Prairie Grouse and Sharptails question...

dawgs14

dawgs14

Active member
If I wanted to hunt at sun up, prior to pheasant hunting, and I generally knew where they were, how would I hunt them that early? Where would they be 30 minutes after sun up? Is there a daily migration to food, water, etc?
 
I hunt a state away for prairie grouse, and I prefer to hunt pasture that is adjacent to crops, like wheat…at first light, at 9 am, at noon, at dusk…in the daytime, shrubs/bushes are destinations for me…on my last walk of my last day hunting last week, I hiked up and down hills in school land pasture…birds were on hilltops, in bushes, and in cover within 100 yards of shrubs/bushes…early mornings I seem to find them loafing or perhaps completing their roosting activity…but I like to be within a football field or two of crops…our birds didn’t have lots of wheat or other crops in their crops, but it is evident to me they like being nearby…otherwise, it’s more of a crapshoot as to where they’ll be in a large pasture…I target the various Berries that are present, especially on hillsides. I stay away cover that is knee high or taller…pheasant cover is too tall…you probably know that…even 6-8” tall cover holds prairie grouse…I walked up on a covey last trip in cover that tall…it looked like shoots of dark asparagus about 75 yards away…they flushed out of range
 
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dawgs14 said:
If I wanted to hunt at sun up, prior to pheasant hunting, and I generally knew where they were, how would I hunt them that early? Where would they be 30 minutes after sun up? Is there a daily migration to food, water, etc?
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I think they derive their moisture from food sources, but being near water is good, or low ground like sloughs, as they eat insects that are present near such wet areas
 
I see chicken poo down lower than I find chickens. I don't know when they are doing it. I thought maybe? it was happening pre light or first light. Eating bugs. I don't know, I never hunt that early because I can't find them.
 
benelli-banger said:
I hunt a state away for prairie grouse, and I prefer to hunt pasture that is adjacent to crops, like wheat…at first light, at 9 am, at noon, at dusk…in the daytime, shrubs/bushes are destinations for me…on my last walk of my last day hunting last week, I hiked up and down hills in school land pasture…birds were on hilltops, in bushes, and in cover within 100 yards of shrubs/bushes…early mornings I seem to find them loafing or perhaps completing their roosting activity…but I like to be within a football field or two of crops…our birds didn’t have lots of wheat or other crops in their crops, but it is evident to me they like being nearby…otherwise, it’s more of a crapshoot as to where they’ll be in a large pasture…I target the various Berries that are present, especially on hillsides. I stay away cover that is knee high or taller…pheasant cover is too tall…you probably know that…even 6-8” tall cover holds prairie grouse…I walked up on a covey last trip in cover that tall…it looked like shoots of dark asparagus about 75 yards away…they flushed out of range
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This is a pretty good summary. In SD I have found it to be the ground that is just a little too hilly and barren for phesant but still near crops. I also find that they really like to be close to sunflower.

Over the years I have just tried to mark where we run across sharpies while pheasant hunting.
 
I prefer to wait until later in the morning to hunt sharptail. They move around quite a bit to find food, then grit, before the settle in to a daytime loafing spot. The ones around here like sparse, hilly cover near crops, though crops are not necessary if the prefer the area. I even found one recently that had corn in its crop, but it was mixed with alfalfa leaves and the seed tops of a low growing thistle.
 
Powderhorn Jim said:
I prefer to wait until later in the morning to hunt sharptail. They move around quite a bit to find food, then grit, before the settle in to a daytime loafing spot. The ones around here like sparse, hilly cover near crops, though crops are not necessary if the prefer the area. I even found one recently that had corn in its crop, but it was mixed with alfalfa leaves and the seed tops of a low growing thistle.
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I never knew pheasants like the Thistle seed. Was out in North Central SD last week and found birds in thistle, while right across the road from standing corn. Their crops were full of Thistle seed.
 
Chessie 67 said:
I never knew pheasants like the Thistle seed. Was out in North Central SD last week and found birds in thistle, while right across the road from standing corn. Their crops were full of Thistle seed.
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The corn field that the sharptail were feeding in was a "failed" crop that had cattle turned out in it so a lot of corn was on the ground. I doubt if they are interested in standing corn. The thistle seed heads were from a low growing native thistle.
 
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