How many birds each season?

gimruis said:
You lost a dozen birds? That seems like a lot. That's more than 1/3 of your entire harvest Goose.

I went 7 times between mid November and late December this season and put 17 roosters in the bag. No lost cripples this season.
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My dog got spurred one time by a bird, and ever since, she doesn't like chasing winged birds.
 
hyresmack said:
Goosemaster my lab got spurred once but only once, sense then birds are all dead when they get back to me. He's not what you call soft mouthed. 😆
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My last lab was like that.She chomped down on bird.The thing with that, is it sort of messes up the meat.The lab I have now, is very soft mouthed, and a very good retriever. She doesn't go after the wounded ones very well.
 
Goosemaster you should see if you can turn wounded birds into a positive. On one of my earlier dogs I wet down a big white duck and turned it loose giving it time to get out of sight. I let my dog out to track it not knowing what was going to happen. Anyway she followed that duck down a draw and ended up swimming around chasing it all over a pond. About the time she was ready to give up I made sure there was a little room between them and shot it in front of her. Kind of like the kid who chopped down that tree for old Dan and little Anne ha ha 🤣 . After that she had no quit in her . Several times I had to pull her off of birds she couldn’t work out in the Kansas heat because I was afraid she’d kill herself.
Lol she wasn’t really that great of bird finder , but boy did she have heart
 
gimruis said:
At least you recognized the problem. The owners of the dogs that ruined the hunt I was on couldn't recognize the problem, or weren't willing to admit to it. Its very difficult to tell someone you know that their dog is the problem. People get offended by it. Needless to say, when I invited them again, I told them their dog wasn't welcome. Some of them understood but a couple of them blew a fuse.
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I have been there. I don’t want to hunt with anyone that is constantly blowing a whistle or yelling at their dog all day. Hunted once with a guy that bragged up his dog and the 6k he had in it. First couple of fields he was 200 yards ahead blowing out birds. Finally told him to get a lead or leave him in the truck. Not a fan of the constant beepers. Sounded like a truck was backing up all day. Beep beeep beeep beeeeeep make it stop
 
I have posted several times how jealous i am of you guys who get 3 months of pheasant hunting and I love coming here and reading about your trips and I enjoy sharing my trips out west with you guys. I generally get 10 to 15 days to hunting either SD or NE a season and every trip is a success whether I kill 0 bird or limit, lack of birds in the vest are always a function of my shooting. I guess i average around 20 pheasants a season handful of quail if i get to NE and I average 10 miles a day, i'm a 53 year old overweight forester and wildland firefighter. Living in Northern Michigan i'm chasing mostly grouse and woodcock. We start the 15th of September and with woodcock only being a 45 day season, my goal is to hunt everyday, which i'm pretty good at doing. I generally harvest between 15 to 20 grouse a season and 40 -50 woodcock. My dogs have 100's of bird contacts, but the stem counts in the stands i'm in are anywhere from a 1000 to 3000 per acre. I have graduated from wanting to get my limit to just having the opportunity to shot my limit.

After reading/following a post like this it makes me wondering just how many handles/names GooseMaster has 1, 2, 3 or more....🤔 Is Hyresmack just a play on Haymakers name? Can some not make the connection of leaving gifts to a farmer who graciously allows you to hunt his land is paying to hunt? It may not be the normal "trespass fee" but is still offering a gratuity for providing a service. I have a very supportive wife and she makes breads and other treats for those i come in contact with, until this year it was the guy who cleaned the bird cleaning shop for Pheasant Fest, a great side note they allow those not hunting with them to use the cleaning shop. I always gave the guy a bread and made donations to help keep it clean, this is a great service.

My dogs are family pets first and hunters second, on the trip out they ride kennels cause otherwise they are just like young kids, "are we there yet", "I gotta pee dad" and it gets annoying. However on the way home they ride in the back seat of the truck on their beds and blankets. They sleep and eat when i share my snacks with them. Do I think of what might happen if i'm in a wreck sure, but I think that with the dogs in a kennel too. In 2012 6 hunters from Michigan and I believe all their dogs died when they were hit heading home, all dogs were in kennels but nobody survived. Guess my point is at the speed people travel now a days chance of survival is dropping. A dog in the lap is a bit much, in my opinion.

I hope that Haymaker is able to purchase the land and make it profitable for him and his family, I would love for it to be in habitat to help support wildlife. I asked Haymaker if he would allow my son and I to stay at his operation but not hunt, this was for a late season hunt (december). He said sure and when I asked about rates he said just make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project. Unfortunately, we were not able to make the trip, however, i did make my donation to the Project for what I thought I would pay for lodging and have done so ever since. I doubt he remembers our conversation but that is a guy who was willing to help us out as well as pay it forward.

This site is great, a break from reality cause sometimes it seems like i'm watch the "Real Housewives of Pheasant Hunting" or it is the buidling on fire we all walk toward to watch burn. I have meet some great people, hunted with a few and look forward to hear how the rest of your seasons finish, as my bird hunting is done for 2021.

Hope everyone had a great holidays and wishing you a prosperous 2022 and sorry for getting on my soapbox.
 
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