Start of Prairie Chicken Season

Uplandhunter67

Uplandhunter67

Active member
Saturday was the PC opener for me. Saturday was a good day. Fair share of opportunities but failure to connect left my hunting partner and I with one each. Only hunted the morning as it climbed quickly to 80 degrees. Dog needed a break from the heat.
Sunday was a great day. Busted a covey deep back in bowl. We both doubled and the day was finished by 9am. Great work by the dogs.IMG_1949.jpegIMG_1957.jpeg
 
Great weekend! I tried my hand at sharptails , it was tough. Friday night saw 4 that caught us coming up the hill. Another half a dozen incidentals Sat and Sunday between driving around and walking. Of the 3 guys I had talked I think 1 had saw eight but nobody had killed any. My dogs only got grousey twice that I saw.
We ran into a wildlife employee who was out hunting antelope last night. He said the counts were a lot better by Kimball.
After walking a field last night I fed the dogs and ate some dinner on the tailgate and decided to head towards Kansas and get a room ,,at St Francis I changed my mind and headed east to Norton so I could camp and not have to rearrange and unload some stuff at the motel.
This morning we got up and drove around to see if we could find something we wanted to hunt but didn’t. It got warm quick.055F7317-6D52-434C-9864-3770D565CF2A.jpeg

Nebraska was fun though. Got to walk some miles and see some new country. Sat morning when I got in my truck it read 43 degrees. Good sleeping.
 
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Uplandhunter67 said:
Saturday was the PC opener for me. Saturday was a good day. Fair share of opportunities but failure to connect left my hunting partner and I with one each. Only hunted the morning as it climbed quickly to 80 degrees. Dog needed a break from the heat.
Sunday was a great day. Busted a covey deep back in bowl. We both doubled and the day was finished by 9am. Great work by the dogs.View attachment 6088View attachment 6089
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Sounds like a good weekend. Great looking dog and shotgun. What kind of gun is that?
 
We went out Saturday and gave it about 3 hours. The dogs, well one of mine anyway, spent the first 1.5 hours running around like she'd been cooped up since the season closed in January. She blew through a group of 4 way too far out, then another group of 4 flushed wild, and then she blew through another group of about 10. No shots fired. Friday's rain produced a very dewey, foggy morning. Wet legs and feet all the way around. After we spooked all the chickens and blew the cobwebs out of her head she had some really pretty points on meadowlarks...

Manhattan for the game next weekend and then back at on the 30th or the 1st.
 
Nick said:
Sounds like a good weekend. Great looking dog and shotgun. What kind of gun is that?
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That is my Citori Esprit European. It was specially made for the English market. I picture it shooting red grouse on the moors of Scotland. 😀
 
Uplandhunter67 said:
That is my Citori Esprit European. It was specially made for the English market. I picture it shooting red grouse on the moors of Scotland. 😀
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I really like the gentle recurve on the English stock (though I think I'm going to sell me English stocked 16 ga Citori anyway...).
 
s.davis said:
I really like the gentle recurve on the English stock (though I think I'm going to sell me English stocked 16 ga Citori anyway...).
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Thanks. They call it an “perch belly”. You can get them on Belgian Brownings.
All of my Citori’s have English stocks. I’ve never been able to shoot a pistol grip well.
My Esprit handles and shoots like a dream.
 
This is what chicken country looks like. Zig zag the ridges. Sometimes they’re off on the side a bit. Sparse grass cover use what you’re looking for. If it looks like pheasant cover it’s too thick.
I personally do not wear orange or bright colors. Chickens will see you coming and just leave. If you do flush them make sure you look for stragglers.
I look for wheat as well. If there is a wheat field adjacent to the grass it is a good spot to look.
Chickens hardly make any noise when they flush. So keep your head up especially with flushing dogs.
Chickens are a boot leather bird. Be prepared to expend some. The other thing I have found is they are early birds. They go out to feed before shooting hours start. I don’t start at sunrise. I’ll hit the fields a bit after nine or so. That’s about the time they’re coming back to loaf. If you don’t find them early sometimes you can find them a little later in the day before sundown before they fly out to feed.
Be patient. Walk a lot of miles. If you flush them and don’t get a shot wait a week and go back in. They’ll probably be back.
And remember that any chicken you miss will be that much smarter next time. Tough hunting educated chickens.
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All that's been written about the cover to target and burning boot leather is correct. I find them most close to, but not on, the ridge tops.

IMO comments about them leaving to feed in the morning are indeed accurate, but only once the bugs are dead. At this time of year I don't think they ever leave the pastures.

I spent many years hunting PC by staking out a harvested grain field hoping that one of the flocks would fly over my spot on the fence line. This was always on the weekend before the pheasant/quail opener. But they don't do that until a hard frost kills most of the bugs.
 
matto said:
All that's been written about the cover to target and burning boot leather is correct. I find them most close to, but not on, the ridge tops.

IMO comments about them leaving to feed in the morning are indeed accurate, but only once the bugs are dead. At this time of year I don't think they ever leave the pastures.

I spent many years hunting PC by staking out a harvested grain field hoping that one of the flocks would fly over my spot on the fence line. This was always on the weekend before the pheasant/quail opener. But they don't do that until a hard frost kills most of the bugs.
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I think they sit in thin spots eating bugs on hilltop beans. I’ve seen them flying in or out while hunting doves. One afternoon I was out chicken hunting when they were cutting , there was a pretty good stream of chickens being pushed out in front of the combine all afternoon.
Checking there crops at times they must really key in on clover too.
 
Here’s a short video from this weekend I was able to get my first chicken of September Saturday. We chased a small group around Sunday morning but we were never able to catch up to them. I really need to get this video thing figured out. The first group looks like they are a thousand miles away even on the big screen( can’t see them on the cell) Actually between 40 and 50
The pair I should have doubled on.
It was hotter than blazes but I was carrying a gallon of water , had 5 gallons in the truck and a pond around the corner.

 
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