Bob Peters
Well-known member
I boogied down to Iowa Sunday morning and had a feeling that for the first time in my life I'd finally get that 3 bird limit! 1.5 hour drive down from the cabin in MN I was staying at, got to a spot I had been dreaming about for a few weeks 
. 8:03 am and damn, there's another bastard from MN already walking the field, I was mad at the world
. When your best made plans are foiled you just look at the map and drive to the next closest spot. I did, I got out and hunted, and it looked terrible. Work was being done here with heavy equipment, grass looked like hell, but as always, the cattails were still thick. Dog got birdy a couple times but no action. Pulling the plug on this spot and walking back to the truck parallel to the road, the dog stopped and stared intently into what little grass there was. I still don't know what to think of when people tell me they have a pointing retriever because the two in my mind are about mutually exclusive. Whatever the case, the golden retriever was on a 12 second stare-off with the weeds. Then she took a step and out flew a rooster and one shot with the KENT #4 bismuth and we were on the board. The next spot we only saw one hen, and it turns out I jumped in on a couple guys hunting the same spot, but I don't know where the hell they parked because it's only a north road bordering the piece and I was the only truck in the lot. Either way it was a large spot and we were on opposite sides. Flushed one hen here. I stopped in Thompson at the Cenex for gas and it was really cheap. Next I tried a spot that looks good, but I never get a bird there. That tradition continued, flushed one hen, and the dog got on hot scent and ran into a marsh edge where I couldn't keep up and flushed what Iooked like a rooster. I had one other spot up my sleeve where I hardly ever see anyone, and I don't see much, but I usually always can dip in and get one rooster. I drove by and there was a small car in the parking lot and a grandpa was out there hunting, dang it! I kept driving and four spots in a row had a vehicle on it, wow
, this was like hunting SD opening week
. Apparently everyone and their mom was out hunting yesterday. I woulda been better off hunting MN, being all the hunters from WI and MN were in Iowa that day. I made a haul and went back to where I wanted to start, and praise the Lord, it was empty. It's a small spot, and I parked, and took a 45 minute lunch break. I hunted the final hour and 45 minutes there. The dog flushed one hen, and a rooster where she again ran and I couldn't catch her and he flushed out of range
(side note, train next dog to whistle sit). Finally in the back corner I walked to a spot that looked good to me, and about stepped on a rooster, he flushed and went behind me, I swirled and missed, then got a hit on the second shell, Skye made a good retrieve. That was it for the day, a limit was not meant to be. So the overall report goes like this, lots of hunters out, public land very crowded, didn't see as many birds as expected. I will note that I fed the dog at the parking lot and cracked a Busch Light. At about 5pm I heard a cackle, then a minute later a crow, and soon the entire countryside was squawking! A reminder of how many pheasants are out there, especially after shooting hours end.
. 8:03 am and damn, there's another bastard from MN already walking the field, I was mad at the world. When your best made plans are foiled you just look at the map and drive to the next closest spot. I did, I got out and hunted, and it looked terrible. Work was being done here with heavy equipment, grass looked like hell, but as always, the cattails were still thick. Dog got birdy a couple times but no action. Pulling the plug on this spot and walking back to the truck parallel to the road, the dog stopped and stared intently into what little grass there was. I still don't know what to think of when people tell me they have a pointing retriever because the two in my mind are about mutually exclusive. Whatever the case, the golden retriever was on a 12 second stare-off with the weeds. Then she took a step and out flew a rooster and one shot with the KENT #4 bismuth and we were on the board. The next spot we only saw one hen, and it turns out I jumped in on a couple guys hunting the same spot, but I don't know where the hell they parked because it's only a north road bordering the piece and I was the only truck in the lot. Either way it was a large spot and we were on opposite sides. Flushed one hen here. I stopped in Thompson at the Cenex for gas and it was really cheap. Next I tried a spot that looks good, but I never get a bird there. That tradition continued, flushed one hen, and the dog got on hot scent and ran into a marsh edge where I couldn't keep up and flushed what Iooked like a rooster. I had one other spot up my sleeve where I hardly ever see anyone, and I don't see much, but I usually always can dip in and get one rooster. I drove by and there was a small car in the parking lot and a grandpa was out there hunting, dang it! I kept driving and four spots in a row had a vehicle on it, wow, this was like hunting SD opening week. Apparently everyone and their mom was out hunting yesterday. I woulda been better off hunting MN, being all the hunters from WI and MN were in Iowa that day. I made a haul and went back to where I wanted to start, and praise the Lord, it was empty. It's a small spot, and I parked, and took a 45 minute lunch break. I hunted the final hour and 45 minutes there. The dog flushed one hen, and a rooster where she again ran and I couldn't catch her and he flushed out of range(side note, train next dog to whistle sit). Finally in the back corner I walked to a spot that looked good to me, and about stepped on a rooster, he flushed and went behind me, I swirled and missed, then got a hit on the second shell, Skye made a good retrieve. That was it for the day, a limit was not meant to be. So the overall report goes like this, lots of hunters out, public land very crowded, didn't see as many birds as expected. I will note that I fed the dog at the parking lot and cracked a Busch Light. At about 5pm I heard a cackle, then a minute later a crow, and soon the entire countryside was squawking! A reminder of how many pheasants are out there, especially after shooting hours end.
