Time of Day - Choice of Cover

[Wise12375]

So it's January and I assume that based on the snow fall in Eastern SD, that most of the cover is still as it was all fall. I am making an assumption that the small of snow that fell didn't push over a lot of the grass. With that assumption....and the amount of pressure that birds have felt for the last 3 months....I am wondering what everyone's opinion is on time of day vs. kind of cover. For sake of discussion, let's assume the temp is normal (10s or 20s), wind is normal (10-20mph) and there is little to no snow.

10-12 am?
12pm - 3pm?
3-pm to Dark?

I remember hunting in January last year, with some snow although it wasn't fresh snow, temps around 30. I hunted a small cattail slew with some taller grass mixed in. It was littered with tracks. I think I flushed 1 hen. I made a note of the spot because of the tracks. I came back midday the next day and pushed 30-40 birds out of it. I always am thinking about WHERE the birds are vs. time of day and find myself having the same battle as what treestand to sit in.

 

[haymaker]

You bring up a great point. Time of day is very important. The weather conditions are at least as important. Where they are on a sunny 30-degree day is not the same as a 0-degree day with a 30-mph wind, no matter the time. Just my thoughts.

 

[Jawilor]

I would include hunting pressure too. On the opener I usually hunt public later in the AM and have most luck in the cattails even though it’s usually warm. This is where they seek safety as most regular hunters don’t venture too deep into the cattails.
Outside of that, warmer weather = short grass and cold weather = the heavy stuff. If it’s snowing then it’s shelter belts and tree lines.

 

[Limitless]

Today, I found them in cattails, grasses near cattails, switch grass not near cattails, reed grass, and grasses in a strip that had 3 rows of mature deciduous trees and some bushier things along the edge. That strip was surrounded by harvested beans with plenty left on the ground for the birds. The switch grass had very nice cut corn next to it. Single digits in the morning, mid teens during the day, 11 mph wind allegedly (much greater when you are in the open or up high). It was fairly sunny.

The switch grass was golden hour. The other cover was the rest of the day and they were in those things regardless of time.

This was north central SD, east river.

I should mention, they were ultra jumpy. Hoping the cold the next two days makes them want to snuggle into some cattails, and that I can find some good potholes near food.

My number came out to be 131 birds. That did include about 2 dozen that flushed from the grasses just off the section road ditch as I drove down it to the end, where I wanted to park, and (the 2 dozen) included a group that got up out of reed grass 50 yards from where I did park, before I got out (7 or so roosters in that bunch).

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

In my part of the state, roosters aren't really bunched up yet, except for maybe to roost. With the decent weather we've been having, many public land birds (especially in the more pressured parts of the state) get off public land at about sunrise to feed & stay off, for good reason, until it's time to roost. After they feed in the morning, roosters tend to scatter, finding edge cover to walk along, poke in & out of, & pass the time. They do a lot of walking, & not just aimlessly. They go places, intentionally, often following some sort of edge.

If they've left public land & you don't have private land to hunt, what makes good edge cover in the vicinity of food? Ditches. Grassy ones. Cattaily ones. Thickety ones. You name it, as long as pheasants can reach it on foot from a field they fed in, which will usually be quite close to where they roosted.

When? My best luck with ditches has been between 10 & 2. No sense hunting public land with no birds, or mainly hens, when the roosters are somewhere else.

After they've fed in late afternoon & come back to roost, bunched up birds can be really problematic due to the number of eyes & ears they have in bigger groups. Hunting all wild pheasants requires an element of stealth, but especially when they're in groups. That's when dampness or fresh snow really helps by allowing both hunter & dog to be quieter. They may be easier to find during the "golden hour", but in general, late in the season, they're harder to get close to.

 

[Limitless]

In my part of the state, roosters aren't really bunched up yet, except for maybe to roost. With the decent weather we've been having, many public land birds (especially in the more pressured parts of the state) get off public land at about sunrise to feed & stay off, for good reason, until it's time to roost.

Are you sure you aren't the one making them behave this way (and for good reason)? I mean, every time you see it, it is a place you hunt. 1+1=2.

Alternatively, how many 3 bird whackings can a property take from Ace and Ace's buddy before it seems like they are elsewhere? Well, they are elsewhere, if we count the freezer.

Just giving you a hard time. We face the same issue with nearly all the properties in Minnesota. I am always trying to find places that are hard to get to or a part of them is, for that very reason. I do that in SD too, but some areas it isn't needed as much, since they aren't pressured the same in all parts of the state. I guess that is just a macro way of finding places that are harder to get to. Going further west has that effect.