Start of Prairie Chicken Season

I shot one last year at the end of December the latest I’ve shot one. I don’t really remember the conditions but I do remember flushing a huge flock several times around that time. One day
I flushed it 3 times in a
day and could have a 4 th. It just wanted to trade back and forth betweeen 2 spots in the pasure. One was a hill right up next to the road across from some feed. And the other was down a hill on the edge of a draw with some taller grass and some trees which surprised me. It wasn’t really protected from the wind as much I would have thought but I suppose maybe it had good thermal cover. I saw them several times in that spot.
I think to kill them late season you really have to get pretty lucky and surprise catch them coming off the top of a hill on a windy day
 
Hunting late season is the toughest. They really do bunch up and are very difficult to approach but it still can be done. It is best to find where they are loafing and approach them there instead of trying to jump them while they are feeding.
During the winter times I try to go out on cloudy days in the mornings. For some reason I find they'll hold a bit more when it's cloudy.
If it is sunny, I don't go until late afternoon just before the sunsets. This usually restricts me to one walk. I try to keep the sun at my back. Seems to break up my outline and gives me a chance to get closer. Even if the covey flushes there might be a straggler who didn't pick up on me.
I wear camo or earthtones all year, so I don't stick out as much to wary birds. I will tighten up my chokes as well and run LM in both barrels and sometimes both modified towards the end of January as shots seem to run more into the 40-50 yard range. I run 1-1/4oz of nickel plated #5's and they pattern very well in my Citori.
Good luck and don't get discouraged.
 
Uplandhunter67 said:
Hunting late season is the toughest. They really do bunch up and are very difficult to approach but it still can be done. It is best to find where they are loafing and approach them there instead of trying to jump them while they are feeding.
During the winter times I try to go out on cloudy days in the mornings. For some reason I find they'll hold a bit more when it's cloudy.
If it is sunny, I don't go until late afternoon just before the sunsets. This usually restricts me to one walk. I try to keep the sun at my back. Seems to break up my outline and gives me a chance to get closer. Even if the covey flushes there might be a straggler who didn't pick up on me.
I wear camo or earthtones all year, so I don't stick out as much to wary birds. I will tighten up my chokes as well and run LM in both barrels and sometimes both modified towards the end of January as shots seem to run more into the 40-50 yard range. I run 1-1/4oz of nickel plated #5's and they pattern very well in my Citori.
Good luck and don't get discouraged.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the tips!
 
I hunted them in MN two years ago. Very flat open grasslands so I couldn't really use topography to my advantage. I ended up getting my two birds right in the middle of the day. I think the above comment holds true. When trying to walk them up with a dog looking for them mid day while loafing is best.
 
I walked some chickens yesterday afternoon. A group of about 25 and another pair. They were both sitting on bare hilltops in the pastures. Flushed way way wild
 
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