How To Hunt Cattails

[tOlzon]

I'm looking for some advice on the best way to hunt cattails. I was out last weekend hunting the 'tails around a lake. The dog got tired out after about an hour of this, and the birds were either sitting tight or flushing wild ahead of me, so my standard walk-pause-walk-pause wasn't working very well.

We still managed to put up 10 birds (all hens), but there gotta be a better way to do it.

 

[moellermd]

I usually walk around the edge of the cattails and let the dogs dive on in.

 

[20thunderjet]

How To Hunt

I don't want to start a fight here but if your dog got tired after an hour in the cattails (especially if it's a lab or chessy) it's either getting a little long in the tooth or out of shape. Stay on the outskirts of the cattails in a elevated position if possible and let the dog do the work. AND BE QUITE!

 

[tOlzon]

Well, the dog weighs 20 pounds, so my expectations aren't particularly high for a long day of pushing through thick cover. He spends most of his time going under the 'tails, right in the roosters' running lanes. Still tuckers him out though.

Bigger dog coming next year

 

[moellermd]

Looks like your terrier works great for ya. I guess you have to live with the limitations of your dogs. They all have them.

 

[Ranger Rick]

The little guy hunts and there's nothing wrong with that! I had a buddy with an English cocker that was also challenged in tough cover. But he, too, hunted hard and was fun to take in the field.

Those cattails can be tough. 6' tall and thick. Hard with a pointing dog and the birds run ahead in those lanes mentioned earlier.

 

[JayhawkJ]

tOlzon, your pictures put a smile on my face it looks like the little guy loves to hunt the birds and that's what it's all about.

By the way, I'm 6'3" and 235 lbs and have hunted many times without a dog. My hunting buddies and I used to just plow right in the cattails. Let me tell you there is nothing much worse it would tire the heck out of me not to mention what it does to your eyes. I think I also tired out after about an hour in that crap. I now always hunt with dogs. :cheers:

 

[Dewey]

Love the Jack Russells!!!

Besides the chocolate lab, our family has an oversized Jack Russell mutt, Rocky. I take him bird hunting all the time.

He loves to be out in the field, but never made the connection to the birds. A crippled pheasant ran right under his nose once and he just watched it go by.

I think it's just great your pup loves to hunt. What's his name?

Oh yea, this picture probably shows why my Rocky never got into the pheasants.

 

[tOlzon]

Dewey, that gopher wouldn't last long with Bandit around! He once chased one up a tree (could have been a chipmunk too, I can't tell the difference). He sat there for over 2 hours till the poor thing finally got tired of hanging on and fell to the ground, where Bandit promptly killed it. He then threw it up in the air, trying to get it to "play" with him again. Failing that, he buried it.

We went out hunting for a few hours yesterday. Birds were running like crazy and we couldn't put any up. 8" of snow on the ground and a 14" dog. Tough hunting for both of us! To make it worse, I had brought a buddy to the spot under the the pretense that I'd kicked up 10 birds here only 4 days prior.

It seemed like with a brief warm streak in between snow storms, the birds were moving around a lot more than they have been in previous weeks.

 

[Dewey]

Very amusing! I bet you have a great time with Bandit.

 

[BritChaser]

Small Dog with Big Moxie

Well, the dog weighs 20 pounds, so my expectations aren't particularly high for a long day of pushing through thick cover. He spends most of his time going under the 'tails, right in the roosters' running lanes. Still tuckers him out though.

Bigger dog coming next year

What a treat to see your little terrier hunting pheasants for you. I have never seen such a dog in the field. It really is something. He is a special dog and you are lucky to have him.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Dewey---Were you up on Harney Peak when that pic was taken?

The birds are sometimes difficult to predict when you get a nice day or two after a clod spell. They will bust up and move around.

Xmas Morning I hit the Creek bottom in my backyard and saw about ten birds, 4 being roosters. I got two and a chance at a third, but he got up a little behind me and quickly took a hard left with the wind behind the biggest bush around. The creek is very hard to walk, at least for an old fart like me as it has those mounds in much of it that are like walking on frozen basketballs. Some cattails and rushes, lots of slough grass. About 60 yards widw and 1/4 mile long-25acres I'd guess. You kind of don't really know where to go as the birds could be anywhere. Before freezeup, you need hip boots in there. I had been up for just a few minutes in the AM and saw 3 rootis eating beans about two hundred yards from my house, so I knew there would be a good chance in the bottom as they had no where else to go. One of the birds had beans in his crop, the other not.
Back to the house by 11:00. Towards dark I headed to a 60 acre private CRP field with a lot of tall bluestem in it also. Went straight to the larger slough section and shot a bird within 5 minutes on Axel's point. On the way back to the truck, a lot of birds flushed wild to include 4 longtails. I was suprised they were in the blustem and not the slough, but per the nests and two points I got on hens they were digging in for the nite in that snowfilled cover.

The point is birds are where you find them sometimes, not where you think they are, particularly after improving weather. The AM birds had quickly feed and moved back to cover. The PM birds moved from roosting in the slough to somewhat lighter cover.

I use a beeper on my pointing dogs whenever I cannot see and/or hear them. With headcover on, I cannot hear well from years of shooting and rock and roll. I wade right into the heavy stuff with the dogs tho. Many of the sloughs have deer trails I take advantage of while trying to stay close to the dogs. They slow down in this stuff, but are very thorough. I slow down and stop as they get interested or move behind me, catching some breath as its work in there.
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