Iowa hunters, how was your opener?

[remy3424]

I saw plenty of birds, my shooting was sub-par, but with a few additional opportunities I had a limit in less than an hour. Heard some shooting from other hunters, so that was good. Just not many pheasant hunters around here these days. Personally the opener for me has gone from a big family affair to just me today. The generation older than me is dying or unable to hunt, my generation have lost interest or doing other things, the next generation just doesn't share the same vigor for this. I am trying to get a "Cousins" hunt (the rooster round-up) going on Nov 30th, hoping we can get a half dozen shooters for that.

 

[gim]

The generation older than me is dying or unable to hunt, my generation have lost interest or doing other things, the next generation just doesn't share the same vigor for this.

I can relate to this. Seems to be a common theme among the hunting realm.

 

[carptom1]

It is certainly thinning out. I was at the motel in Mitchell this week and there were a lot of hunters. Most were my age or older not many younger. Even my own sons prioritize nearly everything over a hunting trip. At least it looks like you and the dog had a good time

 

[Kevin W]

While I did not go out on the opener my son went out for a quick hunt and he had this rooster get up in front of him.

 

[remy3424]

So is it work or health keeping you out of the field Kevin?

Were they hunting anywhere near a game farm or preserve? That is quite unusual for a wild bird. If mine, and it I felt it was an actual wild bird, I would have been straight to Baker in Lawton with it.

I did shoot one today that I thought was a bit unusual.



Hardly a bump for a spur, full roost plumage, Maybe he has been transitioning.



As some here believe, it is amazing I got close to anything with the bell on the dog. Those folks don't here in cover like I have. Much of the time I am just listening and following the bell.

It was another good day. The clouds were gone today and for the first 30 minutes or more, identifying birds was tough, I don't think I mounted my shotgun for the first 30 minutes. Shot much better today, only used 4 shells. Took a bit over an hour.

 

[Limitless]

I had a spurless boy like that in January in SD last season.

He was a good sized bird too, with full colors.

 

[GladHunter]

I wasn't able to get out yesterday and today I hunted south instead of north. I flushed 8 hens in the afternoon and never saw a rooster. My favorite spots are on the other side of Lake Red Rock and the bridge is closed for construction.

 

[GladHunter]

6 of the 8 hens were sitting in the shade of 10-15ft cedars 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a bit warm so it made sense, but I've never seen them up under the trees like that.

 

[revs2ninegrand]

It was a "different" weekend for me and the group I hunt with. What is usually a 4 or 5 person group turned into a 11 person group and the spots we hunt aren't really conducive for that many hunters. Definitely saw more birds than usual, but it just didn't have that same "feel" to it. Looking forward to upcoming weeks with less people.

 

[GoldenHunter]

I have never seen that piss poor of a display of shotgunning in my life... Normally, if I miss, my dad will clean up after me or vice versa... I am not sure how many times he shot, but I ran 5 or 6 rounds out there and he had to have shot at least that many times himself. Oh well... they will be there for next time I quess. Only hunted 2 spots Saturday morning because it was the opener and I couldn't not go. Didn't hunt at all yesterday.

 

[Kevin W]

My son Kenny and his lab Harry got a quick limit this morning.

 

[cyclonenation10]

We did well. Hunted with my dad and friend Saturday and got our 9 relatively quick, then added a couple of buddies on Sunday and got our 15 but about 11'oclock. Took the morning off to go with my dad and ended up with 5 before we headed to work.

Had very good success, but did not see great bird numbers. I think we may have missed 1 or 2 roosters total. Hoping it's due to the crops and weather. Time will tell.

 

[remy3424]

As far as the crops in the field, 95% or more of the beans are gone and maybe 70% of the corn is gone. Just checked the forecast, 95% chance of rain tomorrow, so the farmers will get a short break to do maintenance. I was by myself, but still stirred-up a pile of birds. Of my 6 birds, 4 I thought were likely hatched this spring, so that is a good sign. I know there was a huge carryover, so I am looking forward to seeing some long spurs! The time change coming on Sunday will benefit my 8:00 starting.

 

[Bob Peters]

The time change coming on Sunday will benefit my 8:00 starting.

If you only hunt private land that is loaded with birds, and you only hunt mornings, why care about the 8am start time? I.E. before the time change you could start at 9 or 10 or whenever. It's not like anyone is gonna beat you to the spot.

 

[remy3424]

That is just what I do. I sit around waiting for 7:45 and head-out. I don't head-out much earlier, as if you have ever been in a truck with an amped-up GSP, they can be inconsolable with the whining, yipping, barking & just raising heck wanting out. You get back home, clean the birds, post on UPH, have lunch and then you have all afternoon to get other things done. Just my routine.

 

[waterdog09]

Was out this weekend both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday had my limit by 8:40, only saw 4 roosters on my walk and a handful of hens. The group walking the other side of the field put up somewhere around 20-30 birds in the first 30 minutes. After that I went and did some scouting for the following day in a different part of the state. While doing so I was sitting at a spot around 5:30pm when I noticed birds flushing from the field from behind a slight hill which I thought was strange, but I did see a truck on the other side of the field but thought someone left it to try and hold the spot for the next morning. When to my surprise my Casey's pizza and cold beer were interupted when I saw a hunter crest the hill and waive at me. I waived him over and preceded to educate him on the shooting hours in IA, he stated it was his first time hunting in IA and didn't realize that they had a 4:30 stop time. I told him to think of it as bankers hours. He kindly thanked me for letting him know and not calling a CO on him and he walked the 3/4 of a mile back to his truck on the road as the golden hour was upon us. The following day I hunted that same field and easily watched close to 200 birds pile out of it at 7:30-7:45am and go right into a corn field on private land that was 100yds away. I still managed my limit by 9:20 and then it was off to breakfast and then the drive home. I would say birds are up for the areas I hunted compared to last year. The big thing I noticed was the amount of IA hunters out in the fields. I have never seen such large groups in IA especially on public land. I saw numerous groups with 5-6 trucks and 8-10 guys, I did see a WPA that had at least 10 trucks from IA and easily 15+ guys in the parking area after the 4:30 bell. I would say locals were twice as many if not 3 times what I saw compared to out of state hunters.