How many Prairie Chicken hunt?

oldandnew said:
Thanks for the story and Pic's, gave me a vicarious thrill and a few cramps thinking about the 20 mile hikes across rocky pastures of thigh high grass in 70+ degree heat! Any chicken is a prize these days. I was surprised to see that the field was a mowed, or hayed. would not expect to find them there, but it did look like there was some decent regrowth. Would have thought they would be devilishly hard to get close to even in early season, and young birds in the mix, though I have seen a lot of them hold even late season, in the last couple of years. thank heaven for the opportunities to hunt these fabulous birds, have always been among my favorites.
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That first picture is a little misleading, the field has not been mowed or hayed, Those were some ruts from both the two track and the cattle. That was in a saddle the I suspect can get a little soft when it rains. I tend to find PC up on the highest parts of the hills. But this is only my second season of torture ... I mean Prairie Chicken hunting :cheers:

But really it is just fun to get the dog out finally and do some hunting. You also get to see what training issues need to be cleaned up before the real bird season starts. I found that stop to flush is weak, so we will see if we can improve that before the 2nd weekend in Nov. :D

Nothing worse than having a hen flush, and have you dog chase and blow out a bunch of roosters. I'm sure none of you have ever had that happend :rolleyes: :D
 
Headed out for chickens in the AM (Thursday). Call me if you want to meet up. E-collars optional. :laugh:
 
So far I have to get my thrills from you guys. Usually by now I'm in the sandhills of Nebraska by now, got tied up with domestic duties. It's the greatest athletic event featuring man and dog, torture, I think I curse myself everytime I crest some giant dune, and look back to see a shimmering silver speck, and realize it's my rig, 5 miles and across three ridges of dunes like the one I'm on. First bird cures me though, and I'm ready for more. Funny the difference in area makes, In the hills chickens are always on side hills, low plateaus,or base of the hill. Sharpies always as high as they can get, on the windward side. If there are ripe rose hips in abundance, high up, there are almost sure to be sharpies in the area. Prefered dining is grasshoppers, hips and hip greens. Thousands of crickets, but never found one in a crop. And yes the legend grows, I do not use an e-collar, and I did get the joke! I did shoot a prairie chicken with an e-transmitter in 1988. Poor booger lasted 8 whole days after beiing tagged with a transmitter, but had moved 13 air miles from the release sight. Just proves with prairie grouse they are where you find them, or not. As far as the e-transmitter chicken, I took it as a sign from the almighty, that animals that are electronically tagged don't fare well and vowed to never do it. Ha Ha. Good Hunting.
 
I hope nobody was offended by the comment. I was just having fun.

I bought an entry-level e-collar to train Rusty 10 years ago and it is still in its original box somewhere in the basement. Then I bought an "avid amateur" grade collar for Daisy when I bought her almost 4 years ago. (I thought I needed a better range for my new pointing dog.) It has been hanging on the coat rack by the back door ever since I took it out of it's package 3+ years ago... What a waste of $$$.:eek:

And I am NOT claiming that my dog is so well trained that an e-collar is obsolete. Actually, it would have come in really handy last year when she decided to ignore me and chase a jackrabbit over the horizon... My problem with the e-collar is that it's just one more piece of crap that I have to haul around and one more thing that makes the simple act of hunting with my dog feel more complicated than it should be. Heck, I don't even bring a whistle most of the time...

With the transmitter swinging around my neck on the lanyard, hunting feels like work instead of like an adventure. BUT... I'll probably use it this year out West to try to break the jackrabbit habit if it comes up again.:eek: Especially since, I actually found the charger for the collar while I was looking for my old copy of Gun Dog. ;)

I will definitely report back the results of my morning PC hunt. Probably even strap on that expensive e-collar so I can get my $$$ worth out of it...
 
no offense taken, all in good sport. sentiments that I don't need another item to keep track of, are mine precisely. Jackrabbit chasing will probably cure itself. They are so unique at first sight no self respecting dog can refuse a chase. After a while, when nobody shoots one, and the chase involves a scolding, most dogs quit. Might look longing as the rabbits go, but don't chase. Kinda like us old guys who stare longingly at the stunning, leggy blonde we see on the street, might stare, don't chase anymore!
 
If you want justification for a shock collar, stir in a bunch of jack rabbits or short-eared owls with a pup. Oh the miles I've travelled to reclaim a dedicated pup! As you age, you'll find out why ecollars are more popular, chasing, reaching, lifting all get harder on a fella. Push button and smile as if you're their best friend! Just a twitch will do and you won't need ibuprofen thereafter.
 
oldandnew said:
no offense taken, all in good sport. sentiments that I don't need another item to keep track of, are mine precisely. Jackrabbit chasing will probably cure itself. They are so unique at first sight no self respecting dog can refuse a chase. After a while, when nobody shoots one, and the chase involves a scolding, most dogs quit. Might look longing as the rabbits go, but don't chase. Kinda like us old guys who stare longingly at the stunning, leggy blonde we see on the street, might stare, don't chase anymore!
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like how you said that- took all 4 out for a little run this morning- not the back yard but a couple mile drive to get them excited-

1/2 mile by mile field of somewhat grass and sand-

yep- 3 Britt's were out 240 some yards and streaking- dust was flying
saw a jackrabbit in front- jack turned and was coming my way- lead Britt was getting close- more dust- Britt tumbled- 2 youngsters stopped- then took off as the jack was most likely teasing them-

hit both whistles- 3 Britt's headed my way- I grabbed Shadow and shook him- he licked me- he knew- pups stood

kind of glad actually that I didn't have a shock collar on them- they knew-
hour later a jack jumped in front of them- short chase- and then turn and come in to me- good Britt's- they know we don't hunt rabbits

never has bothered me if one takes off on a short chase- course- short is the word- if I was to shoot a rabbit or had ever shot one where they could smell- mine would probably chase and catch- reason I've never wanted to be arround a bird dog and hunter who shoots at rabbits- course that goes back to old school days
 
I almost had forgotten about short eared owls. The up and down short flight is a powerful aphrodisiac to young dog! Other critter that used to exite my pupils was prairie dogs, When we took a break from Sage grouse hunting, the dogs amused themselves with trying to dig out and catch prairie dogs. Probably lucky they didn't dig up a rattler! This also ran it's course due to lack of success. I'm 57, bad heart, convert to Brittanies from pointers and setters, might just as well continued on with the latter. Range, difficulty, etc. seem the same,and the long hikes after a wayward pup are exhausting, and painful, I'm now equipped with 3 and 4 year olds and they seem to be past that. Heaven help me with the next pup!
 
you made me chuckle- there have been times I've jumped in the Escape because the 2 youngsters took off and crossed the 1/2 mile- did help in that it was 100 degrees

they are much better this year- get on the whistle when they hit 316 yards on a head race- one spins the other spins- can't be happier

mine pretty much have learned to jump up and back when they find a snake-
course it helped that when I saw a snake slithering across the driveway- I'd let them out and have a stick in my hand:)

dirt does fly when they see one of those little ground squirrels dive underground- I sort of chuckle- just another hole you 2 make- have to be carefull how I walk arround here in the dark- I cracked a cheek bone not to long ago- saw stars- wife just shrugs- "you know better than to walk out there in the dark"
 
No points, no chickens this morning. She got really birdy in one of the usual spots, but the chix were long gone by the time we got there! It was bone dry this morning and it got warm in a hurry... :( Thinking about a different spot for tomorrow.

Also I was 5 minutes into the trip when I realized I had left the collar charging on the counter at home. Oh well... Didn't need it anyway. With the warm and dry conditions it didn't take long before Daisy's range was a bit less than desired. :( I don't think she was smelling much today, just not much intensity in her search for the last half of our hunt. Hard to blame her... I was sweating like a pig and not hunting with too much intensity either... :eek:
 
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Toad. when it is that hot and dry it takes it out of the dog fast.
John and I went out this evening for a hunt. I got there about 30 minutes before John so I hunted for a while before he got there. I went through a bunch of water with Ace.

We had a wild flush of 3 chickens, and got an idea of where one of them went. We went after him. John's oldest dog Riley found and pointed the PC. John was working the camera as his shoulder still isn't allowing him to carry and shot a gun yet. Ace backed and I walked in on Riley's point. I got one of the easiest shots on a PC you can get. The bird held great and I had to wait to let it get out a little ways, maybe 15 yards :D

Hope John posts the pictures, they should be pretty good.

I have a cell phone pic of the bird I will try to post.
 
Here is a pic of the Chicken from last night.

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I went out this morning for a short PC hunt, before my wife and I played in a golf tournament.

Ace did about as well as I did playing golf, we both stunk it up.
It was warm, dry and dusty. We had 3 in 1 group, and then found one of the ones that flushed about a 1/4 mile away. Ace just never looked like he had the birds. They all flushed about 10 yards away from him. All would have been easy shots if he had stopped and pointed.

I don't have any excuses for my crappy play on the golf course :eek:
 
Nature of the beast, the birds, not the dog. Some days the birds put so little scent, impossible for the dogs to handle them. Next day might be entirely different. No excuses necessary. As to the golf your on your own!
 
oldandnew said:
Nature of the beast, the birds, not the dog. Some days the birds put so little scent, impossible for the dogs to handle them. Next day might be entirely different. No excuses necessary. As to the golf your on your own!
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Got out a few minutes after 8 am. There was no dew on the ground at all and pretty light winds. It got warm fast too. Went through two bottles of water in no time.

As for the golf, I think my equipment may be defective :rolleyes:
 
Well the early PC season comes to an end on Saturday. I didn't get to go out as many times as I would have liked, but that is pretty much always the case.

Was it a successful season?
- Ace pointed and I shot 1 PC
- Ace pointed and I missed a PC (this was really Johns fault for texting me a the wrong time :rolleyes:)
- Riley (John's dog) pointed and I shot the PC. (John should have pics of this)
- I have lost around 10 lbs during the season.

I hope that I can get out at least one more time. Maybe get another one pointed, and drop another pound to two :cheers:
 
John and I went out tonight. Its getting pretty tough to get them pointed and shot. The birds are starting to flock up, and they are not holding very well for the dogs. We had a few that flushed wild. Couldn't see how close the dogs were on those.

Then right at the end of shooting hours, I worked one with Ace that I saw land a couple hundred yards away.

Ace was out in front about 75 yards and pointed. Then just as I walked past him the PC flushed. The dang thing was 35-40 yards out in front of Ace. I had skeet/IC chokes in so I didn't shoot. It was a straight away shot.

Going to go out one last time tomorrow. Its going to be pretty tough to get one pointed and shot, but maybe we can find a single that isn't too spooky.
 
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