Let's talk cattail strategies

AKSkeeter said:
I've had very good luck recovering cripples in cattails in my areas.
I think the key is the dog needs to be on the cripple track quickly and then I stay quiet and trust the dog.
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Lots of other bird scent does not seem to be a problem because
a good cripple tracker is following blood scent, not bird scent.
I think even a broken wing will put off blood scent to a canine's keen sense of smell.

In my area, there are trails through the cattails created by deer and elk and I think most roosters run the trails,
so the dog has a good trail to run down once he hits that initial blood scent.
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Damn…nice photo AK!
 
My 1st Lab was a beast.....typically just a touch over 90lbs (not fat). His strategy was to just simply go thru anything and everything.....so he and I hunted cattails alot. He simply "parted" them and I followed! You always knew where he was in the cattails too! Lol.
But he was graceful as could be in a duck skiff.
 

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MTbirddogs said:
Maybe pheasant hunting isn't for you. Mighty big of you to keep dropping birds deep in the cover knowing full well that you won't find them.
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I have thousands of hours into pheasant hunting.Its zen. I guess I'll have to stop hunting the big cattails.Its hard to not shoot.
 
Goosemaster said:
I have thousands of hours into pheasant hunting.Its zen. I guess I'll have to stop hunting the big cattails.Its hard to not shoot.
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It is hard to pass up, especially when you haven’t seen many birds. However, I’m guessing that you exercise judgment on when not to shoot (e.g., pointed at buildings, other nearby hunters, etc.), so birds on the margins can fit within your go/no-go strategy as well. It’s just mental discipline.
 
MTbirddogs said:
It is hard to pass up, especially when you haven’t seen many birds. However, I’m guessing that you exercise judgment on when not to shoot (e.g., pointed at buildings, other nearby hunters, etc.), so birds on the margins can fit within your go/no-go strategy as well. It’s just mental discipline.
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Yeah that true.There is one place near the Canadian border,where I've lost many birds over the years.Its very narley country.
 
Bob Peters said:
I know a lot of guys like when things freeze because they can hunt the cattails. Of course some you can hunt earlier because they're fairly dry. I've read some guys get on a frozen lake and walk the cattail edge. I've done a little of this, and got one bird doing it. What do you look for in cattails? It seems like in MN many of the cattails are very tall and thick, vs. South Dakota they seem a little shorter and thinner and nicer to walk through. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, I remember a WIA the first time ever I went to hunt for the King of birds, the ringneck rooster pheasant, in South Dakota. Not far from a well known town, this spot was crawling with birds. Walking in, flying in, pecking around out in the field and on the fenceline. A shelterbelt on one side, a weedy fence line and a whole field of corn that was chopped but still full of stubble and corn cobbs. And in the heart of it a large cattail patch that was thick and gnarly and warm in January...but I digress.

I've kinda learned to pick my battles with hunting cattails in sloughs, lakes, creeks, pits and ponds. Of course the "goldilocks" cattails, thick enough to hold a good bird population, short enough to see/shoot over, full of deer trails, I'll walk those all day. A couple private spots I hunt late season are thick and gnarly. When I first started I'd plow through them, often flushing birds I could barely see, huffing, puffing, and mostly muffing shots. It really wears the dog out too when you try to hunt the really thick stuff for a long period of time. Now what I try to do is, pick an inside edge, outside edge, and walk some trails if there are some. Sometimes if there's a cane break, aka phragmites patch, or a willow clump, that is of reasonable size I'll bust through the thick stuff and see if I can get a flush before retreating to the more manageable edge. One other thing I observed and believe mentioned before. I once hunted a spot down by Fairmont VERY late season, probably last weekend. Snow drifts were deep. I felt crazy as a loon walking out there. When I hit the cattails there was no snow in them, they were loaded with birds, and they were perfect for hunting. Up to my armpits, trails in them etc. I went back the next year and they were all 6-7 feet tall and thick! Not sure what happened there. I never take secret spots by pm, but if you want to send a secret technique, hey, I'm all good with that!
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Walk them from NW to SE in South Dakota. The wind has laid them down that way and to walk them any other way is to have a desire for a heart attack. Experience has taught me that.
 
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