Rate your past season

[remy3424]

As seasons are closing, how would you rate this past season? I know Kansas hunters and parts of NE might have had, less than stellar seasons, but let's see what the overall season was like across the country. Maybe add a vague location where you hunt, if you don't include any location in the information in your bio.

As I said in a different post, had the best season ever. Last year I missed the first 3 weeks and shot about half the number of birds. I am not sure I shot any better, actually thinking I didn't shoot as well, but just had a tons of opportunities this season. My new dog found birds like a seasoned veteran, but still needs to get some training on retrieving, but did great. It was very dry here all last year (including last winter) and it was very hot early when they birds were hatching, but with good habitat they survived and grew their numbers! I will repost a pic from a month or so ago of one of my always favorite annual hunts with my cousins.

 

[NDPheasant]

It was by far the best season I have ever seen this year in my area of North Dakota. I have exceeded any and all expectations I had when I got my Ellie 6 years ago and Willow 2 years ago. I exceeded previous PRs in birds I have shot and birds shot with family and friends. The snow slowed down our hunting considerably and I would have typically harvested many more roosters the last two weeks of December. Nevertheless, I am thankful for the great season. I will not forget my friend hunts and value those relationships. It will be difficult to top the success of my wife and our nephew though. My wife had shot one pheasant over the past two years and actually shot her limit one day. My nephew shot over 30 roosters with me which is dumbfounding considering he is 12 years old. I will conclude by saying it was also fun to see covey after covey of huns every time out. I do not exaggerate when I speak of 10+ covey sightings over a short span where covey size numbered in double digits. I do agree with everything that A5 and Golden Hour have already elaborated on. These birds have a unique drive to survive and always find a way to do it. I am optimistic and believe that 2023-2024 will even be better.

 

[Golden Hour]

Despite anticipating a handful of potential hunts yet before the season closes at the end of January, this season has my highest total harvest. A number of factors have played into this, but the biggest would be that my children are starting to get older and don't require as much supervision. Second would be peer pressure Additionally, two years ago, I missed close to a month when Sage got a hole in her lung and last year, I hurt my back and had COVID. With both Sage and me being healthy, this season saw us spending more time in the field. While the actual number of hunts probably wasn't a whole lot more, I was able to get out for more than an hour or two, unlike when the kids were younger.

The area I live in isn't the most pheasant rich area of South Dakota, however, there are decent bird numbers, as well as a good number of landowners doing some incredible habitat management. Two thirds of my hunts are on public land. In total, I was skunked twice, once because of poor shooting, once because of just seeing hens.

Pheasant numbers were up in the area I hunt. We'll see what the rest of winter and spring bring as far as environmental impact on pheasants, but am optimistic they'll come through alright. Regardless, I'm going to hunt as hard and as often as I can until my body tells me otherwise.

 

[reddog]

Having started my new (and last) home in early November building by myself, it has pretty much wrecked two seasons for me. I only hunted 2 1/2 days this year (to date) Hunting was great when I went, but id have to rate my season a 4. Hopefully next year gets me back on track

 

[KansasGsp]

This was the worst season I've had in my 22 years of chasing pheasants. Went to South Dakota and it was good, but Kansas has been terrible. I hunt private ground in Western Kansas and public land all over, not much for birds this year. Usually would see between 15-20 in a days hunt and would have a opportunity at shooting maybe one or two (group of 3 guys). Would like to be optimistic about the future but it's hard to do so with so much habitat loss in out state. Planning on traveling more next year, hopefully South Dakota multiple times and maybe Iowa as well.

 

[gimruis]

I would rate this past season as slightly better than average (so maybe a 6 out of 10?). Based solely on the amount of birds I saw when hunting, it was definitely better than average. The conditions prior to November were awful out there. We did not record a single drop of rain for 2 whole months, and we were already in a drought.

Bear in mind I almost exclusively hunt solo mission, an hour from my house, in Central MN. I usually hunt for about 2-4 hours at a time, and space my hunts with 4-5 days in between. My dog also got dinged up on mid November so I had to sit out a couple weeks while she healed up.

I'd like to hunt more, but unfortunately I have limiting factors like a full time job, a house, a family, and other items that require my time. Man made prisons, I'll tell ya.

I feel very fortunate to have the access to private ground with a wild, self-sustaining population of pheasants within an hour of my residence. I know a lot of hunters have to travel long distances and pound highly pressured public land to chase roosters.

 

[Tomahawker]

I did have a day and a half of “what’s wrong with my gun” poor shooting. Kansas was a bust. Ohio was good to me. Found birds everywhere I’ve found them in the past. Shot my limit twice, which I don’t normally do because of low population. But these fields were loaded with birds. Got leads on a couple new spots for next year. Seen plenty of hens.

 

[Buster24]

I did have a day and a half of “what’s wrong with my gun” poor shooting. Kansas was a bust. Ohio was good to me. Found birds everywhere I’ve found them in the past. Shot my limit twice, which I don’t normally do because of low population. But these fields were loaded with birds. Got leads on a couple new spots for next year. Seen plenty of hens.

Tomahawker…..you are the only guy that I have heard that has got pheasants in Ohio!!!!!

 

[agraham20]

I would give my season a 9 in SE MN. Banged out my limit a handful of times, saw a ton of birds and shot more than I ever had in the past. Mostly thanks to good numbers and a great dog. I hope this tougher winter doesn’t hurt the population too much for next year. Anyways on to tournament hunting season now, always something to do with the dogs!

 

[Elksniper]

My season was a 6.5. My GSP was in his 3rd season and I’ve posted about him on here before. We’re making some progress, but he still bumps a lot of birds that I try not to shoot. It’s painful to watch a hard fought rooster fly away. He did have some great moments and we bagged a number of birds together. I’m confident that next year will be our year! I’m sad the season is essentially over.

 

[Quailnerd]

Had 3 excellent early season grouse hunts in Colorado that bumps a grade for the year to a 5. Quail was a grind with a few good days sprinkled in, chased them in extreme southern Kansas, se Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. If I wasn’t starting a dog this year I would have let off the gas pedal after Christmas. Pray for rain!

 

[remy3424]

Anyways on to tournament hunting season now, always something to do with the dogs!

Tournament hunting???? I have never hear of such a thing, maybe I need to get out more! Sounds like an event you get a chance to meet a bunch of PETA fans at!

Another great season was had! Takes a pile of will-power to not shoot flushed birds.

 

[agraham20]

Tournament hunting???? I have never hear of such a thing, maybe I need to get out more! Sounds like an event you get a chance to meet a bunch of PETA fans at!

Another great season was had! Takes a pile of will-power to not shoot flushed birds.

There’s a couple different leagues. The most common is NBDCA National Bird Dog Circuit, There is UCS which is Upland challenge series and some other groups in different parts of the country.
Basically most use the same rules, normally consists of either Pheasants or Chukars planted in a field normally at a preserve. Normally 3 or 4 birds. Fastest dog and hunter to flush and shoot all the birds without missing essentially wins. No running and some other rules of course. It’s a blast!

 

[remy3424]

You know, I think I did see that on TV, maybe a decade ago. Let us know if you are ever in one that gets televised.

 

[Weimdogman]

Buddy said he participated in one of those trnmnts in Minnesota. Birds were planted under a large piece of cardboard or something similar. He ran to the cardboard thru it off shot the bird and ran to the next one while dog was retrieving . Then would repeat it 2 more times. 3 birds in like 2 minutes. He was told that's not right he replied this whole thing isn't right and don't worry I won't be back.

 

[agraham20]

Buddy said he participated in one of those trnmnts in Minnesota. Birds were planted under a large piece of cardboard or something similar. He ran to the cardboard thru it off shot the bird and ran to the next one while dog was retrieving . Then would repeat it 2 more times. 3 birds in like 2 minutes. He was told that's not right he replied this whole thing isn't right and don't worry I won't be back.

Yeah that sounds a little crappy, first off I’ve never been to one that planted birds under cardboard. The ones I’ve competed in plant them in the grass the same as a preserve. The dogs have to be good to find the birds. You’re normally sequestered so you don’t know where the birds are planted, and almost every one requires delivery to hand before you can move onto the next bird. Most of the dogs competing are well trained and most of the players are in the dog world as either trainers or breeders and take it very serious. The groups putting them on now try and mimic a hunt as much as possible. But it’s not uncommon to see dogs capable of 2 min runs on 3 birds.

 

[agraham20]

You know, I think I did see that on TV, maybe a decade ago. Let us know if you are ever in one that gets televised.

They did have a series on it a long time ago called bird dog wars. The rules have been more refined since then. It’s hard to keep any upland hunting shows on tv anymore as it is. A lot of animal rights groups don’t like it, and a limited viewership.
That being said most guys use this as a way to have fun after the hunting season ends, as most of them start after January. Some run a few earlier tournaments.
It requires teamwork on both parts in the upper competition levels. They have different classes for pointers and flushers, and different rules for each. I run in the flusher groups, and your dog is expected to find and flush each bird , and retrieve each to hand. You get penalized for birds the dog doesn’t deliver to hand, so most dogs have to be force fetched. You get penalized for missed birds and missed shots. If you run you get penalized and if you move during your dog’s retrieve you get penalized.
The dogs that win, have excellent noses, are normally very well trained and are fast but also have to be in control and in range for shots. It’s much more than your avg hunting dog is capable of. But they do have an Amateur division for the guys that can’t shoot and have avg to subpar dogs here’s a pic of the type of field we competed in earlier this year. It was hot and dry with no wind. Had to get 3 birds in roughly a 5 acre field.

 

[Wolfchief]

This was one of the worst seasons I've had; much of it due to extreme stormy weather which coincided almost exactly to the days we took extended hunting trips. Wind and rain were freakishly bad this year. I did shoot 13 ducks, but usually the number is closer to 30 or over. It was dry in y home state and the ducks never really "arrived"during our season. My son and I shot a total of 23 roosters, but our "honey hole "trips didn't work out weather wise. I'm 71 and don't have an inordinate amount of hunting time left. My wife suggested we rent a place in pheasant country for a month or so next year, so I can get more hunting in. That's what we're going to do because I just didn't get enough hunting in this fall.

 

[Bob Peters]

almost every one requires delivery to hand before you can move onto the next bird.

That part would cost me right there. Hunting with a golden I'd say her strongest skill is retrieving. It's just that after long days in the field often with only one bird shot, we've worked it out (or I capitulated) that she gets to parade around and show off the bird for a while. I usually don't mind, I just use the opportunity as a water break, take a picture, etc. She is very soft mouthed (not sure if that's a field bred golden thing or just luck because it wasn't trained) and so the birds are in perfect shape. On the rare instances we've been in a spot loaded with pheasants she will drop very quick on her collar tone. I did watch all the "bird dog wars" on youtube. I never plan to "tournament hunt" but have nothing against it.

 

[agraham20]

That part would cost me right there. Hunting with a golden I'd say her strongest skill is retrieving. It's just that after long days in the field often with only one bird shot, we've worked it out (or I capitulated) that she gets to parade around and show off the bird for a while. I usually don't mind, I just use the opportunity as a water break, take a picture, etc. She is very soft mouthed (not sure if that's a field bred golden thing or just luck because it wasn't trained) and so the birds are in perfect shape. On the rare instances we've been in a spot loaded with pheasants she will drop very quick on her collar tone. I did watch all the "bird dog wars" on youtube. I never plan to "tournament hunt" but have nothing against it.

At least you have a field bred Golden. I have a buddy that’s a pro trainer and he gets customers that bring in standard Goldens and ask him to train them too hunt I’ve seen a lot of real nice field bred goldens tho, they typically have a nice soft mouth and make great hunting dogs!