Ditch birds - public or private acting?

[Limitless]

To say that an unpressured private bird is equivalent to a pen raised bird is not even close.

I don't think I said they were equivalent. If I did, that was a typo. What I meant is I view the level of challenge in this order (near the end of the season too):

Public land birds > private land birds > Pen raised birds

How much each is greater than the next lowest type of bird is subjective and has a lot of variables at play. And not every bird in each bucket is going to behave the same as every other bird in that bucket. Could even be some overlap with a small percentage of birds between one bucket and the next, I suppose.

 

[Tomahawker]

There’s many factors at play regarding wild bird behavior. Weather and hunting pressure may be the biggest. And I don’t just mean 2 legs. A couple yotes sweeping thru a cover at daylight is going to have an impact, along with a hawk or 3 hanging around. I’ve hit the same cover twice a week apart and one they flush wild and no shots. The next I’m limited out and didn’t hunt half of it.

 

[Miforester]

Short answer is yes.

 

[airmedic1]

In my 50+ years of pheasant hunting this is what I have found:
Pen raised roosters: Most, but not all have to bevkicked out from under a pointing dogs nose.
Wild private land roosters that receive little hunting pressure: A pointing dog will have a better chance at pinning them but they are wild and still have a will to live that pen raised birds don't possess.
Pressured public land roosters: Rarely hold for a pointing dogs unless there is an extenuating circumstance like snow or extreme cold. In my mind these are real trophies if you can outwit them.

 

[Goosemaster]

Game farm/preserve birds act differently than non-pen raised birds. They are also not as strong.

Personally, I rate private land birds (that are very rarely hunted) only a couple notches up from preserve birds, regarding how they behave (not regarding muscle mass, strength of flying, etc.). I do hunt private land when given the opportunity, but I just view them differently.

At the far end of the spectrum, I put heavily pressured public land birds. Cunning, scared, fast as a whip -- the pinnacle of "walk up" (as some Brits call it) pheasant hunting.

It dawned on me today that although ditches are on public right of ways, that doesn't necessarily mean they behave like public land birds.

Do you think ditch birds, on the whole, act more like public land birds (WMA/GPA/WPA/WIA/etc) or more like private land birds?

I don't know about that, because I have never done any ditch hunting, but I would suspect that those birds that live close to those roads, are very spooky.

 

[Riverman]

My friends and I hunt a lot of ditches. Mostly in middle of state and see very few other hunters, if any at all. Not a lot of public land where we are hunting but lots of private land with hunters on them now and then.

I agree that wild birds are no comparison to pen reared and much better to hunt. I also agree ditch birds may act differently than heavily hunted birds in big fields. I do think some of this is due to habitat and that birds in big fields will act similarly to ditch birds when near edges, ie running down edge and flush out of range.

Ditch pheasants do a few advantages in that they can hit an edge and really get to running ahead of dog, and the predator(s) are really only coming from one direction. In big fields I know that many times the birds flush cause they get punched in between people and dogs and are forced to flush. Ditch pheasants can and will scoot ahead and flush wild.

Hunting ditches has its advantages:
You can hunt some good stuff out in middle of nowhere.
You can hunt a mile and see how it goes- not a big commitment.
It is safe since just you and a dog-nobody else around to watch out for.
Finding dead birds and cripples is often easier since they often fall in harvested field or on road. Birds that land in ditch easier to track since they can only go one way.

Disadvantages:
You are driving more.
It takes at least two people unless you don’t mind walking back to truck. Walking other side of road rarely produces anything for some reason.
Dogs and fences can lead to problems, esp with dogs that are unfamiliar with barbed wire fence.
Dogs and roads can also lead to problems—personally I stop hunting when I see a car and just sit my dog and let them go by. But some dogs may not be as well trained.
Dogs aren’t learning to hunt larger fields which is more typical, esp in other states that don’t allow hunting in right of way. They are basically learning to hunt in a straight line.
In areas with more people ditch hunting can be frowned on and landowners may lecture you about it.
Holes are A LOT more common in ditches than open fields. And not sure why I never tore up knees, but it hasn’t happened yet… Not sure how many I have fell into!! I have even taken shots as I was falling down from planting foot in hole— have killed some birds as I was falling like this too, but gun safety should be a concern hunting ditches, as it should be anywhere!

However, after hunting all types of habitat in SoDak for 22+ years and 2-3 weeks each year, I will pick a good ditch out in the middle of nowhere farm country every time! Amazing how productive they can be. We go back to same places year after year and have named many of our sweet spots, as well as ditches where friends had remarkable stretches of missing 3-5 birds, often at close range. One memorable road saw a friend walking a mile and shooting 25 times with nary a bird to show for it. Dog was going crazy, he was going crazy, gun was constantly firing (we could hear since we were walking nearby ditches) but nothing reduced to possession. It is now memorialized as “Morel Mile” after friend who walked it that day! Great fun and we still talk about 15 years later.

 

[Goosemaster]

My friends and I hunt a lot of ditches. Mostly in middle of state and see very few other hunters, if any at all. Not a lot of public land where we are hunting but lots of private land with hunters on them now and then.

I agree that wild birds are no comparison to pen reared and much better to hunt. I also agree ditch birds may act differently than heavily hunted birds in big fields. I do think some of this is due to habitat and that birds in big fields will act similarly to ditch birds when near edges, ie running down edge and flush out of range.

Ditch pheasants do a few advantages in that they can hit an edge and really get to running ahead of dog, and the predator(s) are really only coming from one direction. In big fields I know that many times the birds flush cause they get punched in between people and dogs and are forced to flush. Ditch pheasants can and will scoot ahead and flush wild.

Hunting ditches has its advantages:
You can hunt some good stuff out in middle of nowhere.
You can hunt a mile and see how it goes- not a big commitment.
It is safe since just you and a dog-nobody else around to watch out for.
Finding dead birds and cripples is often easier since they often fall in harvested field or on road. Birds that land in ditch easier to track since they can only go one way.

Disadvantages:
You are driving more.
It takes at least two people unless you don’t mind walking back to truck. Walking other side of road rarely produces anything for some reason.
Dogs and fences can lead to problems, esp with dogs that are unfamiliar with barbed wire fence.
Dogs and roads can also lead to problems—personally I stop hunting when I see a car and just sit my dog and let them go by. But some dogs may not be as well trained.
Dogs aren’t learning to hunt larger fields which is more typical, esp in other states that don’t allow hunting in right of way. They are basically learning to hunt in a straight line.
In areas with more people ditch hunting can be frowned on and landowners may lecture you about it.
Holes are A LOT more common in ditches than open fields. And not sure why I never tore up knees, but it hasn’t happened yet… Not sure how many I have fell into!! I have even taken shots as I was falling down from planting foot in hole— have killed some birds as I was falling like this too, but gun safety should be a concern hunting ditches, as it should be anywhere!

However, after hunting all types of habitat in SoDak for 22+ years and 2-3 weeks each year, I will pick a good ditch out in the middle of nowhere farm country every time! Amazing how productive they can be. We go back to same places year after year and have named many of our sweet spots, as well as ditches where friends had remarkable stretches of missing 3-5 birds, often at close range. One memorable road saw a friend walking a mile and shooting 25 times with nary a bird to show for it. Dog was going crazy, he was going crazy, gun was constantly firing (we could hear since we were walking nearby ditches) but nothing reduced to possession. It is now memorialized as “Morel Mile” after friend who walked it that day! Great fun and we still talk about 15 years later.

0 for 25? Pathetic!!