Who's going out this weekend?

ilphezhunter said:
Wasn't able to get out over the weekend but got out for the first time today. My Dad and I were able to get three. We walked three separate ditches. First we saw 3 roosters, 2 hens, and 1 coyote. My dad got one rooster on his way to block for me and I got the coyote. Second ditch we saw 5 hens and 1 rooster that flushed wild. Last ditch we got two roosters off solid points from the dog in the pic. Overall I was pleasantly surprised considering how warm it was. Thought the birds would be out feeding today.
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Nice job. I'd say all three of those roosters are not from this years hatch. Possibly the one on the left side of the photo being this years hatch though he looks older too. Did you happen to look at their spurs?

Nick
 
Hope you do well when you go out. I'm just above the stateline, up in Wisconsin, and we had 30-40mph sustained winds today, with slightly lower winds forecast for tomorrow.

Hang on to your hats and be safe.:thumbsup:
 
1pheas4 said:
Nice job. I'd say all three of those roosters are not from this years hatch. Possibly the one on the left side of the photo being this years hatch though he looks older too. Did you happen to look at their spurs?

Nick
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Yes the spurs on two of them were longer and could be second year birds. The one on the left just had a nub for a spur.
 
So got a report from a buddy who hunts with us every now and again in East Central IL. He usually goes to the Nekoma area.

He hunted with us on the opener then took off early Sunday, hit a few spots around Nekoma and they bagged 6 cocks. He went out middle of the week and they bagged 7.

Didn't believe him but he sent pictures..... I guess there are birds over there.
 
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Nov 14, 2015 Illinois cocks.

3 hunters, three limits.

2 dogs. 1 GSP, 1 Braque Francais.

The Braque retrieved each of the 6 birds :cheers:
 
You uploaded photos!! Lol. Nice job murph.

Man, Most of the birds seem to be older birds thus far. Anyone keeping track of older vs this years hatch?

Nick
 
1pheas4 said:
You uploaded photos!! Lol. Nice job murph.

Man, Most of the birds seem to be older birds thus far. Anyone keeping track of older vs this years hatch?

Nick
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I might have had help.....:eek: Didn't know I had to post them on the web somewhere then link to them.

One of the birds we bagged had 22 inch tail and long, super sharp spurs. Drew blood on one of the guys.
 
This snow storm coming in tonight should make for some interesting hunting this weekend. We'll see what this does for the shotgun deer season #'s too.

I would like to try to get out on pheasants tomorrow. We'll see. So far my boss says I have to stay home with one of my daughters. lol

Nick
 
I'll be out tomorrow for my first pheasant hunt of the year. Should be a good one with the snow if we do get any here in central Il. Very excited I'll try to post pictures if it's a good day.
 
The way it's looking you may get a little snow. Seems like more of a rain/freezing rain even for central IL. Either way let us know how you do down there.



Nick
 
At this point it's looking like this baby is going to hit us. Birds knew this storm was coming when they came into roost this evening. If you get out tomorrow in areas where the snow fell/falling they'll most likely roosted in cattails.;)

Take a shovel with you too. I'm guessing this will be heavy, wet snow.

Good luck and drive safe.

Nick
 
Yeah I'm watching the news right now and they're saying 2-3 inches of snow for my area in mclean county. I don't mind the snow at all or the cold but if the winds are up I will probly wait till Sunday to go out. On a good side note on my way home from picking my kids up after work I went by one of my spots and had a nice big rooster standing just off the side of the road so I hope I get to go tomorrow!!!
 
Well I went out this morning while it was snowing and no breeze. It was really nice with the snow fall for awhile, then the winds picked up and turned into what seemed like a blizzard. Only got one young rooster but my dog did really good for his first time out this season. All and all I'm happy.
 
Yeah, there's some snow out there! A lot of deer hunters too.

Nick
 
So got out to a new spot today with a buddy and three people he knows, one being a farmer near Cissna Park who likes pheasants.

He has a 20ac CRP field and a couple of long ditches with plenty of cover around them, probably 40 yards on either side.

My bud told me he hunted it last weekend after the snow and there were piles of birds. Not ones and twos, but 7s and 9s and 12s....

He got the call yesterday to hunt and they needed dogs so he phones me up and I was happy to oblige.

I think I can conservatively say I saw 100 flushes, shot close to a box of shells (as did 4 of the 5) and we bagged 7 birds. Saw several flushes that had over 8 birds, one had at least 12 and saw at least 20 run out of the field across the road. Been years since I've seen that.

It was breezy and these birds weren't giving us great opportunities but we should have had a limit, easily. However the other dog was a lab and he'd push birds left and right. My Braque Francais did a fine job both pointing and retrieving and finding wounded birds.

Farmers who care enough to provide some habitat are rewarded, as are those lucky enough to hunt these rare spots. Wish there were more like him. Good guy.

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That's a nice group of birds. It's truly is a amazing how just a little bit of good habitat can produce so many pheasants.

Haven't hunted around Cissna yet. My brother in law farms over there, and I usually save his farms until later in the year. He's got some pretty good ditches just west of Rt 49.

I went out yesterday up here in Ogle county where I live. Saw a whopping 3 birds, but did manage to scratch out a limit.
 
Nice bunch of birds Murph:thumbsup:


Good reports.

Nick
 
I got out for our PF chapter youth hunt today. Have to say I wasn't sure what to expect but I had a great time. Nothing like seeing the young ones shoot their first birds. Also some good bonding between parents and youths.

If you've never helped, volunteer for your areas next youth hunt, you will love it.

Be sure to get a kid out to the field, even if it isn't your own, they are the future of the sport. Be present!
 
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