Late Hatch?

Dakotazeb

Dakotazeb

Well-known member
I had my dog out in the fields by my house this morning and we hadn't been out there long when she came running back to me with a pheasant chick in her mouth. It did not survive. :( Later on she was on point in some heavier cover, I went over and pull some weeds back to reveal another young chick. As I pulled the dog off the chick got up and flew away. It wasn't very big but could fly fairly well. Those little buggers are gong to have to grow mighty fast to be even near full grown by the time the season opens. Anyone else seeing young pheasants around?
 
Saw the same exact thing last year when we went out the first week of the season, couldn't believe how many small birds we saw. Thought they were quail at first!
 
Yes, I was going to post something similar, but thought it may just be a local observation. I have seen a couple broods still following mom and they are small. Some of the older broods have very little color in the roosters yet. Opener just days away and they are not even close to being ready.
 
Saw the same thing in ND. Dog went on point, and all I could hear was the peep peep sound of young birds. Mom flew away, and I heeled my dog away before she could do any damage.
 
Should make for an interesting hunt for SD Youth next weekend. It is usually challenging enough with little color on the young flying roosters. Hope the dogs are not tearing into chicks on the ground.
 
Shot a few really young roosters in ND 5-6 years ago on opening weekend for non residents. We figured out to look for the red comb / area around the eyes. When you brushed the downy feathers back , there was the white ring and green color. Was very difficult. Super delicate too , the shot did way more damage to the whole bird than with mature ones.
 
esetter said:
Shot a few really young roosters in ND 5-6 years ago on opening weekend for non residents. We figured out to look for the red comb / area around the eyes. When you brushed the downy feathers back , there was the white ring and green color. Was very difficult. Super delicate too , the shot did way more damage to the whole bird than with mature ones.
Click to expand...

Another reason why, IMO, a 5 or 6 shot is generally more than enough in the first couple weeks of pheasant hunting. Those birds aren't real toughened up yet, and younger ones get massacred by a 4 or 2 shot, especially from 20 yards
 
Went out to hunt waterfowl and check trail cams in ND. Let the dog out and she went on point almost instantly. I'd say the chicks are about the size of Chukar, but seem to be strong flyers. No doubt they would be easy pickings for a quick flushing dog, or an unsteady pointing dog.

On a side note, lots of mature birds were seen.

https://youtu.be/m4txyTl8Xz4
 
Good sign in my opinion. They hold pretty tight at that age. Excellent training opportunity for a young dog.
 
Interesting. The broods I’m seeing are almost full grown but no bright plumage yet. I might have seen groups of all hens but they looked pretty small to be mature adult birds.
 
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