SD Long Tailfeather - Bragging

A5 Sweet 16

A5 Sweet 16

Well-known member
Shot a beautiful 2nd year bird Saturday on a WPA w/ the 2nd longest tailfeathers I've ever got.
24-5/8" !!!!
Just 1/8" shy of my personal world record.
Of the many, many roosters I've shot in my life, only 2 have gone over 24".
For many years, 23-5/8" seemed to be the magic length that for some reason I couldn't surpass. I shot about 5 birds that exact length.
Disclaimer: Almost all my hunting is on public land, where birds just don't live quite as long on the average, so somewhat shorter tails.
Thanks VERY MUCH to UplandHntr for hunting with me Saturday & to his springer Annie for flushing the bird my way!!
 
UplandHntr said:
Yep thats a dandy! Good to get together!! Did you take a pic?
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No. I was too hasty in pulling the feathers to get them on the yard stick. I actually considered stuffing them back in for a pic, but didn't. Oh well.
There's no doubt in my mind, however, that if Buzz had been there to flush & retrieve it, I'd have taken a picture of him & his trophy. A little bleary eyed after typing that. Miss him so much, dang it.
 
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A5 Sweet 16 said:
No. I was too hasty in pulling the feathers to get them on the yard stick. I actually considered stuffing them back in for a pic, but didn't. Oh well.
There's no doubt in my mind, however, that if Buzz had been there to flush & retrieve it, I'd have taken a picture of him & his trophy. A little bleary eyed after typing that. Miss him so much, dang it.
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Congrats on that dandy rooster! Well deserved!
 
That's certainly a long tail feather in my book. Glad you had an opportunity to get out, and again so sorry about Buzz.
 
I guess I've never actually measure tailfeathers before...

When measuring, it sounds like you pull them out? Do you measure from where the feather/barb actually starts, or from the tip of the quill?
 
Grats on a good one A5!
This takes me back to my waterfowler days. Back when it was all I did. One of my favorite ducks to decoy were pintails. I would always measure those big sprig's tails.
 
I have one that I have been watching since early this fall that has the best tail I have seen for a long time. He hangs out around the East side of my place close to some buildings. I think by looking at him he may push that 26" envelope as he has a 3-4 inch drop at the end and it waggles like a loose rope when he flies away. I don't hunt so am just speculating based on some 23"plus ones I have found after the birds died somehow or another. Sure is pretty to look at but has been a few weeks since I have seen him so maybe someone/something put him down.
 
Best tail feather our group has taken this year was 25 1/2" from private ground in central MN. I didn't shoot that bird but my dog did make the flush and a water retrieve and I carried the wet bird in my vest for a few hours.

My best of 2018 came in at exactly 24" from Northern SD.

But the most memorable birds of my 2018 season came from the ND opener. None of those birds had long tail feathers and were very young birds. The reason those birds are so unforgettable is, that was my youngest daughters first pheasant hunt. At age 14 she decided it was time to complete her hunter safety course, practice at the trap range over the summer and walk the fields following the dogs. She decided once in the fields that she really didn't want to shoot at any roosters so she walked with our group of 4. Even though she didn't fire a shot we sure had a great time. The road trip out to ND, time walking the fields, giving her a chance to see our 1 yo lab and the other 3 GSP in action, along with experiencing the tradition of hunting is something that neither of us will forget. After the trip she talked all about what she had learned and at one point told her mother, "mom you wouldn't understand, its a pheasant hunting thing". She had a great time and wants to go back and do it again.

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I haven't always saved and measured them, but the longest since I started doing that was this past Thursday. A hen's tooth shy of 24", if that. He was a scrapper too. Winged him on a long 3rd shot, and he went down in modest wetland grasses in 3-4 inches of snow, right before sunset. This was on a WPA in SW MN.

Honey located him 70 yards or so from where he went down (over 130 yards from where I shot). When he popped out from his first hiding spot, he did a flip, left Honey with a mouth full of feathers, and disappeared before our eyes. I let her search the area, and then I stepped down the snow. Nothing. Finally, after over 10 minutes, she got his scent coming up from the snow, 3 feet from the pile of feathers!! He must have known she was onto him, as he popped out and made a run for it. She was on him in a flash. Normally when I take a bird from her, she is done. Not this time. They kept fighting with each other, tooth and claw.

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