Mixed bag.

B

BrownDogsCan2

Well-known member
A short dove hunt for the Boykin and then walked one field before it got to hot. I bought a duck stamp last night for the first time in forever just in case. . We jumped some teal watering the dogs so I dropped the bag and loaded up with steel shot and continued walking figuring we might catch on the pond they flew to on the way back.
All and all a good hunt. Super spooky in the wind. A lot of chickens but the grass was better than about anything else around.1AD81639-0913-4521-9A79-DFE75378DC2C.jpeg
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
A short dove hunt for the Boykin and then walked one field before it got to hot. I bought a duck stamp last night for the first time in forever just in case. . We jumped some teal watering the dogs so I dropped the bag and loaded up with steel shot and continued walking figuring we might catch on the pond they flew to on the way back.
All and all a good hunt. Super spooky in the wind. A lot of chickens but the grass was better than about anything else around.View attachment 4013
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Looks like great hunt and good looking dogs. I want a Boykin since I hunted with one a friend has a few times last year. My Wife thinks two birddogs is enough right now though 🤣
 
Jake300win said:
Looks like great hunt and good looking dogs. I want a Boykin since I hunted with one a friend has a few times last year. My Wife thinks two birddogs is enough right now though 🤣
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Jake you should keep them on your list. They are a hoot. Two dogs is a lot though 😂
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
We jumped some teal watering the dogs so I dropped the bag and loaded up with steel shot
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Just wondering, what kind of shot were you using to hunt the prairie chickens and quail? Here in MN we can't even have lead shot in our possession when we duck hunt.
 
gimruis said:
Just wondering, what kind of shot were you using to hunt the prairie chickens and quail? Here in MN we can't even have lead shot in our possession when we duck hunt.
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It’s the same here. I left my backpack lay. And took 5 steel shells with me. I shot my second chicken with steel. And the teal I shot a quarter mile from my backpack. I probably could have gotten written by a warden in a bad mood.
 
that's a good picture, I really would like to get into some chickens I'm a student in Manhattan. me and my GSP went out to some public this morning with no luck. I'm definitely willing to walk for them just don't have any experience with chickens. any advice would be useful!
 
callk23 said:
that's a good picture, I really would like to get into some chickens I'm a student in Manhattan. me and my GSP went out to some public this morning with no luck. I'm definitely willing to walk for them just don't have any experience with chickens. any advice would be useful!
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I’m pretty new to it also. This is my 4th season.
I look for pasture hills that are the highest in the area not just the highest in the field. If there’s ag high on the same hill to me that’s better.

I mainly walk the tops of east to west or west to east ridges . I find more chickens around the saddles (slight dips on the ridges.) maybe not in the saddle itself but close ,
The round hilltops may be just as good but I don’t have the dog power for them , only so much you can do with flushers.

You want grass that’s pretty close to knee high , if there’s cattle on it you get into October and it’s going to get beat down some. Once the beans start getting cut they will begin grouping up and some chickens that have been spending days in the beans will move into the pastures. By the time the milo is cut they are pretty much into there winter flocks
Smokys are going to have better access than the flints and maybe a few more chickens
 
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BrownDogs advice is spot on.

The only thing I can add is time of day. Most of the time chickens are out feeding before dawn. They return to cover later in the morning. They spend most of the day loafing in the grass until late afternoon when they go out to feed and sometimes don’t return until dusk or after dark.

I look for some type of feed nearby. Preferably wheat. I have found them near cut corn but not so much. I will hunt the high ridges and saddles closest to the feed then slowly farther out.

If you flush them make sure work the area as there will generally be stragglers especially this early in the season.

I primarily pursue chickens. I find them to be a challenging bird to hunt and figure out. There is nothing like have a covey of chickens flush in front of your dog.

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We got it out of town about 330 this afternoon.And had an hour and a half to hunt this evening.
Wasn’t too far after leaving the truck and we lucked into a pretty good flock of chickens that flushed wild and scattered. We followed a pair that went off to the east and picked up one. Then we pushed north about a half a mile to try to find some of the rest . 3 flushed wild on us but left a straggler behind for our second.
Was a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow morning I doubt we’ll be as lucky.6F119811-AD72-4753-ADBB-9C4E6F6DB95F.jpeg
 
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BrownDogsCan2 said:
We got it out of town about 330 this afternoon.And had an hour and a half to hunt this evening.
Wasn’t too far after leaving the truck and we lucked into a pretty good flock of chickens that flushed wild and scattered. We followed a pair that went off to the east and picked up one. Then we pushed north about a half a mile to try to find some of the rest . 3 flushed wild on us but left a straggler behind for our second.
Was a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow morning I doubt we’ll be as lucky.View attachment 4158
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Nice job. Sounds like a good way to spend an evening
 
Hey Browndog, you mentioned the Smokeys are better that the Flints. What happened to the Flints? They used to be my favorite destination. Even though most of the grass was ankle high, they still held some chickens, Phez and quail. I haven't been there for a few years now. I just quit finding them. I used to go up around Lincoln.
 
birddude said:
Hey Browndog, you mentioned the Smokeys are better that the Flints. What happened to the Flints? They used to be my favorite destination. Even though most of the grass was ankle high, they still held some chickens, Phez and quail. I haven't been there for a few years now. I just quit finding them. I used to go up around Lincoln.
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bird dude Lincoln is the Smokys . Flints are east of Salina. The difference between the two is the flints burn , Smokys patch graze
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
bird dude Lincoln is the Smokys . Flints are east of Salina. The difference between the two is the flints burn , Smokys patch graze
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Ha, I called my buddy that's been hunting with me in Kansas for years and told him we've actually been hunting in the smokeys. He said no, I said yes, I looked it up. We've thought we were in the flints for 25 years!!:oops:
 
A couple of weeks until the pheasant opener and we got out for probably the last chicken hunt for us this year. The peake needed to burn off some energy bad. Funny how fall does that to her.
We started out jumping a pond that I could see a few teal on from the road. I snuck down the fence line leaving the dogs behind sitting on the hill. The peake got to pick up the cripple and I threw a few dirt clods at the other two for the Boykin to find.
We walked over to another pond to see if it was holding any ducks. There was a pretty good group of mallards on it so I left the dogs short of the dam and tried to sneak up on them. They were too far so I came down to regroup before trying to sneak them from the other end. At this point the peake had had enough and was breaking so I laid her down. She continued to crawl a little bit every time I turned my back to her. It was like one of those skits from an old movie. Every time I’d turn around and try to catch her she’d freeze. Some how she ended up with a big weed under her collar when I called her up on the dam and I thought it was funny so I snapped a picture.
We then headed over to an area at the other end of the field that usually holds a nice flock of chickens. They were on to us before we got there and flushed wild. Actually I think they have always been on to us. This was third time we have run into them approaching them from three different directions and every time wild.
We drove over to another field to see if we could find any. When we got out of the truck you could tell that someone else had already been in it. We went ahead and walked over to a ridge that had held a flock opening day. They were there again and I got the two with my first and third. Nothing against the gawdy rooster but the rush of standing in the middle of a flush of 25 chickens is right up there.
We checked a couple of other ponds and walked out the field to see if we could get a picture

827195DF-EE64-420F-ADBB-EB6A1742ACE8.jpeg99B3C463-C5C6-474D-934D-BA44C05FCFBD.jpegD53BFE8B-E6A2-4305-8CE5-363EADE6B9D6.jpeg
 
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