Hunters

[engpointerman]

I think everyone who likes to hunt pheasants has been to Yuma County this weekend. Dont know if there has been much success though. Corn is coming out nicely. I watched one walk-in property get walked by 7 different groups of guys while I was baling cornstalks yesterday. Totally amazing.

 

[Waterwolves]

I was up that way Friday and Saturday and I thought there was a lot of hunters as well but I am comparing it to where I'm used to hunting further south. You can go all day and not see a hunter that way.......

 

[atfrith]

heading up to holyoke in about a half hour, sure beats having to wake up at 3am tomorrow and make the drive. We've only been out a couple times since opening day, but only to morgan county, we've got a dog tomorrow so i'm hoping we have some luck tomorrow on the tons of walk in properties around the town. Wish me luck and good luck to ya'll this season!

 

[Obsession]

I hunted the Holyoke area on Friday & Saturday. I could not believe the amount of hunters I saw. I would have to say I saw as many on Saturday as on the Opener! (Then again, I am just another hunter contributing to the masses)

The WIA program is great. It benefits everyone. Since it is doubtful the amount of hunters will drop in the next few years, we have to do our best to support the DOW and encourage more landowners to participate.

I personally plan on writing a letter to the DOw thanking the DOW for their efforts to make hunting available to us all!

 

[sdtEvergreen]

Weekend

I hunted on Sunday in Holyoke area and did see some other hunters and I'm sure I was the second or third set of boots in some WIHA areas. But it was a beutiful day and my dog and I saw about a dozen birds and got the only one within shooting range. The birds were a little nervous and were jumping ahead. It probably would have been a bit better with two hunters to keep the birds from going around us.

I have a question for engpointerman. Do you have a connection for fresh eggs? I get out to the Akron/Yuma area a couple times a month and would like to pick some up.

Thanks

 

[Scooter]

We were out south of Brush Saturday and only saw 2 other hunters. Seemed like no one was out, but the birds weren't either...only saw one hen.

 

[chadsbritt]

I think everyone who likes to hunt pheasants has been to Yuma County this weekend. Dont know if there has been much success though. Corn is coming out nicely. I watched one walk-in property get walked by 7 different groups of guys while I was baling cornstalks yesterday. Totally amazing.

That's because everyone's watching this site. Better start telling those white lies about how you saw a few birds, but your hearing great things about Kansas.

Nah, just give it a few weeks. It will settle down....hopefully!

 

[engpointerman]

Good point Chad.

 

[keskam]

We were out south of Brush Saturday and only saw 2 other hunters. Seemed like no one was out, but the birds weren't either...only saw one hen.

I would head farther east if it was me, From Fleming to the border you will have better success.

 

[chadsbritt]

I would head farther east if it was me, From Fleming to the border you will have better success.

No, head west. I heard the pheasant population is booming over on the wetern slope! .... No, your right, further east is generally better. But shhh, don't tell all of our secrets!

 

[Scooter]

No, head west. I heard the pheasant population is booming over on the wetern slope! .... No, your right, further east is generally better. But shhh, don't tell all of our secrets!

Come on now, help a guy out...the elk are west, the birds are east! I wish I knew some good spots around Brush, driving 2 hours before sunrise is tough, and so far we have had no luck.

 

[keskam]

No, head west. I heard the pheasant population is booming over on the wetern slope! .... No, your right, further east is generally better. But shhh, don't tell all of our secrets!

Oh now when it really starts getting cold, like today, most phez hunters have packed it in for the year, because they dont want to chase those crazy ones and get there little feets cold, or to lazy to get out of bed, or the list goes on which is great for you and me because now it is realllly hunting and not just bam bam your done, so we need guys like Scooter out there to keep those birds honest... because they are starting to be very wary....

And it was Cold out there today in eastern Colorado, it was 7 degrees and the wind was aroud 30 mph, and we chased them all over and pinned a couple. and got some good pics of our dogs, :cheers:

Kevin

 

[mong]

Hey Kevin, was there any snow on the ground out where you were?

 

[keskam]

yes a little 1/2 inch but not melting.

 

[cedahm]

Come on now, help a guy out...the elk are west, the birds are east! I wish I knew some good spots around Brush, driving 2 hours before sunrise is tough, and so far we have had no luck.

First post here - was a semi-active member of the "old site" before it got zapped. Nice to virtually meet everyone.

In the days just before and after the WIA program started, we used to hunt down south of Brush a lot. The original WIAs were quite good, and we had permission on two small private spots south of there that were always good for a bird or two.

ABout 4 years ago, we abandoned it as the WIA's that were good were no longer in the program, the ones that were still in the program had lousy cover, and the private stuff changed hands in one case and got farmed and hayed in another.

Just ebb and flow - if the cover is good, there are birds to be had in that area, just not the numbers near Yuma, Holyoke, et al. I've been meaning to get back and take a peek at the cover since it's been a few years now.

My personal mantra after hunting here for a little over 10 years now is that if an extra hour of windshield time brings an exponentially better chance at finding birds, it's worth it. You're basically trading windshiled time/gas for boot leather. In fact, since re-visiting SD a few years ago, I have come close to saying 'screw it' to the 400 mile round trips in CO, figuring I can make a trip twice that long once a year and see more birds in a couple days than a season in Colorado. But - I'm a sucker for my home state and love the challenge here where the population isn't as dense and you have to work (hard) for every bird. The rooster in the fridge from Tuesday will taste that much better being a Colorado bird

 

[engpointerman]

There is no reason for people to not be finding birds this year. They are thick I seen probly 500 the day before yesterday. But the main culprit is you have to have private ground to see these kinds of #s. I still will point out I have also seen plenty of birds on the boundry edges of the WIAs. My personal opinion Brush is still a little to far west of the population. I have a friend in Morgan and he comes to my house to hunt.