Boggles the Mind

pheasantaddict

pheasantaddict

New member
I'm always amazed how wildlife especially roosters can survive on public ground after being hunted day after day. I remember one rooster in SW Iowa that we would trail for a 1/2 mi on several occasions going back and forth and then he would follow an old washout to a gravel pit before taking to wing. One time I cut him off knowing his route but I didn't shoot. I figured he had avoided hundreds of hunters and dogs in the two years I had seen him and he always gave old Duke a run for his money. These past two years I have seen a pair of roosters on public ground that I do not hunt but it gets hunted a lot. Several times when I drive by at closing hrs for the day these two roosters fly into the same spot. Funniest part is it's right next to the highway and gravel road. When I see them I'm glad they made it another day. I wonder if a rooster has made it 5 yrs on public ground, it would take a little more than luck to make it that long. Maybe some of you have had similar experiences.
 
i had that problem yesterday, chased point run flush and all over again for about 2hrs. when we did pin him, i shot and missed, i let him go i think its things like getting out smarted is what keeps us hardcore rooster hunters around, the fair weather yuppie crowd will have no part of this.
 
I've often wondered the same thing especially in the late season. My brother shot this one on the second to last day of our season this weekend on heavily pressured public land. Upon closer inspection he was an old hook spurred rooster. How many dogs and hunters had he given the slip, how many times did he give us the slip before he finally made his fatal move? To bad I couldn't release him like a big bass, he'd surely still be out there crowing if I could.

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I think WAY more make it through the season than get shot. We hunt a piece of walk in in Kansas that we find a covey of quail in the exact same place on it every year. There is a ditch worn from where people park to where the good looking bird cover starts. Always suprises me.
 
I know in Iowa more get shot. The places I have hunted consistently through the year both public and private have fewer birds at the end of year. I work my dogs throughout spring up until birds start nesting.
 
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