KBell
New member
Hello All,
My son's military friend since grade school is back for two weeks and wanted to shoot an Iowa rooster! I shared we could help with that.
We traveled to Northwest Iowa today and put in our time on public and private ground. The good was sunshine and little to no wind. I actually got a sunburned face today.
We hit our first public piece at 8:20. Was exciting to leave the truck as 6 roosters flew into the cover from an adjacent field as we pulled up. I notice the snow drifted from the recent storm--six inches was two to three feet deep along the western and northern edges and ditto for the creek beds. Our first dilemma is the lack of suitable conditions for the dog. Sophie weighs in at 36 pounds but easily dropped into the undulating snow drifts in the field. She quickly reduced herself to following my tracks and I feared the public was her "enemy" today. We worked the field in a quiet and consistent manner. The birds were runners with several instances of sightings with the occasional drift dodger noted. We reached the western edge without a flush. Peering 70 yards into the snow covered been field revealed the seven roosters and 11 hens that were calling this field home. We plan to spread out and walk towards them. How do they know what just out of "shotgun range" is? This creates more runners as the birds choose to run and not fly. We leave them unscathed in the center of an adjacent "moonscaped" field.
Public parcel two is retaining suitable cover after all the recent snow. As we enter scene number one from above is repeated. Numerous tracks, plenty of runners and birds on the moonscape at the end. This time we have a blocker. Success still evades us as runners flush out and around the point of our blocker. I left to place Sophie in her box. This scenario is not suited to her set of skills. The boys report six roosters and 7 hens watch them retreat to their starting point.
Our next walk is a private slough with intermittent willow patches dispersed throughout. Sophie is once again out of the plan as the drifts and snow depths prove beneficial to the drift dodgers we encounter but not the dog. We push on and bird number one comes to my son from a field position unknown to him. A shot of prairie storm puts him in the bag and we begin to feel somewhat of a reprieve. Pushing on reveals more runners, drift dodgers and flyers to open fields. At the end of the slough rooster two sits too long next to a fencepost and falls to the shot for our military friend.
After lunch--did I mention it was slow going? We head to private parcel two which contains snake grass, switch grass and willow thickets. I quickly notice that the east and south sides do not contain heavy snow. Sophie is back in action on this one. We achieve four quick hen points and flushes. Next point is staunch and we ready for the flush. A rooster quickly falls to the shot of our military friend. Other birds are flushing--no worries I thought--our blocker is there. At his first shot the flushing birds drop short of his position and run wide into the open field. We have resilient runners again. We push on with three more hen points and flushes. We again exit the field with birds daring us to pursue them into the barren moonscape of white.
Our final field is private with a creek and several thickets of cover. The snow is high here on the west and north. Sophie receives another pardon. Our blocker is in place and we begin. I track three separate tracks to the first thicket. A rooster jumps and I hit him dropping a leg and turning him. The second shot also connects and he drops. Redemption quickly fades as I realize so many tracks exist at the drop point that I cannot locate his. I follow a track to a hen flush and search the area thoroughly for quite a time. Rooster four will not be in the bag but is still counted as it is my custom to do so. We press on have a multi-bird flush at the second thicket. Rooster number five falls to a high and head-on shot as multiple birds escape our blocker once again.
At the truck I share that my legs have endured enough for the day. After some ribbing, I remind the kids in the photo that their combined ages do not equal mine and that seems to calm the discussion. We call it at 2:47 with over 100 birds seen for the day. Our tally of roosters is 25 with 5 taken and the remainder being hens. That is a great sign for next season!
We worked hard for these birds today without much cooperation from them. Impressed by the numbers seen, their abilities to avoid us and the difficulties we encountered.
The lack of suitable "dog work" has me re-thinking my end of season plans.
My son's military friend since grade school is back for two weeks and wanted to shoot an Iowa rooster! I shared we could help with that.
We traveled to Northwest Iowa today and put in our time on public and private ground. The good was sunshine and little to no wind. I actually got a sunburned face today.
We hit our first public piece at 8:20. Was exciting to leave the truck as 6 roosters flew into the cover from an adjacent field as we pulled up. I notice the snow drifted from the recent storm--six inches was two to three feet deep along the western and northern edges and ditto for the creek beds. Our first dilemma is the lack of suitable conditions for the dog. Sophie weighs in at 36 pounds but easily dropped into the undulating snow drifts in the field. She quickly reduced herself to following my tracks and I feared the public was her "enemy" today. We worked the field in a quiet and consistent manner. The birds were runners with several instances of sightings with the occasional drift dodger noted. We reached the western edge without a flush. Peering 70 yards into the snow covered been field revealed the seven roosters and 11 hens that were calling this field home. We plan to spread out and walk towards them. How do they know what just out of "shotgun range" is? This creates more runners as the birds choose to run and not fly. We leave them unscathed in the center of an adjacent "moonscaped" field.
Public parcel two is retaining suitable cover after all the recent snow. As we enter scene number one from above is repeated. Numerous tracks, plenty of runners and birds on the moonscape at the end. This time we have a blocker. Success still evades us as runners flush out and around the point of our blocker. I left to place Sophie in her box. This scenario is not suited to her set of skills. The boys report six roosters and 7 hens watch them retreat to their starting point.
Our next walk is a private slough with intermittent willow patches dispersed throughout. Sophie is once again out of the plan as the drifts and snow depths prove beneficial to the drift dodgers we encounter but not the dog. We push on and bird number one comes to my son from a field position unknown to him. A shot of prairie storm puts him in the bag and we begin to feel somewhat of a reprieve. Pushing on reveals more runners, drift dodgers and flyers to open fields. At the end of the slough rooster two sits too long next to a fencepost and falls to the shot for our military friend.
After lunch--did I mention it was slow going? We head to private parcel two which contains snake grass, switch grass and willow thickets. I quickly notice that the east and south sides do not contain heavy snow. Sophie is back in action on this one. We achieve four quick hen points and flushes. Next point is staunch and we ready for the flush. A rooster quickly falls to the shot of our military friend. Other birds are flushing--no worries I thought--our blocker is there. At his first shot the flushing birds drop short of his position and run wide into the open field. We have resilient runners again. We push on with three more hen points and flushes. We again exit the field with birds daring us to pursue them into the barren moonscape of white.
Our final field is private with a creek and several thickets of cover. The snow is high here on the west and north. Sophie receives another pardon. Our blocker is in place and we begin. I track three separate tracks to the first thicket. A rooster jumps and I hit him dropping a leg and turning him. The second shot also connects and he drops. Redemption quickly fades as I realize so many tracks exist at the drop point that I cannot locate his. I follow a track to a hen flush and search the area thoroughly for quite a time. Rooster four will not be in the bag but is still counted as it is my custom to do so. We press on have a multi-bird flush at the second thicket. Rooster number five falls to a high and head-on shot as multiple birds escape our blocker once again.
At the truck I share that my legs have endured enough for the day. After some ribbing, I remind the kids in the photo that their combined ages do not equal mine and that seems to calm the discussion. We call it at 2:47 with over 100 birds seen for the day. Our tally of roosters is 25 with 5 taken and the remainder being hens. That is a great sign for next season!
We worked hard for these birds today without much cooperation from them. Impressed by the numbers seen, their abilities to avoid us and the difficulties we encountered.
The lack of suitable "dog work" has me re-thinking my end of season plans.
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