Closeing weekend

C

cohunter84

New member
Is anyone heading out for the final weekend? I was thinking of heading out with my pup but haven't ever hunted in Eastern Co. I was thinking of heading to Burlington. Anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone taken part in the Rooster Roundup program that Burlington has?
 
COHUNTER84,
My experience this year has been that there are more birds east and north of Stratton...and the further east and north you go the more birds you will find. I have also been finding more birds in the middle of big wheat fields vs the edges and I think that is just a function of educated birds late in the season. Good luck - I'll be out there, too.
 
Cohunter did you make it out last weekend? How did thing go? I thought the Burlington area was tough this year but I don't have a lot of experience like some of the other guys on this forum. Rumor has it that Yuma/Phillips and Sedgwick counties are supposed to be better but a buddy of mine said it was tough up there this year also.

As far as the Rooster Round up goes I would do a search on that topic it has been discussed before. I usually end up participating as it gives you some access to other land. Some of that land is questionable habitat but I would suggest trying it out one year. That way you can make a informed decision if you want to continue to participate.
 
Burlington RR

We made it out to Burlington on Saturday morning, met with Brenton who runs the Rooster Roundup and got the maps. There is a lot of area that you can explore however we found a lot of it to be cut to almost nothing. I don't know if the cover would be better earlier in the year?

We drove South of town and found some good thicker cover along a harvested corn crop. As we pushed up to it a hen and rooster jumped way far ahead of us and flew into some Milo. We circled downwind of where they went down and instantly the dog got birdie. As we pushed to the end of the row he flushed a hen and almost instantly a rooster jumped from behind us and didn't present a shot. We left that area and headed west and found another good slew to push. As we approached the slew a rooster jumped out of range. Those were the only birds we saw all day.

Then next day we headed further south and found some great cover in a drainage next to a corn field. As we approached it a hen flushed then a rooster. I was hoping there would be more bird in there and was I right. As we pushed threw the cover 15-20 birds, mostly hens, flushed up. I had a shot a rooster but he was flying towards the road and I couldn't see if there was a car coming so I passed. We finished pushing that draw and headed across the road to see if we could find where those birds went down. We pushed threw the drainage and about halfway threw a rooster jumped behind us and my hunting buddy made a great shot on him.

I was happy that we didn't get skunked! We had a great time and Burlington is a fun little town. The rooster round up is a great program, you just need to spend some time exploring to find good cover.

I will say as someone who hasn't hunted in eastern Co that it is tough on dogs feet. The sand burs and the wheat stubble can make it tough on a your hunting buddy. My dog didn't hunt on Sunday because of his feet. It was way harder on his feet than South Dakota in my experience. Maybe those of you that hunt in that area can shed some light on keeping your dogs feet in good shape? Are boots the answer? Do they just get used to it after awhile? I probably should have kept him out of the low cut wheat?
 
cohunter84 said:
We made it out to Burlington on Saturday morning, met with Brenton who runs the Rooster Roundup and got the maps. There is a lot of area that you can explore however we found a lot of it to be cut to almost nothing. I don't know if the cover would be better earlier in the year?

We drove South of town and found some good thicker cover along a harvested corn crop. As we pushed up to it a hen and rooster jumped way far ahead of us and flew into some Milo. We circled downwind of where they went down and instantly the dog got birdie. As we pushed to the end of the row he flushed a hen and almost instantly a rooster jumped from behind us and didn't present a shot. We left that area and headed west and found another good slew to push. As we approached the slew a rooster jumped out of range. Those were the only birds we saw all day.

Then next day we headed further south and found some great cover in a drainage next to a corn field. As we approached it a hen flushed then a rooster. I was hoping there would be more bird in there and was I right. As we pushed threw the cover 15-20 birds, mostly hens, flushed up. I had a shot a rooster but he was flying towards the road and I couldn't see if there was a car coming so I passed. We finished pushing that draw and headed across the road to see if we could find where those birds went down. We pushed threw the drainage and about halfway threw a rooster jumped behind us and my hunting buddy made a great shot on him.

I was happy that we didn't get skunked! We had a great time and Burlington is a fun little town. The rooster round up is a great program, you just need to spend some time exploring to find good cover.

I will say as someone who hasn't hunted in eastern Co that it is tough on dogs feet. The sand burs and the wheat stubble can make it tough on a your hunting buddy. My dog didn't hunt on Sunday because of his feet. It was way harder on his feet than South Dakota in my experience. Maybe those of you that hunt in that area can shed some light on keeping your dogs feet in good shape? Are boots the answer? Do they just get used to it after awhile? I probably should have kept him out of the low cut wheat?
Click to expand...

i boot my dogs always, but they are on the ground sometimes up to 9 days.
 
The sand burrs can be bad in Colorado and this year they seemed to be worse than usual. Boots are helpful but I like to run my dogs without them if possible. Some fields are great for birds because of the sandburs and lack of pressure because of them. In those fields I will put boots on my dogs.
 
Boots

Thanks for the information! Has anyone found a pair of boots that work better than others? I have a pair from cabales and they lasted for about two and a half seconds in the mud.
 
I took the boys out on Sunday between Fleming and Julesburg - saw 2 roosters and 2 hens. I will just say "the sun was in my eyes" :laugh: ... rather than giving you my lame excuse on the roosters. They boys didn't chase on the roosters, even after the shot, and both stopped to flush on the hens, which is what I like to see!

:cheers:
 
Just me and my dog went out for a long weekend (Sat-Mon), and managed 5 pheasant, 2 scaled quail and two bobwhites. All public access areas, no private access. Didn't see as many pheasant as that sounds like - I was just offsetting my previous terrible shooting by going 5 for 5 on the roosters. I saw about 15-20 pheasant each day. But I did run into a surprising # of quail. Yesterday I bumped 3 bobwhite coveys of 20+ birds each, within a mile and a half. I was on something of a mission to get my dog his last rooster (he's 12.5 and pretty sure he won't be going next Fall) or I would have stuck with the quail and worked on the singles. But nice to see they're doing well! I posted a couple of pics on the "Photo of the Year" contest thread on main forum, if you want visuals.
 
The Rugged Dog Birds ( the Orange ones at cabelas and sportsmans warehouse) have been really good for my dog. It's funny the first time you put them on, but they work really well. Take time to measure your dogs feet properly so you get the right size, and they will serve you well. They really save the feet!
 
marshrat said:
The Rugged Dog Birds ( the Orange ones at cabelas and sportsmans warehouse) have been really good for my dog. It's funny the first time you put them on, but they work really well. Take time to measure your dogs feet properly so you get the right size, and they will serve you well. They really save the feet!
Click to expand...

That's what I use (except I think you meant "Boots", not "Birds"!), but like all boots I've tried, they do have trouble staying on. I use medical tape (the white cloth type) and put several wraps around the top of the boot and up the leg. Lasts for maybe an hour or so in the thick stuff, so you have to keep an eye on them. And get two sets (or more) because you WILL lose a few here and there. But they last pretty long, durability-wise.
 
Ah...yes...I meant "boots". Darn auto-correct anyway! I also think it's better to size them based on the front feet only...the hind feet are smaller and the Velcro closes better on the hind feet. I also find close the bottom Velcro strap first, then the top. I have never had one fall off, but I have had the Velcro straps come loose. I still spend a lot of time making sure I see '4 orange feet' all the time though ;). She's really learned to like them though, and it gives her much more confidence around cactus and sand burs.
 
I like to use the Lewis dog boots. They are very basic rubber boots but my dogs love them. Just ended nine days in a row of hunting quail in Arizona and my dogs are still hunting hard!
 
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