KBell
New member
On Thursday Sophie and I hit a shelterbelt (see photo) during the first of two days of 3+ inches of powdery snow and little wind. The pheasant gods were shining on us! Our hunt lasted 11 minutes on Thursday. Not the kind of hunt I now enjoy but fun none-the-less with roughly 70 birds flushed from this shelterbelt. No points as it turned out to be more of an explosion of birds with quick shooting opportunities. Best part is I stopped and asked to gain permission at this place as I was heading to my Aunt's CRP in the Sibley area.
I took photos of many birds in the fields around Sibley and Ocheyedan. I saw groups of 5 and less and groups of 30 or more! Bad news--some sort of camera malfunction and I did not have any of the photos this morning to post.
Friday I pulled up to a public area southwest of Ocheyedan. Snowing again like Thursday but no wind. A perfect day to hunt roosters as many of you know. Very tough walking and challenging to say the least to access the cover. The game plan became apparent early on this hunt. The Thursday and Friday snows only left the south side of the switchgrass exposed and the birds were nestled in on the southside of the cover. To keep it short, great points by Sophie and easy going away shots on three roosters. We hunted this one public spot and spent two hours doing it. Many hen points as we pointed and flushed eight roosters and 19 hens in our pass of the field. Several other birds flushed wild but the majority held tight to the point. I did hear several distant shots but I was the lone hunter in this parcel today.
Did have (twice) neat encounters where Sophie locked on point and I walked in to flush the bird only to notice one or two hunkered down at the base of the blown-over switchgrass in the same area. It is not often you get to see wild pheasants up close and personal like that.
I would say bird numbers are still strong in this northwest area. The shelterbelt explosion may have given me a slanted viewpoint but I am sure it held most of the birds for a several mile area. You can be sure it has been added to my future hit list. The birds from both days were crop full of corn and soybeans with ample body fat.
I included a photo from Thursday that shows my entry to a CRP field from the truck. It took 15 minutes to make that distance dropping up and down in the waist-deep snow on the north and west sides of the cover. If you go, be prepared to work through those spots to get to your hunting cover.
I took photos of many birds in the fields around Sibley and Ocheyedan. I saw groups of 5 and less and groups of 30 or more! Bad news--some sort of camera malfunction and I did not have any of the photos this morning to post.
Friday I pulled up to a public area southwest of Ocheyedan. Snowing again like Thursday but no wind. A perfect day to hunt roosters as many of you know. Very tough walking and challenging to say the least to access the cover. The game plan became apparent early on this hunt. The Thursday and Friday snows only left the south side of the switchgrass exposed and the birds were nestled in on the southside of the cover. To keep it short, great points by Sophie and easy going away shots on three roosters. We hunted this one public spot and spent two hours doing it. Many hen points as we pointed and flushed eight roosters and 19 hens in our pass of the field. Several other birds flushed wild but the majority held tight to the point. I did hear several distant shots but I was the lone hunter in this parcel today.
Did have (twice) neat encounters where Sophie locked on point and I walked in to flush the bird only to notice one or two hunkered down at the base of the blown-over switchgrass in the same area. It is not often you get to see wild pheasants up close and personal like that.
I would say bird numbers are still strong in this northwest area. The shelterbelt explosion may have given me a slanted viewpoint but I am sure it held most of the birds for a several mile area. You can be sure it has been added to my future hit list.
The birds from both days were crop full of corn and soybeans with ample body fat.I included a photo from Thursday that shows my entry to a CRP field from the truck. It took 15 minutes to make that distance dropping up and down in the waist-deep snow on the north and west sides of the cover. If you go, be prepared to work through those spots to get to your hunting cover.
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