A recap of this past season..

I live 420 miles away…think if you lived close by, and could hunt 3,4,5 days per week, even for a few hours…hard not shooting a lot of birds….I’m planning my last trip as we speak…may be a warm up in about 10 days…I’ve got some landowners to properly thank for the last outing…baby back ribs from Duquette general store….$22 per rack…AMAZING! 😜😜
 
Each rack is situated in a rectangular cardboard box, with a handle…enclosed in foil, sauced one of three ways…they’re hot, I put them in a cooler and they’re still hot hours later, especially if there are 3,4, 5 racks in there. Many people get 2 or more meals per rack…I don’t! 🥳❤️
 
benelli-banger said:
That would be the ticket! 😆😆 I actually try to operate incognito, appear like a lost librarian or soccer dad that followed the phone’s directions too
benelli-banger said:
It’s about days afield…and hunting in productive areas…and, in SD, where party hunting is legal, #’s can add up pretty quickly…most years, across the whole SD season, I suspect I average 3.75, 4, 4.5, per day; most years I’m over 30 days…this year, I’ll probably be in the middle or high 20’s, and, have done more solo hunting or small groups, so #’s are lower than other years in the past 5, 10 years. It‘s rare when I enter a piece of cover and don’t get a bird…it does happen, but not too often. I always have the goal of at least getting a bird or two for the pair, or small group of us...usually happens, not always. I’ve done many short days this year..an hour or two after I arrive or before I depart…mostly one or two bird outings…but 6,7,8 bird days offset those lower days. Had a group of 5 adults and 2 teenagers a month ago…not serious hunters, a few of us killed a disproportionate share. I’ve hunted most of these spots for decades, at least 5 years in all cases…helps knowing what the birds often do.
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Yeah I have shot my nephews birds a few times.He is a work in progress.
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cyclonenation10 said:
Was fortunate enough to make it out hunting for at-least a quick hunt all but 15 days this past season in Iowa. Some of these were very quick "golden hour" hunts, but I had a few weeks of PTO, hunted every weekend, and didn't miss a Holiday. Very lucky to have a flexible work schedule.

Of the hunts I was on (this includes several days with multiple people, but most often it was myself, my dad, and a friend), we bagged 324 wild roosters. 25 of those were on public, the rest private. 90% of these would have been flushed and/or retrieved by one of my two golden retrievers. Was able to get a couple of young kids there first roosters during youth season, and a handful of other adults their first roosters ever or in several years. That part is quite rewarding.

Shot birds in 17 different counties in the state. I have now shot a rooster on public land in 68 different counties in Iowa over the past 4 seasons, and hope to reach all 99 in the next 5-6 years. I've virtually hunted everything within 2 hours of me, so making day trips to try and knock-off new counties has become quite a challenge.

I put ~10,000 miles on my truck this hunting season.

My overall observations were..
-Bird numbers seemed to be lower than the past few years, but still strong.
-Exponentially more hunting pressure both public and private. If this trend continues, I think it will become even harder than it is already to gain permission on private lands.
-Where there is good habitat, the birds thrive virtually everywhere in the state. Best hunting still north of HWY 20 and West of I-35.
- Overall, a very good season, both the dogs and I are ready for a break.View attachment 7312
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I'm calling bs on this.
 
cyclonenation10 said:
Was fortunate enough to make it out hunting for at-least a quick hunt all but 15 days this past season in Iowa. Some of these were very quick "golden hour" hunts, but I had a few weeks of PTO, hunted every weekend, and didn't miss a Holiday. Very lucky to have a flexible work schedule.

Of the hunts I was on (this includes several days with multiple people, but most often it was myself, my dad, and a friend), we bagged 324 wild roosters. 25 of those were on public, the rest private. 90% of these would have been flushed and/or retrieved by one of my two golden retrievers. Was able to get a couple of young kids there first roosters during youth season, and a handful of other adults their first roosters ever or in several years. That part is quite rewarding.

Shot birds in 17 different counties in the state. I have now shot a rooster on public land in 68 different counties in Iowa over the past 4 seasons, and hope to reach all 99 in the next 5-6 years. I've virtually hunted everything within 2 hours of me, so making day trips to try and knock-off new counties has become quite a challenge.

I put ~10,000 miles on my truck this hunting season.

My overall observations were..
-Bird numbers seemed to be lower than the past few years, but still strong.
-Exponentially more hunting pressure both public and private. If this trend continues, I think it will become even harder than it is already to gain permission on private lands.
-Where there is good habitat, the birds thrive virtually everywhere in the state. Best hunting still north of HWY 20 and West of I-35.
- Overall, a very good season, both the dogs and I are ready for a break.View attachment 7312
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I’d be curious as to your experience with cripples, choke, shot size…I assume you’re shooting mostly lead? Maybe you’ve offered this info in prior threads, sorry if that’s the case…you’re a treasure-trove of data!
 
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benelli-banger said:
I’d be curious as to your experience with cripples, choke, shot size…I assume you’re shooting mostly lead? Maybe you’ve offered this info in prior threads, sorry if that’s the case…you’re a treasure trove of data!
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Cripples - lose very few birds, but it does happen. We lost 8 birds this year total. Most of them being in bigger groups where someone shoots one a ways away from one of the dogs. I almost never lose birds alone, but that's where my golden retriever shines. Lacks a bit in other areas, but does not lose many cripples. If he sees a bird go down, he will find it 99% of the time. I am not the worlds best shot by any stretch, and don't miss many, but don't kill many dead either. I would lose ALOT of birds if I didn't have a great retrieving dog. He flushes plenty of birds, but pairing him with one of my friends good pointers is deadly.

Shot Size/Choke - Shoot improved modified year round. Have played around with chokes before but that seems to be the best for me. I do not spend much time patterning or anything, and this is purely anecdotal. I shoot cheaper Kent FastLead 5/6 shot early season, and then from December on I shoot 5 shot 2 3/4 prairie storm. On public, I shoot the 3" prairie storm 2 shot steel.
 
cyclonenation10 said:
Cripples - lose very few birds, but it does happen. We lost 8 birds this year total. Most of them being in bigger groups where someone shoots one a ways away from one of the dogs. I almost never lose birds alone, but that's where my golden retriever shines. Lacks a bit in other areas, but does not lose many cripples. If he sees a bird go down, he will find it 99% of the time. I am not the worlds best shot by any stretch, and don't miss many, but don't kill many dead either. I would lose ALOT of birds if I didn't have a great retrieving dog. He flushes plenty of birds, but pairing him with one of my friends good pointers is deadly.

Shot Size/Choke - Shoot improved modified year round. Have played around with chokes before but that seems to be the best for me. I do not spend much time patterning or anything, and this is purely anecdotal. I shoot cheaper Kent FastLead 5/6 shot early season, and then from December on I shoot 5 shot 2 3/4 prairie storm. On public, I shoot the 3" prairie storm 2 shot steel.
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IM…interesting…I need to at least go LM if I go back out to SD…IC works well for me, but I’m gonna go LM if I go, maybe even M….👍👍
 
benelli-banger said:
He hunted 60 days, full or part…amazing how fast you can kill 3 birds, especially later in the day…
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Goosemaster said:
I'm calling bs on this.
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I've probably got time stamped pictures of all but a few hunts. I'd have no reason to come on this forum and BS anyone.

I've tracked every hunt in excel for the last 5 years, and could tell you the approximate time and exact location of every bird killed.

I don't claim to be a better hunter than anyone, but have been fortunate enough to be able to spend lots of time knocking on doors the past several years and have a ton of private ground to hunt pretty much whenever I'd like. That's the key, if I didn't have access to a ton of private land I would struggle to shoot a bunch of birds on just public ground.
 
Goosemaster said:
Yeah Yeah. I have some real estate in Florida I will sell you.
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You’re entitled to your opinion, for sure…a good dog or two, a decent amount of private ground, and 60 outings? Hard not to kill North of 100 birds…especially in a year that was devoid of snow, at least where I hunt in SD…there was a crust last trip, 9-13 days ago, but not enough to make walking tough…did spook birds one day, big time…
 
cyclonenation10 said:
Cripples - lose very few birds, but it does happen. We lost 8 birds this year total. Most of them being in bigger groups where someone shoots one a ways away from one of the dogs. I almost never lose birds alone, but that's where my golden retriever shines. Lacks a bit in other areas, but does not lose many cripples. If he sees a bird go down, he will find it 99% of the time. I am not the worlds best shot by any stretch, and don't miss many, but don't kill many dead either. I would lose ALOT of birds if I didn't have a great retrieving dog. He flushes plenty of birds, but pairing him with one of my friends good pointers is deadly.

Shot Size/Choke - Shoot improved modified year round. Have played around with chokes before but that seems to be the best for me. I do not spend much time patterning or anything, and this is purely anecdotal. I shoot cheaper Kent FastLead 5/6 shot early season, and then from December on I shoot 5 shot 2 3/4 prairie storm. On public, I shoot the 3" prairie storm 2 shot steel.
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12 gauge or 20?
 
Miforester said:
I've been doing this my whole hunting career.
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I was mostly just referring to it as keeping track of roosters bagged during a season. Not really "collecting" them. But that's fine too if it floats your boat.

I'd rather ride a bike than drive a minivan. I hate those things. We always had one growing up and I vowed to never own one as a adult. I'm sticking with the truck and SUV crowd.
 
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