A couple weeks ago I posted below about a leg / foot condition that had me off of work (Dr's orders) and me questioning the Iowa pheasant season and if I'd be able to partake. I posted a week ago I was back to work and progressing, enough so that this morning I ventured out with Kepa. I went solo for a couple of reasons, 1) just in case I couldn't go after waking up this morning or 2) not being able to hunt very long if my leg / foot couldn't take it.
Knowing reason #2 was a distinct possibility I decided to not make the 1.5 hr drive north to the beautiful public hunting grounds I experienced last season and stayed close to Sioux City. I tried a public spot first and found out pretty quickly I can't handle a public land hunt. The uneven ground and thick cover was just too much, so I had to resort to road hunting. I know road hunting is not ideal for some but with good dog control and the right ditches that are away from farm houses and livestock the short walk hunts may be the only way I can get out right now.
Kepa and I started out at a small public spot that has two ways to walk in, the first has a steep bank to climb and is typically the best as the pheasants can't see you coming and the pheasants are usually in this spot. The second is an access road where everything in there can see you coming, but sometimes works depending on where the pheasants are on the property. I quickly realized I couldn't traverse the steep bank and went around to the other entrance. There were pheasants there too, unfortunately they were able to see Kepa and I heading their way and a couple dozen pheasants flushed early and flew into the standing corn.
So Kepa and I loaded up and when into road hunt mode, the first nice looking ditch (both sides) didn't produce any pheasants. I bit later I spotted a rooster in the ditch at a gravel and blacktop intersection. THis blacktop is pretty busy so I got out and flushed the rooster to see if he would go down the gravel road a ways and land in its ditch farther down away from the black top. Which is exactly what the rooster did. I did a quick turn around and got Kepa out about 100 yards shy of where he landed in the ditch. Kepa worked the ditch and right about where I figured he landed he came up cackling and one shot was all I needed. Kepa made a nice retrieve and we were on the board.
The second encounter of the day was about an hour later and is a beautiful stretch of minimum maintenance road. Kepa and I didn't have to walk far at all before she got really birdy and a hen jumped. Kepa froze and watched the hen sail out of there and resumed the hunt still birdy as heck. This is when all hell breaks loose and I can't honestly say how many pheasants there were exploding out of the ditch in front of me. I do know one rooster was making a hasty retreat going hard to my left and it took two shots to bring him down and as all this was occurring another rooster makes a break for it going hard right. I swing over that way and fold him up with one shot. I was extremely happy for a moment until I realized the rooster Kepa was after was a runner. Ir took Kepa few minutes but she found the rooster ands made the retrieve. Now on too the second rooster, after looking and looking Kepa and I couldn't find him. We took a break and went back to the Bronco where I gave Kepa some water and something to eat. We went back to the spot and searched down wind and searched an hour more. We just couldn't come up with it.
I (like McFarmer does) count a lost rooster as part of my limit and with that we were done for today. So here's a couple of pics from today
Knowing reason #2 was a distinct possibility I decided to not make the 1.5 hr drive north to the beautiful public hunting grounds I experienced last season and stayed close to Sioux City. I tried a public spot first and found out pretty quickly I can't handle a public land hunt. The uneven ground and thick cover was just too much, so I had to resort to road hunting. I know road hunting is not ideal for some but with good dog control and the right ditches that are away from farm houses and livestock the short walk hunts may be the only way I can get out right now.
Kepa and I started out at a small public spot that has two ways to walk in, the first has a steep bank to climb and is typically the best as the pheasants can't see you coming and the pheasants are usually in this spot. The second is an access road where everything in there can see you coming, but sometimes works depending on where the pheasants are on the property. I quickly realized I couldn't traverse the steep bank and went around to the other entrance. There were pheasants there too, unfortunately they were able to see Kepa and I heading their way and a couple dozen pheasants flushed early and flew into the standing corn.
So Kepa and I loaded up and when into road hunt mode, the first nice looking ditch (both sides) didn't produce any pheasants. I bit later I spotted a rooster in the ditch at a gravel and blacktop intersection. THis blacktop is pretty busy so I got out and flushed the rooster to see if he would go down the gravel road a ways and land in its ditch farther down away from the black top. Which is exactly what the rooster did. I did a quick turn around and got Kepa out about 100 yards shy of where he landed in the ditch. Kepa worked the ditch and right about where I figured he landed he came up cackling and one shot was all I needed. Kepa made a nice retrieve and we were on the board.
The second encounter of the day was about an hour later and is a beautiful stretch of minimum maintenance road. Kepa and I didn't have to walk far at all before she got really birdy and a hen jumped. Kepa froze and watched the hen sail out of there and resumed the hunt still birdy as heck. This is when all hell breaks loose and I can't honestly say how many pheasants there were exploding out of the ditch in front of me. I do know one rooster was making a hasty retreat going hard to my left and it took two shots to bring him down and as all this was occurring another rooster makes a break for it going hard right. I swing over that way and fold him up with one shot. I was extremely happy for a moment until I realized the rooster Kepa was after was a runner. Ir took Kepa few minutes but she found the rooster ands made the retrieve. Now on too the second rooster, after looking and looking Kepa and I couldn't find him. We took a break and went back to the Bronco where I gave Kepa some water and something to eat. We went back to the spot and searched down wind and searched an hour more. We just couldn't come up with it.
I (like McFarmer does) count a lost rooster as part of my limit and with that we were done for today. So here's a couple of pics from today
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