kansasbrittany
Banned
The temps were not what I'd normally enjoy hunting in Saturday, but the intent was to take the kids to see grampa, so we went anyway. As soon as I got there, I dropped our bags off and took to the back roads. The first field I checked has been CRP since I started going out there 15 years ago. It was removed, along with the one that was across the road from it. The 6-8" of remaining snow on the fields hid all vegetation from view
We drove a bit further and it was section after section of nothingness. I told my boy a couple stories "bout the good ole' days" as I drove him back to the house (he left his boots at home...lesson learned).
I drove to the nearest WIHA. Expecting the worst, I really just wanted a place to let the dogs stretch their legs. The cover was poor. I've passed it up for years, but it was the only grass I'd seen since arriving, so away we went. I took the shotgun for self-defense.
There was snow on the ground and it was melting; best scenting conditions we've had all season.
40 yards in--solid point produces meadowlark. Another 40 or so and another point, another meadowlark. I paused for a moment and smiled as I thought, "This will be the story of this warm day." Another 100 yards up, Duke locks up, relocates, then locks again. I got in position for another meadowlark flush and up jumps a rooster! After 3 seconds of realizing that's what we were after, I shouldered the gun for a shot just inside 40 yards. The dogs were all over him. I could've stopped right then and been happy, but hey, I have plenty of holiday calories to burn off.
Tate went down into a slough and froze up. 3 roosters and 4 or 5 hens erupt. I could hardly believe my eyes as I hustled that way. 8 or so more birds flush as Tate stands watching. I sped up and fell on my face. I saw another 5 or so birds flush as I was gathering myself Checked and cleared the gun muzzle, then worked the area for 15 minutes looking for stragglers, but didn't find any.
On the way out the dogs pointed 2 or 3 hens before Duke locked up on a 4'X4' clump of grass. I had all day to get in position, get Tate over to honor, adjust my coat, etc. 2 roosters bust straight away. I nailed the first one, felt my heart pounding, thought about how I always miss the 2nd bird on a double, THEN MISSED THE 2ND BIRD of what should have been a double! I missed him one more time for good measure, while he was still well within range
I got over it quickly; I had 2 birds in the bag and I'd only been in the field for a bit over an hour. I wondered in that moment if my fellow "UPH KS guys" had left me hanging on a hot spot
I went 10 miles down the road to a much better looking WIHA. I found 2 hens in 2 hours of walking good looking habitat at sunset.
I woke up this morning and took one pass through the field I saw birds in Saturday. I saw another dozen, but only one sat long enough for me to get a shot. We stopped off at my favorite spot in Rush county on the way home. The scenting conditions were poor. It was cold as heck. The cover was fantastic with crops bordering it, but I never saw a sign of pheasants. The Game Warden drove by, asked my wife if everything was alright (while I was in the field and she was at the truck with 3 kids), then drove on. I guess it was too cold for a license check today, but I thought it was great he did a welfare check on such a nasty day.
In sum, I found one of those infamous "pockets" of birds by dumb luck. It's ugly out there and I won't be back this season. If no new cover is added to the area moving forward, sentimental value is all it will hold for guys like us. I'm no longer holding out a great deal of hope for the birds making an astounding recovery any time soon.
We drove a bit further and it was section after section of nothingness. I told my boy a couple stories "bout the good ole' days" as I drove him back to the house (he left his boots at home...lesson learned).I drove to the nearest WIHA. Expecting the worst, I really just wanted a place to let the dogs stretch their legs. The cover was poor. I've passed it up for years, but it was the only grass I'd seen since arriving, so away we went. I took the shotgun for self-defense.
There was snow on the ground and it was melting; best scenting conditions we've had all season.
40 yards in--solid point produces meadowlark. Another 40 or so and another point, another meadowlark. I paused for a moment and smiled as I thought, "This will be the story of this warm day." Another 100 yards up, Duke locks up, relocates, then locks again. I got in position for another meadowlark flush and up jumps a rooster! After 3 seconds of realizing that's what we were after, I shouldered the gun for a shot just inside 40 yards. The dogs were all over him. I could've stopped right then and been happy, but hey, I have plenty of holiday calories to burn off.
Tate went down into a slough and froze up. 3 roosters and 4 or 5 hens erupt. I could hardly believe my eyes as I hustled that way. 8 or so more birds flush as Tate stands watching. I sped up and fell on my face. I saw another 5 or so birds flush as I was gathering myself
Checked and cleared the gun muzzle, then worked the area for 15 minutes looking for stragglers, but didn't find any. On the way out the dogs pointed 2 or 3 hens before Duke locked up on a 4'X4' clump of grass. I had all day to get in position, get Tate over to honor, adjust my coat, etc. 2 roosters bust straight away. I nailed the first one, felt my heart pounding, thought about how I always miss the 2nd bird on a double, THEN MISSED THE 2ND BIRD of what should have been a double! I missed him one more time for good measure, while he was still well within range
I got over it quickly; I had 2 birds in the bag and I'd only been in the field for a bit over an hour. I wondered in that moment if my fellow "UPH KS guys" had left me hanging on a hot spot
I went 10 miles down the road to a much better looking WIHA. I found 2 hens in 2 hours of walking good looking habitat at sunset.
I woke up this morning and took one pass through the field I saw birds in Saturday. I saw another dozen, but only one sat long enough for me to get a shot. We stopped off at my favorite spot in Rush county on the way home. The scenting conditions were poor. It was cold as heck. The cover was fantastic with crops bordering it, but I never saw a sign of pheasants. The Game Warden drove by, asked my wife if everything was alright (while I was in the field and she was at the truck with 3 kids), then drove on. I guess it was too cold for a license check today, but I thought it was great he did a welfare check on such a nasty day.
In sum, I found one of those infamous "pockets" of birds by dumb luck. It's ugly out there and I won't be back this season. If no new cover is added to the area moving forward, sentimental value is all it will hold for guys like us. I'm no longer holding out a great deal of hope for the birds making an astounding recovery any time soon.
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