are there greener pastures elsewhere?

1

1stout

Member
Is it me or are the birds extremely jumpy when the weather is nice? I walk through the grass field that's full of birds and they are flying before I can even get close and it just gets frustrating. I try and post my wife where she can get some shooting but they rarely fly where I want them to. The farm I hunt sees hunters every weekend for the most part, should I be looking for somewhere else to hunt? I prefer hunting behind my dog and don't like driving the birds in big groups (just not as fun to me) and my wife likes hunting with the dog as well but can't keep up with us (especially this year, she's 5 months pregnant) so she ends up posting most of the time. The one day we had wind and a little snow we got 6 roosters and 1 sharptail otherwise when it's nice I struggle. What other tactics do people use to get close to the birds when the weather is nice? Also what do you do to keep your dog from taking out birds when they are holding, my dog took out 4 hens and a rooster 2 days ago when we were out? Fun hunt just don't like to see the loss of the hens.

Michael
 
Michael, I assume you are hunting around Hudson WI? At any rate it sounds like nice weather is hampering your hunting style. Simple solution: Hunt in nasty weather. USE wind and snow to your advantage. If you get a 6 inch snowfall I would take off work and got out the next day because birds will hold as they cannot run.

Use the wind to add stealth to your hunt. When weather is nice they spread out and feed and can pretty much detect your approach whether stealth or not.

Your wife can enjoy the dog work if you walk and block a piece of cover correctly. Most action occurs during last 1/3 of hunt so then slow down once you get it surrounded and let the dogs work.

Suit up on a windy day and work everything from downwind without blockers. They won't hear you if you approach in silence and use element of surprise. When they are surprised they will hunker as opposed to running.

Happy New Year and let us know how you do.
 
I would have to agree with UGUIDE. When the weather is nice the birds are flighty. Wind plays a big part. When the wind died down today the birds were getting up way ahead. I wish I had an answer for dogs snatching birds out of the snow. Ever sense we got blasted with a bunch of the white stuff my dogs have been grabbing about one a day. We just try to release them if they are not too beaten up.
 
Usually the birds are OK but this last trip they did not make it, it was -14 the other morning and maybe that was too hard on them. My dog is generally a flusher and is doing what she is supposed to do, the birds just aren't flying away like they normally would. I've got some pasture land on my farm that I want to do some training on with both dogs but haven't found anyone very close to get any birds from, I'm going to try building a pigeon trap and see how that goes.

Uguide (and everyone) Thanks for the advice, I hunt east of Mobridge and am done for the year :( There aren't enough birds in WI to chase so I stick with deer and grouse around my place and make 2 trips to SD a year. I also tried going silent and that worked pretty well, it's just tough to keep the dog as close as I would like her but we did pretty good. I never get my limit for the week but that's fine, I just wish I could get my wife more birds, every trip she just gets one. This is mainly due to her missing them, she shoots trap with me and we practice plenty but she just has issues hitting the birds, but it's only her second year so I'll give it a little more time.
 
He didn't say pointer or flusher in his first post and with a sharptail in the bag, this was not Hudson ... suspect Dakotas.


I do most of my hunting with a small group or even by myself. In heavy cover >> for almost every bird flushing wild there is probably another hold tight or even running behind you. Especially true in winter / snow cattails. true other times as well...

One fall we were driving between farms and there were a dozen birds (about half roosters) on the road ahead. A pick up truck was ahead of us. This pickup truck pulled over on the side of the road and two guys and a springer were heading into the little 15 acre slough the birds flew and ran into.

We parked a safe distance away, got out some snacks and watched the show ... These guys flushed two or three hens ... the rest of the birds ran out of the slough, over the road, in front of their pick up, and into the posted field on the other side of the road ... these guys never knew where the birds went.
 
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Silent is the KEY in late season pheasant hunting when alone or in a small group. But again, in heavier cover ... there are birds that do not fly on the first pass ... including roosters.

Difficult on the mind and body to keep working the same area over and over, but it works. Shot many a rooster while looking for a downed bird and sweeping an area over and over ...
 
Some hold tight, many don't

I've seen those days when it looks like every bird in the county is getting up way ahead. One trip in SD there were only 3 of us and 2 dogs. We were talking about how to work this stubble field and all of a sudden it looked like the field just got up and ran away. Very sparse cover, but it was loaded with birds. We were very frustrated because none held to stay behind, they all ran off.

Like some others have said, a lot of birds will hold, though. The dumb ones, at least and I've shot a lot of birds from fields that had already been hunted. The smart ones are gone and live another day.

Not to cut down your dog, so please don't be offended, but if your wife is having trouble keeping up, it may be because your dog is working out too far ahead? He may not be covering much of the cover then while getting out in front a ways, forcing you to run to keep up and missing a lot of birds. Do some training on teaching him to quarter to the whistle and keep him close, methodically working the ground and I think you will have more success. I dislike having to chase a dog around the field all day and would rather have him hunting for me instead of me hunting for him.
 
Like some others have said, a lot of birds will hold, though. The dumb ones, at least and I've shot a lot of birds from fields that had already been hunted. The smart ones are gone and live another day.
Click to expand...

Not so sure your are correct on your smart vs dumb analogy. If there are posters well positioned, the birds that get up early are often shot quickly. Sure some hold tight are found and killed, but there are plenty of birds that are never located ... they are passed by on a daily basis.

I hunted a fresh sweet clover patch (rather thin cover) that was surrounded on three sides by snowy fields and the fourth side lead down to a slough. I walked the cover three times (back and forth). Each time the dog pointed and we moved birds. The third pass we finally pinned roosters and took home birds. I knew birds were moving around us because they were leaving tracks in my footprints.

In SD the big $$$ drives move from one cover to the next. They play the odds of moving more birds means more birds in the bag. For those paying $$$ it also elevates the bird count seen. I would suspect getting these guys to walk the same cover back and forth with be problematic at best.

But for those hunting smaller cover or in smaller groups - mind over matter is key.

I have "stepped" on many a 150 class or better whitetails while pheasant hunting. These big deer disappear in the small sloughs. Once they flush they are easily seen from a long ways away in dakota country. Deer that flush out quickly at the first disturbance are the first to get shot.

The smartest animals are those you never see.
 
Brittman, You've got a valid point, too. I was thinking about when you pull up to hunt a patch and while you are getting out the guns and dogs, there's dozens of birds going out the far side. Or how about those birds the guys watched run out of a field some others were hunting. But I agree, too, that ones that hunker down often have hunters and dogs walk right on by and they live another day. I guess the smart ones are the ones that break or hold at the right time. Eh?

Anyway, the season is over, it was minus 5 here this morning and we've a long time to wait before the '09 season! Thank God there's ice fishing!
 
Flighty Birds

An old timer, a life-long resident of Hill City, Kansas, pure ringneck country, told me that when bird populations are down, the birds are more flighty. A survival mechanism perhaps.
 
Even in heavy cover, if there are trails/paths pheasants will run. And run until they get to thick stuff or fly. Not a big deal early season. Later the dumb ones are gone. If you want to work a dog go to the thickest stuff around and work.
 
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