Cool stuff you see while hunting...

A5 Sweet 16

A5 Sweet 16

Well-known member
One thing I love about pheasant hunting is all the other cool stuff I see. What have you guys seen this season??

I'm probably forgetting some things, but just this season alone, I've seen:
1. This abandoned grain elevator near Nunda, SD. I've driven by it many, many times & am always fascinated by it. So lonesome. I'd love to know its history.

2. More snow geese than I've seen in many years - possibly ever. Because of the nice weather, they hung out in the Lake Thompson area for over a month, which is very, very uncommon. I almost always stop to watch a small flock fly over while I'm hunting. But when they're actually migrating & stretch from horizon to horizon, I feel pretty lucky to be standing there seeing it.

3. A weather balloon near Ramona, SD. I'm walking through a cattail slough when I'm tripped by something. Strange place for a 1/4" cord. I follow the cord about 20' to an end, and there's a large looking balloon frozen in the ice. At the other end was a data logger (I know this because it said Data Logger). The weird thing is that it had been completely destroyed. The device itself, the plastic & styrofoam container it had apparently been in, & the information sheet with it. There were just enough fragments to piece together that it had apparently come from the NWS in Aberdeen, over 100 miles away.

4. 3 tundra swans on a public hunting area pond near Colman, SD, a part of the state I'd never seen swans before. I saw them 2 times on the same pond, 2 weeks apart & stopped to watch from shore about 100 yards away the 2nd time. They didn't seem bothered by me, my dog, or by the bald eagle who showed up & circled them for quite a while, low, about 50 yds high. I really think he was trying to get one of them to fly, so he could attempt an attack once it got low over the nearby ice.

5. 2 mule deer does on a public area near Emery, SD. At first I thought, "Huh, deer watching me." But when they turned & boinged away, it really caught me by surprise; they're so unlike what I'm used to. I don't think I'd ever seen mulies east of the Missouri before.
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I was walking down a fenceline scouting for deer when a little movement caught my eye. There was a bobcat coming towards me through the cornstalks. I've seen bobcats before, but not many. I froze to watch. It stopped and kept looking back towards the CRP grass it came from. After a few minutes it came even closer. I watched shake its paws and try to pick out the sandburs with it's teeth. I heard it vocalize a little. Ultimately it got as close as about 10-15'. There was a burrow that emerged from under the roots of a hedge tree right there, I think that was its den. When I finally moved enough for it to notice me, it bolted back to the grass. It was small enough that I think it was a juvenile and it was looking back for its mother. The mother must have seen me and stopped before emerging from the grass. It was a very cool experience.
 
VW micro bus near Osceola SD, big bull moose near Devils lake (I was waterfowl hunting), and a mink hunting muskrats. BEE627EB-008F-4A6C-A591-BF0612822AAE.jpegB62DF1FB-4682-40AA-8D76-119B379F893F.jpeg043AA925-B558-4042-85A5-253B267CBFC9.jpeg
 
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Outside Cresbard SD election week 2020.
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When I was out east, in a windy, cold day, the snow geese were moving south.Flocks of adults, around 100 per flock.They were pretty low, because of the snow. The haunting sound of snow geese is mesmerizing. It was a beautiful day. Also that day, watched a perigrin falcon chase a hen into the trees flying.THAT WAS VERY COOL!
 
I saw something just south of Highmore, SD that seemed so out of place that it was almost unbelievable. It was the second week of pheasant season and there was about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground. Temps were in the teens. We drove down a road that crossed a small lake. I caught movement on the ice. I stopped and all I could see were small stones laying on the ice. Then one of the stones moved. It turns out the stones were actually frogs. Frogs sitting on the ice that would every once in a while try to jump. They made very little headway slipping on the ice. Even telling it now it seems unbelievable. I tried to take some pictures, but when I had my camera ready all the frogs sat still and looked like stones. Believe it or not.
 
I saw a military helicopter today fly right directly over me while hunting. It was flying very low due to the high winds I'm guessing which made for a unique experience.
 
Last saturday it was very foggy, I had gathered 4 other hunters (friends & family) to hunt our quarter section of CRP. My regular hunting buddy was on the end of the line and a rooster flushed by him, his 1st shot rocked the bird, on his second shot the bird headed straight-up. As we all watched and shouted heart-shot!, that rooster disappeared through the fog into the sky and we never saw him come back down...like he was heading to bird heaven...it was actually pretty neat to see. It was an great morning for all of us. Personally it was the best hunting experience for pheasant I have had in almost 50 years. It might not be the cool objects you are referring to seeing, but it was a unique experience.
 
I don't see a whole lot of other wildlife when I'm pheasant hunting. In November, I'll kick up occasional deer. I've seen quite a few wild turkeys when driving in the truck from one spot to the other.

I see a lot of wildlife when I'm deer hunting in November because I'm stationary in an elevated stand, I'm quiet, and I'm not scaring animals away. This past season I saw 2 black bears and a Pine Marten chasing squirrels. First time I've ever seen a bear in the wild.
 
Bump said:
I saw something just south of Highmore, SD that seemed so out of place that it was almost unbelievable. It was the second week of pheasant season and there was about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground. Temps were in the teens. We drove down a road that crossed a small lake. I caught movement on the ice. I stopped and all I could see were small stones laying on the ice. Then one of the stones moved. It turns out the stones were actually frogs. Frogs sitting on the ice that would every once in a while try to jump. They made very little headway slipping on the ice. Even telling it now it seems unbelievable. I tried to take some pictures, but when I had my camera ready all the frogs sat still and looked like stones. Believe it or not.
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That's weird! I always thought frogs went into hibernation, or similar.
 
remy3424 said:
Last saturday it was very foggy, I had gathered 4 other hunters (friends & family) to hunt our quarter section of CRP. My regular hunting buddy was on the end of the line and a rooster flushed by him, his 1st shot rocked the bird, on his second shot the bird headed straight-up. As we all watched and shouted heart-shot!, that rooster disappeared through the fog into the sky and we never saw him come back down...like he was heading to bird heaven...it was actually pretty neat to see. It was an great morning for all of us. Personally it was the best hunting experience for pheasant I have had in almost 50 years. It might not be the cool objects you are referring to seeing, but it was a unique experience.
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I agree, that is neat.We had 2 of those sky busters this year.
 
Pulling cactus spines out of the Wrecking Crew's pads is a common part of upland hunting out here and I've idly wondered how coyotes deal with cactus. Finally got to see it first hand during Firearms Deer Season this year.

I was down in the SW corner of the state glassing a basin from a hill over a creek bed and surrounding sage flat, when two coyotes came over a hill a mile north. I was downwind and had every buck in the basin located (no shooters) so I decided to watch them for a bit. As they were working across the flat about 350 yards NE of my position, one suddenly jumped straight up about 6 feet then sat down holding a front foot off the ground. Clearly he had stepped right on a cactus.

At a bit over 300 yards and with my spotting scope set at 25X, it was like I was standing next to them. As I watched, that song dog spent the next 10 minutes carefully & meticulously pulling spines from his pad with his front teeth. The other would go maybe 150 yards down the creek, then come back to see what the hold up was. Eventually the first dog put his foot down, carefully put weight on it, and apparently satisfied with his work, joined the second dog and resumed following the creek bed out of sight...
 
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Here in Illinois, we had an ice storm a week ago. The ice is still all on the trees, but we have had heavy fog the last 4 nights resulting in some of the most beautiful ice crystals on every tree, wire, sign etc. Really unbelievable how incredible it looks. Made for some great scenery on my weekly trip to Iroquois County in East Central IL. I've never seen this situation stick around for multiple days like this.
 
Going to guess the "turkey" chairs go with spring turkey hunting....that is pretty cool you even noticed him, but also thought to get a pic!
 
Labs said:
That is one big bull for ND. Used to see moose fairly regularly when I lived 14 miles NE of Devils Lake...
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We were a couple miles northwest of Church's Ferry so pretty close to where you used to live. We saw another small bull, he walked right into our spread and didn't want to leave.
 
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