I am interested to see everyone's take on Missouri pheasant hunting this year.
I hunt primarily public land in the northwest region of the state. This was a rather poor year for quail on the public places I hunted in my opinion. I averaged 1.5-2 covies per hunt but most public covies were under 10 birds. I understand this is part of public hunting, but I wish people would quit chasing those small covies. Talked to a guy in a parking lot last weekend at Bilby that was stoked he killed 3 quail out of a covey of 7 birds as if there is a stat out there that records the percentage of the covey you kill. What made it worse in my opinion is that the covey flushed wild and flew to a small tree line. He was unable to get a shot at the covey rise but pursued this small covey and sent the remaining birds in opposite directions. We started the hunt around 0 degrees so I am guessing the other 4 didn't make it but who knows. I wish people would think of the future of quail like the guys on this form. I have killed 19 quail this year but the majority have been on private land, passing most on public land.
As for pheasants, this year was my best year by far. Primarily due to my GSP turning it on this year (2 1/2 years old). I didn't necessarily see more pheasants this year, but I had better luck with getting birds up in range. I have personally killed 19 roosters in Missouri this year (17 public, 2 private) in 12 hunts. I hope to scratch another out this weekend to reach 20.
I have seen more hunters this year than I have in recent memory. It could
Be for a few reasons or just coincidence but it seems that more and more people are hunting public land. I also saw more guys this year hunting large public CRP-like fields without dogs. More power to them.
So back to the original question... what do you guys take away from this season?
God bless and happy hunting
I hunt primarily public land in the northwest region of the state. This was a rather poor year for quail on the public places I hunted in my opinion. I averaged 1.5-2 covies per hunt but most public covies were under 10 birds. I understand this is part of public hunting, but I wish people would quit chasing those small covies. Talked to a guy in a parking lot last weekend at Bilby that was stoked he killed 3 quail out of a covey of 7 birds as if there is a stat out there that records the percentage of the covey you kill. What made it worse in my opinion is that the covey flushed wild and flew to a small tree line. He was unable to get a shot at the covey rise but pursued this small covey and sent the remaining birds in opposite directions. We started the hunt around 0 degrees so I am guessing the other 4 didn't make it but who knows. I wish people would think of the future of quail like the guys on this form. I have killed 19 quail this year but the majority have been on private land, passing most on public land.
As for pheasants, this year was my best year by far. Primarily due to my GSP turning it on this year (2 1/2 years old). I didn't necessarily see more pheasants this year, but I had better luck with getting birds up in range. I have personally killed 19 roosters in Missouri this year (17 public, 2 private) in 12 hunts. I hope to scratch another out this weekend to reach 20.
I have seen more hunters this year than I have in recent memory. It could
Be for a few reasons or just coincidence but it seems that more and more people are hunting public land. I also saw more guys this year hunting large public CRP-like fields without dogs. More power to them.
So back to the original question... what do you guys take away from this season?
God bless and happy hunting