When ranchers have something of value say cattle, they can trade cattle for money. When outfitters pay money for something of value like hunting it is like selling cattle. Nothing wrong with selling cattle. I do not know whether I qualify as an outfitter or not, but I have enjoyed our banter and I understand your position of wanting things to be like they used to be. So, I am inviting you to come and hunt here for free. You can stay here, and I will feed you, you can invite your nephew or any other person to join you. It has to be after Thanksgiving as we are booked up until then. Fair enough?
Scouting for Pheasant
- Thread starter Boch0627
- Start date
Goosemaster
Well-known member
That would be fun, thanks for that.My lab had knee surgery 5 weeks ago, and she is rehabbing. I'll talk to my other cousin, because my nephew is in law school in boise. He is going to hunt the last week of December in Montana. Cold up on the north Canadian. It's very kind of you to offer. My cousin is very new to hunting.
gimruis
Well-known member
Me neither. The birds I see on the road all go into cover well before I can get close enough for a shot.
Golden Hour
Well-known member
The difference between cattle and wildlife is that the latter is a publicly held resource. I'll never fault anyone for doing what they have to (within the laws of our state and nation) to earn. The beauty of this great nation is that I don't have to spend my money anywhere but the places I choose and people don't have to worry about my feelings when they make financial decisions for themselves and the people they love.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
There's some good info here regarding scouting. For me, during summer & early season, scouting is mostly about observing habitat, primarily nesting cover. Where I find good nesting/brood rearing cover, there's usually good winter cover, good loafing cover, & food nearby. Honestly, I don't care much whether there's water around. A lot of times there happens to be, but I don't believe pheasants need standing water to survive & propagate. Sometimes, particularly during the middle of a warm day, they like to hang out near water if they can find it, maybe to drink, but primarily to keep cool & peck around for little things to eat & grit for their gizzards. Plus, there's commonly great safety cover around ponds/sloughs. But I've just seen pheasants in too many places without water to think water is super critical. Plus, it's very common to have a SD winter with frozen ponds/sloughs & no snow for long periods of time, & pheasants do just fine. In fact, they benefit.
My most useful scouting probably occurs during winter, when there's snow on the ground. Early morning & mid/late afternoon, when they're out feeding. That's when it's easiest to see just exactly what areas have pheasants. Once you've found some, it's usually not too hard to figure out where they spend their day, where they roost, where they were hatched/raised, & where they're likely to be found on opening day next season. Sometimes it's a matter of marrying what you see during winter with what you see at other times, because some winters, snow can almost completely cover up nesting/light roosting cover. That's obviously an advantage of living an hour from your hunting areas, rather than 1,000 miles.
My most useful scouting probably occurs during winter, when there's snow on the ground. Early morning & mid/late afternoon, when they're out feeding. That's when it's easiest to see just exactly what areas have pheasants. Once you've found some, it's usually not too hard to figure out where they spend their day, where they roost, where they were hatched/raised, & where they're likely to be found on opening day next season. Sometimes it's a matter of marrying what you see during winter with what you see at other times, because some winters, snow can almost completely cover up nesting/light roosting cover. That's obviously an advantage of living an hour from your hunting areas, rather than 1,000 miles.
What you say is true, what is the same is access. When I sell cattle, I give access to those cattle. When people come here to hunt they get access to hunting that they would not otherwise. The wildlife is public the habitat is private. I have neighbors that are out cutting cattails now, so they won't catch snow so they can farm a little more next spring. I create habitat so I can enjoy wildlife and hunting helps pay for that.
I've done SD 3 times, each time was a slightly different flavor of a commercial operation. This year I'm going completely DIY. We'll see what happens. With respect to outfitters in general, I've speculated that pheasants in my home state, Kansas, suffer from a lack of commercialization. There's a lot of talk on the Kansas board about poor habitat and intensive farming practices that don't leave enough (of whatever) for wildlife. Speaking only as a relatively ignorant city guy, I just don't believe that there's a magic set of farming practices that maximize income for the producer and leave enough for wild pheasants and quail to flourish. The producers that operate with wildlife in mind (and the landowners that force it on their tenants) do so at a cost. Some financial return from the hunting community for the compromises they make on the production side would be very reasonable. Unfortunately commercialization in Kansas is exclusively put-and-take. That doesn't help.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
When I scout,I drive around with my cousin out in the boonies in the old ford.I throw a couple of bales in my pick up.We drive into ranches with homemade pie my sister bakes.Usually apple. We introduce ourselves, and we don't discuss pheasant hunting, or mention it. The next time we stop by, we do the same thing,only we ask for permission to hunt for 2 of us. Food for thought.
birddude
Well-known member
Me neither yet, but when you drive 500 miles and don't even get a shot, it takes some serious self-restraint not to. When my legs finally give I might reconsider!
BrownDogsCan2
Well-known member
I don’t like seeking permission It usually involves uncomfortable small talk in the morning and then stopping by in the afternoon to thank them and maybe shoot the shit a little bit. I’d rather just get out of the truck and hunt.
gimruis
Well-known member
When I seek permission, I ask to hunt the entire season (after deer season has ended). Its not just a one day thing. And after I've gotten permission, I don't keep going back there every time I hunt to "stop and talk" with them lol. I simply get out of the truck and hunt.
I do often go back in December to drop off a package of fish, pheasant, or venison if they have told me they would like it. Some people don't want that kind of "gift" though.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Yes, but the chicken comes before the egg.
Wind River
Well-known member
I enjoy asking most of the time, met some good people that have become good friends over time. Like to drop off cheese and phez sticks to say thank you. I try to ask for the complete season if the ground is productive. Over time you will forget the birds, but will remember the people you are with or meet along the way. Dogs too. Enjoy the journey.
You asked and it's what comes to my mind when someone says "scouting" so here goes this year's edition of road hunting basics-
If you catch them out in the open on the road up ahead, stop far away and let them get into the ditch. Mark where they duck into the weeds and drive up as close to normal speed as you can since they spook at slow cars. Slam on the brakes just short of where they should be at and pile out. Hold a steady point until the driver clears the front of the truck. Wag your tail or not per your breeding but leave the actual dog in the truck until you need a retrieve. Hard for them not to bust the birds before everyone is ready. This will either freeze the birds in place or they run down the ditch. Rarely do they want to cross the open space between the fence and the corn unless it's dirty rows as well. Lot's easier if the head rows are off the field and then you have them trapped in no-man's land. Chirp at them or throw a rock into the ditch to get the runners to jump up. Run down the ditch doing the same to try and catch up to any early squirters or turn the dogs out quickly. Blast away.
If you catch sight of a head down in the ditch as you go by, mark it and keep driving casual. They will often duck their head but hold tight in that spot like every other car that has gone by before. Go up to the next intersection, turn around and come back at normal speed. Pull up just short or just past them again by like 20 feet since if you pile out of the truck right on top of them in the ditch, they will run or fly on you before your gun clears the door- road hunting wild flush. It takes skill to mark and get out at the precise right spot but you have to start somewhere.
Come back an hour later and try it again if you got no shots off. They will come back out. Birds that run and don't stop are smartened up and will take some advanced road dog skills to catch them in a spot where they will hold in cover. Locals prefer to take these out the truck window on the move to weed them out before they teach other birds this trick and it gets into the genetics like the Aberdeen greenbacks that spread due to one wardens harsh treatment of proper game management practices. Locals will let you know how expert they are at this technique which they have labeled "arkansaw them" despite having rarely hunted pheasants outside of SD (or their truck apparently). Youngsters will try and impress you with a side-saddle technique by opening the door on the move, one foot on the running board, one foot on the arm rest and steering with their knee while bench resting on the cab roof. But what they're really doing is covering up for the fact they haven't practiced the steadiness and timing with a left hand arkansaw and/or are exasperated at your reluctance or speed at getting them out the passenger side.
If you are road hunting early in the day, drive down wind of where you saw the birds and drop off walkers/dogs. Take the truck back up past the birds to the next road approach and block the exit. Walkers should take this opportunity to examine the philosophical difference between the shameful working of fence lines and cover that are parallel to the road as compared to the glorious and praiseworthy walking of cover perpendicular to roads. If you are in the last hour of the day, run and gun as fast as you can and pass up anything that doesn't hold tight. No time to mess around in the weeds when they are all over the road a half-mile away.
If you catch them out in the open on the road up ahead, stop far away and let them get into the ditch. Mark where they duck into the weeds and drive up as close to normal speed as you can since they spook at slow cars. Slam on the brakes just short of where they should be at and pile out. Hold a steady point until the driver clears the front of the truck. Wag your tail or not per your breeding but leave the actual dog in the truck until you need a retrieve. Hard for them not to bust the birds before everyone is ready. This will either freeze the birds in place or they run down the ditch. Rarely do they want to cross the open space between the fence and the corn unless it's dirty rows as well. Lot's easier if the head rows are off the field and then you have them trapped in no-man's land. Chirp at them or throw a rock into the ditch to get the runners to jump up. Run down the ditch doing the same to try and catch up to any early squirters or turn the dogs out quickly. Blast away.
If you catch sight of a head down in the ditch as you go by, mark it and keep driving casual. They will often duck their head but hold tight in that spot like every other car that has gone by before. Go up to the next intersection, turn around and come back at normal speed. Pull up just short or just past them again by like 20 feet since if you pile out of the truck right on top of them in the ditch, they will run or fly on you before your gun clears the door- road hunting wild flush. It takes skill to mark and get out at the precise right spot but you have to start somewhere.
Come back an hour later and try it again if you got no shots off. They will come back out. Birds that run and don't stop are smartened up and will take some advanced road dog skills to catch them in a spot where they will hold in cover. Locals prefer to take these out the truck window on the move to weed them out before they teach other birds this trick and it gets into the genetics like the Aberdeen greenbacks that spread due to one wardens harsh treatment of proper game management practices. Locals will let you know how expert they are at this technique which they have labeled "arkansaw them" despite having rarely hunted pheasants outside of SD (or their truck apparently). Youngsters will try and impress you with a side-saddle technique by opening the door on the move, one foot on the running board, one foot on the arm rest and steering with their knee while bench resting on the cab roof. But what they're really doing is covering up for the fact they haven't practiced the steadiness and timing with a left hand arkansaw and/or are exasperated at your reluctance or speed at getting them out the passenger side.
If you are road hunting early in the day, drive down wind of where you saw the birds and drop off walkers/dogs. Take the truck back up past the birds to the next road approach and block the exit. Walkers should take this opportunity to examine the philosophical difference between the shameful working of fence lines and cover that are parallel to the road as compared to the glorious and praiseworthy walking of cover perpendicular to roads. If you are in the last hour of the day, run and gun as fast as you can and pass up anything that doesn't hold tight. No time to mess around in the weeds when they are all over the road a half-mile away.
gimruis
Well-known member
Wow didn't realize it was down to such a science. And I must add that it sounds like a really sketchy and lazy way to "hunt" a pheasant too. Could also be borderline illegal here. I guess there's a few out there in every bunch though that aren't interested in putting boots on the ground and walking.
Really should be called ditch hunting. Not road hunting.
Really should be called ditch hunting. Not road hunting.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
That's crazy.Thumbs down.
BrownDogsCan2
Well-known member
The trick to it is you have to drive down the wrong side of the road and tickle the weeds with your tires. Make sure you got your window down and a loaded gun upfront on the floor board in case you don’t have time get out of the truck
remy3424
Well-known member
I think we only have 2 or 3 places that we need to get permission each time we hunt. Those places are where they have more requests to hunt. This past season my "gift" to 2 of the land owners were PF memberships. One of them doesn't have any CRP, I am kind of hoping thumbing through the journals might make them consider it. I have no landowners who want birds and very few others that will take even cleaned birds. I still have 3 to eat from last season. I will get those out now as I am thinking about it and have pheasant strips from the breasts and pheasant ala king with the thighs. What, about 17 days until the Iowa opener?
Munster927
Well-known member
You forgot about the lukewarm case of Pabst in the center console