Can you tell if a shot rooster is going to run?

[calamari]

Friends and I have spent a lot of time talking about this subject. How many times have you shot a rooster and thought you'd blown it up because of the cloud of feathers and that it fell like a rock and when you saunter over to pick it up it's gone? I've come to the conclusion that, after shooting enough pheasants, you can tell if it will be dead on the ground, will run as soon and as fast as it can after it hits the ground or if you have to watch it till it disappears because it's going to die in the air after it flies awhile.
It seems that shot birds that have trouble maintaining their equilibrium and angle down will be dead on the ground. The obvious ones that tumble when they fall generally are dead but some can still move a distance in heavy cover. The ones you think you missed but maybe heard pellets hit or you see their wing beat have a slight hesitation when you shoot are often heart shot and can fly for several hundred yards and just drop dead out of the sky. Always watch a bird you shoot at till you can't see it anymore or it lands for this reason.
The ones to watch out for I think are the ones that when you shoot them they will clamp their wings tight to their body and often with a cloud of feathers trailing them, fall like a stone. I've watched them do this and often fall backwards landing on their back while looking, in effect, over their shoulder at the ground. They bounce once and then I've seen them jump up and run like a rabbit. I shoot those twice in the air even though others think they are already dead.

 

[UplandHntr]

I hate it when they have the landing gear down!!!!

 

[birdshooter]

I watch for the head. For me if the head drops in mid air it's usually the "coup de grace" and it's dead where it falls.

Unless you literally blow one up right off your gun barrel, anything else is a crap shoot. Some will still be alive and able to skulk away, while others may not, you just don't know for sure.

Legs down, head up, you'll be chasing the bird world's version of Usain Bolt. For those not familiar, the world fastest human.....

One things for sure, they wrote the book on the "art of escape"

 

[calamari]

I watch for the head. For me if the head drops in mid air it's usually the "coup de grace" and it's dead where it falls.

Legs down, head up, you'll be chasing the bird world's version of Usain Bolt. For those not familiar, the world fastest human.....

Head drop I agree but I've seen a lot of birds with their heads up and gear down that made a semi controlled landing and were dead where they lit.
A lot of variables being generalized about but you've got to do something till the season opens.

 

[Rooster Roaster]

Good points. I always assume they are going to be running and get the dogs there ASAP.

 

[FCSpringer]

9 times out of 10, your dog should be able to come up with that moving bird. Now there are times where trailing is imposible, like dirt, roads etc. I found that if my dog cant locate this bird they often have done this burry myself thing. It is amazing how they can dig under and lay flat, down at root level of some thick grass. Dang near cant pull them out. So mark the fall, let the dog work, and then walk to the spot and make that dog work in that small spot for a bit. Came up with that bird many times like that. And most times the dog will not smell it unless it spends time right on top of it. But it is there the whole time. They are harder to find then a bird that moves.

 

[mnmthunting]

I like it when the rooster just goes limp in mid air, thumps to the ground, then the "death flutter" Those with their head up with a broken wing flapping, better get the dog on him quick.
My pup had really gotten good with the Sharpies, watching where they fall and she is ON EM!

 

[1pheas4]

My pup had really gotten good with the Sharpies, watching where they fall and she is ON EM!

Yeah, that's a very good feeling isn't it Wayne!:cheers:

I brought my lab (Winston) to SD when he was 6 month old in Oct. 2010. He was great with finding and flushing birds but couldn't find a cripple to save his life Even when they hit the ground running with some tripping and flapping. It was frustrating to say the least. --(dog and my poor shooting!)

I cut that trip short due to loosing too many birds.

 

[1pheas4]

It is amazing how they can dig under and lay flat, down at root level of some thick grass. Dang near cant pull them out. So mark the fall, let the dog work, and then walk to the spot and make that dog work in that small spot for a bit. Came up with that bird many times like that. And most times the dog will not smell it unless it spends time right on top of it. But it is there the whole time. They are harder to find then a bird that moves.

Yes. They can be like Houdini I've seen birds run into a small patch of grass and disappear Can't flush them out of there for nothing. It's as if they just disappeared into thin air.

So knowing the bird is in there, I'll go in and start pulling the overlapping grasses from the ground and sure enough they they are. They will literally let you step on them.

 

[birdshooter]

And then there's the proverbial "Dang I missed that one" (I'm sure everyone has seen this before) where the bird seemingly flies off unscathed, only to suddenly flutter and go straight up and come straight down, stone dead...... :10sign:

Gotta love that one.

 

[calamari]

I cut that trip short due to loosing too many birds.

It's a hard thing to do but I think you did the right thing. I hunt alone now mostly because the last partner I hunted with crippled more birds than he killed and wouldn't take the time to shoot clay targets and get the feel for it back. On the whole, flushing birds are the easiest to shoot once you get a sense of the lead. Find your MoJo and go back.:thumbsup:
jsdriggs, I'm with you. Shooting that falling bird twice is the hardest shot in bird hunting. Hard to pull the trigger and hard because it often requires shooting under the bird which we don't do often on purpose.

 

[OldDublin]

I have had dead roosters run off......likely some manner of religious rebirth was involved.

 

[iowa labs]

i shot a bird wrung his neck good then put him in my pouch and carried on with my hunt. a couple hours later back at the truck with the dogs kenneled i dropped the bird on the ground he jumped up flapped his wings and took off RUNNING!!! luckilly i still had the gun loaded and smoked him good:thumbsup:. :cheers:

 

[Uncle Buck]

A lot of birds that seem dead in the air are lung shot and will be found dead ten to forty feet from where you think they should be. Won't find many without a dog.:coolpics:

 

[mnmthunting]

And then there's the proverbial "Dang I missed that one" (I'm sure everyone has seen this before) where the bird seemingly flies off unscathed, only to suddenly flutter and go straight up and come straight down, stone dead...... :10sign:

Gotta love that one.

Yes! I've had this happen at least a few times. And like Cal says in his post we should watch the bird until it's out of sight. I suspect the bird is bleeding inside and kinda runs out of blood going to the brain. Maybe a BB in a lung?
Makes it hard to get a double or triple on roosters by watching one, but heck who wants to end a days hunt on a triple?

 

[birdshooter]

Yes! I've had this happen at least a few times. And like Cal says in his post we should watch the bird until it's out of sight. I suspect the bird is bleeding inside and kinda runs out of blood going to the brain. Maybe a BB in a lung?
Makes it hard to get a double or triple on roosters by watching one, but heck who wants to end a days hunt on a triple?

Lung or heart shot is my guess. They literally bleed out in mid-air. Damdest thing when you actually witness it. I had it happen one time and the bird flew at least 200 yards and landed right in front of a guy standing on a gravel road. :10sign:

 

[1pheas4]

My dad always called that the "death climb". He thinks it has something to do with adrenaline kicking into overdrive at the moment before death

Looking at the insides of birds that do that, there's always damage their lungs.

 

[cheesy]

I've hunted with dad for pheasants since about 1991 or so. Added my brother in law about 1996 or so. Us three are the core group. We've added a few here and there, but not every year, not always the same guys. Without fail, the first bird that goes down that we know isn't dead right there, all 3 of us take off at a sprint to where it fell, trying to get on it before it takes off. The others usually want to stand around high fiving and 'oh did you see that'. Doesn't take but one bird that has ran off and hard to find for them to change their mind. Always make a solid mark on where it went down, drop a hat when you get there, and start looking for feathers and getting the dogs in. We lose a few, but not very many.

 

[morrismike]

Yes! I've had this happen at least a few times. And like Cal says in his post we should watch the bird until it's out of sight. I suspect the bird is bleeding inside and kinda runs out of blood going to the brain. Maybe a BB in a lung?
Makes it hard to get a double or triple on roosters by watching one, but heck who wants to end a days hunt on a triple?

Duck hunters call that an "oil leak"

 

[DH in Oregon]

Broken Wing

If I see the head roll back and the bird continues on its course but angling to the ground like a lobbed football pass...DEAD Bird. Always.

The pillow feather explosion and the bird keeps beating its wings climbing...then crashes. Running bird that will die eventually. Think of a B52 in those old war movies...shotup but can still make it to base.

Drops out of the sky going either left side down or right side down quickly. You really knocked it out of the air. Suddenly down with no gradual decent. Ever see how quickly a runner goes down when they bust a knee in football? Same type of thing.
BROKEN WING. Always. Guys who think they really hammered the bird because it IMMEDIATELY fell from the air rarely find the bird unless the dog is right on it. That bird is the worst runner of them all. Landing gear and heart/lungs are good...just a bad wing. I am always amazed at how fast a pheasant can run in medium to open fields.

I had one of these birds run for 150 yds and then swim the creek along the edge before the dog found it. We had lost it for about 20 minutes until one of the dogs pointed into the creek cover...dang thang swam like a duck.

Good Hunting