What to call it? Thinking out loud?

B

bknight

New member
I just don't know what to call it. This depressed feeling because this is going to be a real slow/bad season. This year, driving from Georgia out to anywhere to do a "do it yourself hunt", reeeeeally looks uphill. I have been enjoying coming to Nebraska and lately to Kansas since 1989. It was always the highlight of my year, and I largely did it to watch my birddogs enjoy themselves while I was having fun too. Except for about five years when my old dog was not able to go, and I was too soft to leave her at home or hurt her feelings by getting another dog, I have not missed either Kansas or Nebraska to hunt . This year, I am really discouraged by the price of gas and the rather bleak sounding plight of the pheasants and quail. The low bird population seems to be spreading all over because of drought and habitat loss which are kinda one and the same I guess.

I am just not seeing or feeling much enthusiasm in posts here for the upcoming season. Somebody please say it isn't so! I am sick down to my shoes and just thinking about coming anyway and being a tourist or seeing the parts I have not seen. The wife has been asking if we are going as she likes it too, though she doesn't hunt, she likes to see our dog hunting with all her passion. I always felt the hunting paid my dog back in some measure for having to be good in the house and not getting to run and hunt where we live. I'm sorry for the ramblin' rant, but maybe you can see why I didn't know what to call it. At my age I don't know how many more years I can even think about bird hunting, much less do it, so I really hate to pass up a season. I know that no one knows the number of his days, but as I get older time gets more precious and I know my string is getting shorter. Thanks for listening.
 
LOL. I wouldn't let what could be a tough season in Kansas and Nebraska bring you down!

There's still birds out there so get out and hunt this fall. Don't let some bad news steal you from the hunt. Besides, your dog will thank you for it:cheers:
 
If your main goal is to reward your dog and give her a chance to hunt, then you should be able to accomplish that goal no matter what the reports say. :thumbsup: Hunting is ALWAYS hard, even when it's "easy".

Dogs only have so many good, healthy years. It would be a shame to waste one unnecessarily. AND your wife is on board???:thumbsup: What's stopping you?:D
 
Don't be so depressed. If you look at the SD brood count report, they are reporting increased numbers over last year.
 
alright time for you to be the glass half full guy:) You must remember farmers in general are happy. I went fishing in ND talked to a farmer combining barley by the end of the talk I had 22000 acres to hunt on if I came back and 1700 acres from a friend of his and the ducks and geese used this land. So ask no aint the end of the world. plus I'm sure you and the wife and dog will love the trip no matter how good or bad the hunting. Gas price can't do nothing about:( Maybe less snacks or something like that. just my two cents ENJOY and take lots of :coolpics:
 
Come on. You won't regret going, only regret NOT going. I walked a dry creek bed yesterday, cracks an inch wide and several inches deep, was thinking this is really bad. 2 minutes later dog got up 8 birds. We only get so many days and chances to go hunting. Don't deny yourself, your wife, or your dog the chance to make more memories. There will come a day when that's all we have left. Go have fun!
 
I'm heading back home for the funeral of a former old hunting partner who didn't get out the last 2 years because of the lousy prospects, price of fuel, etc., too. Don't wait until it's too late or you can't. Life is fleeting; go out & watch the dog work . . . that's my biggest pleasure anyway.
 
PcolaGSP said:
Come on. You won't regret going, only regret NOT going. I walked a dry creek bed yesterday, cracks an inch wide and several inches deep, was thinking this is really bad. 2 minutes later dog got up 8 birds
Click to expand...

I love it Pcola!!! Wild birds!

We've got those nasty cracks in the ground where water once laid too:eek:. (Despite that) yesterday evening I reached down for a wing feather on the ground. It was left behind from a young rooster, just then cackling away were young wild pheasants flying right towards me from the corn field. They were coming in for the roost and landed about 45 yards from me! What a sound those raspy cackles are on a calm evening. Great stuff:thumbsup:
 
I vote go....

From the ne.gov website:

"Additionally, the eastern portion of the Panhandle
region and the Central region should provide good pheasant hunting opportunities."

A day outside, with your wife and your dog, with the chance to see a wild rooster flush? That makes me smile just thinking about it. Our time here is short and a bird dog's life is measured in seasons and is always too short. IMHO anyhow.
 
My thanks to all of you! I was just losing my focus a bit I guess. This helpped me! Now I go tomorrow to a cardiologist to get checked for a murmur. If they will cooperate with me and find nothing real serious I might just see some of you out there. Oh yeah I did forget about that colonoscopy as well. Got to get by both doctors. Then I will get serious! No that is not true! I am already serious. You all are really special folks, thanks again.

Bill
 
Go hunting. It's better to be out there giving it a try. You never know what you might learn or what new contact you might make. Even if you cover a lot of ground and still get skunked it will help you appreciate the good days to come even more. I just keep telling myself "this is why they call it hunting instead of shooting".

But if you are inconsolable and your cracker jack bird dogs and high dollar shotguns are just making you more miserable, I'll man up and let you drop them off at my house.

Hang in there!
 
I focus less on the end result and more on the means of the journey.. IE - I do not care if I end up with my daily limit or only see one bird.. It is the journey that means the most..you, your dogs, your friends, a cold beer, the sunset on a prairie..That is what means the most...and no roadside report will ever keep me from going out with my friends and my dogs.
 
I'd go come hell or high water

BK, You sure sound down in the dumps! Sorry to hear you that way. You MUST go, because the only feeling you'll have if you don't is regret and regret sucks. You never know what you'll uncover if you go.

When I was a kid growing up in SE Wisconsin, a good day pheasant hunting was that we got a bird. Going to SD can spoil a person real fast, as happened to one of my brothers. One down year and he'll never go back. Too bad for guys like him, cause I've been back again and again, and I've had some great hunts.

You aren't living if you don't take the opportunity to take the next step. Sitting home on the couch wondering "what if" is no way to live.

I'm sure after reading posts from our friends on here you'll change your mind and go, and most likely be very glad you did.
 
By the way... I don't put much weight into the entire road survey data, etc.. Populations fluctuate, even in good times. Having to work at it makes it hunting. If you want a sure thing, pay for some one to stock birds for you at a hunt club. Me, I'd rather take my chances in the wild and enjoy it all the more.
 
Got good news from the cardiologist today! Had made up the mind to go yesterday, but if the Dr. had said you gotta have a bypass I guess it would not have worked out. Thank God my ticker is good. Still need to get with a GI man, but I believe that will be ok as well, although sometimes one gets fooled. All of you helped me decide especially the thing about dogs only have a short number of good years! So true! You guys probably won't be surprised when I say that I think she already KNOWS the decision is made! Sadie has been sticking to me like glue today! I hid a couple of pheasant wings in the yard today and she went as if on a string to them both. Then I placed one about waist high to me, in a tree. She smelled it on the first pass downwind of it and searched the ground quickly ,but didn't come up with it. I kept telling her to find it and she went to the trunk standing on her back legs , reached up and retrieved it! I've had her point quail sixteen feet above the ground before, but of course there has to be some wind current bringing her the scent. The slightly cooler air is getting her fired up! Again thanks for the nudging! I needed that! Thinking about NW Kansas or SW Nebraska. I kinda shy away from SD because I know it will spoil me. I don't want it too easy! LOL! However I do want to see enough birds to keep the dog encouraged.

Bill
 
awfully dry in those areas you picked, my humble advice is look at the drought maps and adjust if you can.....although you can find pockets of birds anywhere.....good luck, glad to hear you are coming out!:thumbsup:
 
BK: Glad to hear the good news from the cardiologist. I speak from experience that hearing the good news is a huge relief.

This morning was session 4 working the pup on quail. He is so fired up when we go out to the training field. Man! Is he ever pumped! The second and third day he knew there were going to be birds out there, hunted for them very hard, scented and bumped them without pointing. On the second bird this morning he locked up tight and held for quite a while. I'm getting more and more excited with each session. Can't wait for the next. This is going to be a fun hunting season.
 
I wasn't going to hunt last year either because of this and that, but finally decided to give the Yakima Indian Reservation a shot. Terrible results but Gus and I had a great time. BTW in the last year I've lost my only two friends that lived near me in Washington. One was an old WWII field promoted Lieutenant. His loss was the worst for me as he became a father figure for me. Bill was a wonderful man. He'd been through hell but never complained about his problems. The other gentleman was a Lieutenant Colonel and like Bill had been through hell in Viet Nam. This last gentleman suffered greatly from Agent Orange, radiation poisoning from his work as a nuclear engineer both caused cancer to spread and eventually took his life early. Both loved to fish, hunt and be out and about. I miss them greatly and when I am out hunting or fishing I always try remember them with a prayer and hope that they are with me in spirit.

Diesel is expensive this year again and I know I should probably stay home but nope I'm heading to Montana...may the gods and goddesses of the Hunt Bless Gus and I.
 
BKnight,
It sounds like you and I must have crossed path's. I too trampled Southeast Nebraska all through the 1980's and started going to Kansas when the birds and local hospitality dropped off in Nebraska early in 1990's.

I love going out to the "Walk In" acreage in North central Kansas and at this point could care less about anything other than seeing my dogs having fun and working hard. My favorite time of year is late season.
Having said all this I adopted a mind set several years ago that I would rather have the solitude and peace that comes with small group hunting and later season hunting than worrying about the weight in my hunting jacket.
To put it simply I have many times walked the line in a field push where mega birds flushed right and left and get little pleasure from this type shooting any more. I really enjoy and adopted what I think as of a Big game mentality to seeking out the smart tough old cocks off the beaten path and would gladly trade a dozen early walk up birds for one prize fight with my dogs ,myself and these worthy adversaries.
To me it's no different than working for and waiting out that one really big buck of the season rather than the dozens of nice eight pointers that go by.
This is how I am still giddy about each and every season no matter if the numbers are up or down.It's also how I stay positive when I look down the road and realize the future will likely hold more hunters with less available acreage and fewer bird numbers. There will always be a "super cock" or two hiding somewhere.

I hope this might offer an approach that helps get you excited to trample some CRP this season.

Regards.
 
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