Updated:
December 18th, public land hunt, SC MN.
We had a nice drive down to pheasant country.
Arriving at about 9:45, with the wind out of the NW, we headed along the trees on the cut corn edge of a WMA that we've hit a couple times in recent weeks. There was less than an inch fresh dusting on the ground. We immediately found that hens were hanging out under folded over wetland grasses 50 yards from the field edge, and not super wild like they had been the previous week.
We made our way across the beaver dam on the creek that splits the property, noticing that there was more water showing downstream and even right at the dam on the upstream side than the previous week. The warm weather last weekend had allowed the creek to disappear much of the ice. Onward we pressed, to the east/west running slough without much more action. The plan was to circle counter clockwise, down around to the east end, and work up along the bean and corn fields on the south edge.
Down at the NE corner of the slough is a thicket. Honey ended up 140 yards back, assuming chasing a runner, and went on point. Before I made up my decision what to do, the rooster flushed wild and came sailing up along the slough, out of range.
When we got over closer to the SE side of the slough, maybe 120 yards from the edge of the bean field, Honey started tracking cross wind, south west to north east. The rooster didn't wait for her to lock onto him and flushed, crossing left to right. I managed a well placed shot, and he dropped, without so much as a twitch. He was a spring of the year bird.
We continued on our counter clockwise progression. Honey was heading up closer to the field edge, with me about 80 yards from the edge, in the cattails. A rooster flushed wild several steps ahead, to my right, mostly heading away. There was a one inch diameter woody plant between us, and a few branches, but not so much I couldn't shoot. I placed my shot right on him, mistakenly, as he veered slightly to the left. I missing him. The second shot to his left connected hard, and he went down, tail sticking up. Two last flaps on the ground were over before Honey, who I don't think saw much of the action, came downwind and went to him. He was a 2nd year bird.
We progressed up the south side of the slough, along the bean field, about 60 yards out in the cattails. As we approached a small thicket between the slough and the field edge, I anticipated action. Nothing. However, as we got parallel to the end of the thicket, a hen and rooster got up wild 30 yards or so ahead, crossing left to right. I tried some shots at 40-50 yards and didn't connect.
As I was trying to see where he would go, a hen and rooster flushed behind us, about 40 yards. I turned around for the right to left cross, and attempted a 50 and 60 yard shot without any luck.
We finished circling much of the slough without another rooster, but did have 4 consecutive steps that broke through the slushy, spring fed slough, that had softened since the previous hunt due to the warm preceding weekend.
We hunted around some thickets on high ground with some tracking, but no birds produced. As we headed back to the vehicle, along another thicket, I started veering toward a row of shorter evergreens. Honey was maybe 60 or so yards up ahead and to my left, on the edge of the thicket, working cross wind a bit. A rooster flushed wild, quartering back to my left. If I had been 20 yards closer, I would have attempted a shot, but just let him sail back to the slough.
With 2 birds in the bag, we headed over to a round slough Wma I had also hunted a couple times in the last month. While still sitting in the vehicle, a rooster got up out of the horsetail between the parking spot and the thicket ahead. He flew about 20 yards and set down again, about 50 yards from where we were parked. We quietly got ready and headed toward him. There are deer trails through the snake grass, and he had landed on one of those. Honey tracked him for a while through the thicket, before giving up.
We exited the thicket on the far side, and headed to the side of the slough to work the cattail edge counter clockwise. We had gone 400 yards or so, when Honey got birdy on a little deer trail cutting into the tails, pointing left. I coaxed her in. She was expecting a flush, but nothing happened. She circled back to the trail and moved down a yard or two, repeating the same process. As she crossed right to left in front of me, I saw movement in the stalks from a bird, and thought it had moved to behind her, when it then popped out ahead of her to the left, low and away. One shot dropped him. Honey got to him before the flaps stopped, but he wasn't going anywhere again regardless.
Recap: 4 shots at 3 flushed birds (one wild flush near me, but not the dog), 3 birds in the bag. There were the two that flushed wild at a distance too, and I took some 40-60 yard shots at, but didn't connect.
Dusting of snow seemed to help them hold better. But the spring fed slough I hunted had soggy ice after that warm weekend. It wasn't like that the previous Friday. I was thankful it was only 10 inches or so deep where I broke through completely for a few steps.
All in all, a nice outing and a December MN limit in the bag.
@Bob Peters - I had to try out the Beef Commercial, at Bumps, on the way home. Good stuff. Thanks for mentioning it.
