New to Colorado - seeking advice

smdmz

smdmz

Member
Hi everyone,

A short history of my pheasant hunting experience:
I grew up in Waukesha County, Wisconsin and hunted pheasant with my dad up on his old stomping grounds in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Went to college in NW Iowa where the roosters were plentiful, then moved to Colorado a couple years ago where the roosters were... not quite as plentiful. Broke my right hand to smithereens the Thursday before opening day of '13 and couldn't take my 10-month-old French brittany spaniel out for his first season. Very sad. BUT now it's 2014, and I'm determined to get my boy on some birds. He's got a heck of a nose and he's ready to get a-huntin.

I'm hoping to get any sort guidance out of the fine people on this website regarding eastern CO pheasants. I moved out here not knowing anyone and therefore do not have any knowledge of the pheasant scene. I've been out a couple times already this season and have knocked on some doors trying to get some knowledge/access from the locals, but some general guidance would be nice. Me and my buddy (who has a GSP), who is also new to the area, are prone to just get out and go with minimal knowledge of whether there are pheasants in the area. So far the SWA's we've been to have not yielded much. We remain undeterred. We're headed out to Yuma County this weekend to see what all the hubbub is about. I'll be posting my reviews of each area we go to on the Colorado regional forum.

Cheers!

Sam
 
Welcome Sam!! What you are doing is the best thing to do. Get out there, look at all the Walk in property you can and maybe knock on a few doors. learn their habits as I have watched numerous people walk the properties and come up empty because the birds moved to feed. They just think there are no birds. If you see good grass and cover in a walk in look for a food source and if that food source is private, look on the road or side of the road for some sign. Tracks should be evident where they are accessing the private from the walk ins. Then you just have to figure out what time they are leaving and coming back. If it is a nice day, hit the wheat stubble walk ins as they will loaf all day in there if the stubble is high enough.:cheers:
 
BleuBijou said:
Welcome Sam!! What you are doing is the best thing to do. Get out there, look at all the Walk in property you can and maybe knock on a few doors. learn their habits as I have watched numerous people walk the properties and come up empty because the birds moved to feed. They just think there are no birds. If you see good grass and cover in a walk in look for a food source and if that food source is private, look on the road or side of the road for some sign. Tracks should be evident where they are accessing the private from the walk ins. Then you just have to figure out what time they are leaving and coming back. If it is a nice day, hit the wheat stubble walk ins as they will loaf all day in there if the stubble is high enough.:cheers:
Click to expand...

I walked the same field twice yesterday. First go around only one hen at around 12:30. I hunted two other fields with no roosters and then decided to go back to the same spot I had hunted earlier where I knew there were decent #'s. I had 10-12 roosters bump wild and shot 3 roosters in a twenty minute span. Two were on points which was great to see with my youngest GSP. There were two lessons to be learned, one never quit walking and two don't be afraid to hunt the same cover twice in a day. The birds new that a front was rolling in yesterday and were feeding all afternoon until it was time to roost. Most of the CRP where I was hunting had lots of sign but the birds weren't in it until an hour before sunset.
 
hey sam

i hunt eastern co with 4 american britts hunt walk in land and some private also get some birds from a hunt club to work the dogs when its slow good luck with your brittany
 
When I hunted CO the birds were mostly in the NW corner of the state. Don't forget the dusky grouse in the mountains - season opens Sept. 1. They are great eating. They were most plentiful in the mountains of northern CO.
 
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