Beautiful day Thursday…☀️

B

benelli-banger

Well-known member
Brisk wind NNW around 15-20, enough to cover much of the noise that a solo hunter and 2-3 dogs makes. Got to 45, almost too warm. Walked 10+ miles. Saw 100+ birds, many of them flushing wild. Biggest concentrations in cattail sloughs, birds held fairly tight thanks to the wind. Many times they were in kochia weeds on edges of the sloughs…hold pretty well in that cover. Over half my walking was on my ground, more grass vs heavy cover…birds not holding very well, no reason to. Did come out with one, lucky shot that resulted from one of my dogs putting it up too far ahead in strip of corn, bird caught the wind and sailed towards me, but south of me as he headed East riding that wind…3rd shot did him in, he bounced about 2.5’ when he hit the deck! The wind took him once hit, for sure, but he landed over 70 yards away. Shot pretty well, missed one that I would call a moderately difficult shot…3 that I got were easy, easy, and difficult. Snow coming today, should make for good hunting the rest of the trip. Good luck to those venturing out! Godawful dry conditions, I will say…snow will help scenting.
 
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I’ve had a handful of first-snow hunts…today isn’t technically a first-snow where I am, but the first one was pretty light, and been gone for awhile…temps were in the ‘60’s for several days a week or ten days ago…hunting while the first real snow is falling is a blast. Just started falling about 30 minutes ago….
 
Two of us have 4 at the moment…lunch break…first slough had nothing, must have been in huge shelter belt nearby…second slough had 75+ I would say, but a bit too big for 2 of us…my buddy did get one…lack of wind hurt us, they used and abused us! Hunted a strip of cedars, got 3 in there…key is hunting smaller, more confined pieces of cover. That’s the plan for the afternoon. I killed a bird at an exceptionally long distance that came out of the cedars..,I would estimate the distance at a very long field goal in the NFL…bird was flying over picked corn, dropped him, he ran about 10 yards before a dog grabbed him…#5 lead, 2 3/4”, 1220 fps…IC choke…going away bird…3rd shot…🧐 about 5” of snow so far…4.3 miles so far.
 
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Finish strong. In Iowa the snow has just started here, supposed to quit around 3:00AM or so, should be awesome conditions here in the morning. Hope to remember to take a pic or 2.
 
benelli-banger said:
Two of us have 4 at the moment…lunch break…first slough had nothing, must have been in huge shelter belt nearby…second slough had 75+ I would say, but a bit too big for 2 of us…my buddy did get one…lack of wind hurt us, they used and abused us! Hunted a strip of cedars, got 3 in there…key is hunting smaller, more confined pieces of cover. That’s the plan for the afternoon. I killed a bird at an exceptionally long distance that came out of the cedars..,I would estimate the distance at a very long field goal in the NFL…bird was flying over picked corn, dropped him, he ran about 10 yards before a dog grabbed him…#5 lead, 2 3/4”, 1220 fps…IC choke…going away bird…3rd shot…🧐 about 5” of snow so far…4.3 miles so far.
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You know if you ever need a third guy to help you corral those buggers in Dec. just let me know!
 
Back in Iowa, I started today by pushing and blowing snow from the driveway and neighbors sidewalks. The snow had quit by 5:00, we received close to 3" I am guessing. Finished that and we headed-out only a few minutes late. Decent temps and clear skys. Will add to this in the Iowa forum as not to hy-jack here. Keep hitting us with field up-dates B-B.
 
Great day today. Hunted smaller chunks, a few bigger sloughs as well…a few pieces had100+ birds. Sunny, not much wind, but even after a slough erupts and 50-100 flush, plenty of birds holding tight. 20 degrees, dogs were hitting on 8 cylinders….
 
I love hunting after a fresh snow. Probably my favorite conditions. Had that exact opportunity on Saturday and took advantage in Central MN. As soon as I would see tracks, birds were nearby. I raised over 40 pheasants in 3 hours and went home with 3 roosters.
 
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