catman71 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I found myself so annoyed this weekend, I can hardly stand it. I met an old fried at a Pheasant spot in SW MN this Saturday. It takes me 2 hours to get there and I arraived at 8:30. There were birds everywhere! So I waited until 9:00 and he had not arrived yet. I worked a little patch of trees and my pal shows at 9:20. Then he proceeds to chew me out for starting without "them" and we still couldn't start before some other guys show up! They arrive at 9:45 and take a few phone calls before getting thier boots on and getting ready. So now there are 7 of us, 6 dogs and 6 cell phones and they can't figure out why the birds are getting up 150 yards out. I had ebough and left at 10:30. Am I the jerk here??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ole #1 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Not at all. If your hunting public land on Sat am, you better be there very early. I usually hunt by myself to make sure I don't have to count on others. Being late can be a wasted trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOOT Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Cat, no it isn't you, it's them.I had a similar situation years ago before cell phone usage.Showed up at a field & swale I had secured permission to hunt about 30 minutes before everyone was to meet. They showed up an hour later, said they were having too good a time drinking coffee and flirting with the waitress to leave.Everyone jumps out and only one of the four are dressed and ready to go. Finally everyone has their hutning pants and boots on and we're ready. Four dogs, one was mine.There was so much whistle blowing and yelling at their dogs for running ahead that I decided I'd hunt a little strip to the North. I got 2 roosters and was heading back to the truck when one of my "buddies" starts chewing me out for not waiting for everyone to get together to hunt the strip. I was called a game hog plus a couple of other nice names.Needless to say I left and have not hunted with them for over 30 years and will never hunt with the again.I just don't know what gets into some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainMusky Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I think it is a sign of the times. Punctuality is no longer a thing of virtue. If it was so important to them that they carry cell phones and hunt together, it should have been courtesy that they at least call you and tell you they are running late. Regardless, I wouldn't fault you for starting without them. Geez, some people have real nerve. I mean, you drive 2 hours, they likely had to drive a distance as well, come on people PLAN a little bit. I get up in the morning and I put my hunting pants on and boots right away. The only thing I need to do upon getting out of the truck is load the gun and get the dogs.It seems people are so concerned about themselves today that they forget about everyone else. I mean, they should have apologized for being late, not chewed you out for not waiting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_Off Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 i hunt a small wildlife area down south and it's small enough where if theres a truck there no one else will come on, but it's big enough to hunt for a good 2 1/2 hours. We leave saint paul at about 5 am and get there around 8:15 and 3/4 times we beat a group of guys by 5 min. If ya want a spot you gotta get there early and when nine o clock roles around i'm walkin. I wouldn't wait for anybody especially if i were the one to lock the spot. Heck you should get a half an hour head start for saving the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotspotter Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I've had so many bad experiences pheasant hunting, I'm quite turned off to the sport in general. Because I've got too many other hobbies, I simply have a hard time investing in a good dog, and the time it takes to secure permission on good private land. The birds in our area are too far/few between the way it is, and what's left is hotly contested. Here's a sample from past years:-Bang'em'up hunt in SD, we show up with our 10 guys (way too many already), and the landowner has 7 more locals to hunt with us. This is despite the fact we payed better than $100 a gun, and they pay nothing. Now we have 7 locals that hate us before we say hello, jockeying for edges, posting positions, and walking ahead to get the shots. We protest, and are considered "ungrateful" for not keeping the status quo. We (by we I mean they) shot 51 birds in 2 1/2 hours, and I've never had so little fun pheasant hunting ever.-Ready to hunt the left side of a weedy creek bed near a guy's place out in the country. We have permission from the landowner. This guy owns the right side and starts yelling at us as we get out of the trucks. He lets his two muts out, which run on both sides of the river, flushing hens and roosters in droves, then continues to chew us out for hunting "his" land. -Several instances where the landowner had given permission to several parties for the same parcel, unbeknownst to us. 2-3 groups show up at the same time, and rather than work together or be civil, they'd rather see no one get birds than someone else take them in "their" spot.-Guy notorious for creeping up on the edges for the better position/shot, gets way out in front and stands there. Basically, watching out over the field we're still pushing, acting like a poster. Catches a stray pellet in the cheek from somebody else and proceeds to lecture all of us on unsafe hunting practices.Sorry for the gripe session, but cat, you touched on just one of the reasons I really don't pheasant hunt unless somebody is willing to take me to their spot on a trade or something like that.Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman71 Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 thanks for the posts guys. I should have gone fishing on Saturday. My entire pursuit of outdoor activities is to relax, have fun and be with friends and on SAturday none of that happened. Making/taking cell calls behind your dog working, i thought i had seen it all. Stuff like this is why i fish cats (pretty quite) hunt coyotes at night (pretty quite) and muzzleload hunt for deer. Next year when i skip this pheasant hunt I'll have an open seat for muskies so pencil it in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Boy, it wrenches my gut to hear ya planning on hangin' up pheasant hunting because of some (Contact US Regarding This Word) who are more interested in ego boosts than enjoying comraderie, good dog work, and the great outdoors. Cat - 90% of my pheasant hunting is on public land by myself or with 1-2 good friends that I know and trust. Pheasant hunting is by far my favorite pursuit every fall. I especially love the tranquility of late season hunting tough birds with 1-2 good friends and really taking our time to enjoy the hunt instead of just massacring a pile of birds in any way possible just to say we limited out. Instead of hanging it up, why not look for a new hunting partner(s) who are respectable, ethical guys looking to enjoy the sport? I'm sure there's a few on this board who would welcome a fellow sportsman along in the field.Hunt safe,BlazeBTW - I almost gave up all deer hunting for similar reasons about 5 years ago, but because I enjoy the sport so much, I make the 5-6hr drive back home every year to hunt with my cousins instead. I'm glad I made the decision that the effort is worth it, even though I've only shot 1 deer in the last 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman71 Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 Jeez Blaze, it's like you were there! That is exactly what is going on, you gotta limit out so you can brag at the gun club on Monday night! And I second your late season opinion, i do like it quite. My dog is getting quite lame so that is another reason to go fishing, but i'm sure he can muster a few hours in december. My Saturday was not lost I should add. After a morning like that, i get home and have a message from a farmer 1 mile from my house who called just to tell me a few mallards were on his pond, so i went over thier quick to sneak up on 2 greenheads for a successfull jump shoot. I give him some beer once in a while but he basically calls just because he knows like like shooting a few ducks. Can't believe the difference in character..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOOT Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Catman & Blaze, by all means do not give up on any hunting if you enjoy it. I know it's tough and you feel like h--- but I've been there and you just have to adapt, unfortunately. It should be the other guy(s) doing the adapting. I had a farmer give permission to a couple of deer hunting parties on a section of woods that should only hold 4 - 5 hunters. The last year I hunted this land I counted 17 orange clad bangers and 6 vehicles. The farmer was involved in an accident and couldn't remember who he gave permission to and who he hadn't, so he just gave everyone permission. Opening morning I was surrounded (litterally) by 5 bangers (I call them bangers cause they shoot until all their shells are gone). I left the woods and got my friends out. As we were packing into our vehicles we heard what sounded like a war. Conservatively, we heard at least 40 plus 12ga rounds flying. We stopped back later in the day and NO they got no deer. A friend bow hunting after shotgun season found 2 dead carcasses that had been shot but not retrieved. Since then we have split our group. Some found other areas in SE MN and others (like myself) went North. But none of us gave up. Keep trying guys hunting is far too enjoyable to let someone else spoil it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dotch Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Blaze makes some great points. Whether it's waterfowl, pheasant or whatever hunting, this whole "party hunting" mentality so many get into has really turned a lot of people off, hunters and non-hunters including landowners alike. Also, the brag sessions at the local pub afterwards do nothing to further the cause, quite the opposite. It's a little like the top athlete, who, after scoring doesn't launch into a bunch of self adulation. Instead, they keep playing like they've done it before. Hunt with 5 - 20 other guys? Sorry, that's not relaxation anymore, that's just more competition, something most of us get plenty of at work, not to mention the increased possibility that someone is going to take a pellet or worse. Simply not worth it. I hunt to get away from people not just hang with a different bunch. I have taken my cell phone along when I'm hunting but only when I'm supposed to be working. I'm the boss/owner and if it's someone important, I'll call back when there's a free minute. This 24/7/365 cell phone nonsense is just that. One's sanity is a lot more important than any account. There is a gradual maturing of hunters that occurs I think. I used to hunt in the large groups and when I was young it was fine at first. As I grew older, the things some of you mentioned about punctuality, greediness and the level of sportsmanship in general had allowed the hunts to deteriorate to the point where I no longer cared if I went or not. I was particularly annoyed a few years back when someone came to my door and asked if he could blast the rooster he could see from the road in my pasture. Gee, how sporting I thought and politely said "No". A few days later I found the legs, guts and feathers from a freshly cleaned pheasant on the edge of my lawn. Whoever shot it had no permission to be there. I just about sold all my hunting equipment at that point. However, why let one jerk or bunch of jerks ruin it for me I thought? I found if I limited my hunts to include no more than 2 others whom I could trust and shared the same basic values with, we could still enjoy ourselves. Others may have different tolerances but that's mine. We hunt smaller, private land that most won't have access to including my own. It's no longer about how full the game bag is but about how great it was to see your friends again. I enjoy it now more than ever and when we get birds (we usually do) it's just icing on the cake. The main thing now is to do the simple things make sure we have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodyDawg Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Great post Dotch. I have 4 close hunting partners and even though I know, trust and love every one of them, it gets to be too many. We usually tryand break up into 2 groups while hunting roos. My favorite way to hunt roos is with 1 other guy. That way, you can each go around a bush, etc. Also, noise bothers me more and more. Oh, how I enjoy a quiet walk behind the dog....the dog gets birdy....then an EXPLOSION of noise and color as the rooster flies. That is a fantastic hunt. I wouldn't trade that one bird for 50 shot while hunting in a large group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverrat56 Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I've been hunting roosters for 5 years now (since i turned 11) Only a handful of times have a hunted with more than 1 other person in the feild, usually my dad and one of his buddys and we still split up as we owned 3 dogs, 1 of ours has since past away. One time I got invited to hunt with my neighbors down in southwest MN for the weekend with about 8 other guys. It just wasnt the same for me, with them it was all about forcing birds into the air with sheer size of the group and then it was all about killing birds. Something was just lost, for me the hunt is all about going toe to toe with a bird in its element and trying to outsmart it with just you and your dog. I wouldn't trade a crisp November morning in the feild for anything, dead silence and suddenly an explosion of noise and color and then maybe silence again as a bird is put in the bag, or maybe a few laughs after a missed shot. I have had my share of bad experiences while out hunting, and have thought about quiting before but im glad that I haven't. Don't let your hunting partners get you down, it was there fault and not yours, I would have started with out them also. I don't just hunt for the kill, but I don't go out hunting not to shoot something and I wouldn't have wasted the best time of the morning to get some birds because they were to late. Hunting alone or with one other hunter and dog isn't always the most productive way to bag birds, but for me it is the most rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dano2 Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 quit bow hunting for similer reasons,and landowner at my favorit spot decided not to let anyone but his buddy hunt the land now, sure miss bow hunting though. After getting discouraged from that, I decided to take up pheasant hunting to pass my time before deer (gun) season. Hunted ND the first year, hunted with some real A-holes, then decided to try the MN thing, (since I live here). I cant believe guys have a problem with hunting with too BIG of a party, heh, heh, I cant even get one guy to go, cant wait til my 5 year old is old enough. I believe it pretty tough here in MN with 1 person, and a younger dog, when birds are so few and far between. I've been out twice this season, and have only seen 2 hens,( except for the few pen raised). went agin this morning, walked a few different areas, and saw 1 hen,(south of Morris) the areas I walked were public land near cut corn, I'm really suprised I ddn't see anymore, but perhaps since it was public land, maybe they got hunted hard this past weekend. The dog gets pretty board after a few hours of nothing, and just starts looking at me as if she's thinking "what now", I cant blame her, she's not going to learn anything from nothing. Think I may have to rethink this MN pheasant hunting, and perhaps, blow the dust off that Bow, and find myself a couple new spots. Well, atleast Ice fishing season is getting closer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Seaguar Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Funny how people approach a situation makes such a difference. I just like a few people also. Who wants to hunt with 20 guys, birds shot to dollrags, not knowing who shot what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverrat56 Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Try hunting evenings near those same areas, the birds will be coming back in from the corn around 4:3o or 5:00, I think sometimes they are in the feilds by the time 9:00 am roles around, there are birds around, even on public land. I hunted an area last friday and shot one bird, talked to another guy who walked it with his 2 beginning hunters and they flushed 8 birds, missed 4 roosters and the other 4 were hens. Public land will just keep getting better as the crops get out, look for the thickest nastiest cover in about a month if you want to find birds after other hunters hang it up for the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captkev Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Over time I have found out who and who not to hunt with.It don't matter where or for what, but my true hunting pal is my friend Dave, we have a rule, wheather he's picking me up or I'm picking him up, 3a.m. is 3a.m. have your boots on and your gear laid out and ready to go. I live by the moto " ALLWAYS EARLY, NEVER LATE" if i'm late I've had a major problem, if i'm not there on time check the hospital or the jail. It seems over the years we can rely on each other to have a great start on the day. We have hunted with others and still find time to bring others out with us, But in the end someone ends up breaking the moto and thats it for them. I think my girlfriend thinks i'm crazy for being this way, but its all about the passion, there is nothing worse than being late in the feild. and there are NO excusses. if you know that your prone to be late, get out of bed an hour early. Be late once, I won't forget, be late twice, there won't be a third time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOOT Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Captkev, good note.I too have over time figured out who I want to hunt/fish with and who I don't. Sometimes it can break or injure a friendship but its better to be up front with people then sit and brew in your own stew.My only exceptions were my children and an elderly neighbor I use to take a fishing a few times a year. He was in his mid-70's and I did make accomadations for him. Sometimes he had a good nights sleep and was ready on time and other times he needed a little extra time. I knew this ahead of time and viewed it as a leisure time to enjoy taking someone out that didn't have a whole lot of time left. I know he appreciated our fishing trips and watching him reel in a nice walleye with his arthritic hands and a huge smile on his face was worth all the waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReelTimes Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Those are all good points. I believe one of the issues in MN is a lack of quantity in terms of good public hunting land. This becomes more significant the further you live away from these areas. Thus, you have competitition for the best spots and they do get pounded pretty hard. If I am going to drive 4-5 hours anyways, I still prefer going to SD because their is just alot more public areas to hunt. No offense, but we don't drive corn or post or do alot of the little tricks that get you big numbers of roosters. We hunt heavy cover and fields, 80% of the birds run, and we enjoy watching the dogs work and chase down the birds. Of course, we need to work hard too to keep up with the dog but we love the sport of it and watching the dogs. More often than not we don't get limits. I do wish we had more quality places to hunt pheasant in MN!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rost Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I would be happy if every pheasant died this fall. Here in South Dakota, those stupid birds cause more trouble than they are worth. I bet there are more fist fights over pheasants in SD then women. Sure, they bring in the big dollar folk, but that is about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOOT Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 ReelTimes, Amen. As someone who has lived through the glory days of MN pheasant hunting the current state is terrible.My brother and I had a single shot .410. In the fall he and I would cross the road and hunt the slews and waterway every morning before school. Our father built a little shed by the road for us to get in out of the weather while waiting for the bus. As soon as we saw the bus go by we would hussle back to the shack, put our .410 inside in a corner, hang the bird or two we got outside on a nail and then wait for the bus to come back going the other way. Our mother would then clean the birds and we would have pheasant for supper.Back then we never had to worry about running into jerks and we could always find birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jigginjim Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Realtime ,you said itSeveral years ago I had an English setter that was only 8 months old. He would hold a point like a rock at 3 months. and when would walk -up to what he was pointing he would still hold until the bird moved. I only got to hunt with him 2 times. 1 time we went out he got on point within 10 minutes. I walked up asked my dog bandit, "What you got boy". Just then the sky went dark from seemed to be 30 -40 pheasants. Roster and hens all got up at the same time. I shot 2 rosters and saw the others all fly in different directions. The dog just turned and looked at me like I just shot his buddies. I lined him up to fetch the birds. What a site t watch he knew just what to do. Ran out grabbed the bird, then run back to me, sit and held the bird until I said drop. Then Send him after the next. A few guys had senn the hunt that morning from another field. I ask if i had any other dogs that i worked with. I told them we sold all the other pups from the litter and this was only one left and i was keeping him. 1 guy, asked if I would sell the dog from $500.00, I told him, no way. I hunted with bandit the next day. got only 1 roster, saw a hen fly into a barbed wire fence and do a bounce off a rock. looked rather funny doing cart wheels. We walked out of the field, seen the same group that day, i just waved to say Hi in passing. 2 days later, I when otu to feed the dogs in the morning as always and my black masked setter was gone. I never had another dog until last year. My wife got me a golden reteiver. I had her for 15 months. The pup was born in Jan. 04, I was going to hunt with her this fall. But the wife had other plans and sold the dog. I loved hunting ducks until I got my ranger boat now its to big, and shining for ducky killing but I started fishing a lot more now. So i guess maybe My hunting days are coming to a close. Still have that hope if getting back out. Blowing the duck call to some divers, and watch them work into gun range over the decoys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReelTimes Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Jim, Sad story. Sorry to hear about losing the dog. Its hard to imaging any real sportsman stealing your dog. I know that I would be devastated, as I am sure you were Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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