Are pheasants more skittish on windy days?

CO_Weimar

CO_Weimar

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Are pheasants more skittish on windy days?

So far this season, I have been out on two windy days, and both days the birds were flushing well out of range. By windy, I mean corn husks blowing in the wind and tumbleweed rolling across the top of CRP fields. Both windy days resulted in no shots and no birds.

*I am, or attempt to be, really quiet - gear up before I get to a field, dont slam doors, dont use a whistle, dont say anything to the dogs, etc.

Coincidentally, on the windy days, I have brought along one particular dog, with a lot of run. On the not so windy days, I have brought along the "old pro" who never gets in a hurry and actually slows down when there are birds in the area. It makes me wonder ...

Anyhow, just wondering about experiences with birds on windy days.
:cheers:
 
I have always found that birds are way more jumpy when the wind blows. It seems backwards like they can hear you coming when it is calm, but that is not the case. I will take a calm day light winds for birds that will hold really tightly.
 
I think if it is really windy the birds seem to be on edge more and flush out of range more often than not. But it also depends on what kind of cover they are in. To me it seems that if they are in grass or in a fence line they will flush sooner. But if they are in cattails or a crop field with cover they seem to hold better. The two pheasants below held well in a cut milo field and the wind was blowing from 20-30 mph that day.

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Nice pic, Bigj!

I was just thinking about another windy day in Goodland, KS a few years ago. It started out with freezing fog, with ice building up on the truck's antenna, by mid morning it was 25 degrees and very windy. I started hunting along a terraced area with irrigation ditches and a dozen pheasants flushed out ... scared the crap out of me, and I somehow managed to shoot one. :laugh:

Seems like they might hunker down and settle a bit more in heavy cover out of the weather.

The past two windy days that I have hunted, the birds have been in tumbleweed along fence lines, in tall wheat stubble.

Goldenboy - I agree ... I will take calm over windy any day!

:cheers:

Ice building up on the antenna from the freezing fog. My buddy had already been hunting for a few days. He punched out early that day and said "My heart just isn't in it today". ;-)

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I agree with Bigj about the cover making the difference. Two of the past three weekends i hunted were very windy and i had birds holding very tight needing to be right up on them to flush them. Same fields both days with heavy cover one area is weeds up to my arm pits with the wind blowing north to south one day and opposite the other day. I run with an 8-9 year old GSP so she is still active but a bit slower then she used to be so she doesn't get out to far but she really never did.

Bigj, is that a wirehair and if so did you get it locally? great looking dog, i have been thinking of a wirehair for my next hunting buddy.
 
Blaze is a wirehair. I got him from a guy in utah that couldn't keep him anymore. He had two intact males and a female and only two kennels so he had to get rid of one. You might want to check out Smoke Creek GWPs in Bennet. I think he is the closest breeder to the denver metro area. I knew a guy I worked with that had a GWP from smoke creek and really liked him.
 
If you're hunting by yourself; the wind is your friend. Hunt into the wind, change directions often and stop often for 15 or 20 seconds. I love hunting with my dogs and have for many years, but back in the day, I bagged a bunch of birds using the zig zag and stop method.
 
CO_Weimar said:
By windy, I mean corn husks blowing in the wind and tumbleweed rolling across the top of CRP fields. Both windy days resulted in no shots and no birds.:cheers:
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Weimar, I have a story for you. A few weeks back I had the same thing happen. 40 mph winds, crop debris and dust blowing everywhere, getting smacked in the face with wind blown Indian grass!

Anyway, there were a half dozen roosters that waited until the last 5-10 minutes of day light to roost. I could tell they were older roosters. Excited, I signaled my dog over to my side---we had the wind in our favor and within 1 minute we were on top of where those birds landed. Great! The dog worked for 30 seconds or so and the next thing I knew those roosters were already gone and flushing well out of range.

It was obvious they knew where were coming. How they knew had me scratching my head:confused:. The amount of noise out there was ridiculous due to all the weeks and corn smacking into each other from the wind. Either way, they knew we were on our way and got the heck out of there fast!

So, most of the time wind will hold birds. In this case (and yours) it did not.

Some say birds can sense vibrations on the ground from use walking/running. Others say it's as simple as hearing us from a long distance away regardless of background noise such as wind---so those smart, older birds hear us and run/fly out of range before we can get in range.

To be honest, I'm not really sure. Maybe it's both.

Nick
 
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Thanks guys!

Sorry, I have been out of commission with a virus for the past week and couldnt remember how to start my computer. :p

I use the zig zag method ... I have ADD, so zig zag, stop-start is in my DNA. :laugh:

:cheers:
 
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