Typical day pheasant hunting?

H

Hub

Member
Tell me about your average day of pheasant hunting? I do most of my hunting with the same two guys. We hunt farms we have been hunting for years, so we typically have an established plan of attack. We have multiple dogs, but it's typically a one dog per guy affair. We don't do any blocking and driving, but occassionally we'll work a tree line or a swale as a group. One guy on a side type of thing. We all know the hotspots like the 'Willow slough' and 'Larsens Dugout' and we'll time it so we are coming at them at the same time if we can.

Most of the time we just ramble along following our respective dogs. Since we are usually riding together sometimes we leap frog using the truck. We drop a guy off and then drive a mile and start hunting in another direction while the guy that was first dropped off works towards the truck and eventually pick the first driver up. Everyone has a set of keys and we kind of wing it.

Since most of our phesant hunting is on trips away from home we make an entire day of it. We have sandwiches and gatorade in the truck and grab a bite while driving between places. We are usually dead tired at the end of the day. When we make it back to where ever we are staying we see to the dogs first. We give them a good once over for cuts, and then feed and water them. The birds have to be cleaned and we usually have an assembly line. One guy clips the feet, wings, head. Another guys cuts out the spine and pulls the guts, and another guys rinses and bags. We take turns making dinner on a trip, but it's mostly crock pot type stuff so we don't have to work too hard. We usually have a few whiskeys and beers while were doing the chores. We've got a set of tumblers with various game birds on them. Who ever is the big shooter of the day gets the pheasant glass and gets to hang it out a little bit and talk some smack. After dinner we usually clean up the guns and strategize a bit about the next day before hitting the sack early.

So what is a typical pheasant hunting day like for you?
 
On most days of the season, I hunt only with Tony. My son is available on weekends. But usually there are things he must do an one of the days. My day goes like this. Travel about 50 miles to the selected hunting spot for that day. Tony and I get into the field I check and see if he can be worked into the wind. We work our way from there. He works hard and I talk to him more than I should. But he is used to it and seems to enjoy it. We hunt until we need a break I then go back to the SUV. Have some coffee and sandwich, which Tony eats most of, along with his water. If I should be lucky enough to have a bird, I'll put it in the cooler. We sometimes change to a close by sport make a swing through it and head for home.

Clean the birds or birds if things went right. Get them ready for the freezer. Check Tony Eyes, Ears, I use a doctor light to see into them. When he is cleaned up he wants his Kennel. I made a board for him out a freight pallet. I put plywood over the boards and then carpet over that. I have never seen a dog come to my kennel that did not love that board as I call it. I just don't like Tony laying on the concrete. Then I get a cup of coffee and relax until the next morning.---Bob
 
Great thread!
I guess maybe I have not been at this game long enough to know what a "typical" day will be for me. Each one is different because I'm still riding such a steep part of the learning curve.
Although I hunt with a buddy on Saturdays, I'll tell you about one type of little weekday hunt that really enjoy when I can sneak out to do it.
One spring a few years ago I was out training the dog and I met a trout fisherman. He loved dogs but his daughter was allergic so he had a good time playing with Ruby for a while during our chat. When I told him a bit about pheasant hunting and how I would probably do a lot more of it if I could get access to good lands he told me that he had a great spot that he calls 'rooster alley' but no dog. We exchanged emails and met later that year at the gun club to shoot some clays (I think we each wanted to see the other handle a gun before going into the field). We've been hunting that spot and others for a few years now, but my favourite hunt is when both he and I have a bit of flexibility in our schedule on a workday, usually a morning when we can sneak away until lunch. The interesting thing about this hunt is, although we hunt together, we never say a word to each other... Here's how it goes:

The night before I hear the forecast for a nice day and I drop him an email. All is says is "Rooster Alley - 0900?". The next morning I boot up the computer and on a good day, there is a reply "Yup, see you there". I'll do an hour or so of work and send a few emails to colleagues saying that I'll be "away from my desk for a few hours", then I'll throw on my chaps, vest, cap, grab the gun and load the bouncing dog into the car for the 20 minute drive up to the Alley. I park the car and look out across a long valley of dense cover, across the river, and up the cornfield on the far side to see if his black oldsmobile is parked at the top of the hill. If it is, it's not long before I see a patch of orange working it's way down the edge of the field towards the river. Ruby and I will start working our way down to the river as well. Once in a while, we'll get a shot at a bird up on the slope,or Jason will shoot his rusty old single barrel full-choke 12. Most of the time though, it's quiet until we approach the river, at which time the anticipation mounts and we wait for birds to bust across the river from one side or the other. We turn downstream and poke our way along, Jason following the alders and shoreline vegetation, taking the time to kick around in all the edge cover while Ruby and I work back and forth in the heavier cover on the north shore of the river. We either take birds ourselves if we can, or let the other hunter take them if the shot is long or unsafe. Ruby happily makes the water retrieves if the fast current, bringing my birds back to me, or taking casts from me with encouragement from Jason to bring him his birds. This took a bit of training but she quickly got the idea once she got to know him and learned that this was OK with me. When we get to the fence marking the end of our permitted hunt we smile and wave, give a thumbs-up, and trudge back up the hill to the cars. Here again, some days I'll shoot again, or I'll hear a boom from across the river and turn and watch to see if Jason is walking over to pick up a rooster, in which case he will hold it high for me to see, with another big thumbs-up in the distance. It's a great and simple hunt that only takes an hour, but produces as many birds as all my other spots combined... It's close enough and productive enough that that the whole thing can be done on a slow work-day.
-Croc
 
HUB, are you sure you didn't jump into my hunting party? :) What you describe is very typical of how I hunt with a couple of friends.

I prefer hunting with 1, 2 or maybe 3 other guys. I also do a lot of solo hunting with just myself and my dogs. Gives me a better chance to work my dogs without the distraction of other dogs/hunters.

I enjoy spending several hours in the field with my dogs. As long as we see several pheasants and maybe harvest a couple it's a very successful day. It's not about limits, but the quality of the hunt, time in the outdoors, dogs in the field and friendships.

Man, now I want to go hunting! Guess I'll have to take to dogs out today. Only 6 months until the opener!!
 
Opening Day

My typical opening weekend hunt: Drive 290 miles to the happy hunting grounds. Meet 4 - 5 people at the motel who form our hunting party. Friday night we go to the Pheasants Forever banquet. Saturday morning we have breakfast at Cowboy Junction and then eat lunch at Prairie Junction in another town. In the morning we start out in some walk-in CRP and then move to private milo or corn stalks or wheat stubble. At the end of the day after the guns are sheathed but we are still in the field I pass around a bottle of Weller bourbon to cut the dust and celebrate the bounty. Then we go straight to the bar and grill for dinner. After that me and the dog crawl into the motel bed and channel surf until I fall asleep so I am well-rested to do it all over again on Sunday. I look forward to it all year. BIG FUN AND THE TIME OF MY LIFE.
 
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Almost all of my wild bird trips are public ground solo hunts with my labs so we can be as selfish and flexible as we need about our plans to be successful.

A typical mid-season SD hunting day starts early at the motel even with the 10:00 am start. Take the dogs for a quick walk and head to the gas station to fuel up, get coffee and a quick breakfast. My SD trips are always during the week so I'll spend an hour back at the motel returning work calls, emails etc. Then its load up the dogs and head to the field usually 1-2 hours early so we can scout a little. This is hard on my old male lab as he has a good eye for pheasant cover and just can't understand why we are not stopping to hunt.

This year was my 10th year hunting South Dakota so we have a pretty good milk-run of public parcels to work. My first stop of the day is almost always some kind of large parcel CRP grass close to a corn field. I'll usually start walking with the dogs at heel far from the target and ease in. We hit the edges next to the corn looking for straggler roosters walking their way back from the morning buffet. This has proven a decent strategy but sometimes the old guy is pretty stoked up and pushes the birds a little hard if they are runners and on public land they are almost always runners. Most days we manage to score a rooster at our chosen first stop but not always. Then it's head back to the truck for a quick rest, water and to regroup for phase two.

Phase two we almost always devote a little more time to checking out a new spot or two and when hunting take a different angle on finding roosters. During this part of the day especially if the weather is decent I'm looking for smart old roosters who loaf right in the food source. Not really hunting cornstalks exactly but looking for three things. Low weedy patches right in a corn field, weedy dirty waterways that run through a corn or soybean field or small cattail slough right in the food source. After years of hanging around I have many spots that meet this description and most years usually stumble on a few more. These spots are great for shooting opportunities and because the cover is small and often thin they keep the wear and tear down on the dogs when hunting all day several days in a row. They also hunt quickly so a lunch (sandwich, beef sticks or something convenient) can be had when driving from spot to spot.

Hunting public you can never predict or depend on success especially during mid-day. Some days we have a limit by 2:00 and some days maybe a single bird in the vest with just an hour or two of daylight left. On the days I'm still looking for a limit we go high percentage at prime time. Will focus on good roosting cover near grit and corn. My old lab knows this game well and really gets intense (literally shakes with anticipation) when we pull up to a prime area. We again park a ways off and walk at heel to the spot. I just turn the old boy loose, follow him without question and soak up the moment. I cannot imagine a better place on this planet than a good patch of SD CRP, with my best hunting partner and the sun setting in the west. As long as I've done my part throughout the day with the shotgun its a rare day we don't finish up with our birds.

The day hunting ends with a big lab head snoring on my lap and a slow drive back to the motel. The dogs and birds get taken care of first and I end the day with cold beers, sharing a circus pizza with the dogs and cleaning the shotgun. Sleep comes easy after that.

Kind of mixed emotions writing that as it brings back many great memories but also know that at 11-years last January the old boy probably doesn't have another trip like that left in him.

DB
 
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For me it usually goes like this.....Drive a hour and half to my sisters house, get my brother in law up and we take his big springer "duke" out to some of our few, but good private spots. Then, drive to the public land, but head way deep for our final walk or 2 of the day...then a drive home with to clean the birds at my sisters...Have our parents over for a few beers and pizza, play some hockey with my nephew, then a couple more beers and then to bed for a good rest, before repeating all over...wouldn't trade the time with the family for anything in the world!!.....GREAT THREAD!!
 
Great thread. Really enjoyed Crocketts story.

My typical day has changed over the years. For the first 20 or so years, and friend and I hunted as much and as hard as we could here in Michigan. I saved some vacation time so there wasn't too many days during the season that I couldn't hunt. We both had access to some private land and also hunted some public land as well.

Things changed a little when when our kids got older and sports became a big part of the picture. We still hunted with each other each fall but our schedules didn't line up as well as before so our hunting trips were cut down to a few days each year. When my friend was diagnosed with cancer, we weren't able to get out at all for a couple years.

In 2007, my friend was feeling better so we planned a trip to South Dakota. For the life of me, I don't know why we waited so long to make a trip out there. The hunting was incredible and we had a great time. He was going to go the following year but had some minor health issues that kept him at home. I was able to take my two boys out there with me and they had a blast.

This fall, we are both planning on going and he will be taking his two boys and I will be taking mine. I don't know who is more excited about going, the Dads or the boys. We both have new pups that we will be taking out. He has a springer, I have a lab.

So I'd say my typical day hunting this fall will be...get our gear, dogs, and boys loaded in the trucks. Drive a 1000 miles or so to the motel. Spend some time scouting and planning our attack for opening day. Take the boys for a drive right before sunset and show them just how many birds are around. Get up in the morning and let the dogs out for a run, grab some breakfast at a local restaurant, then head to the game area we will be hunting. Hit that area hard for a couple of hours then head to a couple small waterfowl areas after that. Spend some time hollering at our pups because they will so excited about all the bird scent...lol. If we still need a few birds, hunt some roosting cover that evening near some cornfields that has been dynamite the past two years. After the hunt, spend some time checking out the dogs, reliving the days highlights (and lowlights), taking care of the birds, and just enjoying the time spent with my friend and our sons.

Hopefully this will be repeated for years to come. Man, I can't wait until this fall!

Scott
 
Good Plan!!

Scott,
I hope your plan works out this fall.
Hunting with a friend and your sons....it doesn't get any better than that. My brother and I have tried over the past 10 years or so to put together a "cousin hunt" and we have had some very memorable times! The quest continues as the cousins get older, get married, and have families. The grandpas are getting any younger either! :):)

I'm currently in SE SD visiting my Mom and have taken a short drive the past 2 mornings scoping out the roosters. Seeing roosters and hens paired up...but no broods yet. Probably about a month away!
Good luck this fall....and enjoy SD
 
Scott5019 said:
Hopefully this will be repeated for years to come. Man, I can't wait until this fall!

Scott
Click to expand...

Scott - I, for one, can't WAIT to read your trip report this fall. Your trip certainly got all the right ingredients: good friends, fathers and sons, dogs and BIRDS. :cheers:
-Croc
 
Given my diversified adventures thru out the many areas of SD with residents and non-residents over a season, not many of my hunts are typical. I am a sociable creature and enjoy hunting with others and on my own.
Most often when on my own I am hunting within 25 miles of my home northwest of Sioux Falls and over the last 1-2 hours of the day. In the early season this is a necessity almost in the east because of the unharvested corn. The birds just are not in the cover until late in the day. Later, with snow on the ground and the birds educated, you can hunt all day tho the last hr will still find a greater abundance of birds in the roosting area at sundown.
I hit the draws, sloughs, CRP and public areasthat I think will produce the best with the Pudelpointer of the day.
I always get at least one bird, generally two and sometimes three in 1/2 to an hour of hunting. I have not gone too far, spent much on gas or waited for someone to show up. Good enough for me.
________
VAPORIZER
 
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my hunting trips begine at five am why i don't know maybe to much anticipation,I wake my hunting partners who are 13 and 9 nI fix them breakfast and try to be quiet as we don't want to wake up the othority figure . we finish breakfast and go outside to the dog runns and decide who we are taking and where we will hunt after a short deciding time we take all the dogs becouse you never know what to expect. as the boys are loading the dogs i rush back in call my buddy to see if he is going and make our dinner and snacks. we get to the field always a little behind sunrise and we hunt for a few hours hitting small spots on our way to the big ones . around 10 we break so my youngest partner can check his blood sugar and have a snack then we are off again usually untill mid afternoon and on the way home there is some friendly ribbing about birds missed and whatnot. we clean birds nap and do it all over the next weekend.
 
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