Good Afternoon Folks

S

segbert

New member
I wanted to introduce myself, I am Scott Egbert. I've been a lurker on this site for quite a while, and have decided to join the discussion. I currently live outside of Austin, TX and have 2 year old triplets, which have kept me busy the last couple years. i have always been a fan of wing shooting, I currently am running a Brittany. I started quail hunting in the panhandle outside of Childress, TX. and now I stick to our family place outside of Austin where I have been running a surrigator for the past few years. I have produced a huntable population of bobs.

My Father grew up in the Hutchinson area, and has always talked about his pheasant hunting adventures. That being said My Grandmother, and Uncle still live in the area. I plan on heading north early on the morning of the 7th and I will be staying at my uncles cabin south of Hutch. I have been "scouting" WIHA's with google earth as much as possible.

as for pheasant hunting, I have never been, could any of you folks guide me towards what to look for, any tips, tricks?

On another note if any of y'all will be hunting this area, i would love to meet up over a cold beer or soda.

thanks in advance
 
Picture of the Family At the Zoo In Hutch. Late September, and a few of the mutt doing what he does
 
Start in high grass, crp first light until around 8am depending on weather conditions, crop field ands edges from 9-4pm and then high grass and crp until dark.

zeepo
 
Who's the ugly bearded guy with the good looking family?

My wife is an hour northeast of Austin right now visiting her grandparents, we'll be down over Christmas and try to do some duck hunting on their ponds that always seem to be covered in greenheads.

Random thoughts on pheasant hunting-

To me, a new CRP field is awesome as it is grass and weeds and crop mixed in for good measure. It has heavy areas and light areas, thick and thin, tall and short. A longterm well established CRP field not so much, as the heavy grasses have taken over. Yeah, there can be birds in it, and yeah, we still hunt it, but never see the numbers like in the infacy of the field.

That leads to my next thought-the best spots are mixtures. CRP grass against milo stubble or corn stubble. A field that is now an established CRP patch but has a weedy waterway going up through the middle of it. To a passerby that isn't a pheasant hunter it all looks the same, but to me you can see the grass change to slight stripe of sunflowers or other weeds. The weeds are usually less dense, the birds can get in there and strut their stuff, scratch for seeds, etc.

A stubble field with a weedy draw in the middle is always a good spot. Or an old farm stead. Just an island in the field, but that is often all it takes.

Last year we found a WIHA that was milo on the north. A strip 100 yards wide or so that was fenced and had cows in it a month or so earlier. They'd grazed the grass down, but left a lot of weeds 200 yards off the road that kind of rolled into an old barnyard, barn, windmill, grainbin, etc that had long ago been abandoned. Beyond that pasture was CRP of 1/2 section with a weedy draw through the middle. Talk about perfection. Got up roosters in the pasture, then a covey of quail at the old barnyard, then worked the weedy draw of the CRP field and got more roosters and hens up. Good dog work, lots of points.

I guess the long and short of it, find something that sticks out a little bit, is something beyond the desert of thick grass. Try to work into the wind as best as you can. Try not to be continually yelling at your dogs or your hunting buddies. If your dog goes on point 100 yards out in front of you, put on your track shoes and get up to it, a wild rooster pheasant isn't going to wait around for you to come up and get set up for the perfect shot.

I say that, and then fully admit there are zero hard and fast rules to pheasant hunting. If they can switch it up on you to make you feel stupid, they will.
 
Cheesy? That was so good, I wanted to go see that abandoned farm with you.


Welcome Segbert, you're starting an adventure and it is going to be a blast.

All things take time, and you'll mature into pheasant hunting skills and savvy.

The most often helpful statement in pheasant hunting for me:

"Trust the dog."


Be safe, have fun, take pictures. :)
 
You got some solid advice. All I would add is that I would never pass up a good patch of weeds or a thick draw. They seem to hold birds all day/season/year... But Kismet's advice of "trust the dog" is kind of the golden rule of bird hunting. Looks like you have a good dog there, so you are off to a good start already. Go get 'em!:cheers:
 
Hunt into the wind when possible.
Hunt across the wind on the downwind edge of a large area and follow the dog when it turns upwind.
Hunt the best cover first in any particular field.
Hunt towards breaks in cover such as toward fields of stubble and stalks and roads; running birds will flush at the end of the cover.
Train your dog to respond to vibration from your ecollar and hand signals so as to maintain quiet afield.
Carry a small bowl and plenty of water afield for your dog.
If the cover hides your dog, put a bell on its collar so you can follow the bell as you trust the dog; when the bell stops tinkling, your dog is on point.
Don't get mad at your dog; be patient as it learns.
Carry some good bourbon in the vehicle to cut the dust after the guns are put away at the end of the day.
 
couple of other things

getting out of the car, be quiet, don't slam the doors, don't talk, be quiet while hunting, no need to yell hen when one gets up, just scares the other birds and they get to running, if the birds are getting up out of range hunting into the wind, change direction, try to park where other's maybe ddn't, come at the birds from a different direction, cross you fingers, might pray a bit, good luck

cheers
 
Thanks to all for the replies, its gonna be a blast. I plan on being around for about a week. It will be interesting to see how my dog will react to these birds
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top