I have also hunted my last day this season (I think). I went out yesterday (Saturday) with my son and a friend (no dog) to our area in Yuma County.
It started slowly, as the snow was quite crunchy. We saw birds, but couldn't get close enough for reasonable shots.
However, when the snow softened, we got close to a rooster in some CRP. He flew between my son and friend, and both appeared to connect. One in the bag. At their shots, about 8 more birds got up well-ahead of us. The birds were there, anyway.
We hunted more CRP and some trees, but only saw hens. So, time to hit some CRP that I thought no one else hunted.
We got to the field. I told my son and friend to take the red grass where my hunting buddy got lots of birds up last weekend. I would take the shorter grass near the road. I (surprisingly) had a rooster jump up in front of me, and I dropped him. The homeowner across the road came out yelling at me, so my son and friend stopped walking, and I gathered my bird and went over to talk with him. He kept yelling, asking who I had permission from. I got over to him, told him who I was, and who I had permission from. He went on about some group shooting towards the house 3 weeks ago, and he thought we might be them. I told him last weekend was the first time I hunted that field all season, so it wasn't me. I also went over more of who I was and that we had actually met in the last couple years. He calmed down, and apologized. All of this is pertinent, because...
I went back out to the field, and we resumed walking. In less than 10' of walking, 3 roosters got up in front of my son and friend. They dropped the two they shot at. So, after 5 minutes of the landowner hollering, and my son and friend standing in one spot, those birds had held tight! However, I found out after we left the field, they watched other birds get up further away. I found one in the next corner of the field we hunted, and bagged him.
We hunted for another couple hours, but had only one shot, which I missed. We saw mostly hens, but also saw human footprints from earlier in the day, so we were not the first in the rest of the fields.
My tally for the season: Hunting Days: 15. Days with limit for myself: 9. Days skunked: 0! Total bagged: 30, which is my best season.
Plus, I found one more hunting friend, with a good, young dog. I am looking forward to hunting with them next year, and possibly participating in training over the summer.
I hope all of you had as much enjoyment this hunting season as I have had. As Realtree says, "Hunting is not [my] passion, it is [my] obsession".
