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2016 pheasant season


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1 hour ago, CaptainMusky said:

Rundrave, your dog on the left sure looks like my Gunner, who died about 15 years ago. Phenomenal dog.

That's my dog Wrigley, he is 11. Got cancer on his back leg 3 years ago and it really slowed him down after I had it removed. He's got really bad arthritis and I don't have it in my heart to retire him just yet.

Gave him some carprofen the night before and day of hunting earlier this week and he's an completely different dog. I think his hearing is starting to go as well but he somehow still puts birds in my vest. Its hard to keep him in hunting shape but we just do lots of swimming to keep it easy on his joints. And I have really kept his weight down this fall. Will very likely be his last year hunting and then he will get moved inside to be a house dog. Every day in the field with him will be a treasure. Bittersweet as am I sure you know all to well.

As for this weekends opener Saturday looks warm and I am celebrating my  twins birthday so likely not hunting at all this weekend but that is alright by me. I want some cooler temps and more crops to come out also. 

I know late Sunday afternoon I will be itching to go and probably head out just for a short sundown hunt.

Good luck to everyone this weekend.

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How did everyone's opening weekend go?  Lets see some pics and some stories. I didnt make it out but heading to Huron, SD later this week for a few days. Had family obligations and was a little too warm anyway. Hoping crops and harvest keeps going strong this week and some cooler temps.

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Got back yesterday night late from NoDak.

For a first real pheasant hunt out west for my 14 year old and I, all I can say is WOW.  

Spoiled is the real word..     We hunted last Friday to Tuesday, shot our limit and saw tons of birds.

Numbers of birds were great, and the number of ducks, geese and cranes even greater.  

No matter what time of day/night I left the 5th wheel there were birds in the sky overhead,

Early on birds related to water and cattails. As the week went on, they seemed to move to cut field edges.  

We already have next years hunt planned, and cannot wait.  My son was the shooting star too, all the practice shooting payed off as he was "on" every day.  So fun for a dad to see : )

Will add photos when i download them.  X   

Edited by Xplorer
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Ended up with one bird on public ground western meeker County Friday afternoon. Saturday the pooch put up 6 birds for us in the morning in swift co with hardly a breeze and all I could do was tickle 1 bird, not very proud of that.  This morning the wind was howling which made the birds jumpy but managed a couple.  We pounded a lot of gravel and didn't see much at all, but then again lots of corn still in.

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Made my first couple short outings for the year. I haven't flushed a bird yet with anything other than my truck (rooster was standing in the middle of the road).

I was a bit irritated on Sunday. I arrived at the hunting spot early around 8:30. No vehicles around. I just like to sit and listen for roosters. Well, one obliged and I developed a plan to go after him once 9:00 rolled around.

I sat in my truck until 8:57 then got out, loaded my gun and let the dog out. I began walking in the field at 9:00. To my dismay there were two other hunters about halfway through the small parcel already where I heard the rooster 30 minutes earlier. They couldn't have started at 9 or even 845 for that matter.

I walked the edge of the area to where I thought the bird was and then I saw their vehicle so I turned and walked the other direction and crossed the road. Never flushing the bird.

On my way back to the truck I hear a single gunshot from the early bird hunters. Most likely the bird I had heard earlier. I could see where they were walking and it was about 100 yards beyond where I turned once I saw their truck.

Oh well, I am not disappointed I didn't get the bird, I am disappointed that other hunters cannot seem to follow the rules or think they do not apply to them.

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That sucks Cap'n, that's happened to myself several times. Just keep getting out while you can, I tell my boss the season only comes around once a year. The boy and I are heading to the sw part of the state this weekend , then we'll give it a short break for the deer hunters before hitting it again. Good luck!

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Pheasants are do I dare say thick around here. Issue is hawks are killing them. We watched a hawk flush bird after bird and it tried and tried, finally killing a hen. Was telling my son out raking about it before we saw any pheasants flush that they are tough on pheasants, young turkeys, ducks etc. and sure enough lol. But, that's the great outdoors and a part of it. I should've been hunting that hayfield, easy walking loaded with birds why idk standing corn is the bordering field.

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I plan to get out tomorrow with the boys. All 3 of them could be an adventure. Only one will be carrying a gun since 2 of them are 10 and under. I just love being in the field and watching the dog work. He is still young, only 2 so he has a ways to go, but he is doing pretty well so far. This year I have only walked for 2 or 3 hours total and not in great pheasant areas. More or less I just wanted to get myself in better shape for longer days and where I travel to birdier areas.

I do have to winterize my boat, so if I can get that done tonight I will be out tomorrow. Otherwise I might just go Sunday.

OTC, what part of the state are you in? When I grew up in Hutchinson we had decent numbers of birds, but every weekend we would head out to Montevideo to chase birds. Man, we used to see birds out there. Now that I live North of St Cloud its a long trek to Monte, but I try and do it once a year for old time's sake. SW has always been great, but I am in kind of a pheasant black hole where I live. I have to travel at least 30 minutes to really have huntable numbers.

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Well, got back from sw mn this afternoon .  yesterday afternoon in the heat and high winds the kid and i managed 2. we didn't see nearly as many as last year but some areas are clear of crops and others are still full. 

The lab in the avatar is 2 and  from pointing lines on both sides which has been fun watching him develop, birds in the thick willows it seems he'll bust otta there but in the grass he'll stop and stare then creep a bit  until I tell him ok, then he'll get em up. ( we both are in training mode since I've never owned a pointer). 

This morning was totally opposite , cool and blowing north winds. I thought for sure the birds would be buried in the thickets , found some hens in 8 " tall grass on our way to the thick stuff so kept searching the thin and sure enough we dropped 2 roosters shortly after with nothing found in the thick stuff at that stop.  Break time.

 

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Made it out this morning for an hour. That's all it took. Shot 2 birds, one fell in the middle of the swamp. Dog was right on it but didn't come back with it. I waded in there but when I took a step and didn't hit bottom and the water was over my mucks and nearly up to my waist I decided that was good enough. I walked another half hour and dropped another rooster. After that bird fell and I was gathering my bearings I see a rooster flying and I'm thinking the bird got back up. Lol the one I shot was laying 30 yards from me. So, I shot two and walked back to the truck since it was my limit.

Pup is doing ok. Disappointed he didn't find/retrieve the bird in the water. It was thick and deep so not down on him too much.

In all I flushed 13 birds. 3 roosters and one other might have been a young one. Found where someone shot a hen. The dog was locked in point and I walked in to see the carcass. Still a bit of corn standing but I was surprised how little there was left.

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On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 0:17 PM, rundrave said:

wish I was out hunting right now but put together a few clips from the go pro from the last couple hunts. A few misses (why do they always fly directly right into the sun?) 

 

Love the vid! I miss hunting with two GSPs! I will probably be in search of a pup come Spring or maybe next year since my current one is going to be 3.

I haven't been out much this year. Really disappointed in myself. I have from Dec 23rd to Jan 3 off so I should get out a fair amount. Hoping we can have some decent temps. This weekend was brutal and no way I was going to subject myself and dog to that.

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Got a couple of roosters today walking a very large cattail slough. Walking deer trails in the slough was treacherous as they were as slippery as possibly could be. My favorite way of hunting though...just me and the dog and a mile and three quarters of cattails.

 

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Shot one today and one on Thursday.  Kind of a bummer of a season for me.  Spent all of October and most of November in the boat chasing smallmouths, and basically worked all of December.  I didn't make it to SD this year either.  When I did make it out tho, I did see birds.  Dog is 7yo, and hunted hard for me!  Now it's a long wait till next year.  

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