What Am I Doing Wrong?

R

RaiderHater

New member
Hey Guys, I've been reading this forum for a little while but after this year's opening weekend I'm coming to you for help. For the last 3 years I've been hitting the WIA properties and never saw a single bird. This year I broke down and paid the money to take part in the Burlington Rotary Club's "Rooster Round-Up". I was just as disappointed this year and only saw one hen running down the road the entire weekend. I heard a lot of shooting going on so I know they must be out there.

It's usually just me and my brittany out there, although sometimes I bring my lab along too. I kept mostly to fence rows and pivot corners this year but like I said, didn't see a thing.

I guess I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong or am I just super unlucky? Should I not be overlooking cut corn and cut wheat fields? It wouldn't be so frustrating if I could just see one bird out in the wild, even if it's flushing 100 yards in front of me.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!
 
RH - I spent a lot of years going through just what you're going through now. Best advice I can give is to read up on strategies and techniques and keep at it.

Shoot me a PM if you want to talk details. I know how frustrating those birds can be while you're getting up to speed!
 
I think maybe we all get focused in on specific habitat where we believe pheasants will be. Truth is pheasants probably use all areas of a specific habitat, dependent upon time of year, weather, time of day, in short a whole array of permutations. Simple answer may be, if your not finding them in traditional cover, hunt something different, cut crops, isolated patches a long way from anything, marshy areas other hunters skirt. This early not unlikely birds spending the day in the stubble, difficult to approach, and a lot of area to cover. Frustrating, but if it was easy everybody would do it. Keep at it, one of these days everything will fall in place, and you'll take a limit, and make it look easy, maybe even think you got it all figured out, nice to feel that way for a while! but it won't last, next time the birds will make a fool of you, but that's the fun of it. We all go through the same thing. Good Luck, keep at it.
 
Is a big field intimidating to you? Corn not with one person odds are against you, big field with good feed around it, better odds, corners maybe if you are ther first, everybody hunts them, find a field, look for phez tracks by the road, walk the field look for tracks if you dont see any or your dog doesnt get birdy , dont waste your time find another field, look for places around the field, tree rows for shelter, water, but mostly good feed for them, and you will find them.
 
Raiderhater here's some very general rules that may help though you may already know all this;

Sunrise the birds are on the roost, if weather is good look for brome and other vertical grasses to find them. Make sure it's dry ground. If it's flooded or wet the birds won't roost in that area, but on the edges of the wet area. They WILL move into those wet areas later in the day especially if pushed hunters/predators.

If it rained the night before look for reed canary grass that’s bunched and fallen over. These grasses tend to cover the birds a bit more than brome therefore providing more shelter from the rain.

Snow moved in the night before? Hit the cattails, bulrush, low lands

By 8-8:30am they've typically moved to the crops. If crops are picked, hit the hedge rows and fence lines.

10:30-2:00pm you can find them on the edges of fields and in low "thin" cover areas dusting themselves if the ground is dry. This is typically the slowest part of the day unless your hunting standing crops.

By 3:00pm they're just starting to move out of the crops, though many birds will stay in crops until late evening. Either way, fence rows, ditches, and hedgerows do well.

Remember that birds like to roost in low areas, but will often roost in large higher ground areas too. Many times weather plays a large part in were the birds roost.

There's a lot more to it but these are just some general ideas to go by. Hope this helps. :cheers: --1pheas4
 
Timing is the key

You have to look over the land see how it plays into the way you want to hunt. Hit the places most likely to hae birds at the time when you are hunting. And let the dog work over the area hard as the season draws on the birds will bust futher out and those that stay will hold fast and only break when really pushed, must times just run if the cover is good. Keep it up plan it out and remember above all a bad day hunting beats a great day at work everytime. :cheers: And like the post above think about the time, there needs and what drives them
 
Raider stay at it, don't lose heart & pay attention to detail/take mental notes on EVERYTHING (even supposed failures) - it will all start coming together for you one day & your heart will be in your throat when it does - victory tastes even sweeter when you have worked so hard for it & finally figured it out on your own!

I'm still pretty much a newbie myself - I spent my first year here in CO all alone in a brand new state, didn't know anyone to bird hunt with (& be4 I even knew this UPH forum existed) - it took me a whole year on-my-own to home-in on a few key areas & bag my first & only wild-rooster that year. Last year it really began to come together & I had to work hard for em' sometimes, but I overall averaged 2 roosters per trip all season long! Saw a ton of birds (and yeah, lots of them flushed "100 yds out" - great tattletales that you're in the right area, but that wasn't the ones I was looking for - I only needed a straggler or two left behind)...

Couple fellow amateur tips:

1.) SLOW DOWN!!! Especially if your dogs are inexperienced & haven't had much chance to get a snoot full of feathers. Zig-Zag yourself, STOP & go a lot, double-back, maybe sometimes walk all the way around back & come in from the opposite way that the majority of other hunters approach (& watch/make mental notes of where any birds bail for next time out)...It is amazing how many lone roosters will flush almost out from under your feet only after you have done all this & then hesitate in one spot for what seems to both bird & man like an eternity! The dogs will learn real quick once it happens a time or two...

2.) DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE BIG STUFF!!! I too at first, like many others followed the standard advice of sticking to small corners, fence-rows & such whenever it was just me & one dog or maybe a couple of us. Problem is those are the first places that everybody hits...Bottom line - many (dare I say most) hunters are too lazy & impatient to tackle the big stuff unless it's with the big party-hunter/blocker groups. I have had some of my best times & most consistent luck in huge CRP fields all alone, just the pooch & I takin our sweet time just meandering around in an unpredictable pattern!

3.) THE THICKER THE BETTER (especially in inclement conditions)!!! I look for the kind of cover where I know if I find birds some of them are gonna hold & not all run out of the county...I don't even bother getting out of the truck until I find what I'm looking for...A couple of my very best honey-holes are tiny, but the only such cover for miles around - they are so thick that they tear clothes, will pull the gun out of your hand, and generally wear out hunter & dog - but when all else fails, I flush roosters out of there like swarms of flies & mosquitoes!

4.) SPEND TIME SCOUTING (This one should have been first on the list, even though it can be done & is often very effective on the day-of the hunt)...Never leave home without a pair of binoculars & use them often...To find out if birds are in a general overall area, look for them in cut corn fields mid-morning & aft, picking grit (gravel) off the roads in the evening, ect. & listen/watch for them at sunrise & sunset cackling & coming off or going back to a likely roost...

Be4 all of this, do your homework well - learn specifically what a pheasant likes & a little of what one thinks like (there is plenty of material out there) - keep up with annual CDOW, PF pheasant reports/stats, ect & read like a maniac thru all of the threads on this forum (which I have found to be extremely helpful to me)!

This is all just for starters...IF you are ALWAYS paying attention & win-or-lose making every trip afield another building-block/learning-situation, you will eventually even begin to learn nifty little side-tricks like hawk-watching, ect.

If you continue to have problems or keep coming up with an absolute zero, PM me & I'll try to get out with you sometime later in the season...

Wise/sage advice all the others gave you be4 me - much better than mine...
 
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Meet me in yuma you buy me a motel room and meals and Ill put you on all the birds you'll ever hope to see.......done deal
 
RaiderHater, you just got years of great advice !!! Great job guys!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
cowdog said:
Meet me in yuma you buy me a motel room and meals and Ill put you on all the birds you'll ever hope to see.......done deal
Click to expand...

Aint that the truth!! If you're huntin' the private, you've obviously done something right (chores, xmas gifts, more chores, extra chores, additional extra chores, chores in the summer, chores in the winter :eek:). A little payback is always nice. I quit bringin buds that don't get that one. :cool: I ain't family, so chores were my way of gettin' in.
 
There's some great advice posted. I'll add a few (mostly learned the hard way)

Stop a few blocks away from your prospective field so that you can get your clothing and gear ready so that after you quietly drive up to your parking spot you can quickly enter the field, ready to hunt.

Take the time while getting your gear ready to check the sun position, wind direction, orientation of the field and the surrounding fields and plan your hunt.

Drive on quietly to your parking spot. Consider parking some distance away and continue in quietly on foot. Close doors quietly. Pheasants have great hearing.

In general, try to hunt toward natural blocking points like an open field or a road so that the pheasants will be encouraged to flush and fly rather than continue to run into more cover.

Since you don't know how long you might be away from the vehicle, bring water (especially for the dog), a small first aid kit, toilet paper/kleenex pack(backpacker trowel if the ground's not frozen), snack/energy bar, extra shells.

Dress in multiple layers so you can shed a layer if you get overheated. Stuff the discarded layer in your game vest or tie it around you. Try to keep your clothes from getting too wet from sweat.

Clean your corrective or protective glasses often as they get dusty quickly. You are wearing protective eyewear, right?

And most importanly, keep spending time in the field and learn from your experiences.

PairOfLabs
Tom
 
1pheas4 said:
Raiderhater here's some very general rules that may help though you may already know all this;

Sunrise the birds are on the roost, if weather is good look for brome and other vertical grasses to find them. Make sure it's dry ground. If it's flooded or wet the birds won't roost in that area, but on the edges of the wet area. They WILL move into those wet areas later in the day especially if pushed hunters/predators.

If it rained the night before look for reed canary grass that’s bunched and fallen over. These grasses tend to cover the birds a bit more than brome therefore providing more shelter from the rain.

Snow moved in the night before? Hit the cattails, bulrush, low lands

By 8-8:30am they've typically moved to the crops. If crops are picked, hit the hedge rows and fence lines.

10:30-2:00pm you can find them on the edges of fields and in low "thin" cover areas dusting themselves if the ground is dry. This is typically the slowest part of the day unless your hunting standing crops.

By 3:00pm they're just starting to move out of the crops, though many birds will stay in crops until late evening. Either way, fence rows, ditches, and hedgerows do well.

Remember that birds like to roost in low areas, but will often roost in large higher ground areas too. Many times weather plays a large part in were the birds roost.

There's a lot more to it but these are just some general ideas to go by. Hope this helps. :cheers: --1pheas4
Click to expand...

great advice:cheers:
 
Excellent advice from all - I even learnt me a thang or two here!

PrOfLabs - Who did you try all of that with??? Did you also mean to say clean/check ur ski goggles & don't let one square inch of skin show if it's nearly 20 below-zero while you're practicing all of this!!! Oh & that TP sure does come in handy for you early in the morning doesn't it... :D
 
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As a new pheasant hunter myself, I want to thank you guys for your input and insight! Thanks to Grouchyolddude, I got my first pheasant hunt at RMR south of Denver. I was so hooked, I'm getting my own GSP and will be planning a trip to KS right after Christmas. This will be a solo trip for me and the new pup to get out and learn together...probably the same stuff you guys just described, only first hand. This thread was extremely useful and informative! :cheers:
 
Just a little tip I picked up: Forget the TP and get yourself a package of those moisturized baby wipes. They come in handy for cleaning up after you've cleaned your birds and they keep my butt silky smooth and smelling nice after those early morning constitutionals. Just be sure to carry a plastic bag with you and pack out what needs to be packed out.
 
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