Prairie Chicken lottery

Marn, what will you be driving? If I run into you at a parking spot I might stop and say hello. I'll be in a blue Silverado diesel with a topper. If you see me standing at a parking spot feel free to stop and say hey.
 
Munster927 said:
Marn, what will you be driving? If I run into you at a parking spot I might stop and say hello. I'll be in a blue Silverado diesel with a topper. If you see me standing at a parking spot feel free to stop and say hey.
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I drive a Blue GMC Sierra without a topper. Mike
 
My son-in-law and neighbor both limited on prairie chickens on Saturday.

They had about a dozen flushes and saw a flock of 20 to 30 birds.
 
I have to comment that it was clearly apparent that someone has done quit a bit of habitat work that is beneficial to prairie chickens.

One WMA, that for years was too brush covered to bother hunting produced 6 flushes. Much of the brush had been removed.
 
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My group got 3 out of our possible 6 birds in 2.5 days of hunting. Definitely saw more and could have had a 4th but my uncle missed on his only good opportunity. I got my 2 birds and my dad got 1 of his. I also saw alot of sharpies and a couple pheasants. No pictures to go with the story as it was hot and sunny so those birds got breasted as soon as I got to the truck so you'll have to take my word for it 😂
 
Another hunter I talked to said he kicked up alot of pheasants too. Always good to hear of increased bird numbers.
 
If you look at my posts many years ago on the Prairie Chicken WMAs ... you will see my complaints of major brush and cedar tree encroachment.

I believe I comment last fall (when we were drawn) that much of the WMAs in our zone had been improved significantly. Burning is the key.
 
Pheasants can be parasitic nesters to prairie chickens. Pheasants can also be aggressive to prairie chickens on their booming grounds.
 
Munster927 said:
My group got 3 out of our possible 6 birds in 2.5 days of hunting. Definitely saw more and could have had a 4th but my uncle missed on his only good opportunity. I got my 2 birds and my dad got 1 of his. I also saw alot of sharpies and a couple pheasants. No pictures to go with the story as it was hot and sunny so those birds got breasted as soon as I got to the truck so you'll have to take my word for it 😂
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They must have tasted pretty good that fresh.
 
I'll let you know in a couple weeks haha they just got breasted and thrown in the hotel freezer when I was done for the day. It's been a few years since I ate a prairie chicken but making jalapeno poppers out of them should make them taste great.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Pheasants can be parasitic nesters to prairie chickens. Pheasants can also be aggressive to prairie chickens on their booming grounds.
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I've wondered the connection with pheasants and prairie chickens also. My group and I talked about it this weekend a bit. I'm all for more pheasants but if they do hamper the prairie grouse in any way, I'd prefer they stay in their "home" region.
 
In three seasons, I have never seen a pheasant but we flushed over 100 prairie chickens.

Also, I made Fajitas for lunch with one of the prairie chickens that my neighbor killed. It was very good.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Pheasants can be parasitic nesters to prairie chickens. Pheasants can also be aggressive to prairie chickens on their booming grounds.
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I did not know pheasants would cause issues with prairie chickens. Thanks for the insight.

I flattened the breasts and marinated in zesty Italian salad dressing, then put cream cheese, chopped onions and jalapenos on them, wrapped up in bacon and grilled. We enjoyed them as they were very tasty.
 
I just found this thread and this forum, so I am hoping to find and share PC info going forward. I am a relatively inexperienced upland hunter. I have done some pheasant hunting with a friend and his dog and some grouse hunting just walking slow and flushing with decent success. I just drew a PC tag for 805 and am stoked. I have gone up to Hawley to watch the mating ritual on the lek in the spring and it was amazing. I am hoping anyone with local knowledge can give me some habitat types or areas in the Glacial Ridge NWR or one of the other WMAs in that area that I should be keyed in on for the hunt. I will not be able to go up there and scout prior to the opener and I will only have 3 days to hunt. I will not have a dog either. I talked to the refuge manager and he just said don't use a blind and walk a lot in good grass. That was pretty damn unhelpful. I have reached out to a biologist on the refuge as well as another PC biologist for the DNR but heard nothing so far. Seeing as how it took 4 years to draw this I am trying to get any intel I can to make this a success. This appears to be a great group for sharing and I plan to share the results of my hunt and help anyone else I can should they draw 805. Thanks in advance!
 
bdubb78 said:
I just found this thread and this forum, so I am hoping to find and share PC info going forward. I am a relatively inexperienced upland hunter. I have done some pheasant hunting with a friend and his dog and some grouse hunting just walking slow and flushing with decent success. I just drew a PC tag for 805 and am stoked. I have gone up to Hawley to watch the mating ritual on the lek in the spring and it was amazing. I am hoping anyone with local knowledge can give me some habitat types or areas in the Glacial Ridge NWR or one of the other WMAs in that area that I should be keyed in on for the hunt. I will not be able to go up there and scout prior to the opener and I will only have 3 days to hunt. I will not have a dog either. I talked to the refuge manager and he just said don't use a blind and walk a lot in good grass. That was pretty damn unhelpful. I have reached out to a biologist on the refuge as well as another PC biologist for the DNR but heard nothing so far. Seeing as how it took 4 years to draw this I am trying to get any intel I can to make this a success. This appears to be a great group for sharing and I plan to share the results of my hunt and help anyone else I can should they draw 805. Thanks in advance!
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I don't have any personal experience hunting 805 but looking at the map up there I see a handful of good looking WMAs I would be hunting at. In the interest of not spot blasting these small areas, I don't want to name them on the open forum though.

If I was you, hunting solo without a dog, I'd be hunting WMAs adjacent to crop fields. Since you can't cover a lot of ground, I probably would avoid the big swaths of grass since they'll be able to just move out of your way easier. You'll probably have better luck working edges of the crop land and hopefully spooking one up. Or, if there's pasture land adjacent to any WMAs, hunt along the pasture edges. Basically where short grass meets very little grass/crops.

Also, the best grass to walk for chickens is short. Knee high to ankle high. If you find yourself in pheasant looking habitat, find shorter grass.

Another helpful thing would be to get up early and try and watch them flying around. Chickens will get up and fly like a duck and just go from skyline to skyline. Occasionally you can watch where they land, and if it's public, get out and chase after them. Glassing also can help, I've spotted chickens in short grass through my binoculars multiple times. Then you can just stalk them like you're hunting deer in open country.
 
This is all excellent advice. I will start focusing on those areas on maps. When I watched them display on the lek near Hawley their pattern was emerging from a swampy area and then flying back to a cut crop and meandering around until some pheasants appeared to chase them out of sight. Once they hit the crops they were damn hard to find through the binos at that distance. I really appreciate the advice.
 
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