cattails and corn

M

michpheasant

New member
the pheasants are in the corn and cat tails but very hard to find. We are wondering if there's any land south of Aberdeen to hunt or Watertown.? How's everyone else doing out there this week?
 
If you've had enough of working cattails hit the ditches along corn stubble. They'll be much easier to find.:cheers:
 
1pheas4 said:
If you've had enough of working cattails hit the ditches along corn stubble. They'll be much easier to find.:cheers:
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i am fortunate to have a "tank", an 85 lb. pudelpointer who loves to bulldoze his way thru the tails....fun to watch the snow fall off the tails and watch him make his own path thru the thick stuff....don't hunt late enough to see him do that every year...wish i did, good luck.
 
michpheasant said:
the pheasants are in the corn and cat tails but very hard to find. We are wondering if there's any land south of Aberdeen to hunt or Watertown.? How's everyone else doing out there this week?
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Forget about hunting around Watertown. Very slim pickins around here. Much better southwest of Aberdeen.
 
Any particular area southwest of Aberdeen? We are freezing out there and need to find some birds for motivation! Haha. . Happy thanksgiving
 
One point about hunting cattails deserves mentioning. Because the birds are in the cattails, that is where the dogs need to go. Not running the edge, but actually in the thick of it. A lot of dogs want to come out of the cattails and run along the edge because it is easier. As soon as that happens they need to be sent right back in. Once they figure out that is where the birds are they will spend more time in the sweet spot.
 
I killed two roosters this week that were both pointed on the edge of moderately large cattail slough. Dog moves about and I am on the edge to 10 feet in. Guess it just depends on the situation.
 
What I do is work the cattails then go back and work the habitat on the outer edges of the cattails/field edges, then the ditches. It's a lot of walking--a bit of an @$s kicker--but seems to work well. Cris-cross the fields/cattails too.

Pheasants like to play games. They'll run behind you, to the opposite corner of the fields, circles, back and forth, etc. Have some fun and play their game:).
 
I prefer my dog works the cattails while I walk the edges. I can tell by the tail thumping if there is a rooster in there. If they are head high you are not going to get a good shot off anyway.
 
BRITTMAN said:
I killed two roosters this week that were both pointed on the edge of moderately large cattail slough. Dog moves about and I am on the edge to 10 feet in. Guess it just depends on the situation.
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I've seen it happen both ways. Birds in the middle and the outside. My dog is on the smaller end and burrows deep into cattail sloughs with ease. If the dog is getting good scent and strong desire, they'll get to those birds, regardless if the birds are on the edge or deep in the cattails.

I did shoot a rooster last week that flushed up from my dog being deep in the cattails, of course it landed in even deeper stuff. The bird landed, suspended above the ground, in some real thick stuff. Took a while to find, but we got it.
 
Nor said:
I did shoot a rooster last week that flushed up from my dog being deep in the cattails, of course it landed in even deeper stuff. The bird landed, suspended above the ground, in some real thick stuff. Took a while to find, but we got it.
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Yep. Cattails can be a nightmare for finding downed birds. A few weeks back I dropped a double over flooded cattails. One birds still had legs. Thank God for the dog. I'm not sure I would have found either of those birds. Particularly the one that was swimming/running on me.

As a rule of thumb, when I or someone in my party drop a bird in the cattails I won't take my eyes off of where the bird hit the ground. Then I walk straight to that exact spot. That's helped find some birds in the past.
 
Obviously this is in relative terms (and from the perspective of solo public land hunter) but I hate hunting large patches of cattails. Even when I had an 80 LB lab with the size, strength and athleticism to get it done I didn't enjoy it that much. Too many opportunities for the roosters to run ahead and flush out of range, too many hens who sit tight and cause the dog to work hard for empty flushes, too much wear & tear on the dog when hunting multiple days, too much opportunity to lose wounded birds etc. etc. I always feel like I'm (really the dog) paying a very high price for every single bird in the bag.

Late season or even on bad weather days earlier in the year it does become a necessity but I will choose other cover types every time if I feel there are enough birds in those places to keep me and my dog occupied. Even if it means my chances for a limit are diminished. It is also why I spend most of my pheasant hunting time going out mid-season. At that time of year the birds are using all types of cover.

Roosters are my favorite thing to hunt because of one thing. The times when my dog can square off and match wits against a running rooster. I love that ground game and I love to watch the dog play that game up close and personal. Thick cattails rarely offer that opportunity and more often than not a guy is targeting sitting roosters in the cat's because the true runners can get to the edges way faster than the dog and disappear out of gun range.

I do like the thread title though because if there is one place I like to see cattails it is inside a harvested corn field. Small patches of dry cat's with some marsh grass for a buffer in the middle of a harvested corn field can be very productive and a whole lot of fun.
 
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