Ok finally have everything put away, cleaned up, and can start to stretch my muscles without wincing in pain 
Day 1- 3 of us drove out with 2 dogs and it was warm! Like mid 50's, and dry as heck. We did some road hunting and scouted around, hit some low areas and picked off 4, then decided on a piece of public and got the dogs to go do their thing as it cooled some before dark. Shot 2 more and got to our lodging for a couple cold ones and to plan our attack for the next 4 days - had 2 more guys and another dog come rolling in at 10 so the whole crew was there from then on.
Day 2 - We had decided to drive a little bit to an area we had never hunted NW of town, to check it out. No good, only 1 bird and not much for sightings. Ended up going back into the area we knew from before and got in a quick hunt before dark, shot 4 more. Guess we aren't going that way again, check....
Day 3 - We acquired some private land permission for a big jug of good whiskey, and had some fun shelterbelt hunts. The temps were slowly getting colder but not frigid enough to send them to the cattails during the daytime hours. Saw a decent number, had some poor shooting and ended with 8 for the day. Could have gotten the 15 for a limit but someone took the pellets out of our poster's shells?
Day 4 - Carbon copy day as 3 for weather, but the birds were moving to the cattails and feeding in the fields heavily. They knew the cold was coming. We stomped the tails, got up plenty of birds and shot 8 again, great day. No midday birds as they were literally all out scratching on fields. Saw tons of them. Mix of Private and public.
Day 5 - The Cold has arrived. We packed up, and hit one spot in the morning, we screwed up our approach to a little lowbottom that had easily 10 roosters in it, they were safe. Jumped into one more and harvested 3 that were not so lucky. Road hunted a little and cased the guns for the drive home.
Overall, this year was great. I would say birds are up, but you dont see them driving around. You gotta get out and walk the fields and ditches. Great dog work, and a great time with my crew. My dog is the best dog at finding and getting up the birds in the world, I dont care what you say.
Day 1- 3 of us drove out with 2 dogs and it was warm! Like mid 50's, and dry as heck. We did some road hunting and scouted around, hit some low areas and picked off 4, then decided on a piece of public and got the dogs to go do their thing as it cooled some before dark. Shot 2 more and got to our lodging for a couple cold ones and to plan our attack for the next 4 days - had 2 more guys and another dog come rolling in at 10 so the whole crew was there from then on.
Day 2 - We had decided to drive a little bit to an area we had never hunted NW of town, to check it out. No good, only 1 bird and not much for sightings. Ended up going back into the area we knew from before and got in a quick hunt before dark, shot 4 more. Guess we aren't going that way again, check....
Day 3 - We acquired some private land permission for a big jug of good whiskey, and had some fun shelterbelt hunts. The temps were slowly getting colder but not frigid enough to send them to the cattails during the daytime hours. Saw a decent number, had some poor shooting and ended with 8 for the day. Could have gotten the 15 for a limit but someone took the pellets out of our poster's shells?
Day 4 - Carbon copy day as 3 for weather, but the birds were moving to the cattails and feeding in the fields heavily. They knew the cold was coming. We stomped the tails, got up plenty of birds and shot 8 again, great day. No midday birds as they were literally all out scratching on fields. Saw tons of them. Mix of Private and public.
Day 5 - The Cold has arrived. We packed up, and hit one spot in the morning, we screwed up our approach to a little lowbottom that had easily 10 roosters in it, they were safe. Jumped into one more and harvested 3 that were not so lucky. Road hunted a little and cased the guns for the drive home.
Overall, this year was great. I would say birds are up, but you dont see them driving around. You gotta get out and walk the fields and ditches. Great dog work, and a great time with my crew. My dog is the best dog at finding and getting up the birds in the world, I dont care what you say.
