Bob Peters
Well-known member
We took our annual huntin' trip last week. I'll give a brief summary, rather than write a novel.
-first spot of the trip everyone met up to hunt together. Didn't turn out very good, 8 guys got 3 birds. I held off on shooting a roo through a willow thicket, I'm not an overly aggressive shooter. First bird was so young he still had some eggshell on his neck. Guys pushing cattails flushed a few mature birds but no shots, although I marked one down and we got him a short while later. Two coyotes were flushed.
-we split up after this and the two of us went to a spot where we'd seen birds flying out of at 9am into a corn field. Flushed about 15 roosters here, my buddy was in a shooting slump and I only had a long crack at one. No birds bagged here.
-driving west around two it was drizzly and the birds were out on the roads. My buddy was going 50 on the tar and glimpsed birds on perpendicular gravel road. We put a pinch on the ditch after birds walked back into grass and got one a piece. I had a longer crossing shot, but held off. The bird I did get, I had a squib load w/the first shot, was confused for a second, then fired the second barrel and scratched him down in the cut corn. Left my gun in the ditch, walked out and found him. Couldn't believe it.
-continuing the drive, same thing happened a few miles later, a pile of birds spotted on gravel road. We whipped a u-ey and checked it out. Birds too close to houses so we didn't hunt. I'm always leary of the 660 feet rule, and err on the side of caution. Also had a bird I jumped out in a different ditch and he was right there and flushed but I couldn't shoot. He was going over a tight fence of an empty cattle pen. I imagined if I winged him, trying to get the dogs through the wires and search for him not worth it.
-hunted a beautiful CREP that night, no birds seen. Also driving had a rooster flush across a lake, land on the opposite side by some boulders. An easy mark we thought, so tried to sneak up on him over the high bank(this was on public land). We got out the truck but walked too far past him and he flushed and we didn't get a shot.
-Next day started at CREP where the corn was coming out, I got two roosters on the fence line. A buddy got a third out in the middle of the grass. I dropped another one later on but he ran into really thick cover and never seen again.
- I got my 3rd bird about 2pm, when trying to answer the question, why did two young roosters cross the road into public land? I jumped out and walked all over in the thin grass but no flushes. Then we let the dogs out, figuring they might have ran farther in. Nope, I had been walking right around those two birds, but the dogs made them jump. I got mine and my buddy missed his.
-Day 3 driving to a spot and we saw a flock of birds on cattail edge in harvested private bean field. Ditches were dirty there, so we jumped out to hunt without dogs. Flushed a pile of birds there, I got one, my buddy kept missing
. He's started the year on a shooting slump. Went around the corner and more beautiful ditches, parked, hunted and my buddy flushed two roosters, got one, and we missed the other.
-Buddy shot a bird on a CREP fenceline, then leaving talked to a truck from sconny-land, the guys hunted a CREP but didn't get anything. We jumped out on the north side of said property and I managed to get a rooster walking a shelter belt. My third bird of the day I got midday walking a weedy fence-line running through a walk-in. Corn on the north, and short pasture on the left. The dogs were resting so I walked it alone. I'll never forget it. It reminded me of what my dad and other old timers talked about back in the day in MN. Often without pooch power, they'd just go and walk weedy old fence lines. Man I wish there were more of these still around.
I realize there's a lot of road/ditch hunting mentioned here. Really it's the most I've ever done. My preferred way is walking with the dog of course, but when your in SD or IA trying to get birds on only public land I won't turn down the opportunity to go after one in a ditch. On top of that on multi-day trips with warmer than average weather the dogs are gonna need some breaks.
My numbers were 2,3,3, and 1 final bird road hunting on the way home. The group numbers weren't great(I don't know the number), but then again a couple guys come along to get out of the house more than anything, some guys carry their gun like a suitcase or a baby 95% of the time regardless of good cover or bad etc. Always a fun trip. I'm always trying to give advice but don't want to get too bossy. One large field we walked, all the birds were by the corn. We should have parked a second truck at the other end and boogied out. Instead we walked all the way back along the opposite side, adjacent a crappy looking pasture. Only flushed one hen.
We did see a lot of birds driving back roads near houses. Man they really like those groves and livestock areas right out people's back door. Always fun to see 'em even if they're in a safe zone.
We hunted a large area from MN border out to groton, and many points north and south. A highlight was I got to shoot a bird right near Pierpont. True story
.
Pics, buddy in a ditch, Roxy super concerned about him not letting her into the ditch, cornfield bird, buddy on CREP, tired dogs.
Dang it, I didn't write a novel, but a novella anyways
-first spot of the trip everyone met up to hunt together. Didn't turn out very good, 8 guys got 3 birds. I held off on shooting a roo through a willow thicket, I'm not an overly aggressive shooter. First bird was so young he still had some eggshell on his neck. Guys pushing cattails flushed a few mature birds but no shots, although I marked one down and we got him a short while later. Two coyotes were flushed.
-we split up after this and the two of us went to a spot where we'd seen birds flying out of at 9am into a corn field. Flushed about 15 roosters here, my buddy was in a shooting slump and I only had a long crack at one. No birds bagged here.
-driving west around two it was drizzly and the birds were out on the roads. My buddy was going 50 on the tar and glimpsed birds on perpendicular gravel road. We put a pinch on the ditch after birds walked back into grass and got one a piece. I had a longer crossing shot, but held off. The bird I did get, I had a squib load w/the first shot, was confused for a second, then fired the second barrel and scratched him down in the cut corn. Left my gun in the ditch, walked out and found him. Couldn't believe it.
-continuing the drive, same thing happened a few miles later, a pile of birds spotted on gravel road. We whipped a u-ey and checked it out. Birds too close to houses so we didn't hunt. I'm always leary of the 660 feet rule, and err on the side of caution. Also had a bird I jumped out in a different ditch and he was right there and flushed but I couldn't shoot. He was going over a tight fence of an empty cattle pen. I imagined if I winged him, trying to get the dogs through the wires and search for him not worth it.
-hunted a beautiful CREP that night, no birds seen. Also driving had a rooster flush across a lake, land on the opposite side by some boulders. An easy mark we thought, so tried to sneak up on him over the high bank(this was on public land). We got out the truck but walked too far past him and he flushed and we didn't get a shot.
-Next day started at CREP where the corn was coming out, I got two roosters on the fence line. A buddy got a third out in the middle of the grass. I dropped another one later on but he ran into really thick cover and never seen again.
- I got my 3rd bird about 2pm, when trying to answer the question, why did two young roosters cross the road into public land? I jumped out and walked all over in the thin grass but no flushes. Then we let the dogs out, figuring they might have ran farther in. Nope, I had been walking right around those two birds, but the dogs made them jump. I got mine and my buddy missed his.
-Day 3 driving to a spot and we saw a flock of birds on cattail edge in harvested private bean field. Ditches were dirty there, so we jumped out to hunt without dogs. Flushed a pile of birds there, I got one, my buddy kept missing
. He's started the year on a shooting slump. Went around the corner and more beautiful ditches, parked, hunted and my buddy flushed two roosters, got one, and we missed the other.-Buddy shot a bird on a CREP fenceline, then leaving talked to a truck from sconny-land, the guys hunted a CREP but didn't get anything. We jumped out on the north side of said property and I managed to get a rooster walking a shelter belt. My third bird of the day I got midday walking a weedy fence-line running through a walk-in. Corn on the north, and short pasture on the left. The dogs were resting so I walked it alone. I'll never forget it. It reminded me of what my dad and other old timers talked about back in the day in MN. Often without pooch power, they'd just go and walk weedy old fence lines. Man I wish there were more of these still around.
I realize there's a lot of road/ditch hunting mentioned here. Really it's the most I've ever done. My preferred way is walking with the dog of course, but when your in SD or IA trying to get birds on only public land I won't turn down the opportunity to go after one in a ditch. On top of that on multi-day trips with warmer than average weather the dogs are gonna need some breaks.
My numbers were 2,3,3, and 1 final bird road hunting on the way home. The group numbers weren't great(I don't know the number), but then again a couple guys come along to get out of the house more than anything, some guys carry their gun like a suitcase or a baby 95% of the time regardless of good cover or bad etc. Always a fun trip. I'm always trying to give advice but don't want to get too bossy. One large field we walked, all the birds were by the corn. We should have parked a second truck at the other end and boogied out. Instead we walked all the way back along the opposite side, adjacent a crappy looking pasture. Only flushed one hen.
We did see a lot of birds driving back roads near houses. Man they really like those groves and livestock areas right out people's back door. Always fun to see 'em even if they're in a safe zone.
We hunted a large area from MN border out to groton, and many points north and south. A highlight was I got to shoot a bird right near Pierpont. True story
.Pics, buddy in a ditch, Roxy super concerned about him not letting her into the ditch, cornfield bird, buddy on CREP, tired dogs.
Dang it, I didn't write a novel, but a novella anyways
