national holiday hunt

[live to hunt pheasant]

well... its back to work this morning after the opening day " national holiday" . the same three of us went out that have for the past 15 years. our ages 83-62-35. and a 10 year old dog. it was a fantastic weekend. we dont cover the ground we use to but we sure the heck saw more birds than we have in the recent past. it was great to see the birds. my old dog kept at it, with more breaks than normal. poor shooting to start the day ended with fantastic shooting to end the day with 8 birds. old friends and stories, and watching the dog is what it is all about !!!!! Saturday where we were at, was a picture perfect day for hunting birds, a slight breeze, sunshine and temps around 50 by the after noon. it was truly as always birds or no birds a great day. hope all the rest of you had fun as well.

 

[watermen]

well... its back to work this morning after the opening day " national holiday" . the same three of us went out that have for the past 15 years. our ages 83-62-35. and a 10 year old dog. it was a fantastic weekend. we dont cover the ground we use to but we sure the heck saw more birds than we have in the recent past. it was great to see the birds. my old dog kept at it, with more breaks than normal. poor shooting to start the day ended with fantastic shooting to end the day with 8 birds. old friends and stories, and watching the dog is what it is all about !!!!! Saturday where we were at, was a picture perfect day for hunting birds, a slight breeze, sunshine and temps around 50 by the after noon. it was truly as always birds or no birds a great day. hope all the rest of you had fun as well.

Glad you got out and had a good day. Sitting here monday regretting missing the first opener in 10 years in Iowa. Missed a few since my first in Iowa back in "78. I will get to have a few fun days starting this Thursday. Thanks for the report, and many more birdy days to you, sir. :cheers:

 

[bellahunts]

Great to hear your info on bird numbers. Care to share what area of the state you were in? I am skipping North Dakota this year for the first time since 2004 because the trip has been so disappointing the past 3 years. Heading instead to Storm Lake, Sac City, Pomeroy area later this week based on DNR info. 4 guys with 4 dogs and hoping for a lot of fun!

 

[515wingshooter]

Great to hear your info on bird numbers. Care to share what area of the state you were in? I am skipping North Dakota this year for the first time since 2004 because the trip has been so disappointing the past 3 years. Heading instead to Storm Lake, Sac City, Pomeroy area later this week based on DNR info. 4 guys with 4 dogs and hoping for a lot of fun!

No hotspotting...

 

[remy3424]

A holiday weekend for sure, my favorite one, without a doubt! I honestly can't recall missing an opener! This year's opener was good as were the first 3 weekends this year, few birds in the waterways but good numbers in CRP. Finally, this weekend (4th of the season) I will be hitting the waterways hard in the "freshly" harvested corn fields. I have hunted around 2-3 hours for 2 days each weekend.... on Vets weekend, I was solo saturday, I didn't see a rooster (hunted waterways), skipped Sunday but hunted on another traditional hunting holiday, Monday (Vets Day) back in the CRP and 3 of us brought back 7 in 3 hours...cold and windy that day, we earned them that morning! I have had a great season so far and I think the best hunting is still coming. I am changing my hunting pattern to hunting at 8:00 on saturday but on sunday heading out at 2:30 or a little later. Get to attend church service and will maybe getting birds after feeding and having returned to the cover. Tried this last Sunday, only got 2, I think 2:00 was a bit early that day. I usually only have one other fella with me, so a 6 bird limit has shut us down early just twice so far. Good luck and be safe everyone.