How many Prairie Chicken hunt?

[SetterNut]

, I've been seeing increasing number of greaters out in north east Colorado but it's usually late in the season when I notice the flocks and it seems like they would be impossible to approach.

I know what you mean. Good luck getting very close to them once they have flocked up. I tried a time or two over the years during Nov - Jan, it didn't go well

If I had to compare the difficulty for the dog between PC and Pheasants it is kind of hard because the birds are very different.

With PC if the dog stands off a bit, you have time to get there and flush the bird, if the dog gets very close and puts much pressure on them they fly. At least that is what I experienced most of the time last season.
With Pheasants, if the dog is not close enough, they just take off running.

My setter tends to stop on first scent which is great for birds that don't put up with much pressure from the dog. But I don't think he will every be what I would call a great pheasant dog. He does not relocate on his own, so there are time that by the time I get there the pheasants have run off. But he is only 2.5 years old and only hunted in phez country 3 times.

Both birds are a lot of fun to hunt with a pointing dog.

 

[Toad]

It is beautiful and rugged country for sure. Oldandnew, there is no shortage of grasshoppers, so they should be finding plenty of food.

Setternut if you see your truck twin out this September, I hope you stop and say hello. I would guess we are probably stomping a lot of the same ground.

Thanks for posting the pictures, it inspired me to get the dog's and my fat butts off the couch today and go for a walk. We need to get in/stay in shape better this summer.

 

[Toad]

Birds are all funny. My GWP can hold early season PCs and she typically points CLOSE. As in, "here is the bird, right under my nose." She gives the PCs a bit more space than a pheasant or quail, but still pretty close. I would say like 15 yards max, and often more like 8-10 yards. She may hit scent earlier than that, but she's definitely a creeper until she feels like she has them locked down. She points low to the ground too, like she's ducking under a fence... I like her style and personality, although it might make a dyed-in-the-wool setter man spit out his scotch.

I like the pics of setters with the high head and tail. Maybe some day I'll have a dog that does that.

BTW, the dog in my avatar is my old golden retriever. He's got a PC in his mouth in the pic that we hunted up together. Lots of walking for the hunter to chase chickens with a flusher, but I used to do it all the time just to get out and wander the hills. Not a lot of shooting for the amount of walking, but it sure is a nice time of year to get out and stretch the legs.

 

[oldandnew]

Setternut, I bet the dog learns to relocate and pin pheasants on his own. I think that is strictly an experience thing.

 

[SetterNut]

Setternut, I bet the dog learns to relocate and pin pheasants on his own. I think that is strictly an experience thing.

Ace might start to relocate on his own in the future. But we have done a fair amount of training to get him steady to wing and shot. However, from the time he was a little pup, he has been standing there until I release him.

Even if he never starts to relocate on his own, I am very happy with him. He is not the biggest running dog, but he checks back in, and understands that if he bust the bird, we don't get a bird.

Birds are all funny. My GWP can hold early season PCs and she typically points CLOSE. As in, "here is the bird, right under my nose." She gives the PCs a bit more space than a pheasant or quail, but still pretty close. I would say like 15 yards max, and often more like 8-10 yards. She may hit scent earlier than that, but she's definitely a creeper until she feels like she has them locked down. She points low to the ground too, like she's ducking under a fence... I like her style and personality, although it might make a dyed-in-the-wool setter man spit out his scotch.

I like the pics of setters with the high head and tail. Maybe some day I'll have a dog that does that.

BTW, the dog in my avatar is my old golden retriever. He's got a PC in his mouth in the pic that we hunted up together. Lots of walking for the hunter to chase chickens with a flusher, but I used to do it all the time just to get out and wander the hills. Not a lot of shooting for the amount of walking, but it sure is a nice time of year to get out and stretch the legs.

Toad, I am pretty sure I have seen your truck Its a small world.
You know that each of the breeds have their strong and weak points. Ace will not retrieve. He hunts dead great but will almost never start bringing it back. Can't tell you how many times I have crawled under a plum thicket to pick up a quail that he is standing over

The pointing distance a dog uses is not important as long as the bird stays put so that you can flush it.

There is some down side to having a dog point at 30+ yards. It can be real hard some time to find and flush the bird. And you have less idea where the bird is going to come up from.

Man, bird season can't get here soon enough.

 

[Toad]

I guess that's true about each breed having it's strong points. At about six months of age Daisy, the GWP, retrieved a big wing-tipped Canada. I really didn't know what she would do when we went after it, but she just knocked it down, grabbed its azz-end, and carried it all the way back to me. It was at least 10 pounds, so I wasn't even sure it would fit in her mouth let alone whether she would be bold enough to tackle it... You could have knocked me over with a feather when she did that, but it turned out to be just the first of a lot of really impressive retrieves she has done so far in her "career".

She just always has to be carrying something. If it doesn't have feathers, then it's a water bottle or one of the kids toys or whatever she can find to bring me.

 

[Toad]

There is some down side to having a dog point at 30+ yards. It can be real hard some time to find and flush the bird. And you have less idea where the bird is going to come up from.

:laugh: Well, here's a situation where my lack of training effort is really paying off.:laugh: She only holds until I get there, and then she stalks in with me. I lose a lot of style points on that one, but I don't have to worry about the bird getting up behind me or wonder whether it ran off while I was walking up. I know it's usually going to get up right in front of the dog and the more tense she gets, the closer we're getting. Not exactly stylish, but I guess it works.

I tried to whoa break her during her first season, but she was awfully sensitive and started blinking birds, so I figured why screw with it if it's working... She holds until I get there so what the heck.

 

[V-John]

Damn birds who likes em anyways? I just cooked one last night Steve and well, its a work in progress. I suppose we'll be chasing them in September again. Sis could use the experience.

 

[SetterNut]

Damn birds who likes em anyways? I just cooked one last night Steve and well, its a work in progress. I suppose we'll be chasing them in September again. Sis could use the experience.

I still haven't cooked them yet
Sounds like you are now the expert chef. Want some more PC to perfect the recipe That meat is so red it is freaky.

Figured I would let you work things out before I started cooking them


Toad - I tried to push Ace too fast at one point as well. That was when I was trying to get him steady through the shot. Best decision I made was backing off and letting him get a little older.

 

[Toad]

Hi V-John, good to see you posting again!

A couple more people and maybe Manhattan could get it's own regional forum...

 

[V-John]

Hi V-John, good to see you posting again!

A couple more people and maybe Manhattan could get it's own regional forum...

Thanks Toad! That would be a VERY exclusive club though!

 

[Toad]

Thanks Toad! That would be a VERY exclusive club though!

I don't know about you guys, but it would be the first "VERY exclusive" club that I've ever been in.:laugh: I'm often the guy that exclusive clubs are trying to exclude...

 

[SetterNut]

Only 90 days till the early PC season opens.
I know John can't wait

The dogs don't like the heat, but love getting out to hunt

A couple of almost 2 year olds working PC, or it could have been a Meadowlark

 

[Toad]

Are those golf clubs in the back of your truck? You are some kind of a badass golfer if you can consistently take PCs with a titelist 3.

Seriously though, I am noticing from your photos that you have quite a collection of dogs there. That's quite a variety of pointing breeds in your pack there also. No wonder you are looking forward to hunting season so much.

 

[V-John]

Are those golf clubs in the back of your truck? You are some kind of a badass golfer if you can consistently take PCs with a titelist 3.

Seriously though, I am noticing from your photos that you have quite a collection of dogs there. That's quite a variety of pointing breeds in your pack there also. No wonder you are looking forward to hunting season so much.

Well Steve is quite the golfer! No, the red dogs (vizslas) are mine. We hunted quite a bit together last year and hope to continue that! (I have three of em)

 

[CloseRange]

Prairie chickens do have a very dark red meat, much like ducks.

I like to cook prairie chickens by first filleting the two breast pieces off the breast bone. Then I lay the fillets on a cutting board and size each one down, creating a number of smaller pieces. (If you've ever filleted dove breasts and grilled those little pieces kabob-style, try to think "dove size" as you section down your prairie chicken fillets.)

Then taking a kabob skewer, weave small pieces of breast onto the skewer alternating the bird pieces with a strip of bacon that runs the length of the skewer. Meat, bacon, meat, bacon, and so forth.

Once all the meat and bacon is skewered, lay your skewers on a charcoal grill and cook them until done. It helps to have handy a spray bottle of water; the bacon will give up drops of fat that catch fire unless suppressed with an occasional fog of water spray.

During grilling you can brush the meat with your favorite BBQ sauce.

The reason for weaving bacon onto the skewers is because prairie chicken meat is extremely dry (again, same as wild duck meat). It just needs a bit of fat to make it taste better. By the time the skewers have finished cooking most of the bacon fat has sweated out, so you're not eating as much fat as this preparation method might at first make it sound.

 

[SetterNut]

CloseRange, thanks for the recipe. Think I will give that a try on a fresh killed bird this fall. I was thinking chili for the ones that I have in the freezer.

Toad, I am dog poor. I have Ace who is 2.5 years old now, and a 14 year old Gordon Setter, Cookie. She has not been able to hunt for the last couple of season.

John has a couple of real good Vizslas, and a new V pup that has a ton of potential. When we get the group out hunting together, there are not many birds that don't get pointed.

Yep, those are golf clubs, can't have too many toys in the back of the truck

Here is Ace and Grady (John's) from a PC hunt last season. They both got an education the first few times out

This was after we relocated them, in one of the pictures I post earlier. It was really fun to watch the two of them learn the game last year.

 

[kscountryboy11]

i have never shot one. but huntin in north central ks last year saw 2 groups each around 200 + birds

 

[oldandnew]

When they are in groups that large you would need a tremendous amount of luck to get within range or if legal, ( it's not), or use a .220 swift with 40x Unertil scope.

 

[SetterNut]

i have never shot one. but huntin in north central ks last year saw 2 groups each around 200 + birds

That is too late in the season to get on them with a dog. Once they are in the large winter flocks, you can pretty well forget about getting close to them. That time of year you can hunt them by finding out where they are feeding, and setup on the edge of the field as they fly in.

That is fun, but not as much fun as shooting one over a pointing dog. Thats what the early PC season is for, bird dog hunters :cheers: