How often to hunt a spot?

C

cyclonenation10

Well-known member
ust kind of curious as I have gained access to a few different pieces of private ground this year for pheasant hunting. Most of the hunting I have done in the past has been public ground, where I have plenty of different spots to hunt and just hope no one else has hunted them very recently. How frequently will you hunt a slough, or field, in a single season? There are some spots that are very tempting to try and hunt every weekend, but I don't want to chase the birds out of these areas, or educate them too much. What are your thoughts?
 
cyclonenation10 said:
ust kind of curious as I have gained access to a few different pieces of private ground this year for pheasant hunting. Most of the hunting I have done in the past has been public ground, where I have plenty of different spots to hunt and just hope no one else has hunted them very recently. How frequently will you hunt a slough, or field, in a single season? There are some spots that are very tempting to try and hunt every weekend, but I don't want to chase the birds out of these areas, or educate them too much. What are your thoughts?
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I was always more cautious about over welcoming my stay with the owners than over hunting the birds. I had places that I could hunt once or twice a week some weeks but typically tried to rotate and only hunt a place every 10-14 days. But I also had a ton of private ground back then and rarely hunting public (mid to late 90's). Now I hunt almost all public since the majority of my old stomping grounds is 99% tilled... I'm still getting birds on public ground that likely gets hunted likely every day and probably even more than once a day... so if you hunt something more often just change up how you hunt it each time (direction, patterns & so on). Best wishes!
 
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I have hunted some private ground more than once a week and gotten birds each time. My personal feeling, with no big research behind it other than my own hunting experience, is that once a week is plenty. On land where my party knew we were the only ones with permission we could hunt good spots more than once a week and get a few birds. If we let that place rest a week though we'd see and bag a lot more birds. Just my two cents.


Beyond running the birds out though, I'd be more concerned about wearing out my welcome with the landowners. I think seeing me every two weeks or more is plenty when hunting locally.

Now when you make a long trip to SD and stay for a week...yeah, the landowners see a lot of us in that week but then we're gone for a year. It's not like we hunt their ground from opener to closing. We still try to rotate around the area and not let any one landowner see us too much during the 10 days. We toss in some public days too to help break it up.
 
Hunting pheasants is often a crap shoot. We have walked places right behind other groups and limited out in 20-30 minutes - other times zilch.

Heavily trampled public ground can go stale ... then a half mile away some private land gets hit by a big group and birds fly into the public land and take refuge. Next guys into the public spot - think wow this place is loaded.

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I agree NOT to over hunt the place (leave the actual definition up to you), but you are more likely to lose your place because the landowner;

farms the land more intensely (drain tile, CRP gone, sloughs burned, etc)
sells the land for development - even the most rural spots can become gravel pits, pig farms, wind mill farms, etc...
gets approached by outfitter and leases land
enrolls land in state walk in program
has bad experience with other hunters and just shuts it all down

How often you hunted the the place will very likely have NO influence on any of the decisions above.


I have lost spots for all reasons above. Well technically when land is enrolled in state walk in programs it is not lost ... but it must be shared and shared often. That said, the three properties that are now WIA ... I know very well and the hidden spots can produce all season long.
 
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I have spots in the happy hunting ground that I hunt every time I go (every 2 wks or so ) Birds move back in to good spots
 
I have been hunting the same area for 11 seasons. I go every weekend, sometimes hunting both days of the weekend. My observations, for my area:

If you hit the same parcel two days in a row, but different times of day, you will sometimes see plenty of birds. Other times, you see nothing during one hunt.

I try to not hit the same parcel two weekends in a row, but if my guests are antsy to hunt what was productive for them in the past, and I hunted it the previous weekend, I hit it at least two hours differently than the time I hit it the previous weekend. This way, there may be different birds inhabiting it each weekend. They do move frequently, especially if there are lots of hawks flying around.

If it is a good food plot, it seems that, no matter when I hit it, even if I hit it yesterday, I find birds. They are in a different area of the food plot, but there are likely still birds.

All of the above comes with this caveat: It depends on how good the cover is, and how noisy the hunters are. If they slam doors, we see fewer birds. If they are talking in the field, birds will bail at the end of the field, out of range. Your results are often tied more to the noise emitted, than how many birds are in the field when you arrive.

I don't worry about overstaying my welcome with the landowners, because I always let them know I will be out at least every weekend, and ask if they have any problem with it. I also limit myself to no more than 4 hunters at any time. I have been calling each landowner every fall, to ask permission. Let them know your plans, and ask if they are okay with whatever frequency you plan to hunt.

Good luck!
 
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In public areas, where birds are hunted a lot, and are vary wary, look on the fringes of thick cover. They will leak out. If you do hunt the same place two days in a row, do not follow the same path, change it up.
 
Honestly I try to schedule so I hunt my spots no more than twice. I have 320 acres of crp where I'm the only allowed hunter. That helps. I look at it as I can have 4 good weekends of hunts during the season. I try to spread out the hunts by at least 3 weeks if not more. It has really proven to be effective . 65 birds down thus far 73 is our record so we are gonna be capable of doing that.

Also I read the birds and habitat too. If cover is in bad shape and birds are acting right I back off. Wait for a snow.

I talk with my buddies and tell them I got these spots and they can come if they take me to one of their spots. There another hunt or two.

It really starts to add up and help bag more roosters
 
Goosemaster said:
That's great, but you are too caught up in killing. Take some time to smell the roses...
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Geez.... it's hunting turd. I enjoy watching my dogs work while getting on a good amount of birds. If I just wanted to watch birds I wouldn't carry a 7.5# gun. Get off your high horse
 
Here where we do it as a business we hunt three days a week.so that should mean 4 days off, it doesn't always but three is a minimum. It is an unguided hunt so the can do what they want but I encourage them to not hunt the same place over and over. They don't always agree.
 
"you are too caught up in killing"

"you are too caught up in killing"

Hmmm. I enjoy the challenge of finding the birds, and getting close enough for a good shot. That means I must read the weather, wind, cover, how many people are hunting with me (never more than 4 in our group), and where I think the birds may be at that time of day. Always a challenge.

How do I know I correctly analyzed the situation? Birds flush within 10 yards of me! Now what? If I just keep on walking without shooting, aren't I harassing wildlife? In Colorado, you get fined for that. I could carry a camera and take pictures, I suppose. But, I like seeing other people have success, also. Should I let them know I won't be taking them any more?

Hunting is a sport, which I enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. But, don't tell someone they should not enjoy the ultimate reason for the activity. I don't give ribbons to my hunting buddies that can't hit a bird. Nor do I give out hiking merit badges. The final goal of our days in the field is meat on our table (well, in my snacks. I make pheasant sticks out of most of my birds.) The benefits of pursuing our goal includes walking, enjoying the outdoors, enjoying the ride to and from our area, and spending time with each other.

Killing is a part of our sport, but I never celebrate a kill, nor lose sight of the fact that I took a life. Most life necessitates the taking of another life, whether animals in the wild, or humans. Anyone who is not vegan takes life for sustenance, either directly or indirectly (I leave vegetables out of this discussion). We supply some of our own food through hunting. Nothing wrong with that. And, keeping a tally is not wrong, either. Many valid reasons for keeping track of your harvest.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box. :)
 
Logical said:
"you are too caught up in killing"

Hmmm. I enjoy the challenge of finding the birds, and getting close enough for a good shot. That means I must read the weather, wind, cover, how many people are hunting with me (never more than 4 in our group), and where I think the birds may be at that time of day. Always a challenge.

How do I know I correctly analyzed the situation? Birds flush within 10 yards of me! Now what? If I just keep on walking without shooting, aren't I harassing wildlife? In Colorado, you get fined for that. I could carry a camera and take pictures, I suppose. But, I like seeing other people have success, also. Should I let them know I won't be taking them any more?

Hunting is a sport, which I enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. But, don't tell someone they should not enjoy the ultimate reason for the activity. I don't give ribbons to my hunting buddies that can't hit a bird. Nor do I give out hiking merit badges. The final goal of our days in the field is meat on our table (well, in my snacks. I make pheasant sticks out of most of my birds.) The benefits of pursuing our goal includes walking, enjoying the outdoors, enjoying the ride to and from our area, and spending time with each other.

Killing is a part of our sport, but I never celebrate a kill, nor lose sight of the fact that I took a life. Most life necessitates the taking of another life, whether animals in the wild, or humans. Anyone who is not vegan takes life for sustenance, either directly or indirectly (I leave vegetables out of this discussion). We supply some of our own food through hunting. Nothing wrong with that. And, keeping a tally is not wrong, either. Many valid reasons for keeping track of your harvest.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box. :)
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Nice :thumbsup: The getting off your soapbox part.....boring as hell
 
Well put logical ..... I wanted to say what I truly felt but my mama said if i don't have something nice to say then don't say anything at all
 
I don't think I was being rude, but I did want to shed light on why I do what I do.

There are too many people around today that think everyone should have the same viewpoints and opinions. How shallow! Diversity keeps life interesting. Discussion helps us understand others' opinions, even if we don't share them. Stifle discussion, and we all become ignorant.
 
My wife puts my birds as far back in the freezer as possible; hopes I forget about them, and then throws em out saying they are freezer burned. Yep, she thinks they are nasty. Course she is probably right; how many bird do you know of that take a dump most times they flush :)
 
If pheaz tastes bad then you are doing something wrong. It sounds cliche but it really should taste like chicken. I eat all that I shoot.
 
homeboy said:
My wife puts my birds as far back in the freezer as possible; hopes I forget about them, and then throws em out saying they are freezer burned. Yep, she thinks they are nasty. Course she is probably right; how many bird do you know of that take a dump most times they flush :)
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Bad karma to throw a pheasant away, or shoot something, not intended to eat. Pheasant is excellent chow, it takes time, to learn how to cook it.
 
The biggest mistake, IMO, in cooking pheasant is to overcook them.

If overcooked, they are dry and tough. I love pheasant but I don't like them that way.

I guess I cook mine almost medium rare. The breasts still have some springiness to them when you poke them with your finger.
 
There's nothing gamey about a pheasant. They are basically organic pasture raised chickens. They have very similar diets. It's not gamey at all.
 
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