Miforester
Well-known member
Day 1
First spot was CREP. As we moved thru the field a bird flush way ahead, far enough I couldn't tell what it was. We progress on and Bella started getting birdy and my other two were working her flanks. I was sticking with her when I looked to my left and Remi stopped and a rooster busted out, I was able to connect with him and Remi and Bella made a nice retrieve. I loaded up the bird and looked to see where my setter was and I could only see the tip of her tail, then a rooster flushed on the margin of gun range and shot but didn't connect. As we got closer to the truck dogs all started to get birdy, River and Remi went one direction and Bella went another, I followed Bella and she continued to track and a rooster flushed and I cleanly missed. Continued towards River and Remi and they both stopped and another rooster flushed between me and the truck waited for it to clear the truck and managed to hammer this rooster. Moved to another CREP looking for our third bird. As soon as I turned the dogs out Bella was on point, I walked in and flushed a hen. Remi started to act birdy and followed a scent then went on, I flushed a hen. It was dry and very windy and i think scenting was difficult for the dogs. We hit the fence row along picked corn, Bella was tracking again and Remi and River got out in front of her and bumped 3 roosters out of range. Another bird flushed ahead, as we continued down the fence row, I heard some noise in the fence and corn field, a rooster and hen were trying to sneak out the back, the hen flushed followed by the rooster, I winged the rooster and it was running, i started to pursue calling all three dogs, knowing I can’t take my eye off the bird. Well, I did to see what dogs were coming, when I turned back to see the bird it was gone! I knew better, told the dogs to fetch and after a minute or so I'm watching my pup and she slams on the breaks to a solid point, I look down and there is the rooster tucked under stalks, wish I took a picture.
Day 2
With the wind and cold I was going to hit a CREP that has a nice shelterbelt, got there and saw no trespassing signs. Decided to look at a ditch on my way to some private land. The ditch was mowed buy there was a section that was not mowed next to standing corn, I put Bella done with birds flushing way ahead, again another rooster tried to escape out the back door and i made a good shot on him, Bella completed the retrieve and he had huge spurs, see picture. Jumped back in truck and proceeded to the private land. Hunted a little postage stamp area surrounded by standing corn thinking they might be holed up, all three dogs worked the perimeter and the middle was standing water. A rooster and hen flushed well out of gun and dog range. We loaded up and went to another private area. This area had great cover in picked corn, first area didn't produce anything, but cocklebur filled dogs. Dogs were acting birdy and my pup went out and busted a group of about 20 birds, I wasn't real happy but she is at least scenting them, with the winds the birds were pretty flighty so not sure if it would matter. We continued, i looked up and my setter was on point, rooster flushed and i killed him. Remi started the retrieve, but Bella finished it. I had one rooster with massive spurs and one with pimple spurs. We hit the property line and I look down and my setter is 70 yards tail high and i turn to start towards here, 2 roosters flush, no shots. Great point just couldn't close the gap quick enough. We continued and dogs were hit and miss on scenting, their position with the wind was vital, they did walk by some. We got back to the truck clean them up again looked at aerial photo of property and saw another area to try. Hunted that small area, Remi track and bumped a rooster just out of range. Came around the other side and she was acting funny not sure that she had, but pointing at corn stalks, i took one step and a rooster flushed 5 ft from her. I winged it, all three dogs converged on the area the bird fell and none could pick up the scent, we searched for about 2 minutes and moved on. We loaded up and tried another private area close by, River and Remi put up our last rooster of the day.
Day 3
Start at a WPA, when I got to the spot there were hunters already there/camped there so I decided to try another private area. It was rain/drizzle/freezing and windy, miserable! This private was another postage stamp waste area. Put all three dogs down and birds were flushing out well in front of us and dogs were pushing them to hard, this is when I started realizing they were competing to get to the birds, I watch River and Bella run straight to a rooster without even stopping, needless to say the rooster flushed out of range and I was getting more frustrated. We continued to hunt with no birds killed. I decided to hunt another WPA that I haven't visited in some time. I had been having success with birds along the fences of picked crops so that is what I focused on. I finally decided to hunt only 2 dogs at a time, so Remi and Bella were on the ground together. We start of and Bella points a hen. We continue on and Bella is on point and I bring Remi in she points as well, this was a rooster that I was able to kill and Bella made a nice retrieve. We continued working the area within 30 yards of the fence, Remi starts to get birdy and so does Bella, they start to separate and i just stayed in the middle this time as I'm gaining more confidence in Remi's ability. I watch Remi and she stops, would say a soft point and a rooster flushed about 10 yards in front of her, I connected with this bird and she did a good job finding it. We continued on and the dogs were tracking and 5 more birds flushed out ahead of me. We made it back to the truck. There was good cover along the road so I put the britts up and put River down to walk the ditch. River and I walked about a half mile when she got really birdy, she didn't point but 4 birds flushed and I picked out the rooster and bagged him.
Day 4
Wednesday evening into Thursday we received freezing rain and winds were strong. I knew I was not going to be hitting the fields at 10 am! About 1pm I decided to hunt. Looking at the fields I didn't think the dogs could hunt as the vegetation in my area had anywhere from half to third quarters of an inch of ice on them and almost frozen solid. I decided to focus on roadside cover with trees/thickets along picked crops. I decided on a road drove to where I wanted to park. Put Remi and Bella on the ground together. Dogs could not navigate the cover it was to iced up, they could walk on top but if they broke thru it was like being on frozen water, a struggle to get out. All three of us were walking the road and I'm thinking well this is just plain stupid. After getting past the trees/thicket without flushing any birds I was thinking well they must be in thicker cover like cattails. I look up and about a mile up and group of roughly 10 flushed from the edge of the grass next to the picked bean field. I broke a trail thru the grass so the dogs could walk in the bean field with the wind coming across the frozen grass into their face. We go maybe 30 yards and Bella points and a rooster flushes out of the grass but its tail looked like a mangie coyote tail and it was struggling to fly. I shot and thought I hit him as he landed back into the grass about 30 yards from where I shot. Dogs move on and Remi bumps a rooster and hen, I knock down the rooster and see it sitting on the road as i'm moving forward I hear a commotion in the grass and Bella has jumped the first bird that landed. I get that bird and then send her to retrieve the second bird. So we have 2 birds and i get dogs back to hunting and about 10 yards down they both are on point, and 2 roosters flushed and i took one. Other than the ice ball tail the other roosters were missing their primary tail feathers, my guess is they were frozen to the ground or vegetation and pulled out upon flush
Day 5
DakotaZeb came up and we hunted private farm I had hunted a couple days before. It was cold, winds weren't to bad but it was cold. Bree, Zeb's britt, and Bella were on the ground as we are walking to the area to hunt a rooster flushed wild, we were caught off guard, might of been a shooter. We continue into the grass and struggle to make our way thru this 10 acres. A group of about 6 flushed wild out of a small cattail clump, Bella and I get to the cattail clump and she finds a tunnel to get in and 3 hens flush then a rooster, I was able to take the rooster. We continued around this area without flushing anymore birds. We decided to head east to see if less ice was on the vegetation. As we drove out there were roughly 30 birds in the ditch, and one rooster out in the open with ice on his tail, we probably could have limited if we hunted the ditches, but traveled back east. We stopped at a CREP that I had taken my 3rd rooster on my first day. There was less ice so we decided to try and hunt this area. This time it was Bree, River and Remi on the ground, dogs could not just run or walk thru the grass they had to jump over everything. Dogs did the best they could, Bree was able to get on some scent but the birds were not holding and were flushing out of gun range. We again hunted fence line along picked crops, we did move half dozen birds but none were within gun ranges. We decided to try another area further east. The next area had less ice and the dogs could move thru the grass without much problem, however, the cover was just not thick enough to hold birds for the weather conditions. We had a couple hours in the field and it was probably some of the toughest hunting I have encountered in SD, we were both wooped and decided to call it a day. Hunting is great, but spending time in afield with a friend is priceless, like I said we could have probably limited by hunting ditches but we both enjoy watching our dogs in the fields.
First spot was CREP. As we moved thru the field a bird flush way ahead, far enough I couldn't tell what it was. We progress on and Bella started getting birdy and my other two were working her flanks. I was sticking with her when I looked to my left and Remi stopped and a rooster busted out, I was able to connect with him and Remi and Bella made a nice retrieve. I loaded up the bird and looked to see where my setter was and I could only see the tip of her tail, then a rooster flushed on the margin of gun range and shot but didn't connect. As we got closer to the truck dogs all started to get birdy, River and Remi went one direction and Bella went another, I followed Bella and she continued to track and a rooster flushed and I cleanly missed. Continued towards River and Remi and they both stopped and another rooster flushed between me and the truck waited for it to clear the truck and managed to hammer this rooster. Moved to another CREP looking for our third bird. As soon as I turned the dogs out Bella was on point, I walked in and flushed a hen. Remi started to act birdy and followed a scent then went on, I flushed a hen. It was dry and very windy and i think scenting was difficult for the dogs. We hit the fence row along picked corn, Bella was tracking again and Remi and River got out in front of her and bumped 3 roosters out of range. Another bird flushed ahead, as we continued down the fence row, I heard some noise in the fence and corn field, a rooster and hen were trying to sneak out the back, the hen flushed followed by the rooster, I winged the rooster and it was running, i started to pursue calling all three dogs, knowing I can’t take my eye off the bird. Well, I did to see what dogs were coming, when I turned back to see the bird it was gone! I knew better, told the dogs to fetch and after a minute or so I'm watching my pup and she slams on the breaks to a solid point, I look down and there is the rooster tucked under stalks, wish I took a picture.
Day 2
With the wind and cold I was going to hit a CREP that has a nice shelterbelt, got there and saw no trespassing signs. Decided to look at a ditch on my way to some private land. The ditch was mowed buy there was a section that was not mowed next to standing corn, I put Bella done with birds flushing way ahead, again another rooster tried to escape out the back door and i made a good shot on him, Bella completed the retrieve and he had huge spurs, see picture. Jumped back in truck and proceeded to the private land. Hunted a little postage stamp area surrounded by standing corn thinking they might be holed up, all three dogs worked the perimeter and the middle was standing water. A rooster and hen flushed well out of gun and dog range. We loaded up and went to another private area. This area had great cover in picked corn, first area didn't produce anything, but cocklebur filled dogs. Dogs were acting birdy and my pup went out and busted a group of about 20 birds, I wasn't real happy but she is at least scenting them, with the winds the birds were pretty flighty so not sure if it would matter. We continued, i looked up and my setter was on point, rooster flushed and i killed him. Remi started the retrieve, but Bella finished it. I had one rooster with massive spurs and one with pimple spurs. We hit the property line and I look down and my setter is 70 yards tail high and i turn to start towards here, 2 roosters flush, no shots. Great point just couldn't close the gap quick enough. We continued and dogs were hit and miss on scenting, their position with the wind was vital, they did walk by some. We got back to the truck clean them up again looked at aerial photo of property and saw another area to try. Hunted that small area, Remi track and bumped a rooster just out of range. Came around the other side and she was acting funny not sure that she had, but pointing at corn stalks, i took one step and a rooster flushed 5 ft from her. I winged it, all three dogs converged on the area the bird fell and none could pick up the scent, we searched for about 2 minutes and moved on. We loaded up and tried another private area close by, River and Remi put up our last rooster of the day.
Day 3
Start at a WPA, when I got to the spot there were hunters already there/camped there so I decided to try another private area. It was rain/drizzle/freezing and windy, miserable! This private was another postage stamp waste area. Put all three dogs down and birds were flushing out well in front of us and dogs were pushing them to hard, this is when I started realizing they were competing to get to the birds, I watch River and Bella run straight to a rooster without even stopping, needless to say the rooster flushed out of range and I was getting more frustrated. We continued to hunt with no birds killed. I decided to hunt another WPA that I haven't visited in some time. I had been having success with birds along the fences of picked crops so that is what I focused on. I finally decided to hunt only 2 dogs at a time, so Remi and Bella were on the ground together. We start of and Bella points a hen. We continue on and Bella is on point and I bring Remi in she points as well, this was a rooster that I was able to kill and Bella made a nice retrieve. We continued working the area within 30 yards of the fence, Remi starts to get birdy and so does Bella, they start to separate and i just stayed in the middle this time as I'm gaining more confidence in Remi's ability. I watch Remi and she stops, would say a soft point and a rooster flushed about 10 yards in front of her, I connected with this bird and she did a good job finding it. We continued on and the dogs were tracking and 5 more birds flushed out ahead of me. We made it back to the truck. There was good cover along the road so I put the britts up and put River down to walk the ditch. River and I walked about a half mile when she got really birdy, she didn't point but 4 birds flushed and I picked out the rooster and bagged him.
Day 4
Wednesday evening into Thursday we received freezing rain and winds were strong. I knew I was not going to be hitting the fields at 10 am! About 1pm I decided to hunt. Looking at the fields I didn't think the dogs could hunt as the vegetation in my area had anywhere from half to third quarters of an inch of ice on them and almost frozen solid. I decided to focus on roadside cover with trees/thickets along picked crops. I decided on a road drove to where I wanted to park. Put Remi and Bella on the ground together. Dogs could not navigate the cover it was to iced up, they could walk on top but if they broke thru it was like being on frozen water, a struggle to get out. All three of us were walking the road and I'm thinking well this is just plain stupid. After getting past the trees/thicket without flushing any birds I was thinking well they must be in thicker cover like cattails. I look up and about a mile up and group of roughly 10 flushed from the edge of the grass next to the picked bean field. I broke a trail thru the grass so the dogs could walk in the bean field with the wind coming across the frozen grass into their face. We go maybe 30 yards and Bella points and a rooster flushes out of the grass but its tail looked like a mangie coyote tail and it was struggling to fly. I shot and thought I hit him as he landed back into the grass about 30 yards from where I shot. Dogs move on and Remi bumps a rooster and hen, I knock down the rooster and see it sitting on the road as i'm moving forward I hear a commotion in the grass and Bella has jumped the first bird that landed. I get that bird and then send her to retrieve the second bird. So we have 2 birds and i get dogs back to hunting and about 10 yards down they both are on point, and 2 roosters flushed and i took one. Other than the ice ball tail the other roosters were missing their primary tail feathers, my guess is they were frozen to the ground or vegetation and pulled out upon flush
Day 5
DakotaZeb came up and we hunted private farm I had hunted a couple days before. It was cold, winds weren't to bad but it was cold. Bree, Zeb's britt, and Bella were on the ground as we are walking to the area to hunt a rooster flushed wild, we were caught off guard, might of been a shooter. We continue into the grass and struggle to make our way thru this 10 acres. A group of about 6 flushed wild out of a small cattail clump, Bella and I get to the cattail clump and she finds a tunnel to get in and 3 hens flush then a rooster, I was able to take the rooster. We continued around this area without flushing anymore birds. We decided to head east to see if less ice was on the vegetation. As we drove out there were roughly 30 birds in the ditch, and one rooster out in the open with ice on his tail, we probably could have limited if we hunted the ditches, but traveled back east. We stopped at a CREP that I had taken my 3rd rooster on my first day. There was less ice so we decided to try and hunt this area. This time it was Bree, River and Remi on the ground, dogs could not just run or walk thru the grass they had to jump over everything. Dogs did the best they could, Bree was able to get on some scent but the birds were not holding and were flushing out of gun range. We again hunted fence line along picked crops, we did move half dozen birds but none were within gun ranges. We decided to try another area further east. The next area had less ice and the dogs could move thru the grass without much problem, however, the cover was just not thick enough to hold birds for the weather conditions. We had a couple hours in the field and it was probably some of the toughest hunting I have encountered in SD, we were both wooped and decided to call it a day. Hunting is great, but spending time in afield with a friend is priceless, like I said we could have probably limited by hunting ditches but we both enjoy watching our dogs in the fields.
