Tips for novice pheasant hunter on season

M

Michealdavis

New member
This is my 3rd season pheasant hunting the first 2 years I only shot 6 birds combined. This year I have already shot 8 is there any tips that will help me get more birds. The first 2 seasons I would be calling my dog and talking but this year I started being quite and it has helped exponentially.

P.S its not a dog problem they point a good amount of birds I am also in a big pheasant hunting area were there are a lot of birds.
 
Rogue Hunter said:
What state? Eight birds already this season sounds pretty darn good to me.
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Minnesota, the birds we got were on opener and today and there were a few hunts in between were we skunked. I dont care if I get limits but if can work my way up to getting a bird each hunt I would be happy with that.

also I include birds we dont find to my limit so the birds we actually got were 6
 
Michealdavis said:
Do you think it might be a bit late to ask land owners for permission? I have never did it before.
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No it isn't late. If you are by your self, you have a decent chance at permission. Some farmers flat out won't let anyone hunt, so don't get discouraged if you get turned down occasionally.
 
you should be advising us!
 
Michealdavis said:
Minnesota, the birds we got were on opener and today and there were a few hunts in between were we skunked. I dont care if I get limits but if can work my way up to getting a bird each hunt I would be happy with that.

also I include birds we dont find to my limit so the birds we actually got were 6
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The more you hunt, the better you get,theoretically. I hunt with these guys who only hunt 5 days a year.If they don't get skunked,they are stoked.
 
Learn your habitat. Right grass wrong grass. To thick to thin. Best mixes etc. pay attention to weather conditions, time of year and where you shot the birds where you did. Ask yourself why they where there.
 
Try to walk into the wind. Reduces your sound and easier for dogs to scent. If you can walk to pinch points or towards less cover to force a flush if the birds are running on you. Just keep after it you will learn so much on your own in the field.
 
Too many guys on here just say hunt hard & follow your dog. Id rather hunt easy. And smart, quiet & slow. Your dog isn't gonna put you in the right place at the right time. You gotta do that. Only way to get good at learning it is to get out there much as possible. Nobody who knows what he's doing has to walk 10 miles in pheasant country to shoot a couple birds, if you do your in the wrong spot or doing something very wrong.
 
I like to use a hard copy of the public land / walk in hunting atlases. I take notes on the cover and crops nearby and anything else. A lot can change from year to year…but some things stay the same. I’ve hunted with folks who use On X or other on line guides and they blindly follow their phone around. Plus you can keep notes of where you might have gotten permission to hunt private land with their contact info.
I transfer all this info from last years to the current year. Then you can give some special places names other than 113 & 72. You can say to your buddies I’ll meet you at dirty bird field at 8!
 
Nikko dog said:
A lot can change from year to year…but some things stay the same.
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Exactly. Don't get hung up on where you've seen birds in the past. Chances are, you saw them there at one very specific time, & they were there for specific reasons; not just because there was good looking cover. And everything (almost) can change year to year & throughout a season. If there was 1 rule of thumb to know that'll help you find pheasants, I think it's that they relate VERY closely to food. They have to have it, & once fall rolls around, they want it to be grain, in lieu of the bugs & stuff they were eating all summer long. Sure, they may only eat twice a day, & they may move around quite a bit when they're not eating, but that next meal is always in their minds - where it is, how they're going to get to it, & how they're going to stay safe from the elements & predators in the meantime.
 
Also take note of when you see birds at specific places. There's a piece of public I hunt almost every evening I go hunting. But never hunt it in the morning because I never see birds. It's a roost location for them so they'll fly in towards evening but by MNs starting time, they've already left and moved into the nearby crop fields.
 
Munster927 said:
Also take note of when you see birds at specific places. There's a piece of public I hunt almost every evening I go hunting. But never hunt it in the morning because I never see birds. It's a roost location for them so they'll fly in towards evening but by MNs starting time, they've already left and moved into the nearby crop fields.
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And roosters & hens may make those moves at different times. And may choose different places to hang out, particularly during winter.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
And roosters & hens may make those moves at different times. And may choose different places to hang out, particularly during winter.
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Totally agree. There's spots where my dog will lock up on point and I'll know with about 90% certainty that it's going to be a hen because I'm not where the roosters like to hangout on that particularly piece of land.
 
hyresmack said:
Too many guys on here just say hunt hard & follow your dog. Id rather hunt easy. And smart, quiet & slow. Your dog isn't gonna put you in the right place at the right time. You gotta do that. Only way to get good at learning it is to get out there much as possible. Nobody who knows what he's doing has to walk 10 miles in pheasant country to shoot a couple birds, if you do your in the wrong spot or doing something very wrong.
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1-3 miles.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
And roosters & hens may make those moves at different times. And may choose different places to hang out, particularly during winter.
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See I’ve always had a theory that roosters would lead you away from the hens, take you on a chase. Protect the harem kind of thing. Especially when numbers are down.
By that I don’t mean the big winter bachelor groups
I’ve said before on here that flushers find more roosters than hens and was called out on it. Maybe it’s chessies I don’t know, they can be a bit houndy. I’ll stick by it though and think it’s natures way of protecting the hens
 
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