prairie chicken

Hang in there, you are young men....I hope! Actually, those are not terrible odds, roughly a 1 in 4 chance. I imagine I would turn into a terrible shot the if I had the chance.
 
Just got home from our prairie chicken hunt.

My neighbor got on bird from a covey "popcorn" flush on Saturday morning. I choked.

I got two birds with single shots on single flushes Sunday morning.

One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

It was unusually warm. By midmorning, it was too hot to run my 9 year old lab.

Last evening and this morning, we hunted ruffed grouse in Northern Minnesota. We had only 6 flushes and bagged 2.

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Just got home from our prairie chicken hunt.

My neighbor got on bird from a covey "popcorn" flush on Saturday morning. I choked.

I got two birds with single shots on single flushes Sunday morning.

One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

It was unusually warm. By midmorning, it was too hot to run my 9 year old lab.

Last evening and this morning, we hunted ruffed grouse in Northern Minnesota. We had only 6 flushes and bagged 2.

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Looks like a great time. One of my best memories are the prairie chicken hunts in SE kansas back in the 70’s. I hope you cut that receiver off and buried it out there. If you took it home with you they will now know where you live and how to get to your house.
 
One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

That is so cool. Nice job.

We just recorded the warmest September ever. And last year is now the second warmest. Its like hunting during the middle of summer now.
 
I called and spoke to grouse research with MN DNR.

The battery on the radio beacon is dead. They last about a year.

The bird had both a radio beacon and a leg band. I sent the numbers off both and tail and wing feathers in.

The beacon was used to determine the prairie chicken use of cattle pasture land.

The feathers will be analyzed for DNA to determine if hybridization is occurring with Sharp Tail Grouse.


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Years ago we ran into a biologist that was tracking prairie chickens. It was day two of the season. Old guy told us that two older birds he tracks heads to inaccessible land on the first indication the season has begun. I did not have the courage to say ... well where would that be on this map :)
 
How do you tell the difference between a hen pheasant and a prairie chicken? I asked someone I know in person, and they said, oh you'll know. But HOW? What do you guys look for?
Look at the tail of each bird...chicken has a squared or box tail, not pointed like a hen. At least that's what I watched for, in addition to wingbeats, when they flushed in NE.
 
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