How do you handle closing in on the limit?

[landman]

I've wondered how others handle the time of the day when you are closing in on the limit of birds and you have more than six hunters or so. It seems, as the host, that I get the responsibility for counting birds as they are bagged. What I usually do is ask for a count before we enter a new field or make a new pass then try to keep a count as I see birds bagged. Then as we close in on the limit we have to practice some restraint in case a bunch of roosters get up all at once. Obviously blocking is sort of out of the question once the limit comes into view. If we have only one or two to go then we will try to designate a person to take the last one and we hunt close to try to make that happen. Once that last bird is taken, we unload and make the slow walk back to the vehicles.

 

[Prairie Drifter]

In Kansas the bag limit is per hunter, group bagging is prohibited. No one should shoot anyone else's bird. When one of our hunters gets a limit of one species, they have to shift to another. I frequently try to catch birds in front of the dogs by hand then turn them loose. That can get interesting on the walk back to the truck.

 

[Scoutdog]

Group limits are also illegal in Texas. Once I get my limit, I'll unload or just put my gun up but continue to walk the fields with my dogs for the other hunters.

 

[moellermd]

In Kansas the bag limit is per hunter, group bagging is prohibited. No one should shoot anyone else's bird. When one of our hunters gets a limit of one species, they have to shift to another. I frequently try to catch birds in front of the dogs by hand then turn them loose. That can get interesting on the walk back to the truck.

That would be great if SD was that way. I would love to see how the large commercial operations would handle that one. How do those type of operations handle the bag limit in Kansas?

As far as the original question goes I very rarely, maybe once last year, hunt in a group that large and in my area of SD shooting 18 roosters in one day would be tough to do, so I have never had to worry about it.

 

[bobeyerite]

I usually hunt alone. The state limit is 3 birds, I rarely take a limit.....Bob

 

[Hub]

It's never been a problem. I don't hunt in groups big enough where it's hard to keep track, and for the most part my hunting buddies and I shoot our own birds.

 

[JMc]

Like Scoutdog...I'll just begin working the dogs or become the designated blocker/taxi driver from field to field.

 

[kansasbrittany]

In Kansas the bag limit is per hunter, group bagging is prohibited. No one should shoot anyone else's bird. When one of our hunters gets a limit of one species, they have to shift to another. I frequently try to catch birds in front of the dogs by hand then turn them loose. That can get interesting on the walk back to the truck.

What? Are you serious about trying to catchthem by hand? I didn't pick up any sort of sarcasm in your post. I've only seen one rooster get caught by a dog....none by humans. However, that is something I would like to see!!!

 

[kansasbrittany]

In response to the original question, I usually keep track of each person's harvest as we go. Most guys I go with perfer to shoot their own limit (as stated above it is illegal to shoot group limits anyway). Personally, I'd rather put the shotgun away and shoot the camera. However, I have hunted in other people's groups that use the group limit concept despite the rules. We were checked by a game warden one year when there were 6 of us hunting together. We had 23 birds piled in the back of the truck and he never asked which birds belonged to which person. He didn't even count the birds for that matter. Later we found out from the landowner that he came back and asked permission to hunt the field we were coming out of. Maybe that's why he wasn't worried about checking us out?

 

[landman]

In response to the original question, I usually keep track of each person's harvest as we go. Most guys I go with perfer to shoot their own limit (as stated above it is illegal to shoot group limits anyway). Personally, I'd rather put the shotgun away and shoot the camera. However, I have hunted in other people's groups that use the group limit concept despite the rules. We were checked by a game warden one year when there were 6 of us hunting together. We had 23 birds piled in the back of the truck and he never asked which birds belonged to which person. He didn't even count the birds for that matter. Later we found out from the landowner that he came back and asked permission to hunt the field we were coming out of. Maybe that's why he wasn't worried about checking us out?

I like to hunt in small groups too where it is easy to pick a choose so that each person gets his own birds - but on opening weekend its a circus. It seems that several birds get doubled or tripled, some participants don't claim any, others claim them all, one or two can't hit a thing, one person never misses, some don't care how many they shoot, others want to shoot their limit, and in the end we don't know who got what. In the meantime I'm supposed to control the pack, count the birds, make sure no one gets shot and administer punishment to those that don't follow the rules - all for free. I'm always happy to get the first weekend over with.

Last year we walked a tree belt right away and I walked the outside row next to some older cedars. I could not see the other hunters but I could hear lots of shooting and holloring and when I got to the end I called for a count. I had two birds in my bag. After gathering up all the birds we were only two short from the limit. I asked who was short their three birds and everyone raised their hand. Am I responsible for these turkeys?

 

[Ranger Rick]

I've never hunted in a fee hunt, large group situation. But I have hunted in a larger group as guests of local farmers we met some years ago. We're hunting large cornfields. In the group were two 20 something ladies and two 15 year old boys, none of whom could hit a darned thing. I started walking corn with one of those boys on either side. If it flew straight ahead, I would shoot it. Flying to the side and I would let the boys shoot. After a while I didn't want to let them go because those all got away. None of that group really cared how many they shot. They were having fun, getting plenty of shooting and we all enjoyed a few cold ones together at the end of the day.

One year a lady friend of the farmer's nephew shot I don't know how many hens, despite guys yelling "hen". She wasn't asked back again.

 

[Prairie Drifter]

Pheasants

KsBrit, my best day by hand was very cold with new snow. It was -18 degrees with wind and I caught 8 hens and 1 rooster by hand behind points, all released unharmed. When you have 4 in the vest and have a mile to the truck it can give a body a challenge.

 

[GoBadgers]

I caught a rooster by hand once. We were hunting a creek bottom and a couple of shorthairs pointed at some tumbleweeds. I went down to kick out the bird and nothing came. I lifted up the tumbleweed and their sat a rooster, I just reached down and picked it up.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I can recall picking up three, all buried in the snow. One left his tail sticking out and the others woud not budge on point. Two I threw up for the assembled shooters and one got away with at least twelve misses. I actually have a pic of one of these from about 1968, with our shorthair Pete. My buddy got the bird.
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[1stout]

My dog got 5 in one day last year, it was too cold and he birds just wouldn't fly. My dog is a flusher but since they wouldn't fly she just stared at them until I walked over and then she went in and picked them up. If I had a pointer that would have stayed there I could have picked the birds up, it was -14 that day according to my truck and that was around noon.

 

[kansasbrittany]

KsBrit, my best day by hand was very cold with new snow. It was -18 degrees with wind and I caught 8 hens and 1 rooster by hand behind points, all released unharmed. When you have 4 in the vest and have a mile to the truck it can give a body a challenge.

Thanks for sharing PD and the rest of you!! I truly enjoy the notion that I might be able to catch one by hand if it is cold enough. What a rush! Now that I'm getting a bit older I'm realizing that I need to be patient and wait to use my time off later in the season. That is when the real magic happens, but I've always been so excited that I use my time off during early season. Not anymore....

 

[Prairie Drifter]

KsBrit, you are getting smarter with age. Sure, you can kill a lot of dumb birds early in the season, but you're sweating, breathing a lot of dust, and tripping over a lot of shorthorns that will be home in front of the NFL in coming weeks. It much more fun in the cold with dogs that have regained their polish and the world laid out in front of you with no one around. I like to pull in in the dark, get out and watch the stars fade as the roosters wake up noisily announcing their position. To hear the dogs whine and fidget, knowing what's in store. I listen for chickens, quail, and coyotes as well. What a country! What a way to spend a day!

 

[Rusty Trigger]

We hunt in smaller groups, each person is responsible for thier birds. We usually don't have an issue with getting close to the limit (KS limit of 4). If we do, the guys with three will make sure the others are in better positions during the walk and try to teach those how to read the terrian and the dogs. Once a limit for that hunter, the gun is broke open and slung over the shoulder.

 

[landman]

It's relatively easy to keep track of the birds when hunting in a small group with folks you know. But on opening weekend its a circus to say the least. After about two hours we can have Joe with one bird alone, another one where Joe hit it first but Jim hit it too and Josh finally brought it down, then Jake's dog found and retrieved the bird. So now Joe has one bird and one third of another. Later Jim and Josh share a bird and at the same time Jake and Joe share one. The dog looks everywhere but can find only one but we don't know which one. So now Joe has one bird by himself, a third of a bird and a fourth of a bird.

At the end of the day Joe might need 3/5 of a bird and Jim needs a third and Jake needs 2/3 of a bird to limit out. So if a bird gets up by Joe he needs Jim and Jake to shoot at it too and if Jim shoots he need Josh to shoot at it otherwise he's over the limit by a third of a bird. So after each bird is taken you would need to get the calculator out to see who has what, who needs to hunt by whom and who should shoot at the same time and with whom.

So who keeps track of all this stuff?

 

[1stout]

The people I hunt with don't get that worried about if they get enough shooting in or not, they know there is always another day, that sounds like the real problem. When hunting at my place what I say goes or they won't be back, if they start to whine about so and so shot at the bird also so I should be able to shoot another I'd tell them to not let the door hit them in the ass on the way out. I don't put up with that and don't surround myself with people that get hung up on minor things. We all hunt to get together, get outdoors and have some fun; stressing over little things isn't fun. If it's that big of a problem stop 5 or 10 birds short and end it there, we've done that several times but still had fun. I would say whoevers land it is needs to take charge, not put up with any s**t, and if people don't respect that they can go home.

Michael