer Nebraska as I found enough quail to make me happy with the advantage of more opportunities to chase prairie grouse.

I also liked that license fees in these two states were cheaper than South Dakota and lasted the whole season. At least back then. I could be into decent hunting in 6-7 hours of driving going to Nebraska which was great as I had a 4 day "weekend" every two weeks. I also liked that shooting hours began a half hour before sunrise rather than noon or 10 AM like South Dakota. One could get a few hours hunting in the morning, take a break for a couple hours to rest up Hunter and dogs, the go out again for a couple hours in the afternoon/evening. This was really good for young or inexperienced dogs as one could hunt the parts of the day the birds held the best.

Thanks for the replies. I'm leaning towards Kansas for this hunt. I can be in central kansas within 4-5 hours. I also have some family in Kansas City that I can visit on the way through.