I decided I don't know squat about pheasant hunting!

O

oldandnew

Active member
Well after 40 some years of this, I have come to the conclusion that the only pheasants I kill, are newbies, confused by the first snow or opening day, or maybe some bird wandering around in who the almighty or random chance decided it was his day! I tried tactics, study the charts in Outdoor Life, did the "pincher" maneuver, coming from a different location than normal, quietly slipping out of the car, etc. Don't see amazing results, though occasionally we limit out. At that dizzying daily limit time I decided I knew it all, only to suffer the indignity of the golden sombrero tomorrow! Since Now I realize with wisdom of old age, I see that all I know how to do is make a guess from looking at a field, and stumbling along follow the dogs. and there you have it! A lifetime of research, put plainly forward, this to ease your mind. This revelation solves all pheasant hunting problems! Good production-bad production, ground looks the same? It's the dog! If you had a better dog, all problems solved. Was it a bad season? or did "old Duke" dial one in? An old friend of mine named his dog Sargent. Sargent's rank got better or worse, in the course of the day. I hunted with a General many times, also a Private occasionally, but every new day he was a Sargent, all glories and misgivings forgotten from the day before. He was a wise man! So now I can treat my boots, clean the gun, assume that in my role of an armed dog walker, the dog takes care of everything! If the dog doesn't find birds, get a better dog. Forget strategies, game forecasts, mindless rumors. There are "thousands" of birds, If you have stamina, and can follow the dog and shoot, ( you do have to shoot you know), success is only time and distance. If the dog is unsuccessful, I have a new approach, after an evil stare from my wife, it works nice and tidy, get MORE dogs! Not all can be the home run hitter. You will need pitchers who are "inning eaters". Sooner or later we have some of those, as they say, every dog has it's day....that could be today for the dog walker/provider/hunter, after a personal mind altering revelation, all responsibility is born by the dog. Man, I feel a lot better. :)
 
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I think the inability to nail "it" down is what keeps us interested in chasing wild pheasants. Spend enough time in the field (chasing wild pheasants) and they'll make fools of us, our dogs, and our shotguns.

On the flip side; You'll make yourself feel better if you hit South Dakota in a good year.;) It has a way of elevating any pheasant hunter's confidence in his pheasant hunting abilities. It tends to make our dogs look like champs too.lol

Nick
 
Uncle Buck said:
No dog is any smarter than his master!:rolleyes:
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Buck, I think you might have this backwards. Maybe it should be, "No hunter is any smarter than his dog!" :)
 
I don't take the dogs hunting, they take me. I just drive 'em to the field and they let me shoot some of the birds they find. Worked well for over 50 years.
 
Sometimes after I miss one I find that my dog catches the next bird instead of letting it flush for me to shoot. I believe this is due to her losing faith in my shooting. She hands me the bird as if to say "you had one job and you failed, so I decided to do it myself".
 
When it comes to wild birds, my dog is way smarter than I am.
 
At least you are man enough to admit it. I've seen bird hunters my whole life who thought they were the absolute best/smartest at everything, but really didn't have a clue how to hunt different types of hunting conditions. While experience can be good, some of these folks have been in the field 30 years (or more) and still do everything the wrong way.
 
My dog teaches me all the time. Usually it happens because she is pointing, but a bunch of birds already flushed from right there, and I tromped through it already. I figure she is pointing residual scent, then that last rooster she was pointing gets up while I'm taking a leak.

The lesson is trust the dog.
 
Well, after hunting for only about 5 years now, you have eased my mind and expectations trying to live up to all you old "John Waynes" ;)

I readily admit to not wanting to come up with the "plan" to hit a patch of land, unless it involves someone suggesting to not work into the wind... even I know that.

I only hope that after starting later in life, I can glean some useful info in the next 4 years before my son starts carrying a gun with me and I sound like I have a clue :D
 
This Post sure hits home! My brother used to call me the "General", I think it was to take the pressure off himself so he could just relax,hunt,and shoot. I gotta tell ya, I took it seriously and at times thought I was getting good at it. Then those evil birds would flush 150 yards at the opposite end of the field, cackling in defiance, they did it on purpose, they could have just stayed put and no one would have even known they were there. But there were those times when we got it right, going into a field that was just hunted by men with experienced dogs and us using our own version of push and block maneuvers with of course a battle ready Springer and nailing a couple of those crafty roosters, while the previous hunters looked on in disbelief and my brother mumbling something to them about the "General". The Ringneck is one crafty,sneaky,sly, bird and I guess that's why we love em!
 
Just pray you have 40 more years and the birds we've had this far! The days I love to recount the most are the ones where the birds made me look like a preteen on his first outing! I forget the easy ones, I remember the ones that left me with my pants down! It's all about the pursuit, not the accomplishment!
 
oldandnew said:
Well after 40 some years of this, I have come to the conclusion that the only pheasants I kill, are newbies, confused by the first snow or opening day, or maybe some bird wandering around in who the almighty or random chance decided it was his day! I tried tactics, study the charts in Outdoor Life, did the "pincher" maneuver, coming from a different location than normal, quietly slipping out of the car, etc. Don't see amazing results, though occasionally we limit out. At that dizzying daily limit time I decided I knew it all, only to suffer the indignity of the golden sombrero tomorrow! Since Now I realize with wisdom of old age, I see that all I know how to do is make a guess from looking at a field, and stumbling along follow the dogs. and there you have it! A lifetime of research, put plainly forward, this to ease your mind. This revelation solves all pheasant hunting problems! Good production-bad production, ground looks the same? It's the dog! If you had a better dog, all problems solved. Was it a bad season? or did "old Duke" dial one in? An old friend of mine named his dog Sargent. Sargent's rank got better or worse, in the course of the day. I hunted with a General many times, also a Private occasionally, but every new day he was a Sargent, all glories and misgivings forgotten from the day before. He was a wise man! So now I can treat my boots, clean the gun, assume that in my role of an armed dog walker, the dog takes care of everything! If the dog doesn't find birds, get a better dog. Forget strategies, game forecasts, mindless rumors. There are "thousands" of birds, If you have stamina, and can follow the dog and shoot, ( you do have to shoot you know), success is only time and distance. If the dog is unsuccessful, I have a new approach, after an evil stare from my wife, it works nice and tidy, get MORE dogs! Not all can be the home run hitter. You will need pitchers who are "inning eaters". Sooner or later we have some of those, as they say, every dog has it's day....that could be today for the dog walker/provider/hunter, after a personal mind altering revelation, all responsibility is born by the dog. Man, I feel a lot better. :)
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bla bla bla.........I'm thinking of getting rid of my britts and finding me some birdcats.:) Hope you have a nice 2015/2016 season with those old dogs:thumbsup:.
 
You guys are a bunch of Morons if you can't figure out pheasants!

They are by far the easiest bird I have ever found to understand. I mean have none of you learned how to get a pheasant to flush every time? I know many fool proof ways - stop in the middle of the field to pee, hand your gun to a friend so you can cross a fence safely. These work every time for me. :)
 
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