2023 Season

BRITTMAN said:
Especially if you do not plan to go back ... I would indeed file a hunter harassment complaint against the individual.
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Heck I'd file a complaint and go back the next day haha

Most landowners I've come across could care less about their harvested fields. Last weekend I pulled up to a new spot that had a no parking sign for some reason. So I went and parked down the road a bit off to the side. Hop out of the truck and start getting guns out, and the farmers wife comes driving up on a golf cart and asked us not to park on the side (It was a real narrow road with a steep bank so I wasn't that far off). They were cutting beans and said the combine wouldn't fit passed it if they finished up while we were there (the road dead ended at their farm so no other alternative route for them).

The lady then says just go ahead and park in my bean field. Oh and you can walk across my field too if you want. Just don't shoot towards our house. We proceeded to shoot 3 birds at that spot and saved alot of back tracking after legal shooting being able to cross her field. Thanks farmer lady.
 
nater said:
This cold front will change things up a little. Corn harvest is now behind schedule, and might stop completely until next week with the rain and cooler temps. This could make things interesting for a while. Hunting public grass near standing corn in the golden hour is normally my favorite hunt, but a few days this past week were too hot/dry/windy for good dog work. That same standing corn when it's cooler and a little wet will be primo, but the rut's about to kick off too. Decisions, decisions!View attachment 6345View attachment 6346View attachment 6344
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Beautiful dogs, ugly assed gun :sneaky:
 
boomerdawg13 said:
Ended up going for a short hunt Saturday morning for Blues after being beat to our duck hunting spot. My buddy with me ended up shooting a triple of blues and Millie - for her 3rd wild bird hunt ever flushed then retrieved every single one. She was a machine - bringing each one to hand. Goldenboy gave me a good one!

I also went 0/7 on a covey of blues to finish the limit - guess its time to get back to the range.

Bob - as you can tell from the second pic my golden is a little more "special" looking with those two crooked front teeth.
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I'd crop a close up of that face and hang it on my wall. I have a feeling he IS a special one! One You'll be talking about decades after he's gone!!
 
BRITTMAN said:
That field will be harvested and turned to black dirt soon enough.

Especially if you do not plan to go back ... I would indeed file a hunter harassment complaint against the individual.
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Yes indeed, report him. CO may not do a thing, but this guy may have had other instances in the past which could trigger a citation
 
jmnhunter said:
Yes indeed, report him. CO may not do a thing, but this guy may have had other instances in the past which could trigger a citation
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That's a good point. I had a similar instance on opening morning this year in MN. I reported the instance to the Game Warden. What I was told, often in these harassment cases it's word against word unless actually witnessed by the game warden or caught on video. The big thing the warden says, is that if he can get a history of registered complaints with different individuals, then it really helps him press his case when the individual really crosses the line and charges are pressed. Also in my instance, the warden and sheriff went to the guys house to talk to him later that week. Essentially they just wanted to remind him that the public land across the road is public and will often have hunters/hikers/whatever out there and that he can't intentionally try to spook people off the property.
 
We just got back from our trip, based out of Canby. Never been, now I have. Lots of spots, lots of hunters out! We basically hunt Friday afternoon, all weekend, and then for an hour or two monday morning. I wish I was on the retired guy schedule, then it'd be a lot longer trip! We found lots of great spots, all different types of habitats, and probably only broke a handful of laws. There was good bird numbers but hunting wasn't easy. Two weeks of getting hunted constantly (the obvious spots anyways) and the birds had an education. There's lots of walk ins out there and that is where I got my birds. You never know what to expect when you're pulling up on one, some have great cover, some have none. I got a really nice bird out of a willow thicket in the middle of a cattle pasture, all the grass around was short as a putting green. My buddies got checked by the warden, no tickets given. Some spots you'd walk and flush a pile of hens and no or maybe one rooster. Then at a different area you'd flush 7 or 8 roosters. We did finally have good hunting in some of that black tumbleweed, bramble type stuff, no idea what it's called. Looks kinda like kochia, but I don't think it is. One really small spot I jumped out to check the property line and see if it was huntable and of course a rooster flushed right in front of me. Always bring a gun! Since it was our first trip to the area, that always makes it a little slower, just because you have no history or old honey holes to go try. But it also makes it fun hunting a totally new area and scouting on the fly. I'll be back someday!🤞

P.S. My highlight was hunting a WIA that appeared to be a dud. Quarter section surrounded by cut corn on 3 sides, we hadn't seen a bird. Walking in thin grass back to the truck Roxy got on a scent. If you've hunted behind a good flusher, you know the drill. Working back and forth, side to side, turning on a dime to stay on that hot scent trail. Soon I was running fast as I could, staying on her tail. Suddenly she juked hard right and that big old bird was airborne, I made a shot and we got him. Memories that last a lifetime.
 

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Honey holes change year over year. It always pays to add new spots and never write off an old spot forever if it fails to produce.

The plant you were hunting in above was very likely sweet clover. It is good unless it reaches 5-6 feet high (high rain years).
 
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Wow, I snuk out with a buddy for a quick hunt this morning before work. He's got a young Brittany, 16 months. We hit a metro spot. Just over a half hour into the hunt I was walking towards a bush and out jumps a rooster. I turned and got a good bead on him and let one rip. He fell instantly, and we ran over. Looked for half hour, Nothing. What a bummer.(I wished we had a golden or lab with!) We continued around and in some juicy bluestem, about 20 minutes later, a rooster flushed. My buddy took a long shot but missed. Suddenly the sky was full of roosters. Big bright fully colored up birds beat their wings and cackled in a fury of indignation. Four of them headed with the wind to greener pastures, a fifth decided he wanted out by climbing over the treeline. Up and up he went, and I was waiting for the report of the gun and to see him drop, as he was near my buddy. It never happened. He said in all the craziness he didn't see the bird until right about when it crested the tall treetops. I never imagined I'd see a flush like that so close to the twin cities!!
 
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Winnie really worked this bird this last weekend. He was trying to give her the slip for about 2-3 minutes. She got him up about 15 yards away and down her went. The happiness a dog has when they get to retrieve a bird to hand is simply amazing.
 
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