The opener

A

arringto

Member
It’s just around the corner. What’s everyone’s prediction for the birds this year? Up, down or about the same as last year?
 
Road side reports says my normal area will be up compared to the previous year. I feel if the weather stays cold opening weekend will seem better because the birds will be grouped together and not be such track stars. Also with the amount of rains in my area it will be easier on the dogs to track the birds.

Its almost that time of year again.....
 
My area of NW Iowa probably will be down, haven’t seen much. We had some cold wet weather around early hatch time.
 
How is the public land along the river doing in central Iowa ?

I had a report of it being under water last week, trying to plan my trip .....
 
I took a drive and a few walks over the last few days specifically looking for birds, checking out hunting spots, etc all in central and south central Iowa (Polk, Warren, Lucas, Clarke, Decatur) and was very pleasantly surprised at what I saw. Good luck this weekend ladies and gents. I will be laying low opening weekend and letting the once a year crews have their fun. After that, I intend to hunt more this year than I have in years past. Hopefully I'll have a few good stories and pics to post along the way. Look forward to a more active board as season gets under way.
 
Headed up to the farm in NE Iowa (Butler County). Family says bird numbers are awesome. I’ll try to report back later. Good luck and be safe everyone!!!
 
The opener was a bust for us yesterday 0 shots fired and very few seen. We hunted in Woodbury County.
 
Saw LOTS of birds yesterday. 15+

It was hard to get close to them because they were going into the standing corn. Combines rolling everywhere. Managed to put one young bird in the bag.
 
It was the weirdest opener I have seen that I can remember. The birds were grouped up and spooky. Even the young birds were hard to get close to. Saw a good number of birds and had several 4-15 bird flushes. Many hens and groups of roosters. We did get some shooting and good dog work as the birds that did hold, held extremely tight. IDK I have never seen the birds so bunched up and wild this early. Very puzzling and more than a little frustrating at times. Still a lot of crops standing and the birds took off for there.
 
We hunted west of Corydon. Was somewhat disappointed with the amount of phez and quail we saw, but with the 70 deg weather yesterday and the gusty winds today, I’m not complaining. We are planning to make another trip after shotgun season. Hopefully it’s a little cooler.
 
Anyone else have trouble with the wind yesterday (Sunday) as far as dogs being able to locate birds? We had more trouble with dogs finding knocked down birds yesterday than any other day by far.
 
Went out Sat/Sun.....Saturday there was 7 of us and we managed 15 and lost 3, weather was crazy having that heavy fog in the morning, almost couldn't find the spot couldn't see more than 50yds in front of the truck on the drive down. Sunday a buddy and I went out and had our limit in exactly 1hr on a nice piece of public we had hunted last year and did ok on. Saw a lot of birds on Saturday and saw a bunch on Sunday and with good shooting we made quick work of our 6 yesterday.
 
We saw a lot of birds on Saturday but the fog made it kind of miserable. It was hard to see and the grass was wet which made the clothing and boots wet and cold. Once the sun burned the fog off it turned out to be kind of nice and we were able to shoot some birds. The birds we shot sat pretty tight. There is still a lot of corn in the fields and I know that it will get much better when it comes out. Sunday was so windy and warm. We didn't see many birds but the ones we saw we shot and were able to find. Pretty good opening weekend over all but I am looking forward to the rest of the corn coming out.
 
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