Does anyone have proven tactics for hunting pheasant without a dog? My eight year old son is seriously allergic to dogs, so it's unfortunately not an option. I hunt areas that are stocked by the state several times a week near my home and work here in Massachusetts. My best luck has been to blitz through the small fields in a zig-zag pattern to push birds towards the higher brush in hopes that they'll flush. Once the fields are pretty well worked over, I troll just inside of the tree line separating the fields while scanning for birds roosting in the limbs or resting on the rock walls. So far this season, I've got three birds in six mornings out. I would welcome any advice for improving my tactics. As an aside, I'm new to the forum, so please excuse this thread if it was addressed earlier.
Tactics for solo hunter w/o dog
- Thread starter T-oddy
- Start date
I do remember a thread on this last year and quite a few guys had some good advice so maybe they'll chime in. But, 3 birds in 6 mornings in the area you're hunting is pretty darn good IMO.
Thanks.
Steve, thanks for the words of encouragement and the sound advice. It's funny, now that you're mentioning it, I seem to recall my old man giving me similar advice. I've actually found myself walking right past birds that were flushed later by a trailing hunter with a dog. I'll be sure to walk slowly and stop at the finish of the field next time out. Thanks again!
Steve, thanks for the words of encouragement and the sound advice. It's funny, now that you're mentioning it, I seem to recall my old man giving me similar advice. I've actually found myself walking right past birds that were flushed later by a trailing hunter with a dog. I'll be sure to walk slowly and stop at the finish of the field next time out. Thanks again!
SDJIM
New member
Go Slow
Don't walk in straight lines--even your zig zags should be irregular, when getting close (say 30 yards or so) from the end of cover go SLOW stopping often being totaly quiet. You can even double back a little changing directions often.
Also look for the smallest of cover patches at the end--you can not believe how many roosters I have flushed from cover the size of a kitchen table--often just yards from other people yaking about this or that guns unloaded,watering dogs. Next time you see a group end a hunt of a field watch and see if one or two of them poke around the fence row or work the edge of the cover just worked by the group---they are the true hunters---watch them in the field if you can and learn from it.
Just my 2 cents worth
JIM
Don't walk in straight lines--even your zig zags should be irregular, when getting close (say 30 yards or so) from the end of cover go SLOW stopping often being totaly quiet. You can even double back a little changing directions often.
Also look for the smallest of cover patches at the end--you can not believe how many roosters I have flushed from cover the size of a kitchen table--often just yards from other people yaking about this or that guns unloaded,watering dogs. Next time you see a group end a hunt of a field watch and see if one or two of them poke around the fence row or work the edge of the cover just worked by the group---they are the true hunters---watch them in the field if you can and learn from it.
Just my 2 cents worth
JIM
Thanks Jim
Jim, I like your thinking about slowly driving towards the cover and then stopping. It's funny, the other day I'd just wrapped up a conversation with a guy and his dog at a crossroads in the woods, and having walked just ten yards from where we were standing, I kicked up a pheasant that had been roosted in a tree about 15 yards into the woods. If I hadn't stopped and then started again, that thing would've just sat there watching me plod along. I wrote it off as a fluke, but it sounds like there's something to stopping and making the birds nervous. Thanks again!
Jim, I like your thinking about slowly driving towards the cover and then stopping. It's funny, the other day I'd just wrapped up a conversation with a guy and his dog at a crossroads in the woods, and having walked just ten yards from where we were standing, I kicked up a pheasant that had been roosted in a tree about 15 yards into the woods. If I hadn't stopped and then started again, that thing would've just sat there watching me plod along. I wrote it off as a fluke, but it sounds like there's something to stopping and making the birds nervous. Thanks again!
Previous posts
KansasGSP, I appreciate your encouragement and will try to search the previous posts once I get a handle on how to better use this site. I have to say, though, I've been a member here for about a day and these replies are fantastic. I'm learning more here through the sharing of collective experience than would've been possible with countless future mornings of frustration and lessons through trial and error. Thanks.
KansasGSP, I appreciate your encouragement and will try to search the previous posts once I get a handle on how to better use this site. I have to say, though, I've been a member here for about a day and these replies are fantastic. I'm learning more here through the sharing of collective experience than would've been possible with countless future mornings of frustration and lessons through trial and error. Thanks.
BrowningCitori
Member
Snow!
If you get fresh snow, tracking birds can be a great hunt. It isn't that hard to tell hen tracks from roosters either. I have done it with and without a dog. I good friend used to kill lot of limits this way.
If you get fresh snow, tracking birds can be a great hunt. It isn't that hard to tell hen tracks from roosters either. I have done it with and without a dog. I good friend used to kill lot of limits this way.
I hunted for 30+ years without a dog and did quite well. Pheasant as most things wild like edges. The edge of a field, fence row, ditch, edge of crop rows. Even in a large CRP field birds will tend to go where the grass changes from one type to the other. I could write a book on this stuff. When hunting without a dog and alone I try to be very quiet. Game birds hear very well. I also work slow all the time. The stop start technique works very well. You are behaving like a coyote staulking the bird which gets him nervous and causes him to fly. A pheasant is a track star and would much rather run than fly. I always follow up a drive. Walk right up to a fence and kick the post. I walk right into a corner where 2 fences meet at a 90. You can walk within a few feet of an old rooster this way. I have shot many birds while my hunting group is chatting with guns at rest. When hunting alone I look for cover I can handle. Even if I know there are 100 birds in a 200 acrer field i will go after the 2 or 3 in a small pivot corner or ditch. I don't know much about pen reared birds as all my experiance is from wild birds. I would guess they have some instinct to behave like pheasant. i rarely see wild birds in trees, I've seen them but rare. I would get a good how to book if you are new to the game. Pheasant are very smart lots to learn. I think a late season rooster is as smart and tough to hunt as any buck or turkey. Thats why I keep going.
Translating tactics
Thanks Quickdraw for the tips that actually translate pretty well to New England. I live in MA and we haven't seen a wild pheasant here since soon after the Pilgrim landed. Seriously, though, they've been stocking since 1906, with about 40,000 birds being dropped this year across the Commonwealth. They mostly stock in Wildlife Management Areas, which in my region are about 2,000 acres. The fields that they've cut into the woods are about 60 yards by 180 yards. I can't imagine the thrill you guys out west must get hunting wild birds on open plains. While the scale is different, your advice about working corners of fields and variation in cover sounds smart. I'm also going to try slowing things down and stop more often. I'll do my best to imitate a coyote, which are prevalent in our area and familiar to these pheasants - even in cases where they may have been stocked the night before. Thanks again!
Thanks Quickdraw for the tips that actually translate pretty well to New England. I live in MA and we haven't seen a wild pheasant here since soon after the Pilgrim landed. Seriously, though, they've been stocking since 1906, with about 40,000 birds being dropped this year across the Commonwealth. They mostly stock in Wildlife Management Areas, which in my region are about 2,000 acres. The fields that they've cut into the woods are about 60 yards by 180 yards. I can't imagine the thrill you guys out west must get hunting wild birds on open plains. While the scale is different, your advice about working corners of fields and variation in cover sounds smart. I'm also going to try slowing things down and stop more often. I'll do my best to imitate a coyote, which are prevalent in our area and familiar to these pheasants - even in cases where they may have been stocked the night before. Thanks again!