Nebraska Opener
- Thread starter USMC
- Start date
Uplandhunter67
Active member
We’ll be heading out Thursday night. Hunt chickens on Friday and pheasants Saturday & Sunday!!
Uplandhunter67
Active member
Where are you thinking of going? Are you staying or just one daying it?
colorado_bailey
New member
I'll be in S/W Nebraska.....hunting WIA.....I know the area pretty well, not great. PM if you are going to be in the area....
Uplandhunter67
Active member
Shot you a PM. Hope it helps your decision making....
Uplandhunter67
Active member
Nebraska opener was pretty good. We ran into a lot of hens and few roosters in the morning. Even saw two coveys of prairie chickens at a distance. We’ll save them for colder days. We bounced from CRP to wheat stubble. Every field we walked we found birds. They were just not the right sex. The dogs worked well in the cool weather and shortly after lunch a rooster hit the ground. He burst out of a patch of stubble.. Cackling as he took flight. The gun came up and the rooster crashed..
The second rooster of the day was in weedy draw. We circled into the wind and headed back towards the truck. The dogs got birdy and we stopped to watch them work. The bird burst from cover and two shots rang out simultaneously and the rooster folded.
As Saturday ended we tried hitting a few more stubble fields but found they were occupied or about to be... So we headed back to my house in Kansas..
We saw 6 roosters and more than a dozen hens. We covered 15+ miles. It was a long day but fun as always.
We figured Sunday would be a bit quieter from number of birds we saw on Saturday. Boy we were wrong. I saw more vehicles and people in the first hours of the day than all day Saturday. Luckily we arrived on a patch that was empty.
It wasn’t long when the dogs got birdy. My springer flushed a rooster almost at my feet. I flubbed the first shot but the second on stopped his escape. The dogs charged over to where he went down. Just as they got there a rooster flushed right where the bird went down. I threw a shot in his direction but he kept sailing.. Other birds got up at a distance but were unidentifiable which means I list them as hens. We flushed two more hens near the truck.
By the time we swept the field there were guys filtering in. As we were leaving they started walking.
Again we started hitting smaller fields as the temps started climbing. We knocked a few hens loose but nothing with color. By noon the temps hit 72 and we called it a day..
The army of trucks were still visible driving with clouds of dust on the back roads all driving to beat each other to the next spot. We spoke with a few guys and their success and experiences were similar to ours. Saw just an handful of Nebraska plates out hunting mostly Colorado plates. I guess us Colorado guys are just itching for season to start.
As always it was fun and exciting. I was testing out a new shotgun. I went back to shooting a SxS. I did have a bit of a learning curve with double triggers. Nothing like pulling a trigger for the second shot without a bang. Not quite used to it yet but I’m sure I’ll have it worked out pretty quick.
I really like Nebraska as there are so many different upland species that you may encounter and all are in season..
View attachment 7601
The second rooster of the day was in weedy draw. We circled into the wind and headed back towards the truck. The dogs got birdy and we stopped to watch them work. The bird burst from cover and two shots rang out simultaneously and the rooster folded.
As Saturday ended we tried hitting a few more stubble fields but found they were occupied or about to be... So we headed back to my house in Kansas..
We saw 6 roosters and more than a dozen hens. We covered 15+ miles. It was a long day but fun as always.
We figured Sunday would be a bit quieter from number of birds we saw on Saturday. Boy we were wrong. I saw more vehicles and people in the first hours of the day than all day Saturday. Luckily we arrived on a patch that was empty.
It wasn’t long when the dogs got birdy. My springer flushed a rooster almost at my feet. I flubbed the first shot but the second on stopped his escape. The dogs charged over to where he went down. Just as they got there a rooster flushed right where the bird went down. I threw a shot in his direction but he kept sailing.. Other birds got up at a distance but were unidentifiable which means I list them as hens. We flushed two more hens near the truck.
By the time we swept the field there were guys filtering in. As we were leaving they started walking.
Again we started hitting smaller fields as the temps started climbing. We knocked a few hens loose but nothing with color. By noon the temps hit 72 and we called it a day..
The army of trucks were still visible driving with clouds of dust on the back roads all driving to beat each other to the next spot. We spoke with a few guys and their success and experiences were similar to ours. Saw just an handful of Nebraska plates out hunting mostly Colorado plates. I guess us Colorado guys are just itching for season to start.
As always it was fun and exciting. I was testing out a new shotgun. I went back to shooting a SxS. I did have a bit of a learning curve with double triggers. Nothing like pulling a trigger for the second shot without a bang. Not quite used to it yet but I’m sure I’ll have it worked out pretty quick.
I really like Nebraska as there are so many different upland species that you may encounter and all are in season..
View attachment 7601
Uplandhunter67
Active member
Glad your trip was successful!!
