Update on Western Nebraska

[airmedic1]

I've been out five times and seen birds twice. The other day I saw three and today the one I shot. It's been pretty warm and there is still a lot of crop in so maybe it will get better.
The one thing I did note on the day I saw three was how spooky they were for so early in the season. I know that field hadn't been hunted and they got up about 75 yards in front of me, just like late in the season. It was just me and my GSP Sevee hunting into the wind and she was no more than 10 yards from me when they flushed and we don't make much noise. I don't talk to her or whistle we try to hunt quietly.
The bird from today. It has no tail feathers since Sevee had to run it down.

 

[remy3424]

Sounds like tough hunting conditions. I think if that were all the birds I saw in couple of hours of hunting, I wouldn't be hunting those few that are left. It isn't just shooting of the roosters as much as stirring-up the hens. Conditions aren't tough enough yet to where that would make much of a difference. This must not be the normal for your area....drought, big rains during the hatch?

 

[Roy B]

That is an older rooster according to what I see for spurs. I have always wondered if the older birds remember the past.

 

[airmedic1]

I figured he was a bird from last year by his spur lenght. My dog pinned him in some taller CRP after following him for over a 1/4 mile. Good girl!