50 Roosters Walked By My Treestand Tonight

[UGUIDE]

I have never seen anything like this. Has anybody had 50 roosters walk by their treestand before?

The last tow days I was hunting with 2 buddies and we got 8 birds yesterday and hunting 3 hours today got 4. The 4 we got were within several hundred yards of where this treestand was.

Earlier in day the SD fighter jets were doing manuevers over our airspace and 3 sonic booms let go. It is hard to believe the shock calls from the roosters in the area when you have a hard time kicking up a bird after walking a country mile.

I am convinced that walking thru major cover with 2 dogs and 3 guys is almost futile and like parting the sea of pheasants as they are train to just move over and let us pass. Most hunting have no idea and think there are no pheasants around. Not true!

From my treestand tonight I saw no less than 100 roosters and 90% of the birds I saw were roosters. Hard to imagine.

This latest spectacle is what gives me the utmost respect for this game species.

Saw no deer tonight and thinking about bringing shotgun to deerstand tomorrow night to see if I can bag a limit from the deer stand.

 

[1pheas4]

Nice. I've had a 1/2 doz. come by one particular stand before. They were moving a few rows in the corn though. Couldn't see them, just here them talking. Had a few fly by too. Nothing like what you had though.

Yeah, wild birds can be like Houdini. I've seen a large group of birds land 15/20 yards from my dad and I as they came into roost. We immediately walking in, dog going nuts, and we produced nothing. Not one! All of them where gone within seconds. Not a sound from one of them. Not even moving weeds. They were just gone. It was awesome how they just disappeared.

I think that's part of the reason we like to hunting pheasants so much. Bagging one is a nice treat. It's one of the few times we actually get a good look at them. Other than that, they're out of sight for the most part. They're mysterious in a way.

----Those fighters are fun to watch out there aren't they? I've seen them "dog fighting" with flares one time in SD. Can't beat shooting a limit of roosters with F-16's flying over head. Cool stuff.:thumbsup:

 

[onpoint]

I'm just down the road from Chris and have heard those sonic booms before. They knock stuff off the wall at times. I have sometimes wondered about if you found a good location where the birds move to feed in the evening. Where you could set up on them. Obviously you are inline for just such a place Chris. Don't laugh, I thought about using some pheasant decoys and a pheasant call myself..LOL That's the old duck hunter in me coming out.

Good luck, keep us posted on your success. I noticed a substantial decrease in the whitetail population. Lots of dead carcasses around the slews and lake.

 

[1pheas4]

Don't laugh, I thought about using some pheasant decoys and a pheasant call myself..LOL That's the old duck hunter in me coming out.

I won't laugh onpoint. This works well in the spring time. You can bring them in very close! Can't shoot them with a gun but a camera and a few good memories are possible:thumbsup:

 

[Grey Fox]

Interesting story UG, we had similar back in 2000 in north central SD. We were hunting 80 ac of CRP with 3 hunters and 4 labs, including 2 seasoned bird finders and 2 young dogs. We were near the end of the field when about 60-80 pheasants flew in from adjacent stubble and landed in the edge of the CRP. We quickly formed a circle sweep to push them into the corner. There was at least a foot of fluffy snow in the grass. As I recal we maybe moved a couple hens. There were no tracks as the snow was fluffy, it was like they disappeared. Admittedly, the birds easily could have sunk below the snow and held tight, but my dogs had been digging downed birds out of that deep powder for two days with no problem. Here in MN we have been watching a group of at least 30 roosters on a neighbor's property since the season opened. They've pretty much stayed together the whole time, we see them when they fly accross the road mornings and evenings.

 

[kick them up]

Had 10 roosters in front of me last week in W. KS when hunting deer in my ground blind the day before the season opened. Went there saturday and found 6 rooster still there... It was the best we did all weekend.

 

[1pheas4]

Had 10 roosters in front of me last week in W. KS when hunting deer in my ground blind the day before the season opened. Went there saturday and found 6 rooster still there... It was the best we did all weekend.

I'm not one for sitting in a deer stand for too long. I have to move around too much. But I can say one of the things I really do enjoy is sitting there and blending in with nature for a period of time.

The deer hunter really has a unique opportunity to view wildlife/nature like no other. It definitely brings the stress of daily life down a few notches!

 

[oldandnew]

I'm not one for sitting in a deer stand for too long. I have to move around too much. But I can say one of the things I really do enjoy is sitting there and blending in with nature for a period of time.

The deer hunter really has a unique opportunity to view wildlife/nature like no other. It definitely brings the stress of daily life down a few notches!

I worry that some over anxious pheasant hunter will swing through and bag me! I have been surprised by a camoflagued hunter in an area where I thought there were none! Makes you fidgety assuming they are everywhere.

 

[UGUIDE]

Yes, it is hard to describe how natures moves around you when in the deer stand. The rush of mallards wings before day break. 100 mallards sounds like the wind when circling low over fields.

I rattled in my first 2 bucks ever. I passed on a nice 8 pt and nice 10 pt but neither were mature deer.

I decided it was not fair to hunters to have all those bird use the deer refuge for pheasant refuge so I mowed off moth sides. Cleared about 200 birds out of there. It was very weedy and needed clipping first thing in the spring anyways.

 

[Chip]

I wish you would have done that last week. We saw 100's of birds fly into the deer refuge as soon as they would feel a little pressure. It was hard but we did not go in there after them. If we have a favorable winter and spring with the number of hens we saw it should be terrific. We saw several dead deer on both the east and west farm. A real shame.
Chip from Virginia