Rooster Reports

[BLACKJACK]

Headscratcher of the trip. Pile of tile waiting for install crew. What's with the irrigation system it's sitting under?

It’s called 'water management', run the water off in the spring or after a heavy rain and then irrigate when its dry - makes sense doesn't it??!

[walleye18]

The tiles are for draining wet lands/making more tillable ground so more corn can be planted.

Wife's uncle is going hog wild on his place in ND with tile. Cattail sloughs are disappearing.....by the hundreds across the State.

[CodyDawg]

3 guys and 2 little (nonhunting) boys made it out on Saturday. In 2 hours of hunting, we saw about 40 and got 7. These next two weeks are gonna be fun!

[CodyDawg]

Nobody must be getting out these days eh? Not one post since my last post.

Well a friend of mine came up for a long planned pheasant hunt today. OHMYGOSH, I have never had a hunt as physically tough as this hunt. We hunted fields, we hunted willows and then we hit the cattails. The snow was nipple high on me in the cattails and you had to just plow through them with no trails to walk on. Then we donned snowshoes and ran a ditch and some more willows. I spooked a bald eagle eating a pheasant and it took off with the pheasant. Didnt mean to, but I didnt see it until it took off. I was taking a picture of the marks in the snow that the eagle left while trying to get airborne with the pheasant and right in the middle of it, a rooster got up. Oh well. We ended up with 4 roosters which is a great hunt for this time of year in deep snow.

[yakfisher]

Took 8 today should have had 11 or 12 total. Fun hunt in the snow. We were out west and quit at 3 when the weather turned nasty.

[MNpurple]

Got out for the last hunt of the year yesterday on a WPA. 3 guys, 4 hours, 9 birds. The birds held so tight in the cattails which made for some fine dog work to end the season. Many more roosters and hens seen on the long walk back to the truck. Barring a rough winter or wet spring, I think next years prospects are looking good.

[Arago]

I'm impressed with you guys (last 2 posts). My buddy & I called it a season 2 weeks ago. It can get nasty in the prairies out west. Snow & wind west on Windom for us. Those roosters are trophies! Now we wait another year....

[CodyDawg]

Went out today to a different spot that I normally dont hunt. Got 1 and a buddy missed one. Only saw the 2 roosters and 4 hens. Tough walking.

[workin4bait]

I went out today for a long walk. I saw 2 rabbits,5 squirrels and 13 hens. I was 250 yards from the truck reflecting on the season and thinking to myself at least I did not lose a downed bird this year. Well you know what happened next.Rooster flushes,first shot draws some feathers,second shot drops him. On my way toward him he runs into the cattails,I have seen it before and the dog just digs out the bird and we go on our way. Not this time,spent close to a half hour digging around in the cattails and the bird did a better job of hiding than we did of finding. Not the way I wanted to end the season,but with the way the dog is limping around I can't see me taking him out tomorrow.

workin'

[grey ghost]

Went out today during the snow and saw 6 hens and whiffed on 1 rooster. Tough walking and the crusty snow sure beat up the dogs legs.

[smalliehunter]

Got out this afternoon on a new section I've never hunted before. saw three hens and one rooster. the rooster got up behind some bushes so I never got a shot off. I'll try again tomorrow.

[123fish]

smallie you might want to wait until next year to get that rooster as the season closed at sunset today. Went out this morning and shot one more out of my buddy's cedar shelter belt. Could have probably taken a full limit as the birds were packing into the small hillside cattail patch. I let them alone as they are going to have tough sledding down here this winter the way it is and the one was enough to call it a good ending to a good season since the snow fell in early December.

[smalliehunter]

you are correct i was looking at the season dates for next year. For some reason it goes till the January 4th

[Scott M]

Birds were spooky yesterday, could hear the footprints a long ways away! Saw lots of birds which gives me hope for next year but 2 guys and 1 dog + jumpy birds equaled nearly empty pouches. Dropped 1 bird, October 2014 is a long ways away but its best to leave wanting more.