Mild weather hunting

I can't believe how mild it has been this fall.My nephew is coming out for his week of hunting. I hope he gets a few birds.He got 4 last year, which was very surprising to me,after 3 years of skunk. Mild conditions are not going to help him.I will probably send him off on his own most of the time.If he stays off his phone, he might get a bird.
 
LittleBigHorn22 said:
Being quiet is a big one for this. The birds are fully willing to move around in the warmer weather and being educated by the pressure means they start moving when those car doors shut. Avoid shouting to your partners and the dog. It won't guarantee birds but it does have a good effect.
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Great comments.My dog always barks.I really don't think about noice.Not having snow makes a big difference in how close we can get to educated roosters!!
 
LittleBigHorn22 said:
Being quiet is a big one for this. The birds are fully willing to move around in the warmer weather and being educated by the pressure means they start moving when those car doors shut. Avoid shouting to your partners and the dog. It won't guarantee birds but it does have a good effect.
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Should be SOP. I bitch at guys all the time for getting out of the car, slamming doors, yelling at each other screaming at dogs.

Pheasant hunting is more like deer hunting than people think. I've literally seen 300 birds run out of a field because someone slammed a car door. as many as you see fly there are probably 3-5x as many running.
 
Agreed 100%. I only whistle (I don't use an actual whistle) or use the tone feature on the e-collar to turn the dogs when we're hunting, unless they really make me mad :D
I bumped into another hunter a couple of weeks ago that had a bell on his dogs collar. We spoke for a minute, then I headed to a new spot knowing every bird in that area was on high alert.
My goal is to be quiet, walk slow, stop often, and be ready.
 
I killed A LOT of December roosters with a bell on the dog. I moved to the Astro some time ago (decade ?) ... but before that the dog wore a bell.

The only issue I ever saw with a bell was deeper snow would fill up the bell and freeze up the "clapper".
 
BRITTMAN said:
I killed A LOT of December roosters with a bell on the dog. I moved to the Astro some time ago (decade ?) ... but before that the dog wore a bell.

The only issue I ever saw with a bell was deeper snow would fill up the bell and freeze up the "clapper".
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Was this in North Dakota?
 
BRITTMAN said:
I killed A LOT of December roosters with a bell on the dog. I moved to the Astro some time ago (decade ?) ... but before that the dog wore a bell.

The only issue I ever saw with a bell was deeper snow would fill up the bell and freeze up the "clapper".
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I have hunted with plenty of guys with bells on their dogs. Sometimes we did great…. Sometimes not. Same as when none of them had bells. While I am a big proponent of not making excessive/ unnecessary noise, by late season those birds are on edge the second tires hit the gravel 1/2 mile away. The dumb ones are long gone.
 
For me ND historically has been my waterfowl destination, but I have to chase pheasants too ... ND is where I grew up.

I have been shooting pheasants in MN since 1994. Over the last 20 years I have killed the vast majority of my pheasants in Minnesota. Days spent pheasant hunting are about 4:1 Minnesota vs. all other states (combined).

Positive the December pheasants we killed in IA were all shot under a belled Britt. (in case you are curious - if you spring hunt wild turkey - IA made you purchase a general small game license ... good for the fall too). We snuck one day in IA around my son's insanely busy hockey schedule.

Astro GPS replaced the bell ... I have a few bells laying around, but only my oldest Britt has a clue what they are. Thing about a bell is they go quiet when the dog is on point - so you better have been paying attention. I never liked the beeper collars ... bought one used it maybe twice. I do NOT miss the bell ... just wanted to comment that I did not see where it negatively impacted our success.
 
My well-seasoned Britts (pointing dog) will get out 80 - 100 yards (sometimes a bit further) if they have to. I am sure there are some on this site that would say 80 yards is the closest they see their bigger running dogs. On good days they pin birds outside of shooting range more often than not.

Most of my dogs cast out and hunt back to me. Many times they have pointed and pinned roosters far to my side or far out in front ... runners ... hard to say I suppose.

Flusher on the other hand needs to stay in gun range or the hunter gets upset.

There are dogs designed for each of our comfort ranges.
 
To me the biggest obstacle with mild weather (50's and even 60's) is that the dog over-heats which causes him to pant excessively, and when they are panting they are not smelling nearly as much. He hates it but I have to curtail his running on those warm days. We still get some, but the cooler days are much better.
 
Coach 20-Gauge said:
To me the biggest obstacle with mild weather (50's and even 60's) is that the dog over-heats which causes him to pant excessively, and when they are panting they are not smelling nearly as much. He hates it but I have to curtail his running on those warm days. We still get some, but the cooler days are much better.
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This occurred last time I was out and the air temp was 47 degrees. The dog made a long retrieve on a cripple and really came back panting hard. She turns 12 next February.

I'd much rather have about half that temperature.
 
BRITTMAN said:
I am sure there are some on this site that would say 80 yards is the closest they see their bigger running dogs.
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80 yards? My dog rarely gets more than about 20 yards ahead. If a dog is at 80 yards, the birds aint flushing even remotely within range. You aren't shooting at roosters that flush at 90.

The last time someone brought a dog with that ranged that far they didn't get invited to come again...
 
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