Grasses right now?

[MNpurple]

I was very suprised today at the amount of people I saw working the native grasses and CRP type fields, rather than working the heavy reed canary grass or the cattails. Granted tha cattails were iffy if they would hold you or not (see my wet boots), but some areas were huntable.

This time of year do you spend much time in the grassy cover, where you may have been before snow, or do you head for the cattails, heavy grass and willows right away?

[gspman]

As long as it is still standing and thick enough the grass can hold birds. I almost always start hunting the grass first and then move into the cattails.

[123fish]

With this cold weather the first place I'm heading are the red willows. They are a pheasant magnet in cold weather. With that said I shot a big old longspur at the city burn pile today which has about enough cover to hide a sparrow so you never know.

[Rooster Chaser]

Why choose? I shot my birds today in the transition between switch grass and cattails.

[jparrucci]

I usually start working the edge of the cattails, and then transition from there depending on which side of me the birds are coming from. The red willows are a gold mine too. I try to avoid working LARGE cattails, ones that are either too tall, or too large of an area. A small slough is perfect.

[Little Joe]

I normally hit the food sources first thing regardless of the type of cover next to them. We found lots of birds in some "iffy" crp grass next to picked corn fields. Bean fields weren't as good. We also focused on south facing hills and found bunches of birds - again in grass that I thought wouldn't normally hold birds this time of year. It was 4 degrees yesterday morning and those birds were trying to warm up. Didn't need to touch a cattail.

[Riverratpete]

Found ours in grass between woodlot and old corn foodplot..saw tracks in cattails but no jumpers.

[crothmeier]

hit them in the smaller grasses yesterday, as well as out of the grove, and food plots. i go out after the snow and you can tell what areas they have been using.

[tybo]

My setter had an awesome point in the grass along side a plowed corn field on Sunday morning and then flushed a bird from some switch grass one a small pond edge on a WMA near Litchfield. The point was ahen the wild flush was in the sun and I couldn't make out what it was since it didn't cackle. I tried to mark it down and find it but no such luck. I'm not really sure where to find the birds. I've been either hunting the wrong areas or the wrong cover. Hoping for better luck this weekend.

[Riverratpete]

I think after this weather passes I'll be headed for the sparrow grass and cattails. Heavy cover..going be cold Sat

[123fish]

Yep it's going to be cold weather cover time. Groves, cattails, red willows, ect.

[no bait nate]

pines, and cedars