Pheasant Cacophony

UGUIDE

UGUIDE

Active member
I was in the deer stand at the pheasant ranch this last week. Pretty much windy and rainy all week but Sunday to wind was just NW at 2MPH.

Roosties were cackling each morning that wind was down but this morning I could hear farther than usual.

I observed when one rooster would cackle another would respond back.

One time it appeared that all the roosters within a few miles sounded off and it resembled an echo. It was AMAZING!!!

I was wondering if anyone else had experienced something similar or have know pheasants to do this???
 
In 2004 we were hunting just southeast of Armour, SD which, we heard later, was supposedly beneath the training airspace of the B1B's out of Ellsworth. One cloudy afternoon we were hunting in the CRP bordering a big field of standing corn. The corn was too much for our small group to hunt effectively but we weren't finding many birds in the grass either and those few were mostly hens. I was just beginning to wonder if there were any roosters in SD that year when we were hit with a huge sonic boom off of one of the B1's overhead. I felt it as much as I heard it since it almost lifted me off my feet! And just like with wild turkeys, that boom shocked all those roosters out in the corn into cackling. That cornfield sounded like one gigantic chicken house for almost a full minute there. We just stood there amazed at how many roosters that single field was holding. Its hard to even begin to estimate how many we heard. Many, many hundreds I'd guess. Maybe twice that. Who knows? All I know is that if I hadn't been there I wouldn't have believed it, but now I'll never forget it.
 
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Had it happen out by Kimball a few years ago. Three of us were sitting around enjoying a victory beer before leaving the field. It was just past sunset when I think every Rooster within a 2 mile radius started to cackle. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was loud and as Chris stated, AMAZING!
 
I heard the same thing last year south of Hoven. I'd heard a lot of birds crowing when we had the farm in the soil bank in NW, OH, but that was a new and memorable experience. It happened just before dark like Dewey experienced. I had put the gun away and the dogs in the vehicle, and was watching birds pour out of standing corn into a half section of CRP.

I hope I get to hear that again, but not have to put up with standing corn to do so.
 
A couple of years ago I was at a hunting lodge near Wessington springs and we had just came in from the afternoon hunt. I wasn't completely dark yet but it was getting there. I went outside and I noticed a rooster started to cackle. Wasn't long before all around the lodge the roosters just kept cackling for a minute or so. Never heard anything like that before. I went inside and told the guys what was going on. Of course, when we got back outside the birds had stopped. Some of the guys didn't believe me but it was cool to hear all the birds.

Scott
 
Guys, thanks for sharing the stories and validating that I am not crazy. Although I could see how one would suspect they were imagining what they heard.

Another way I would describe it would be similar to "the wave" in a stadium only with rooster cackles. I will never forget and hope to be able to experience another cacophony in my lifetime.

:10sign:
 
When I was a kid, growing up in SE Wisconsin, dad always had us up at 4:00 AM to go pheasant hunting. A drive to the farm in the dark and those were the days when I learned to drink coffee to help warm the hands and body. At the farm at sunrise and the roosters would cackle. It always got us excited. Of course, we had a good morning if we got a couple roosters, not like SD where the sky can fill with flushing birds. That must be amazing to hear that many roosters sounding off in unison.
 
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