North Central

Thrasher

Thrasher

Member
I went out yesterday morning west of clay center. I have gotten a few birds so thought the rain would make it a little easier for the dog to scent birds.

I drove past a field of winter wheat and saw 25-30 pheasant leaving their roost in an area posted no hunting. My truck driving by spooked them and half ran back into some tall grass surrounding some trees. The other half flew up into the trees. I had planned to hunt a stubble field 300-400 yards away. I drove a mile away, parked, and started hunting a mile away from where I saw the birds. I eventually (after a few hours) I reached the spot that I figured the birds would have entered the milo stubble and hunted it pretty hard. No birds at all.

We hunted all day yesterday and besides those birds, did not even see anything. It was pretty wet, both the dog and I get soaked. The temperature varied from the mid 20's to just above freezing.

Any ideas where I went wrong?
 
Thrasher said:
Any ideas where I went wrong?
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No, but I'm sure glad you saw 20 birds! Were you hunting WIHA across from that private land where they were? Maybe they've had trucks drive by at roughly the same time and they got our game figured out....apparently they'd rather not play:D

I think I'm heading west tomorrow or Wednesday, but I'll probably head a little further west than that. I saw a covey of quail in Wabaunsee county today and it was a nice one. They put the slip on me and the pups in the tallest weeds I've ever seen. Missed 2 shots in the trees. Couldn't see them birds flushing in the weeds. The weeds were at least 15' tall in a fallow field....they do well in drought years.

Good luck findin' 'em if ya get back out there:cheers:
 
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You went wrong hunting in Kansas. :p Kidding aside, your post is serious and deserves serious responses. An old time hunter in Hill City who probably had 40-50 seasons on his boots told me that when the pheasant population is down, as it is now, the birds are far spookier. And it stands to reason because that would better ensure the survival of the species. I went out this weekend in NW. It rained .60 out there on Friday. Saturday had good hunting conditions and Sunday was even better because it remained overcast and humid all day. Result? Same as opening weekend: a few spooked birds mostly flushing out of range.
 
Yes, it was WIHA across from the private land. I took two roosters out of it a few weeks back. I am excited that I saw that many birds in one group and that there seemed to be a good number of hens as well. I am going to head back out tomorrow and see if I can find them out there. I might give them some time to get into the milo before I head out there.
 
Thrasher said:
Yes, it was WIHA across from the private land. I took two roosters out of it a few weeks back. I am excited that I saw that many birds in one group and that there seemed to be a good number of hens as well. I am going to head back out tomorrow and see if I can find them out there. I might give them some time to get into the milo before I head out there.
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don't take too many, that may be the only seed flock around for miles...
 
You messed up when you looked them in the eye. They can see into your soul that way and there's evil thoughts in there!

Pheasants are some of the toughest birds to hunt in many ways. Their hearing is their best defense and any noise you make sends them across boundaries you probably can't cross. They also learn very well and it doesn't take long to learn where the safe acres are and where the dangerous ones are. The fact that we haven't had hard weather to this point allows them to persist in almost any cover available. Until the weather forces them into heavier cover, they will avoid using some of the WIHA's and stay in lighter, safer neighborhoods.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
You messed up when you looked them in the eye. They can see into your soul that way and there's evil thoughts in there!

Pheasants are some of the toughest birds to hunt in many ways. Their hearing is their best defense and any noise you make sends them across boundaries you probably can't cross. They also learn very well and it doesn't take long to learn where the safe acres are and where the dangerous ones are. The fact that we haven't had hard weather to this point allows them to persist in almost any cover available. Until the weather forces them into heavier cover, they will avoid using some of the WIHA's and stay in lighter, safer neighborhoods.
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Very true statement ! Pheasants here in Colorado are out with the Blue quail.
Going to snow ( Ha~Hope)tomorrow time to hunt em.
 
Took Molly out this morning. Figured since the world was supposed to end, I might as well have a gun in my hands.

Hunted a nice CRP field. Flushed two hens in sparse grass. Heading back the other way, Molly went on point. I walked in on a pile of feathers. We walked down into a corner where the grass was thick and she went on point again. I walked in and flushed two hens about 8 feet from her!! We went another 20 yards or so, and she pointed again. As I went to flush her point, I walked right into the middle of a small covey of quail about 15 feet to her right. Eight quail go up, one every few seconds. As I was watching them fly off, a rooster flushed from her point. Shot and retrieved.

Molly started pointing the last day of the season last year, and today was the first time she did it this year. I guess if the birds will hold, she will point.

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Last Monday I went after ducks (first time) and got a few. Molly has never really been in the water. I went up to the truck and got a fishing pole to retrieve the ducks. After about 30 casts she finally figured out that I wanted the birds and busted the 1/8 in thick ice to bring them back for me. We will work on water retrieves this spring.

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Good girl, Molly! I'm impressed with her, and you must be, too.

Regarding casting for ducks, that has occurred to me, too. I'm thinking a seven or nine-weight Fenwick fiberglass fly rod or maybe baitcasting gear for longer retrieves. Blast-and-cast, dawg.
 
She WADED all of 30 feet to get them and bring them back. I think that if she had seen me shoot them she would have went right out. I left her in the truck while I hid in the weeds waiting for them to come in.
 
she or he is a beautiful dog what kind is it ? ive seen them just cant put my finger on it a guy that does well in iowa has one here on the forum
 
She is a Labrador Retriever/Weimaraner mix. A guy had Lab pups in the paper two years ago. 5 weeks old. I gave the guy $20 and as I walked away he says "Oh, by the way, there is a chance that she has some weimaraner in her." I guess that father was a registered weimaraner and the mother a full lab. She does pretty well considering I don't know anything about training a dog. She is my first bird-dog and we are both kind of figuring it out as we go.
 
swellcat said:
Good girl, Molly! I'm impressed with her, and you must be, too.

Regarding casting for ducks, that has occurred to me, too. I'm thinking a seven or nine-weight Fenwick fiberglass fly rod or maybe baitcasting gear for longer retrieves. Blast-and-cast, dawg.
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Down in Oklahoma, 35 years or so ago, my dad shot a limit of ducks on a farm pond. No dog, so he went to the truck, got a rod, and tied a floating rapala on. By the time he had the ducks off the water he had a dozen nice bass!!
 
swellcat said:
I like the story . . . even if it was made up.

I also like the idea of having a rod or more in the truck at all times.
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Just got off the phone with my Dad. He is getting up there in years, but when I told him of getting the pole to drag ducks off the pond, he immediately flashed back to his story and told me about it again. I could not swear that it is true, but he has told the same story for the last 30 years.

Merry Christmas everyone!!
 
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