2022 season photos IOWA

[remy3424]

Hey hunters in Iowa, feel free to throw a pic on this thread with as much or as little info as you care to share.

My season opener was pushed back a week, so I had 2.5 hours this morning to kick it off. Was out with my good hunting buddy, my soon to be 86 year old father and a family friend who traditionally hunts opener with us. Two walkers and 2 blockers.

I have a pretty new GSP (Gus), who showed last year he would be a keeper. He was fine, control was OK, never used the shock, he needed a few "tones" I missed a bird I shouldn't have, shot an easy one and then got a double from a triple flush. My buddy knocked down a late flusher a couple seconds after the triple broke, it was a runner and eventually shook the dogs. He also dropped the first bird of the day that I had swung and missed on...he was pretty proud of that one, but it also managed to elude the dogs. So our quick morning hunt netted 3 roosters ( 2 older and one young bird). But it was a great morning!

That corner of cover in the background is in the pic, just happens to be where the 4 roosters flushed from.

 

[carptom1]

Good to see you got out. I’ll bet it felt pretty good.

 

[remy3424]

Thanks. Yes, it was great to get out, I was getting pretty wound-up seeing pics and posts from the members here. I will get settled-down and hope to shoot better tomorrow.

 

[remy3424]

Went out with my hunting buddy and our dogs this morning. I shot poorly, my buddy had 3 in 3 shots, it took me 9 or 10 shots for my 3, that has to improve. We were finished by 9:30. Let the dogs hunt back to the truck, saw a ton more on the way out. Great morning, the conditions were hard to beat. I had feathers flying and one tumbled in the air caught itself and crested the hill with a leg hanging...felt bad for him and my poor shooting.

 

[Lefty76]

Here is a pic from Friday, the last day of a 12 day hunting spree. I made a few trips to MN before IA and NE opened.

 

[Lefty76]

A pic of my youngest dog in action. It's his first season, but I really think he will be a solid dog.

 

[Kansan]

Two weekends in a row of world class pheasant hunting! Iowa is the place to be, these days!

 

[remy3424]

Well done Kansan, looks like you got the last of them! We have a few here.

I am off Vets Day, hope to have a pic from this outing.

 

[Lefty76]

We've been finding a few, but we really work for them. Wouldn't have it any other way!

 

[remy3424]

Got my 3 this morning, cold and windy...earned the Vet's limit today. My dog did a nice job on finding the downed/winged birds, but did manage to lose one in some deep cover. Hunted a new farm, 19 miles away...that is about as far away as I get! That "far" farm is where we lost the bird. Went to a piece of lighter CRP and got one there, a great mark and recovery by my young dog, I was impressed. Then 2 at one of my father's farms with some nice filter strips. The dog saved my poor shoot by tracking down one in the dry creek channel, 15 yards from where it was downed. The other was dropped into bean stubble and the dog chased him back into the cover, out of the cover and back in before that was over. It was upper teens and 20 something mph wind...not my preferred conditions. Sorry about the poor pics.

 

[Nick]

Got my 3 this morning, cold and windy...earned the Vet's limit today. My dog did a nice job on finding the downed/winged birds, but did manage to lose one in some deep cover. Hunted a new farm, 19 miles away...that is about as far away as I get! That "far" farm is where we lost the bird. Went to a piece of lighter CRP and got one there, a great mark and recovery by my young dog, I was impressed. Then 2 at one of my father's farms with some nice filter strips. The dog saved my poor shoot by tracking down one in the dry creek channel, 15 yards from where it was downed. The other was dropped into bean stubble and the dog chased him back into the cover, out of the cover and back in before that was over. It was upper teens and 20 something mph wind...not my preferred conditions. Sorry about the poor pics.View attachment 4448View attachment 4449

Nothing wrong with those pics. That's a nice looking shorthair.

 

[Chris S]

Is Harrison county any good this year ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[remy3424]

If Harrison county usually has birds, I am sure they do this year. A bit out of my area, couple couple counties south of me. The IHAP parcels could have been grazed or baled, but if there is cover, there should be birds.

 

[Jet]

Drove up to Iowa last Saturday. Got in a 1/2 day with nothing to show for it. Was able to locate some birds on Sunday and started to really dial them in Monday. Headed home with tired dogs and a daily limit before noon. Birds are spooky but given the amount of pressure they are getting I'm not surprised. Once the crowds die down and colder weather sets in it should be really fun.

 

[remy3424]

Well, shot much better today, but my buddy seemed to pick-up the funk I was in. Worse pics than yesterday! I had taken off my coat after getting my birds and then was helping search for a bird my buddy knocked-down, which we didn't find. I was too cold to take field pics. My new pup had a great retrieve, a good 200 yards into a bean stubble field and back to me! It was fun to watch. The dogs had another good recovery of a winged rooster that challenged them. Getting this new dog a lot of experience already this season. Hope to have better pics tomorrow, but no promises!

 

[remy3424]

A beautiful sunday morning, temps about 20, wind 5-6 mph. Hunted a different farm again with a bigger waterway. The dogs were birdy almost immediately, dropped one in bean stubble and Rowdy (my buddy's dog, the white one) made a good retrieve. A moment after that shot another flushed and I dumped it in the cover. We looked for about 10 minutes with no success. We worked-up the waterway and got 4 more. We worked back down the cover to where we started and Rowdy got birdy and about 50 yards later got the second one I knocked-down pinned-down and we had our limits. My dog found a deeply hidden winged bird for Mark as his dog doubled back and found one that I got. I was a fun short hour this morning with some good dog work and decent shooting. Got home, loaded a couple boxes of shells and now if the Vikings can get through the Bills, it couldn't get too much better!

 

[remy3424]

Vikings win, my Vets day weekend is complete! Got my limit all 3 days...I am a happy camper!

Edit: One more plus for this weekend...Yellowstone 2 hour season premier is on tonight....about the only show I look forward to any more.

 

[carptom1]

Vikings win, my Vets day weekend is complete! Got my limit all 3 days...I am a happy camper!

Edit: One more plus for this weekend...Yellowstone 2 hour season premier is on tonight....about the only show I look forward to any more.

You had to like that Vikings game. Holy shit what a finish

 

[remy3424]

You had to like that Vikings game. Holy shit what a finish

For sure...unless you are a Bills fan!

 

[carptom1]

For sure...unless you are a Bills fan!

Bills are imploding a bit. Chiefs fan here since the early 70’s when I was a youngster. Got to go to three of the four championship games we had here. I don’t know if it was worth the wait, but it has been nice being a fan the last few years.