I hunted alone with just my setter Nacho. I stayed in Huron and hunted only public land. First off, the weather was great. No roaring winds the entire week. Hunting pressure seemed very sporadic. Hunted a 30 mile radius and never really had to worry about other hunters.
This was my fourth trip to the area so I had some idea where to try. My last trip was cut short due to the heat a couple weeks ago and I was eager to chase more roosters.
I was able to shoot a limit all 5 days but we worked hard to do it. Earliest I was ever done was maybe 1 o’clock. Other days I shot my last rooster as the sun was going down.The biggest factor for me was early morning scouting to find good numbers of birds for 10 o’clock opening. I was seeing good pockets of birds out early and feeding. 50/50 between beans and corn.
Around 8-8:30 visible feeding birds were filtering back in cover. I noted where they went and kept scouting more spots. Without the time I spent scouting I would have guessed wrong on many occasions. Don’t waste the mornings sitting around, go scout!
I would say half my birds came from small cattail patches and the others were from larger parcels of weedy fields where I just let the dog do his thing. As long as we hunted into the wind we had a chance. Big sections are daunting so I let the dog go sometimes 100 yards to pin birds. Otherwise they run run run and we have no chance.
All in all it was a great trip. Dog was exhausted by the end but gave it his all. Most birds were shot over points making for some great shooting. One note, I switched from steel to bismuth and I am a believer. This stuff kills birds dead. Kent no. 4 was the trick. I had problems with crippling in the past and that was not the case with the bismuth stuff.
Good luck to those who still have hunts planned and hope to return next year. My son and I will both have new dogs so that’s always exciting. Enjoy a few pics from our hunt. Stay safe.
This was my fourth trip to the area so I had some idea where to try. My last trip was cut short due to the heat a couple weeks ago and I was eager to chase more roosters.
I was able to shoot a limit all 5 days but we worked hard to do it. Earliest I was ever done was maybe 1 o’clock. Other days I shot my last rooster as the sun was going down.The biggest factor for me was early morning scouting to find good numbers of birds for 10 o’clock opening. I was seeing good pockets of birds out early and feeding. 50/50 between beans and corn.
Around 8-8:30 visible feeding birds were filtering back in cover. I noted where they went and kept scouting more spots. Without the time I spent scouting I would have guessed wrong on many occasions. Don’t waste the mornings sitting around, go scout!
I would say half my birds came from small cattail patches and the others were from larger parcels of weedy fields where I just let the dog do his thing. As long as we hunted into the wind we had a chance. Big sections are daunting so I let the dog go sometimes 100 yards to pin birds. Otherwise they run run run and we have no chance.
All in all it was a great trip. Dog was exhausted by the end but gave it his all. Most birds were shot over points making for some great shooting. One note, I switched from steel to bismuth and I am a believer. This stuff kills birds dead. Kent no. 4 was the trick. I had problems with crippling in the past and that was not the case with the bismuth stuff.
Good luck to those who still have hunts planned and hope to return next year. My son and I will both have new dogs so that’s always exciting. Enjoy a few pics from our hunt. Stay safe.
