First ice pheasants??!!!

[Eric Wettschreck]

We went out yesterday afternoon. They were all bunched up in cattails. Pretty tough to get to em but once ya did there were like a million birds flying.

[BLACKJACK]

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I can't imagine how many birds will be in Minnesota with another mild winter and good spring.

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I agree, it could be great next year!!! Lots of birds still out there! Went out Sunday morning, ready to do a long, 3-4 hour hunt, I needed the exercise, I had been to two Christmas parties/feasts Fri and Sat, so what happens? I get two roosters in 27 minutes!!!!

The neat part was that I got them both in the same spot, one rooster comes up, I get it, the little black dog goes after it, the second rooster comes up and I nail it, standing there marking the spot, watching the black dog bring her bird back, wondering where the old yellow dog disapeared to, and here she comes back with the second bird in her mouth!!! Nice!!!

So instead of my long hunt I had to settle for cleaning two birds and listening to Sid. Life is good!

Sure would like to see some snow between now and New Years!!!

[CodyDawg]

I got out on Saturday and had the opposite happen to me. Birds were not in the cattails and they were not grouped up. How weird is that? 3 of us got 5 and should have had the last one, but we all had our guns unloaded as we were only 30 feet from the truck and a roo got up right by the truck. We decided it was more memorable that it got away than if we would have got it. That is why they call it hunting and not shooting. You just tip your hat to the bird and smile. I kinda think he flew us the bird as he flew away cackling! The birds we got were all hard earned. We walked a lot of cattails and willow swamps. Didnt get one bird out of the cattails though. One of the roosters i shot had nothing for spurs, and I mean nothing. It had little white bumps where they should be. They were not 1 millimeter in height though. If you closed your eyes and ran your finger down them, you couldnt feel them. BUT, it had a 24.25 inch tail and was a big, fully colored bird. Judging by the size and coloration, I think it was a 1.5 year old although that is only and educated guess. I think the lack of spurs was a genetic trait. Really weird.

[rundrave]

When its warm like it has been lately with this mild weather. Your not going to find many birds buried deep in sloughs or cat tails but rather open weedy grassy areas where the birds can get out and sun themselves.

Some of my December hunts this year have yielded birds in very wide open areas and it hasnt been uncommon for us to see birds get up in the middle of fields out in the open as we drive into our spots.

A slough that we would have surrounded and sent dogs through back when it was cold would find us alot of birds even if it was hunted hard previous days.

These last few weeks we could send guys and dogs through the sloughs and not see a bird. Walk a thin grassy area or down a fence line that normally wouldnt hold birds and these areas are now just full of birds.

The weather has been great this year and my dog and I are really taking advantage of what normally would be very cold late december hunts where you have to fight frigid temps hurdling through snow drifts up to your hips.

The winter so far has been easy on the birds and we have gotten just enough precipition to get some scent flowing in the air for the dogs.

Happy hunting!

[CAJ]

Was out this morning in - 3 below temp. Huntted the ice with the Rushes . Birds were holding tight. Had to step on them to get them to get up. Not a bird out in the open. Will have to try this afternoon to see if I can get the last bird for today when they are out feeding. CAJ

[brittman]

Agree. Last week the majority of birds were found holding tight in the damp (FINALLY) grass. Just a few roosters were pointed in the cattails - creeks not large sloughs.

Dogs had the best day this year ... pointing and sticking rooster after rooster in the grass.

It really was too dry this fall .... for consistent dog work. I thought my 9 year old was slipping a bit this year, but then last week she was on top of her game ..

[CodyDawg]

my 1.5 year old brittany really shone on saturday. she found 3 birds that were really buried in the canary grass. man, that was fun to see. good dog work is such a treasure. kind of like umpires and boat control, you dont notice it until you dont have it.

[gspman]

It really has been dry this fall and that did make it tougher for the pooches. I've been in places so dusty this fall that my dog's head which is normally brown would be tan from dust after coming out of a piece of cover. Having said that I've had some nice bird work out of my dog this year. I haven't been out since Thanksgiving which really bugs me. Hopefully I'll get out one or 2 more times yet.

[Lunker]

Tough day today. Hunted 3 WMA's in Scott County. Flushed a hen out of a treeline shortly after hunting hours opened and that was it for the birds. Talked to a few other hunters and they were having a rough go at it as well. Very windy, which wasn't too much fun but nice to be out with the dog. Also kicked out a couple rabbits(no shot), a doe, and a coyote that let me get within about 25 yards of it before it got up and ran. Had to really convince the dog not to follow that trail.