Tactics-what do you do?

CharBroiled

CharBroiled

Active member
I've been thinking about this topic for a while and wanted to get some discussion going about how you guys approach your hunts. For the longest time, I was told/taught to hunt the cover first thing in the morning, move to food in the afternoon, then back to cover.

Every piece of literature I've read about pheasants seems to agree the birds are already moving at first light or even a little before. They're moving from the roosting cover to get gravel, then to food where they spend a couple of hours feeding, before heading back to loaf. Later in the afternoon, they're back into the food, before once again, heading to the cover to hunker down for the evening.

Fortunately, in Kansas, we can start hunting at a half-hour before sunrise right up to sunset. We've had good luck both ways, but I can remember certain instances when we busted more birds in milo stubble to begin. I was just curious as to what the rest of you guys do? I think it could be interesting to compare notes about the tactics used.
 
A half an hour before sunrise, how are pre-dawn hunters picking out the roosters from the hens? Maybe astrology works different in Kansas, I may have to give that a try. Sounds like your doing what all the "experts" say to do. If your getting a decent number of birds, I would just continue to go with the way your doing it. That is pretty much the way we do it in Iowa and Indiana.
 
There are a lot of times when we're still in the trucks waiting for more light even though it's past legal shoot time.

I was just curious as to what everyone else does in terms of what kind of cover they start in, and do the "experts" have it right?
 
I can't see well enough until just about sunrise to distinguish cocks. Then you have the sun right in your eyes in some situations. It's hunting so it's usually some kind of challenge.
 
A lot can be told about birds there location especially early in the in the season . Get out just a little ahead of legal shooting and listen for birds . We foundThe location of three broods / coveys an where the pheasnts were hanging out when we were waiting on chickens 2 weekends ago .

I usally start where roosting and feeding cover meet , we find sometimes they stay on the roost longer when the weather is colder , if It snow overnight they may stay on the roost the better part of the day .

Many years ago I hunted a wet spot/ draw in a CRP feild that had cattails in it area about the size of straight truck . I shot 3 roosters from that area , I followed up where the birds flushed to and I had my limit before 9 am . These birds where roosted 50 yds off of a crop feild .
 
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CharBroiled said:
Every piece of literature I've read about pheasants seems to agree the birds are already moving at first light or even a little before. They're moving from the roosting cover to get gravel, then to food where they spend a couple of hours feeding, before heading back to loaf. Later in the afternoon, they're back into the food, before once again, heading to the cover to hunker down for the evening.
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I think that scenario is generally correct, but can be affected quite a bit by the weather, type of cover, type of food, hunters, predators, etc.

After sitting all night they are hungry and want to get to the food. I've tried to intercept them in the past, but although it is legal to shoot 1/2 hour before sunrise, I couldn't identify roosters in that light.

Jerry
 
odenney said:
A half an hour before sunrise, how are pre-dawn hunters picking out the roosters from the hens? Maybe astrology works different in Kansas, I may have to give that a try. Sounds like your doing what all the "experts" say to do. If your getting a decent number of birds, I would just continue to go with the way your doing it. That is pretty much the way we do it in Iowa and Indiana.
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Passed up on many birds early in the morning because of the light conditions. Just one of those things we deal with. If I can 100% identify that it's a rooster I'll shoot but if I have any doubt I don't. We try to put the sunrise at our back first thing in the morning but sometimes it's not possible.
 
cbass12 said:
Passed up on many birds early in the morning because of the light conditions. Just one of those things we deal with. If I can 100% identify that it's a rooster I'll shoot but if I have any doubt I don't. We try to put the sunrise at our back first thing in the morning but sometimes it's not possible.
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Late afternoon is also bad if you happen to be looking towards a setting sun. I have passed on a lot of shots because I wasn't sure.

Jerry
 
Being relatively new to pheasant hunting, this is something I wondered about just last week.

I've spent a lot more time hunting big game than upland, so I'm accustomed to showing up early, especially when it's on land open to the public. Montana is the same as mentioned above in that we can start shooting a half hour before sunrise. Reality is that I can't tell a rooster from a hen that early.

We'd arrive at our chosen location at approximately 15 minutes or so before shooting hours, but that served purposes other than starting hunting that early. We could be ahead of the other hunters, get signed in before shooting hours, and listen to the roosters as the skies brightened.

We would hear roosters as soon as it started to get light and often saw a bird or two flying off their roost early enough that other than the cackling, I couldn't identify them.

Once it was light enough that we could see to identify roosters, we started hunting towards any birds that we had seen or heard (choosing to start into the wind or a cross wind if possible to give the dogs the best chance). If it was clear skies, there is a point there that facing the east doesn't work out too well for identifying roosters, so we had to consider that also.

We still had a lot of birds that moved out ahead of us either running or flushing well before we reached them. I know that's just the nature of hunting pressured birds, but I wondered if maybe we should have been waiting another hour for the birds to move around more.....or something.

I notice that most of the other hunters don't show up until well after sunrise, so I wondered if maybe they knew something that I didn't (other than the warm covers feel better than the cold morning).
 
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I start at legal time, 1/2 hour before sunrise. At max, you're talking 5-10 minutes of "iffy" light. The sky brightens up pretty fast, and pheasants are in the open fields, not the deep, dark woods...

If you're not 100% sure if it's a rooster, don't shoot.
 
Altillathedak said:
Chores, stretch, eat, drink coffee till 9 or so. Then hunt. Hopefully done in 3-4 four hours.
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I like the sound of that except the chores.

I like the idea of a couple more hours of sleep, eat, and drink coffee. I've been fortunate enough a couple times to hunt private land or late season public land when most folks are next to the woodstove. That worked well there/then, but would put me behind a lot of folks in block management early in the season.
 
It is a very rare day in the field in Kansas when I can't see week enough at legal shooting time.

I would say that easily 80% of the roosters I have shot in my life have been taken before 10am. I am usually trying to be home at 10:00.
 
cbass12 said:
True. Anytime the sun is low can be tough.
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Yep. In my experience it seems the hens will flush just to the side of the setting sun--enough to get a solid identification on them before they fly out of range, then the rooster flushes and of course he finds his path directly into the sun:rolleyes:. Seen it all too many times with the same response; "you've got to be kidding me". lol

Whenever possible get the sun to you back. Though easier said than done.
 
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