I guy 1 dog.. A few qusetions

M

Minnbirdhunter

New member
Hey everyone. Im coming out on Thursday morning the 17th with my 9 year old lab. The guys I was coming with both had to cancel. Instead of staying home and hunting Western Minnesota I decided to go anyway. Im heading toward Webster and plan on hunting public areas. I really dont want to resort to ditch hunting, but dont want to end up in huge areas, and have running birds and a shot 9 yr old dog after the first day. Just wondering if anyone had any advice for me other than looking for smaller walk in areas to hunt. Thanks in advance for the advice. Have a great, safe hunting season
 
I'm in Aberdeen, 50 miles west of Webster. Hunting public land for me has been tough lately but should improve as they get all the corn harvested and now with the colder weather and a little snow. I'd work the edges near crops fields. We've had a lot of water this year and the ice is not that solid yet so be careful. It sure can support the birds and gives them a bunch of new hiding places. However, the forecast for the next week is COLD. Highs in the single digits and lows in the teens below zero. So things will freeze up better but sometimes in the cattails the ice gets pretty insulated and there still can be week sports. I've gone through before when the temp was -20. Not a fun walk back to the vehicle. :(

According to the 10 day forecast the temps look like they may warm up a little the week you are here. I hope so as my buddy from Colorado will be here that week also. Good luck and shoot straight!
 
I think it is a myth that single hunters cannot hunt big sections effectively, including big CRP fields. The key is to be quiet. Really quiet. To do this your dog needs to hunt close and respond to hand signals (sit, right , left). If you have to constantly or even periodically yell at or whistle your dog the birds will know and split. My experience with big CRP fields is I limit out in a couple hours by myself, and we rarely got a limit for everyone with 3 or more guys. The goal is to move though a field with no audible commands to the dog.
 
If your dog has no interest in a field, don't spend a lot of time looking for that only rooster in there. Move on to the next public area. Public areas could be loaded or it could have already been pounded.

And yes, becareful of the ice this time of year.
 
All good points. Don't be afraid of the larger areas. I hunt a lot of public areas alone that are a half or whole section in size. Usually work the edges and let my Brittanys range out 70-80 yards to cover more ground. Yes they do bump a bird out of range once in a while but if the bird holds and I get a point I have plenty of time to get over to the dog. Works for me.

I also agree that I usually do better by myself than with multiple hunters. And being quiet certainly does help. I never use voice commands. I do use the whistle on occassion but normally control the dogs with the vibrate button on my Dogtra collars.
 
I wish you well.
I actually took the tag and ring off of both dogs collar to eliminate the noise. My dogs dont range out at all so I can get away with it. I wouldnt recommend it if you have a big running pointer of a retriever that struggles with commands.
Seriously, I wish you well :cheers:
 
Interested in meeting up?

Well maybe as luck would have it. Myself and my brother in-law just decided to make our first trip to SD that same weekend from MN. We have a 5 yr old German short hair. Would you be interested in maybe hunting a 3 instead of a single? He is a farmer and just got everything out of the field and I talked him into going for our first trip. Let me know what you think.
 
Thanks for all the responses. Im still going alone the way it looks, my nephew may go but it doesnt look good. I just hope the sloughs are frozen tight. Does anyone know how much corn is out near Webster?
 
Again, I can't speak specifically for the Webster area but I'm sure it's much like here around Aberdeen. Most of the corn is out but not all. I have to assume they are still getting after it this week but I have not been out. TO DARN COLD! I was out on Monday afternoon and the ice I was on was frozen solid. So with the temps we are going to have the rest of this week and next the ice will be pretty thick. If you are walking on open areas of ice you should have a problem but I'd still be careful in the thick cattails as they can insulate it pretty good. However, we don't have a lot of snow to insulate it so that should help freeze up.

Good luck and shoot 'em in the face!
 
Just got back from that area. The corn is still up. I would say only 25% has been combined in the webster area. Never hunted public but a few places looked good. The area is still getting a lot of pressure, I saw probably a dozen groups out walking the public. I would say drive west of ipswich 20 miles and work your way southwest down to 212. Ask the farmers for permission. This time of year any family of the farmer has already come and the deer season is over. We asked and never got denied. Good Luck!
 
Minnbirdhunter,

Guess you still need to watch the ice. I was out for a few hours today and I'll be darned if I didn't go through in a few places. Fortunately none of them were over my boots. With the sub zero temps we have had the past week you would think everything would be pretty solid. But!! :rolleyes:
 
You might want to get a map of waterfowl production areas, there not as big and you can let the dog work the edges. Late season the thicker areas like the rushes seem to hold the birds pretty well. It can get a little tough on a older dog but should pay off. We just walked the sloughs last wknd because it was just two guys and two dogs. Probably going to hunt by aberdeen on some land of my relatives this wknd it is some pretty big stuff so if you are there this wknd and need a place to go on sat. send me a msg (maybe even sun. morning since the vikings have a night game.)
 
Thanks again everyone. I havent been online for 4 days been workin both jobs all week and the weekend. Had two more buddies that couldnt get the nod for the wife, so it's me and the dog. Im staying in Webster on Thursday and Friday night. Drop me a note if your still going out, and you wouldnt mind some company. Thanks again everyone
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top