Makintrax73
Member
Just back from 4 days in ND chasing sharpies and huns. Hunted NW this year, and that was a big mistake.
Found one field with a mix of grass, snowberries, and cut wheat that was good. Saw a decent number of sharpies and a big covey of huns there and killed a few. Mix of snowberry leaves (? I think) and wheat in their crops.
Saw a few birds where there was some green mixed in with the sea of brown dead grass but otherwise struggled. Birds seemed to be very hard to approach so I'd guess not may young birds. We did see one group come out of a sea of dead brown grass, had a couple shots and missed. Saw a few birds in some hay fields they were right in the middle of cutting too.
I will say that we saw a TON of pheasants everywhere we went. We were seeing them in low areas when you had to cross them just like past years, but also seeing them all over in grass that was just above sharpie height. Driving down the roads early and late you couldn't help but see a few here and a few there. Many, many of them appeared to be maybe only 6 weeks old. So at least we got something to work dogs on even if we couldnt shoot. Not sure what it's like up there in normal years because it was a new part of the state for my group, but the pheasant season up there should be good.
Stopped a couple places farther east and things were a lot more green. Saw some sharpies around but not enough time to get a good assessment.
Found one field with a mix of grass, snowberries, and cut wheat that was good. Saw a decent number of sharpies and a big covey of huns there and killed a few. Mix of snowberry leaves (? I think) and wheat in their crops.
Saw a few birds where there was some green mixed in with the sea of brown dead grass but otherwise struggled. Birds seemed to be very hard to approach so I'd guess not may young birds. We did see one group come out of a sea of dead brown grass, had a couple shots and missed. Saw a few birds in some hay fields they were right in the middle of cutting too.
I will say that we saw a TON of pheasants everywhere we went. We were seeing them in low areas when you had to cross them just like past years, but also seeing them all over in grass that was just above sharpie height. Driving down the roads early and late you couldn't help but see a few here and a few there. Many, many of them appeared to be maybe only 6 weeks old. So at least we got something to work dogs on even if we couldnt shoot. Not sure what it's like up there in normal years because it was a new part of the state for my group, but the pheasant season up there should be good.
Stopped a couple places farther east and things were a lot more green. Saw some sharpies around but not enough time to get a good assessment.
