The Question Why

I think some people like to sit and wait to hunt.

Upland birds sure taste better than ducks, but you do a lot more walking per bird upland hunting.
 
I'm trying to think of anyone I know that only hunts upland. Can't think of one:confused:

Most hunters I know hunt upland and waterfowl, plus deer and turkey.

Upland, you've thrown me for a loop again as to what's going on near you:confused:lol
 
I gave up the whole sky carp debacle for upland. SOOOO much easier. No loading and unloading the boat motor, decoys, gas tank and so on only to have some one move in on you ten minutes before the start of shooting and screw up everything. then you have to do it all in reverse when you are done. then when you get home and all put away you have ducks and geese to clean and then eat. Pheasant and grouse i grab my vest and gun. put on my boots and out the door. When i get to my spot we hop out of the truck and hunt. Not a bad deal at all.
 
Agree, my buddies are just trying to push me to get back into waterfowl, but the love and joy I get out of bird hunting can't be replaced. If I live in a state with no pheasants, shoot I would pay to hunt them thats how much I love this great sport of upland hunting.
 
1pheas4 said:
I'm trying to think of anyone I know that only hunts upland. Can't think of one:confused:

Most hunters I know hunt upland and waterfowl, plus deer and turkey.

Upland, you've thrown me for a loop again as to what's going on near you:confused:lol
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Lol I know what your thinking, the buddies just won't get off my back cause I don't want to waterfowl.
 
I hunted just about everything! I think if you live close to your game, you will hunt that game more often! I hunted waterfowl for 30 years nearly every day !!Just a few years ago the feet started getting colder quicker and started enjoying upland more and more! I have always hunted upland, but good hunting was further away!! Last year I didn't shoot a web footed bird!!! Hunted less, but went upland hunting more!!! I still enjoy the solitude of the River in the mornings, just not when it is below zero!!!! Enjoy calling in birds and watching their feet drop to land!!! Now , I am in a point in my life where I enjoy the dogs and a good cackle in the morning!!!! Plus my feet are never cold, just the face and the hands!!!!:cheers:
 
I enjoy hunting and eating ducks, I don't let it interfere with my upland hunting. I hunt ducks quite a lot every year.
Haven't sat looking a deeks for 40 something years. Don't even own a decoy or a duck boat, call or anything related. Just some non toxic shot. :thumbsup:
 
The numbers. Plenty of waterfowl, and you get to shoot a lot of birds. Most guys, that's the number one priority for them.
You see pheasant numbers going down, quail numbers dwindling to nothing and it is getting harder and harder to get onto places to hunt too.
 
Bird numbers are the main culprit. Quail are dying out and now pheasant are going downward. It's hard to get young guys my age into this when we have to drive 8-10 just to get into a decent amount of birds. If there were still a lot of quail around here it'd be a whole lot easier.
 
ElectricShorthairs said:
Bird numbers are the main culprit. Quail are dying out and now pheasant are going downward. It's hard to get young guys my age into this when we have to drive 8-10 just to get into a decent amount of birds. If there were still a lot of quail around here it'd be a whole lot easier.
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This is a very good point. My dad's always telling me stories about opening day of pheasant season around here when he was a kid. He told me everywhere you went you saw pheasant hunters in the fields. Now you'll be lucky to see a half dozen or more.

A farmer friend was telling me he hunted an area near my home when he was a kid. There were so many pheasants he stopped using a shotgun and switch over to a long bow just to make it challenging. I hunted that same area in the early 90's. I don't recall flushing much of anything back there.:(
 
There is a 28,000 wildlife management area in Texas called the matador. I used to hear stories from my older friends about them going and getting into 35+ coveys a day, easy. I went on my very first upland hunt with my very first bird dog there in 07 and shot my first quail that weekend, and we found about 11-12 coveys total. I ended up with 6 but my shooting was sketchy at best. Took my younger cousin back in '10 and we found 1 covey at a fence line and it flushed over. We packed up and headed to try our luck on pheasant in the panhandle on some public land and we saw 3 flush out of range. It's HARD to keep a young person interested and wanting to come back for more when that's all they see and our sport is quickly becoming a rich man's game. Especially in Texas. The want to is there by some young people but the birds aren't to keep that fire going. It's easy for them to go with somebody for $125 and sit next to a lake or pond and blast away. Could I take him up to SoDak or something and get him into birds? Ya sure, but that's 17-19 hours away and a week of vacation gone. Very frustrating. I hope we can all get this thing turned around quick or there will be so few of us in 20-30 years that upland hunting will be completely irrevelant.
 
Exactly. And when they put forth an effort once and it doesn't pay off. Its hard to get them back out. I have a buddy that I've been trying to get to come for years and he's going to give it a shot this year in Kansas. Bird numbers are way down but I HAVE to get him on some. Lots of pressure.
 
Upland4Ever said:
Why does everyone I know giving up the upland hunting to do a be a waterfowler?
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Let's see,I can leave the cabin at 8:00AM and be in the pheasant field by 10.Or get up at 2:00AM,drive to Pierre,sign-in,set-up decoys, sit in the pit,freezing sack,and find when daylight comes that a bunch of trigger-happy yokels are in the next pit sky-busting at anything within 200 yards.did I mention freezing sack? No,Thanks
 
ElectricShorthairs said:
Exactly. And when they put forth an effort once and it doesn't pay off. Its hard to get them back out. I have a buddy that I've been trying to get to come for years and he's going to give it a shot this year in Kansas. Bird numbers are way down but I HAVE to get him on some. Lots of pressure.
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I think it also may come down to what the reward may be.
So many today rank raining geese or large antlers to be the measure of reward....or the reason to move on if absent.
There is so much more to any birdhunter reward than that though, for me.

While I would guess that many waterfowlers love to watch their retriever work and can value a sunrise after the work of decoy setting is done...conditions over the last number of years have been to the waterfowlers benefit in many areas where success is an additional component of the day....that can draw folks more than the setting or rising of a sun.
Limit "Upland" to ruffed grouse in the Appalatchians and "waterfowl" to deer and a greater and wider disparity will be seen.
Just a mark of the times indicating species that hold trump for the moment....often for little reason beyond availability or TV shows.

For those who change sides so easily based upon critter populations, my guess is they had little history and tradition involved with the last specie in the first place...or they value success and barbershop stories highly. Perhaps it is only a competition thing.
Personally, at my age, I don't miss those afield who change or prefer another outlet to start with...no one hunting preference is best...for any but the person making the decision.
I simply know what I would miss if I abandoned all that got me here...no bent tailgate could ever make up for that loss.
 
Unless friends ask me to go along, I generally don't hunt waterfowl. Main reason: nothing for dog to point. Watching a good retriever can be enjoyable, but for me it doesn't hold a candle to watching a bird dog work cover.
Secondary reason: waterfowl doesn't taste all that great to me (texture thing more so than flavor)
 
I took myself pheasant hunting (6 times) when I was 21. I saw a total of 1 rooster that year and was hooked, went out and bought a dog and a 20ga. There's no turning back now. I've always thought about buy duck stamps though, I always jump a few mallards and teal while I'm hunting.
 
Upland hunting is all about the dog work for me, don't get me wrong, I love to look up and see a big buck with huge rack coming towards me. It gets the blood pumping. But there is nothing like watching a bird dog work scent like a master and then BAM lock up in front of some nice cover and hearing the rushing of wings.
 
ElectricShorthairs said:
Upland hunting is all about the dog work for me, don't get me wrong, I love to look up and see a big buck with huge rack coming towards me. It gets the blood pumping. But there is nothing like watching a bird dog work scent like a master and then BAM lock up in front of some nice cover and hearing the rushing of wings.
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I assume you hear the rushing of wings as you are flushing? :)

I've said it once and I'll say it again. For too many people it's about killin'. You can kill sh!t waterfowling.

It's tougher on the uplands when the numbers are low.
 
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