I hunted the SW with some friends last Friday through Monday on private land in what had been prime pheasant areas. The other reports are pretty accurate from what I saw. There must have been a high 90's percent mortality in the broods this year. I think I only saw two young birds out of the twenty or so that we bagged this year. Almost completely the opposite of a normal year. The numbers were down some last year, but this year there was a remarkable drop. I have been hunting the same area for about twelve years now and this is the first time I have seen anything like it.
Most of the sunflowers and corn are still standing although there was some harvesting going on. As mentioned elsewhere a lot of the grass has been cut and baled this year. We still had plenty of good cover to hunt, but the old birds are very wily. If there aren't enough people to surround an area, the roosters are gone before you even get started.
On Sunday we went further west and hunted Sharptail near the Little Missouri River. This was the highlight of the trip. There were more Sharptail around than I have seen before. We flushed several nice coveys and saw some great country.
The weather was great, almost too warm on Monday and I always enjoy the time spent with friends. We actually got to do more hunting this year rather than going out, shooting a limit, and then looking for other stuff to do for the rest of the day. All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.
Jerry
Most of the sunflowers and corn are still standing although there was some harvesting going on. As mentioned elsewhere a lot of the grass has been cut and baled this year. We still had plenty of good cover to hunt, but the old birds are very wily. If there aren't enough people to surround an area, the roosters are gone before you even get started.
On Sunday we went further west and hunted Sharptail near the Little Missouri River. This was the highlight of the trip. There were more Sharptail around than I have seen before. We flushed several nice coveys and saw some great country.
The weather was great, almost too warm on Monday and I always enjoy the time spent with friends. We actually got to do more hunting this year rather than going out, shooting a limit, and then looking for other stuff to do for the rest of the day. All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.
Jerry