So far this season

Uplandhunter67

Active member
Sorry for the length of the post but I have been neglecting my weekly posts and observations.

Well it has been an interesting season. The weather has been warm with the birds spaced out. Opening day was fairly good but the bird numbers didn’t seem to be there. We hunted hard in the cold mornings only to be pushed home to enjoy the comfort of the house and to give the dogs a break. Not the best opener but we managed to put some roosters down. It was hard dusty work.

The second weekend I had off for some family time as requested by my wife. I don’t think I missed much as it was even warmer than the opener. Plus the dogs could use the break as we have been hard at upland birds since Sept 1st.

The third weekend we were back at it. The weather again stayed warm and the birds still spaced out. Saturday we walked the edge of a corn field where we bagged three roosters. Two by shotgun the third was caught by my Springer. The bird just couldn’t come out of the grass fast enough and my Springer was on him in a flash. This was also the weekend he pointed birds. I have never had him do that. The first point was early Sunday morning when he stopped head erect looking down in the heavy cover. I walked towards him as he held and a rooster erupted. The gun boomed and the rooster crashed. The next few were hens that held a bit too tight. It was fun watching him stop and lock up intensely looking into the cover. Again not a lot of birds to be found but the dog work was fantastic.

Fourth weekend started with regular rifle deer season in Kansas. I have never seen as many guys out either posted in the WIHA or driving the roads. I actually think I have seen more deer hunters than pheasant hunters this year. I have seen a few trucks with dog boxes but not as many as last year. The birds seemed to be a bit more jumpy this weekend. We saw more birds but they were jumping at 60-80 yards. I did drop two roosters over the two days. I actually should have limited out but had some flubs on a few cake shots.. I decided to leave the SxS home and pick up the trusted Citori. I’ll have to work with the SxS over the spring and summer to see if I really want to keep it. It has been smashing my middle finger. I think I have a remedy but not the time right now to get it done.

This last weekend was a bit better. I think the cooler weather may have started to bunch the birds up as we started running into groups of bird instead of singles. Our morning spot was full of birds but they were jumping wild. I never even got close enough for a shot. I decided to change tactics and spend less time afield and more time hunting as much ground as we could. The next field the dogs were super birdy and we flushed three hens in the bottom of a dry pan. We headed back up towards the truck when a rooster flushed and I rolled. The wind began picking up now and was blowing at a good 20mph. We worked a field with a good ditch and cover. Flushed multiple birds but they were out of range and again flushing wild. We finally cornered a bird in the swailie and he fell to the guns. The next stop was far more interesting. Light wheat stubble paralleling a corn field. There was a bit of trash on the edge but some cover. The plan was to walk the edge and cut down to a ditch with heavy cover. It wasn’t 20 feet in when three hens broke. Another 20 yards and the first rooster went down. Half way down we ran into more hens then something a bit weird. My Springer charged a clump of tumble weeds and a rooster hopped out and jumped about three feet in the air. My Springer was on him in a flash but the bird jumped and again landed and started running, my Springer close behind. I was yelling encouragement when the bird jumped again and this time took to wing. I never got a shot at him as he sailed over the corn unharmed. We turned towards the ditch to notice a guy and three dogs working very quickly towards where we were headed. His pace was rapid as if he were racing us to the ditch. We were a bit flabbergasted at the rudeness but watched as he stormed in to the ditch only to have a rooster squirt out of the wheat stubble way out of range. We just walked out talking loudly. I just don’t understand people sometimes. Actually this was the second time this happened. The first they walked right in on us. I had to wait to they passed as I don’t like people behind me with shotguns.
The last stop of the day was rather interesting. We were walking towards some cut corn and weed line when my lab decided he was going to venture up a ravine (about 4 foot wide and 12 foot deep). I was calling him trying to get him back thinking he smelled a coyote. Then suddenly the ravine erupted with quail flying up and out. One even landed in a tree. I saw three of them land in the grass but when we walked in on them it was more like twelve. I managed to drop one. The rest got a free pass. Most contoured to the ground too close to the dogs for a shot.
Sunday was cool in the morning but warmed quickly. We did the short walks with a lot of ground coverage. We saw a number of birds again and brought two to bag before calling it quits around noon as it hit 68 degrees.

So I think with the bit of cooler weather we have had the birds are starting to bunch up. They are flushing a bit wild for this time of year but with working into the wind we were able to have them hold and get some shots. This weekend it is supposed to be cooler so it might be our best outing yet.
 
Sorry for the length of the post but I have been neglecting my weekly posts and observations.

Well it has been an interesting season. The weather has been warm with the birds spaced out. Opening day was fairly good but the bird numbers didn’t seem to be there. We hunted hard in the cold mornings only to be pushed home to enjoy the comfort of the house and to give the dogs a break. Not the best opener but we managed to put some roosters down. It was hard dusty work.

The second weekend I had off for some family time as requested by my wife. I don’t think I missed much as it was even warmer than the opener. Plus the dogs could use the break as we have been hard at upland birds since Sept 1st.

The third weekend we were back at it. The weather again stayed warm and the birds still spaced out. Saturday we walked the edge of a corn field where we bagged three roosters. Two by shotgun the third was caught by my Springer. The bird just couldn’t come out of the grass fast enough and my Springer was on him in a flash. This was also the weekend he pointed birds. I have never had him do that. The first point was early Sunday morning when he stopped head erect looking down in the heavy cover. I walked towards him as he held and a rooster erupted. The gun boomed and the rooster crashed. The next few were hens that held a bit too tight. It was fun watching him stop and lock up intensely looking into the cover. Again not a lot of birds to be found but the dog work was fantastic.

Fourth weekend started with regular rifle deer season in Kansas. I have never seen as many guys out either posted in the WIHA or driving the roads. I actually think I have seen more deer hunters than pheasant hunters this year. I have seen a few trucks with dog boxes but not as many as last year. The birds seemed to be a bit more jumpy this weekend. We saw more birds but they were jumping at 60-80 yards. I did drop two roosters over the two days. I actually should have limited out but had some flubs on a few cake shots.. I decided to leave the SxS home and pick up the trusted Citori. I’ll have to work with the SxS over the spring and summer to see if I really want to keep it. It has been smashing my middle finger. I think I have a remedy but not the time right now to get it done.

This last weekend was a bit better. I think the cooler weather may have started to bunch the birds up as we started running into groups of bird instead of singles. Our morning spot was full of birds but they were jumping wild. I never even got close enough for a shot. I decided to change tactics and spend less time afield and more time hunting as much ground as we could. The next field the dogs were super birdy and we flushed three hens in the bottom of a dry pan. We headed back up towards the truck when a rooster flushed and I rolled. The wind began picking up now and was blowing at a good 20mph. We worked a field with a good ditch and cover. Flushed multiple birds but they were out of range and again flushing wild. We finally cornered a bird in the swailie and he fell to the guns. The next stop was far more interesting. Light wheat stubble paralleling a corn field. There was a bit of trash on the edge but some cover. The plan was to walk the edge and cut down to a ditch with heavy cover. It wasn’t 20 feet in when three hens broke. Another 20 yards and the first rooster went down. Half way down we ran into more hens then something a bit weird. My Springer charged a clump of tumble weeds and a rooster hopped out and jumped about three feet in the air. My Springer was on him in a flash but the bird jumped and again landed and started running, my Springer close behind. I was yelling encouragement when the bird jumped again and this time took to wing. I never got a shot at him as he sailed over the corn unharmed. We turned towards the ditch to notice a guy and three dogs working very quickly towards where we were headed. His pace was rapid as if he were racing us to the ditch. We were a bit flabbergasted at the rudeness but watched as he stormed in to the ditch only to have a rooster squirt out of the wheat stubble way out of range. We just walked out talking loudly. I just don’t understand people sometimes. Actually this was the second time this happened. The first they walked right in on us. I had to wait to they passed as I don’t like people behind me with shotguns.
The last stop of the day was rather interesting. We were walking towards some cut corn and weed line when my lab decided he was going to venture up a ravine (about 4 foot wide and 12 foot deep). I was calling him trying to get him back thinking he smelled a coyote. Then suddenly the ravine erupted with quail flying up and out. One even landed in a tree. I saw three of them land in the grass but when we walked in on them it was more like twelve. I managed to drop one. The rest got a free pass. Most contoured to the ground too close to the dogs for a shot.
Sunday was cool in the morning but warmed quickly. We did the short walks with a lot of ground coverage. We saw a number of birds again and brought two to bag before calling it quits around noon as it hit 68 degrees.

So I think with the bit of cooler weather we have had the birds are starting to bunch up. They are flushing a bit wild for this time of year but with working into the wind we were able to have them hold and get some shots. This weekend it is supposed to be cooler so it might be our best outing yet.

Great insight. Thank you for sharing the details of your trips. We had an amazing Friday and Saturday this past weekend. The wind helped us. I will share the specifics in a future post.
 
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