November Hunt

Juliusvatalaro

Juliusvatalaro

New member
2010 was my first hunt in SD. I hunted near Pierre. What I noticed was the birds were very wild. These were all wild birds. When we let the dogs go the pheasants just got up and flew before we could get close. I guess it's because they have been hunted since Oct. 15th. Is this the problem with most of you hunters. I really want to use my Brittany but it seems it is counter productive. Any thoughts from fellow hunters?

Julius
 
Sometimes after you break them up, the birds slowly and individually return to the field. give things a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, come back and hunt the edge where they left.
Hunt the last half hour in overnite cover. If corn or other food adjacent, hunt that side. Individual birds are not as spooky and more likely to hold in either scenario.
Also, hunt smaller cover and sloughs. Do not be afraid to get your feet wet. I actually go after them in hip boots when I know they are in the wet sloughs. Not a lot of that stuff north of Pierre tho.
After the corn is out, and if the weather is nice, the birds have it easy and will be loafing in grass, even at noon to mid afternoon. Some of this grass may be lighter than you think will hold birds. Some of these birds will hold as they are generally not bunched as much in nice weather.
 
I agree with everything Uncle Buck said. He gives some great advice.
Last time I commented that it is difficult to get roosters to "hold" many guys on this forum wanted to rip my head off.
The wild birds where we hunt are in fields where there are 50-300 birds. When a few start to flush it seems like all of them flush out of gun range. The blockers to walkers bird ratio for our group is 3:1. Does some birds hold for a point? Yes. However, in 3 full days of hunting in SD from 10:00am to Sunset I can count on one hand how many times it happens for our group.
I will add that I have a 3 year old Small Munsterlander and does very well.
Bob
 
Sometimes after you break them up, the birds slowly and individually return to the field. give things a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, come back and hunt the edge where they left.
Hunt the last half hour in overnite cover. If corn or other food adjacent, hunt that side. Individual birds are not as spooky and more likely to hold in either scenario.
Also, hunt smaller cover and sloughs. Do not be afraid to get your feet wet. I actually go after them in hip boots when I know they are in the wet sloughs. Not a lot of that stuff north of Pierre tho.
After the corn is out, and if the weather is nice, the birds have it easy and will be loafing in grass, even at noon to mid afternoon. Some of this grass may be lighter than you think will hold birds. Some of these birds will hold as they are generally not bunched as much in nice weather.
 
Uncle Buck is "right on". If you are getting into large bunches of birds they have a tendency to flush wild way ahead of you. I like to bust up those large bunches and get the birds dispersed throughout the field. Then you can go back in and pick off the singles. They will tend to hold tighter once they are alone. I use this tactic whether if I'm hunting alone or with a small group. I run two Brittanys and love those hard points.
 
Tight holding roosters

I too find that large groups flush wild. I have a 17 acre wetland CRP spot that the birds (lots of them) flush to a near by 300 acre CRP patch but I have discovered that 30 minutes later you will find a decent number of birds that either returned or held real tight when we went through it the first time.

I mean held tight, real tight, had one rooster that the really really good lab took about 5 min to root out and the entire time it was just 8 feet from me and I never moved. When the dog got it up he had his entire head up to his neck under the grass and had tail feathers in his mouth. I was very exciting to watch.

Best part was the bird flushed straight towards the dogs owner so I passed and yelled your dog your shot to BOB. He didn't miss--great dog work,fun day:10sign:
 
I am really excited to get back into hunting wild Pheasants again. This new dog I got is going to produce some great hunting pups. She is only 2 years old and has already finished her show championship and only needs 6 points to become a dual champion. The best part of her is she is just a sweetheart of a companion. She does great in the house. She can flat cover some ground during her field trials. This will be the first year I have been able to shoot birds over her. Thanks for all your help
 
Juliusvatalaro said:
I am really excited to get back into hunting wild Pheasants again. This new dog I got is going to produce some great hunting pups. She is only 2 years old and has already finished her show championship and only needs 6 points to become a dual champion. The best part of her is she is just a sweetheart of a companion. She does great in the house. She can flat cover some ground during her field trials. This will be the first year I have been able to shoot birds over her. Thanks for all your help
Click to expand...

Great looking dog. Where did you get her from? Also, where are you in Wyoming. I have family in the Buffalo/Sheridan area.
 
She is out of a litter from two Dual Champion Brittany's from Calif. Her handler is Ed Tilson of Tequila Kennels. He was the owner of the Hall Of Fame "Tequilas Joker" handled by a gentleman called Jim John. I live about an hour from Jackson Hole along the Salt River Range. Excellent Big Game Hunting around here.

Julius

Sire: DC Lost Creek Timber Ridge Rowdy

Dam: DC Almaden's Lone Shadow Dancer Dottie
 
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You must be in the Afton area. I shot a nice bull moose in the Salt River Range 10 years ago. I used Double Diamond Outfitters.

You should put that photo in your avatar.

I've also got a 2 year old female Brittany. She's from Godfather Gun Dogs south of Denver. Great pedigree with a line breeding of NFC Bean's Blaze and several others. Running her in some NSTRA trials.

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Thanks Dakotazeb. You have a great looking Brit yourself. Don't you just love the enthusiasm they have to hunt. I live just outside of Thayne not far from Afton. Been here for about 4 years.
 
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