Search results

I hunted mostly cattails last Sunday since it was 5 degrees out, and put up a lot of birds, but all of them were out of range. The problem with cattails is that they are very noisy to walk through. I walked 4 different sloughs on the same public area and never got closer than 75 yards to a...

Frozen solid

I had a friend in town from STL and took him on his first pheasant hunt ever on Saturday. We hit some private ground in central Iowa first thing in the AM and he connected on his first bird. It was the only one that held tight, the rest flushed pretty wild. We headed to Chichaqua afterwards...

It really depends on the weather conditions (temp, snow etc.), and the dog's conditioning. With my dogs I can tell when it's time to quit by their body language and drive.

I try to be as quiet as possible and push towards edges when hunting alone. If you have other people just set up blockers. The birds usually run quite a bit before flushing so someone will usually get a shot. Otherwise wait for a good snow storm to hunt those birds.

I hit some public Saturday at Noon to avoid the crowds and we didn't put up very many birds. I hunted the light and heavy weeds, but nothing. Some guys came in an hour after me and walked one of the cattail stands and were flushing a few. I heard some shots, but not sure if they got any. I...

I wear them in the early season as I hunt mostly cattail sloughs. Once everything freezes up I switch to insulated leather boots. I don't mind the muck style at all, they just don't last very long.

I've never given a gift for getting permission, it's always been after the season. I do like to stop in and chat before or after a hunt, then drop off a gift after the season. The landowners seem to appreciate hearing about how I did, bird numbers, etc. If you want to give a gift upon getting...

Makes sense, but I hunt public ground so it's really not an option. I would definitely do what you're doing if I had access to private ground.

I was tucked back in the trees behind the bird in the photo and wear leafy camo so it blends in very well. I have a blind, but only used it for youth hunts with my sons, otherwise it's just another thing to carry.

Got this one early Friday morning at 6:35 AM which is the earliest I have ever shot a bird. I was set up on a picked bean field on public ground with an upright hen and feeder hen set at about 25 yards out. It was a quiet sunrise and only heard a couple of faint gobbles, so the birds were...

I personally won't shot more than 3 birds a day, and won't hunt with anyone that shoots over their personal limit. I used to hunt with someone that would do this and it left a bad taste in my mouth, plus it's illegal here and not worth losing my license over. I would reconsider if/when I ever...

Fox Red Lab

All of mine were pretty normal too. The double I shot on the last day of the season was memorable.

Those mud roads can become pretty greasy when the top layer thaws out while you're out hunting. It's happened to me a time or 2.

If it's light/fluffy snow is no big deal, but if it's crusted over and drifted it can be a challenge. I hunted the last day of the Iowa season after a 9" snow and winds in 30 mph range. It was very tough walking as all of the snow had blown into the cover and drifted, so sometimes I was busting...

I started doing the same thing a few years ago. I also did a full tail mount for both of my sons' 1st birds.

I would call that a pretty damn good season with an average of close to 1 bird per outing on mostly public ground. It's also impressive that you're essentially a self-made hunter. Thanks for sharing.

I would make comments, but I don't think he got the hint so I just quit hunting with him. The weird part is that he's actually a good guy outside of the hunting world. I ran into him this Summer at an event and we talked for hours over beers, but it didn't change my mind about going back out...

I hunt alone unless one of my adult sons wants to join me. I had a regular hunting buddy and realized after a many years he was more or less a game hog. It wasn't like that early on, but it got to the point that he'd keep shooting after he got his limit. He also admitted to shooting over his...