Any tips for the dogless birdhunter ?

T

Thunderstick

New member
Hi everyone ! I've been lurking for a couple weeks and just registered. I'm heading to Kansas for the first time this Mid-December, but the reality is my sweet little Springer is just too old and lame to pursue the wily ringnecks with me any longer. So... I'm dogless. Any tips for hunting without a dog ? I know the "fish-hook" method of quickly turning back on your route every 30 yds. or so. Any other suggestions ? ( besides killing them dead in the air !) I've also heard of the "Stop - Pause - Start" I wonder how long to pause... 30 seconds or a couple minutes. I know the odds are against me, but WTH, I'm not getting any younger and my shooting isn't all that good anyway!;).

I'll be hunting WIHA, and have very recently been given some contact information for a friend's cousins who are farmers in North Central part of state. Should I concentrate on the public land or follow up with the local farmers connection?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jim Schmidt
 
i'll be going to ks to hunt every weekend in dec. i have a pretty decent german shorthair. maybe we could meet up somewhere in ks and get together for a hunt or something.
 
Thanks Mr. GSP4 ! :cheers: I will send you a PM. Hunting with you and your pointer would be a first and a real treat as I'm thinking of getting a pointing breed once my little Tessie is gone. In case that doesn't come together though, I'm still interested in solo dogless tactics.

Thunderstick
 
Best advice that I know,pick smaller CRP plots,then you can go down the middle makeing as much noise that you can.Then start working the edges as quiet as you can,stopping every 20-30 steps for a couple of mins.Zig zag your walking pattern,go straight for 10 steps turn 90 degrees either r or l,walk 10 steps then turn around, go back to your "line"Look for changes in the cover,draws thicker grass ect.Always work the draw edges.If the wind is howling,work the leyward side,birds don't like the wind either.
Good luck,if you do this right you should be in a field for 2-3 hours.You won't get to hunt a bunch of different plots,so find some with grain along the edges,if you can.
I hope this helps.
 
I would definitely listen to what the locals are saying. They should be able to point you in the right direction. The problem with walk-in is that you just cannot be certain if someone has already hunted it, so go with private if you can. GL
________
Enzo (car)
 
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Fresh snow is your friend. You can't smell the birds, but you can see where they've done some high steppin'. Tracking them in the snow will also show you why zig-zagging is solid advice.

Pausing is right-on, too. In my limited experience, two seconds was long enough, so, maybe 20 seconds, at most, if you want to breathe and take in the sights, sounds/silence, smells, and scenery. (Maybe we should do a thread on pause frequency and duration.)

Bilbo Baggins is the King of the Dogless and a hugely successful pheasant hunter. You could do worse than to read his threads and posts.
 
We will be in NW Kansas on the 15-18th of Dec. My wife and I and 2 other guys and six dogs. Look us up for hunt if you wish.
 
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what has worked for me this year (solo & w/o dog), is finding thick stuff adjacent to a crop field (all harvested now where I have been stomping ground), never going into cover taller than mid chest height - can't mount a gun - doing the "traditional" zig & zag, walk 25 paces, pause & count 10 then turning 90 degrees and repeat; seems monotonous but it has been working. I have only hunted one field that is private the rest have been WIHA
 
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