sooner or later?

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beefcake

New member
Ok so I am going to the sandhills to get some chickens I am booking a hunt through , Cottonwood lodge at Woodlake ,NE . Now my reason for going is to get my 1.5 yr old munsterlander (sophie) as much wild bird contact as possible. The owner of the lodge tells me Sept. is too hot to come out and hunt I should wait entill mid/late OCT so I can also gun for pheasants too + the weather is cooler. I always was lead to believe that as the season goes on the birds bunch up and are harder to get good points & shooting on. I have vacation Sept 12-22 and again oct 14-nov 1 which time slot is the best to go? You guys live out there and know the birds better then me so any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks for your time.....Jay
 
Jay

Its a tough call, but heat is a big problem. I would tend to go with what the owner said.

The Chickens do bunch up, but I suspect that mid OCT would not be too bad.
 
I would go with October. The Sandhills are awesome that time of year. Not sure you would even need a guide, most ranchers and/or farmers will let you hunt birds then no problem.
 
go in October...it will still be too hot to work a dog for all day in Sept., just not worth it...you would be miserable as well.
 
beefcake, what kind of munsterlander do you have??? large or small???

id say go early as the best holding birds for pointing dogs comes early in the season while the birds are still in family brood sized flocks young & dumb... hunt the early & late afternoons have water & or swim the dog when u get the chance... the heat sucks but its the best time to hunt prairie grouse pure & simple... many many pro dog trainers hit the grasslands come early SEPT to get there dogs on great holding prairie grouse B4 the family flocks get in winter flocks of huge numbers of birds just hard to walk up on 40+ birds 80 eye balls & prairie grouse use there eyes more then any other upland game birds except maybe a wild turkey...???

we had a MN prairie chicken season that ran mid to late OCT. 5 days long & it was nothing to see 20-40 bird flocks flushing wild... the birds were only hunted 5 days a year & were already way spooky by late OCT. so much so the MNDNR moved up the prairie chicken season over a month earlier to late SEPT. i will be in northern MN chase n prairie grouse & ruffed grouse come early SEPT. got to get on them young prairie grouse early my self as im doing the exact same thing as you beefcake im trying to expose my young 16 month old small munsterlander to as many wild birds as possible this season its the best teacher for young dogs...

what maid you choose them guides??? i have herd of them & seen them on shows for turkey hunts i assume you did some searching of guides in the area already??? there is another guide service not far away from them that specializes in prairie grouse hunts & has also been on many many more TV shows and magazines over the years they are prairie grouse fanatics there & thats hard to find as many dont chase these great prairie grouse species any longer... mite be called gobble & grunt guide service??? i will double check...

id say no need for a guide if you go early just hit up the thousands & thousands of grasslands & refuges in the area also plenty of other lands in NE that hold prairie grouse... if i had a choice id go early on my own hunt no guide then head back come OCT & hunt both prairie grouse & pheasants as the limit on prairie grouse in NE is 3 i think??? long way to go & pay a guide for 3 birds??? if you do a little research & study bird distribution in NE i think you could find some quality public land areas with prairie grouse pheasants & bob white quail also wild turkey all in close proximity to one another that would be great for a young dog 3 times the bird scent around i want to head to NE in NOV myself to do a mixed bag hunt but doubt i will be able to make it this season...

good luck & keep us posted on how you do out in NE
 
UPH Master , I run a small munsterslander. She is a wonderful little dog great on ducks , even in late NOV she will retrieve divers on lake Winnebago for me. Sophie is about 85% steady to wing and shot at 20 monthes old but she is crowding the birds either her nose is not that good or she dose not trust it , but either way she tends to want to get way too close before she locks up I mean WAY TOO CLOSE 3' or less ! As far as my choice of guides go my brother inlaw (Brian Lovett) who edits turkey & turkey hunting magazine went there on a hunt and told me the outfitter was 100% grade A+ . If I go someplace new I either like to hunt with someone who knows the lay of the land or a guide , after that will free lance. My back and knees are not the best so its worth the money not only to have private land with birds that might not as spooky , but also someone who knows where the birds hang out and that might save this body of mine afew steps??
 
ive read brian lovetts articles for years!!! bummer that turkey & turkey hunting is no longer being published it was my fav magazine to read for years!!!

im sure brian has read some of my post on the T&TH forums im TURKEY JUNKY on that forum... very cool forum for hardcore turkey hunters... kinda dead this time of year...

do you also live in cheeseland??? wisconsin???

i seen the hunt on youtube wear brian was hunting with shane simpson & outted the wood lake area for turkeys & i guess prairie grouse... im sure brian has herd of rutt & strutt in NE also but its ur $$$

great choice in dogs man!!! my girl is like 16 month old & is doing the same thing with the birds as your SM is doing... are you only working her on tame or pen raised birds??? has she hunted true wild pheasants yet??? it helped my girl loads to hunt wild birds last yr... i was told & feel that the more our young young dogs hunt wild running pheasants & or birds they will learn to track & hold point farther out just due to trial & err if they keep busting birds they never can retrieve then if they hold point they get a bird in the mouth just got to keep doing that im about to buy a bird launcher my-self to help out with this... ben o williams would say just let the dog hunt it will figure it out dont teach it to point let it teach it self to point ETC.

i highly doubt her nose is bad they have increadible tracking skills did you run her in a NAVHDA NA TEST??? call ur local chapter if not & im sure they can help u tighten her write up they are great people & cheap to join... yes that waterproof double coat they have lets them hunt in that crazy cold water...

any way go early & get that dog on some smelly prairie grouse that hold well for pointing dogs... i will be doing the same come early to mid september

u can get more shooting in for the dog if you go during pheasant season what ever you choose your dog will love it & have a great time... i love hunting NE very game rich in the write areas of the state... i never explored the sandhills i try to stay on the edge of it wear there is trees & crops LOL them sandhills are very vast nothing but grouse yucca & cows lol speed goats also
 
SMO , I booked my hunt last night & feel pretty comfortable after talking to Doug Herman (the owner) even though I am going in mid OCT the birds wont be to pressured at all has he is chasing a 200 class whitetail for 2 weeks before I get there. Sophie was run on SD roosters last yr at 9 monthes old & did ok....she was a puppy then and still is very much one yet today , I will still run her on pheasants & wild quail for the training aspect while I am in NE & Doug told (which I understand its his job to) that there were a lot of chickens /sharpies this yr so we will see?? I would agree about Sophies nose as last night I was giving her long water marks and doubles and on one mark I didn't line her up right but at 25 yards way and off to the side she turned and smelled it and made a great retrieve so her nose works just fine. Trust me Brian is not happy about the turkey magazine deal either though it is my understanding they will still issue a few mags each spring to go along with turkey season.
 
very cool hope you do well on you hunt... here in MN there are areas closed or that were closed to all hunting 360 days a year & only open 5 days for prairie chicken hunting those 5 days & the season was held in mid-late OCT. OCT.22-26 i think was the days??? & even on the opening day them birds were spooky if for no other reason then there are 20-40 birds in a flock then... our limit was 2 & it took alot of walking to get birds flushing in range but with a pointing dog it would of been harder... its still hunting either way...

i just read a article wear the guy was talking about if you can have a solid ruffed grouse dog & solid pheasant dog in same dog he mentioned something that applied to me about the lack of a point from far out he said pheasant dogs need to be good retrievers & sometimes we focus more on the retrieve & praiseing the dog for a good retrieve that we dont get as excited about a solid point & or work on that aspect enough i guess im guilty of that my-self

are you by chance the brother in law of brian lovett that joined him on some of his 1st hunts in SW WI in the drifltless region of the state??? he told some funny storys of you guys shooting the birds 2-3 times cuz the birds kept flopping around it maid me laugh it reminded me of my 1st couple turkeys...

ill miss T&TH magazine not that i will not be getting the mag in the mail spring time wont be the same!!! they will publish a gear & turkey hunting state by state guide or something to that effect they said... hope so butt it wont be the same
 
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