Recent content by Riverman

I have hunted SW Nebraska for over 35 years. 25-30 yrs ago it was common to get into 2-3 coveys of bobwhites every day. This was before the walkin program came along and we hunted mostly private land. More recently, if you see 1 covey per day then it is a pretty good hunt. I don't know what...

Over the years I have kept a large file of quotes that I liked from various sources. Some are from books and others are from speeches. Here are several that I thought folks might enjoy about grouse and pheasant hunting. I have left out Aldo Leopold quotes and will post them separately. I was...

65 yrs old. I hunt ruffed grouse in mtns if Wyoming, pheasants in SoDak, Huns in Idaho, quail in AZ and woodcock in Louisiana. Have used lots of boots—danners, Cabelas, Meindls, kennetreks, and muck boots. As mentioned above my feet have gotten wider as I aged. Danner and Kennetrek are too...

In Nebraska I like to wake those birds up at first light. Usually get a couple then hunt rest of day “death marching” looking for that .3rd bird. Usually get it in last two hours of day. SoDak has a lot more birds but I still like starting at 10 and getting those that are late getting up or...

My friends and I hunt a lot of ditches. Mostly in middle of state and see very few other hunters, if any at all. Not a lot of public land where we are hunting but lots of private land with hunters on them now and then. I agree that wild birds are no comparison to pen reared and much better to...

Meant to add some photos. Also meant to say my hunt was Jan 2-13.

I hunted 10 days in some typically good areas. Shot 6 Gambel’s and 4 mearns. Mearns were actually more numerous than I expected. Numbers are way down. Hunted tonto basin and oracle area for Gambel’s for 6 days then east of Patagonia for 2 days. Also hunted Empire ranch for two days but that was...

I would say the largest flushes were in areas near water and near large nesting areas, ie bigger than 10 acres of grass or cover. Honestly we saw as many birds along harvested crop margins hanging out in kochia (along road right of ways) as we did anywhere. We saw lots of birds flying in and...

Myself and three others (two vehicles) hunted central SD in an area with Pierre to the south and Mobridge on the north, and east and west about 30 miles. This area is not considered part of the "golden triangle" of Chamberlain, Mitchell, and Winner, but we find it is a lot less crowded and has...

Being able to camp out in the middle of nowhere is really really nice. And many of these places don't have a town nearby if you even wanted to get a room. I have been hunting out of a truck camper for years. Proven 4wd, carries 30 gal of water, has a heater (which is badass when temps dip), a...

I guess I agree with waterdog09 on “this is what we are complaining about?” With the well-documented decline in license sales I think we need more hunters, not less. I also feel like hunting is getting tougher but it is due more to declining habitat (both quantity and quality) than more hunters...

This last week two friends and I saw many pheasant crops with shelled, ie husked, sunflower seeds. All of these crops had zero unhusked, ie black, seeds. I can never remember seeing this before. Seems like all I can remember are birds with seeds that still have black husks and they let the...

A couple friends and I have hunted second week of season for last 23 years. I personally saw more birds than any other year with exception of 2005/2006 when they had record numbers. We also saw more grouse than any other year and maybe more grouse than last 4-5 years put together! We hunt...

There are a few Ruffies in the northern Uinta's but not many. I have hunted grouse all over WY and it is really interesting how the ruffies are really concentrated, and in high numbers in NW Wyoming. Based on numbers I have seen it would be worth the drive to hunt them.

I am curious how other folks hunting in AZ this year did for Quail? Hunting for Gambels in AZ this year was pretty decent for me. Before going I had heard that it was not a good year so I was pleasantly surprised. In fact after I got down there and hunted I texted several friends to tell them...