Wrapping up our pheasant hunting season

CO_Weimar

CO_Weimar

New member
Headed up to Phillips County on Sunday and Monday.

We are wrapping things up for the year. I need to get a few things done around the house that I have been neglecting, but this has been an awesome season.

Sunday was a bust - I shot 2 times at one bird in the morning, missed both times, didn't fire another shot the rest of the day, despite hunting until sunset.

Monday was a different story. Dakota was stellar both days. 5 min into the first field of the morning, Dakota went on point. I moved in to flush and a rooster popped up, about a second later a 2nd rooster flushed in the other direction. I shot the 1st, sent Dakota, turned and shot the 2nd. Dakota retrieved the 1st rooster, and I sent him in for the 2nd. The 2nd had some life left in it and Dakota pointed rather than retrieved. I walked over, picked it up and rung its neck, let Dakota have a sniff and gave him a pat on the head, then off we went. We continued across the field, Dakota went on point, I moved in, the rooster flushed, I shot it, sent Dakota to retrieve and we had our limit. 3 shots, 3 birds in less than an hour! A perfect ending to a great season of pheasant hunting - might as well call it quits at the top of our game. :cheers:

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Not happy about being woken up from his nap for a picture. ;)
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Awesome!!! Gotta love those days. I went out Monday with a buddy as well. We both shot a rooster each and called it a day around 1pm. I have been neglecting a few things around my house as well. But I am not ready to hang it up yet :D.

:cheers:
 
Congratulations! I went out to Seibert today and got nothing. Flushed two hens, one of which flushed a jack rabbit I was able to connect with. I saw one rooster, it flushed onto private land as I drove down the road. Wasn't expecting much other than to get out of the city considering it was 65 degrees. Not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Any ares still holding birds out there?
 
Great pic's !!!!! Fat lady has not sung yet for me!!!!! Hoping for some weather!!!!!
 
Good luck to everyone! Got an invite to go hunting with a friend in Nebraska this weekend, but I am sticking to my guns. ;)


:cheers:
 
I like those pics. Great looking dog to. Glad you guys are getting out and getting action.:thumbsup:
 
Great pics and great looking Weim.

I was out Wed. the 4th near Yuma but was shootless. Several wild rooster flushes, a handful of hens, and a nice flock of prairie chickens but that season is over.

Did Eastern CO get any of the snow on Saturday night? I'm thinking of going out Tuesday or Wednesday.

Regards,
POL
 
Hi All;

Just found your forum the other day and I wanted to say thanks for the valuble knowledge you've all posted. I've learned more in the last 4 days than I have all season long. I've been waterfowl and big gamming if for a few years now but am just jumping into the pheasant mix with no luck yet.

we walked WIA fields a few weeks ago S. of Brush and then just NE of flemming without seeing anything. we took my neighbor's lab, but he's nearly worthless until you have something on the ground for him to retrieve...more of a duck and goose dog than a bird dog.

So We're heading to Yuma this weekend for one last stand before the season is over and was curious if someone could reccomend us going North or South? I see there's quite a few crop circles on the WIA atlas in both directions and figured that may be a good place to start? any thoughts?

any reccomendation would be appreciated and I can also understand if someone doesn't want to share.

thanks
-Scott
 
Welcome to the site! I don't think you can go wrong around the Yuma area. I know alot of people like the Sedgewick and Holyoke areas as well. You are just going to have to keep venturing out and put some walking in and burn up alot of gas. Before you know it, you will start to see a pattern of what these birds like to do. A good hunting dog definitley gives you an advantage and makes it alot more fun :thumbsup:. A little snow could definitely help right now being this late in the season. My best advice to you is they love corn. Good luck and let us know how you do.

:cheers:
 
Thanks for the reply Scoelki...Corn is King for most other birds, so I agree with your thoughts.

Wish for some snow tomorrow night I guess!

Regards,
-Scott
 
I've have had the most success in tall/thick CRP with corn nearby. Also, good success in large grass / CRP fields, at the far ends of the field.

All of the corn circles (with one exception) that I went to had been hit so hard that my dog didn't even get birdy on them.
 
Hey Guys;

so 3 of us walked the WIAs out and around the Yuma area the last two weekends with little success. The first weekend we saw a few roosters that popped up from a distance, so we didn't get shots off. Last weekend we saw 9 hens and that was it. Thanks for the initial guidance.

Anyways, we were considering going up north twoards Holyoke or down twoards Joes and I was curious if someone might have some insight on how either of those areas have hunted in the past?

thanks.
-scott
 
scottcsu,

Holyoke / Haxtun would be good. You might want to try to find some spots that are smallish, out of the way with thick cover, adjacent to corn. Other places that I have had good luck are really large CRP fields ... I typically head to the very back corner because like it or not, most people are lazy and if they don't find birds by the time they get halfway out, they move on to other fields.

Are you hunting with dogs or without? With Dakota, if I know that he is on a bird that is running, I will often try to go another direction out in front of him and hope to pin in a bird, and / or get it to flush. This also works well if you can get into a corner, many times they will run and hold in a corner or at an edge before flushing. Also, I shoot 12 gauge over/under and changed my chokes from improved cylinder/modified to modified/full since the late season birds tend to flush further out. Also, I switched to #4 3" shells.

Obviously the easy birds are in the fridge already, so only the crafty ones are left. ;)
 
only the crafty ones are left.

That is what makes late season roosters so much fun! They do get creative this time of year! :cheers:
 
CO_Weimer,

yep, this time we'll finally have some more bodies (8 total) with us and 2 dogs...the previous two trips were dogless, but still a great time.

I think we're all carrying 12's, although I know one guy was considering carrying his 20ga...which prompted me to joke about bringin my 10ga for those "really long shots"...and then I thought about it again, just for the sake of humor...hehe :D

really appreciate the heads up; :10sign: I think we're getting the idea of right habitats, just need to zero in on the proper locations in the state.

I'll be sure to let you guys know how the weekend turns out. Happy end-of-season to those who'll be getting out this weekend.

-scott
 
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