Ditch hunting

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
Is ditch hunting kind of like cheating? I've finally had good luck with it this year, getting 3 birds so far. In each case I picked the ditch due to its cover and proximity to good feed. A buddy told me he doesn't count birds shot in the ditch to his yearly total. I follow all the laws when I do, and today the dog flushed one over a barb wire fence that was posted, and I didn't shoot. I know there's different opinions on this, just curious what others think. When I do it, I always keep the dog on the public side of the fence or property line.
 
Bob Peters said:
Is ditch hunting kind of like cheating? I've finally had good luck with it this year, getting 3 birds so far. In each case I picked the ditch due to its cover and proximity to good feed. A buddy told me he doesn't count birds shot in the ditch to his yearly total. I follow all the laws when I do, and today the dog flushed one over a barb wire fence that was posted, and I didn't shoot. I know there's different opinions on this, just curious what others think. When I do it, I always keep the dog on the public side of the fence or property line.
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Every ditch we saw last week was shredded.
 
Someone counting birds - ditch vs. non-ditch seems to have too much time on their hands or maybe forgotten why they are out there.

Any ditch alongside a road that will be plowed in the winter needs to be mowed to reduce drifiting.
 
Hunted some public land today.Missed a layup with my full choke Browning. Sh×××t! I'm going back to the 870.IC next hunt.My dog gave me the stink eye, and is still pissed at me.
 
Birds shot legally are not cheating. A ditch is a narrow field. The laws are clear on what you can and can't do and how to retrieve game on private land. I consider it a great privilege to have so much more area to hunt and not have to fight for position on public fields that are inevitably over hunted. My buddies and I almost exclusively hunt ditches in Iowa and have for many years. To each their own.
 
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Fish where the fish are, hunt where the game is. When I’m alone or with one guy we hunt small cover, usually get birds fairly quickly. They’re forced to hold tight or flush nearby…hunting a 1000 acre sea of grass is fun, but bird contacts can take much longer. Chunks the size of a house are often productive if food is close. I’m interested in contacts.
 
Bob Peters said:
Is ditch hunting kind of like cheating? I've finally had good luck with it this year, getting 3 birds so far. In each case I picked the ditch due to its cover and proximity to good feed. A buddy told me he doesn't count birds shot in the ditch to his yearly total. I follow all the laws when I do, and today the dog flushed one over a barb wire fence that was posted, and I didn't shoot. I know there's different opinions on this, just curious what others think. When I do it, I always keep the dog on the public side of the fence or property line.
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You technically cannot shoot over any fence in iowa as you can be charged for trespassing if your shot/wad lands on private property. Not that this is ever enforced, but it is the law. Some states its a felony to shoot across a property line!

But ditch hunting is a blast, although extremely terrifying with a dog when people have no concept of respect and fly past you at 50 mph on a gravel road. We tend to leave the dogs in the truck and walk on foot, not like you are going to walk past one in a 15' wide ditch. Then go get the dogs if a bird drops in the thick stuff or scross a fence.
 
I do not set out on a bird hunting trip with the mindset that "I'm gonna go ditch hunting today." Never have, never will. That's just not how I hunt even though its technically legal.

During the course of my hunt, I do on occasion find myself walking a rural gravel road from one spot to another or back to my truck. In those cases, I still keep my gun loaded and hunt the ditch (if there's cover). I probably shoot one rooster each season out of the ditch.

I never hunt near a relatively busy road. No bird is worth my dog potentially getting trucked (literally).

I think ditch hunters can get a bad rap because it gives the impression of being lazy. And ditch hunting is very illegal when after big game like deer but people still do it illegally.

Usually come December the ditches have nothing but waist deep snow anyways.
 
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