birdshooter
Well-known member
Curiouis, had you guys only been able to hunt public land, would it still have been worth the long trip?
How did everyone do?
- Thread starter pheasanthunt
- Start date
Fenway
Member
Went out right after during the big snow storm had some interesting roads in Minn. I arrived early morning to 6-8 snow and below zero temps. I hunted all public so I'm sure it had been hit hard at times, found lots of birds in the cattails the first day should have limited early, but poor shooting bad luck made it harder then it should have been.
The wind was bad enough I had to go to the 12ga. as the 20 wasn't getting the job done and I hate carrying the 12.
The snow was deep enough that the birds were only be in thick cover, shelter belts the medium cover was useless. The fact their in limited covers is good unless your hunting area's are limited to PLOTS like me.
Did find out in really cold windy weather birds feed midday, so I changed when and where We hunted and did pretty good one bird off my 3 day limit, I got up Thur. and it was -18 loaded the truck and went home little early, dogs had sore feet from the cold.
Going back out after Thanks Givings hope its warmer.
The wind was bad enough I had to go to the 12ga. as the 20 wasn't getting the job done and I hate carrying the 12.
The snow was deep enough that the birds were only be in thick cover, shelter belts the medium cover was useless. The fact their in limited covers is good unless your hunting area's are limited to PLOTS like me.
Did find out in really cold windy weather birds feed midday, so I changed when and where We hunted and did pretty good one bird off my 3 day limit, I got up Thur. and it was -18 loaded the truck and went home little early, dogs had sore feet from the cold.
Going back out after Thanks Givings hope its warmer.
Fenway
Member
One more thing it was so cold I kept the dogs in the truck not in the back, there house dogs so I couldn't put them in the back, the wind was the worst I've been through. I went out in minus temps before but not as windy or snow so the birds were still easy to find. This was tough stuff for an old guy, ther were birds but the loss of CRP is really bad news.
pheasanthunt
Member
I hunt ND over opening weekend and then again early Nov, mid November, the late December. I see quite as few hunters in October, and then I rarely see hunters after Nov 10th, and the ones I see are usually deer hunters. Actually I can't remember anytime that I ran into pheasants hunters on public land in mid Nov or later.
your guys' hunts are envious: the closest thing i get down here in Ohio is a 200 bird release over 700 acres.... and thats with every body and their brother trying to hunt at the same time... shots going off like the invasion of Normandy for the first hour, and then the places turns into a ghost town...
Fenway
Member
That,s similar what most of WI is like now.
Zeeland ND
First hunt was October 18 thru the 24. Very warm, hunted mornings mostly. got a few birds is all.
The Game Warden came to my house and wanted to see all the birds we shot.
Had a 15 min. conservation with him. I would like to tell you"ll what we discussed before I let him in but it would take a full page.
Next hunt was Nov 8th thru the 14th.
We all limited out after it snowed. The birds held very well. It was bitterly cold! I had a hand warmer in my right hand and called Max(Vizsla) over and held his jewels in my hand to warm him up. I will tell you this I swear I saw him smile when I grabbed them. He didn't move, he just stood there till I let go.....
Will be going out in December I will let you'll know how I did then.
First hunt was October 18 thru the 24. Very warm, hunted mornings mostly. got a few birds is all.
The Game Warden came to my house and wanted to see all the birds we shot.
Had a 15 min. conservation with him. I would like to tell you"ll what we discussed before I let him in but it would take a full page.
Next hunt was Nov 8th thru the 14th.
We all limited out after it snowed. The birds held very well. It was bitterly cold! I had a hand warmer in my right hand and called Max(Vizsla) over and held his jewels in my hand to warm him up. I will tell you this I swear I saw him smile when I grabbed them. He didn't move, he just stood there till I let go.....
Will be going out in December I will let you'll know how I did then.
wesslpointer
New member
Did you half to also hold the game wardens jewels to keep him outside
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I cover the dog?s testies in Vaseline, keeps them from getting frost bite.
Hunted the SW part of the state Nov. 10~14, cold as all get out, even with a neoprene vest my poor Vizslas were shivering nonstop. But the snow made birds bunch up and hold well. Shot a couple of sharpies and the flyby. Pheasants were easy pickins, once we found them. My original plan was to hunt the grass lands for sharpies/Huns, but the cold weather and snow kind of put the kabash on that. Hunted up there one day, got stuck in a deep rut that was covered up by a snow drift, took me two hours to dig out, sweating bullets for a while. Would have had about 15 mile walk back to the nearest farm house. A friend hunted there 2 weeks earlier, nice weather, he limited on pheaz and sharpies every day.
Laszlo, nice to see that you are running Vizslas.
Barna
Rooster guy
Member
Hunted SC/SW North Dakota this past week and had pretty good luck. Thursday and Friday were perfect--10-20 degrees out and no wind. Saturday the temp was around 50 and that really hurt our chances. We found birds on some of the PLOTS we hunted, and also a good amount on the private land we had access to. I was pretty surprised by the amount of hunters out for late November, as normally we don't see more than a few once the weather gets cold. Ditches were non-existent, as the snow had really matted them down, so we saw very few birds close to the car while driving.
Nevertheless we ended up with a good amount of birds, and could of had close to our limit had we not used some bad shells the first full day of hunting
We normally use action cameras and record everything, so we can check it out later over a few beers and laugh at our missed shots..here are a few from the last 2 years, will be making a new one from this year over the next week or so.
2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G44CosNnk4w
2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinuIO2FDtE
Nevertheless we ended up with a good amount of birds, and could of had close to our limit had we not used some bad shells the first full day of hunting
We normally use action cameras and record everything, so we can check it out later over a few beers and laugh at our missed shots..here are a few from the last 2 years, will be making a new one from this year over the next week or so.
2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G44CosNnk4w
2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinuIO2FDtE
mnaj_springer
New member
Hunted SC/SW North Dakota this past week and had pretty good luck. Thursday and Friday were perfect--10-20 degrees out and no wind. Saturday the temp was around 50 and that really hurt our chances. We found birds on some of the PLOTS we hunted, and also a good amount on the private land we had access to. I was pretty surprised by the amount of hunters out for late November, as normally we don't see more than a few once the weather gets cold. Ditches were non-existent, as the snow had really matted them down, so we saw very few birds close to the car while driving.
Nevertheless we ended up with a good amount of birds, and could of had close to our limit had we not used some bad shells the first full day of hunting
We normally use action cameras and record everything, so we can check it out later over a few beers and laugh at our missed shots..here are a few from the last 2 years, will be making a new one from this year over the next week or so.
2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G44CosNnk4w
2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinuIO2FDtE
Thanks for sharing! It was fun seeing the difference in your dog from year to year. Do you have a 2014 video done yet?