Well, I managed to get out for Pheasants for about 2 hrs after helping my buddy from Pueblo bag a muley doe south of Wray earlier this year. Finally found a bunch flying into a bedding field that was also a WIHA, walked in a knocked down a rooster, but couldn't find him. Bummer!! This is why I got a lab back many years ago when I was stationed at Forbes AFB in Topeka Kansas and used to hunt around Clay Center and Salina where my wife is from(but that's another story). Anyway, I'm now 70 years old (going on 71 later this month) and don't get around as well as I used to. I know from my experience hunting pheasants both with and without a dog that you have a much better chance when there's snow on the ground. I'd like to get back up around Wray but don't want to go there if there's no snow. Anyone know the snow situation up that way? I'd sure like to get out one more time before the end of season. BTW, I live in Albuquerque but I'd drive all the way up there for a couple days of decent pheasant hunting. I think my old Air Force buddy would come up also. We might also do ducks if there are any around. He used to hunt Bonney but it's dry, dry, dry...I know there are still ducks lingering around there since we saw some back in November during his deer hunt.
Any snow in ne corner?
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PairOfLabs
Active member
I hunted around Yuma on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1/6 & 7, and there was definitely snow on the ground. It got up into the 40s on Tuesday so the snow softened up and the roads got sloppy, then froze hard Tuesday night. The snow on Wed. was very crusty-sometimes you were on top, then not. We saw birds but it was hard to get close or surround them with 4 guys and 5 dogs. The snow was noisy and the going was slow. We had only two shots for the 4-some, one bird.
POL
POL
shaneatkinson82
New member
New guy with a dumb question....why is it better to hunt pheasants with fresh snow?
carptom1
Well-known member
One advantage is you can see tracks. I have actually followed them to a bird before. It also lets you know if there are birds in the area. Birds will also typically hold better in the fresh snow. Last thing, especially if you have a flusher, it is just freakin cool to watch them root it out of the snow.
You guys all beat me to the punch. That's just what I was going to say. Plus there's one more fact the two of you forgot: If you knock one down in cover, you will probably find it if you don't have a dog since you can track it in the snow. I recall one day many years ago in Kansas when I was hunting alone in fresh snow in a little corner where two roads came together. It was a small triangle of brushy cover and some trees, just what pheasant like. I walked in and after a short walk, a nice rooster got up on the other side of some pine trees and flew off. I had no shot so I just watched the rooster sail out about a quarter mile and dive to the ground near a fence line. I figured, "What the heck, I'll just go see if I can find him again in this snow." I went over and started walking up the fence line. The snow had drifted up around the fence line, and it was in places at least a foot deep, maybe even 18 inches. I soon found his tracks and began following them. I followed them up hill for about 75 yards when I noticed the tracks ended before the top of the hill. I had not seen the bird fly and I could not figure out what happened. I noticed an oval depression in the loose snow in front of the last track and I walked up to it and bent over to see if perhaps it would give me a clue as to what happened. I thought maybe some unknown animal had snatched up the rooster and I could figure out what had happened by looking closely at the depression in the snow. As I knelt down to inspect the depression, the rooster suddenly burst out of the snow about a foot in front of that depression, showering snow all over me. Startled, I stood up and too hastily banged out two shots as the rooster caught the wind and turned. Both shots missed cleanly as I was so rattled I don't even think I got the gun to my shoulder. That bird deserved to live and hopefully sired a few broods of Kansas pheasants that Spring. Anyway, I love to hunt them in the snow. It's the only time I feel I have a decent chance without a dog. 
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shaneatkinson82
New member
Basically what I was thinking in regards to the tracks. The rest is good info to know. Thank you.
Just got back from hunting out there this weekend. Crusty snow for sure. I was alerting them and they were taking advantage of that fact from about two hundred yards out. 0 shots fired, one rooster in the bag. Go figure. My lab is a better hunter than I am, pulled that sucker right out of the air. Still trying to pick my jaw up off the ground.
Well, my buddy and I got out for the last 4 days of the season. We ran into a very nice guy named Bill (some call him "Wild Bill") with a wonderful dog named Pistol as we were sitting and watching birds fly out of some private land onto a WIHA. I had tried to hunt it the last time we were up there and managed to down a rooster but could not recover it in the heavy cover. Anyway, to make a long story short, Bill had access to a lot of private land so we hunted with him the rest of the time. We saw a lot of birds but most flushed wild, I mean, really wild. Start into a weed field and after 10 yards watch the birds flying out 300 yds away. A couple held for us and I managed to shoot a nice old rooster on my birthday (don't ask!) plus another one the next day and my buddy also came home with two birds. So all in all, I was happy to have downed a couple more wild birds. And for those who wonder, I was shooting a Browning O/U 20 gauge using 7 1/2s!! I usually load those in my under barrel and put 6s on top but found I had no 6s so it was 7 1/2s all the way. I did make a very long shot on a bird using that load so I know it works, but better from the side.