PHEASANT OPENER REPORTS

[cw642]

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I think a good day is measured by how well the dogs run, spending time with friends, laughing at the easy shots missed, etc. If we dont get a limit or even a bird we still consider it a great day hunting. Maybe people just hunt for different reasons? But if they dont get a limit its not a good day hunting? I am just curious more than anything and not bashing anyone.

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I also feel the same way. I don't think I would hunt if it wasn't for my dogs. The biggest reward of my weekend was when my brotherinlaw shot his first bird of the year over an exceptional point by my three year old. Like you said their is a lot more to hunting than taking a limit.

CW

[BobT]

Notice what you said here. "The biggest reward of my weekend was when my brotherinlaw shot his first bird of the year..." It wasn't the hunting but the prize. The process is a nice side effect but the prize is really what we're after.

This is a rhetorical statement and only you can answer it for yourself but I would guess that you and/or your brother-in-law would not likely have been out there accept for the opportunity to harvest a few pheasants.

Bob

[CodyDawg]

BobT,

I agree with you, we go out there to harvest a bird. I really enjoy the other aspects as well, it is the icing on the cake. I dont like shooting cheap birds and absolutely hate road hunting for this very reason. I want the dog work, the friendship, the experience, but I want them to all culminate in a bird at the end. I can be satisfied with a good hunt without the prize if the bird outsmarts me, but if there were no birds at all, it would be very difficult.

For the record, we had 4 guys on the morning of the opener and had a good hunt that ended too quick (did I dance around the limit in 1 hour issue enough?). After lunch we helped out a relative and son who dont have a dog have a great hunt as well.

I really wish the limit would have been raised to 3 this year. Since you cannot overharvest roosters, it would have had no effect on the population and many could have spent more time in the field enjoying the day, the comradarie, and the dog work.

Just got back from out west yesterday and did fantastic out there as well. Got some bonus huns as well...man, I love shooting those huns! Had to take the dog to the vet to get stitched up as she has absolutely no respect for a barbed wire fence. One other dog got a snoot full of as my daughter says, "Pokeypine" quills.

[BobT]

That's an interesting statement that we cannot overharvest roosters. I would think it could be possible but for 99.99999999% of the time it would not be likely as I could imagine at least some of them would elude us hunters and other preditors long enough.

Bob

[Nate McVey]

I just returned from my first pheasant hunt ever, and man is the fun! A friend of mine has a bunch of land near Bellingham, MN and invited me along this year. I really enjoyed watching the dogs work and the time with friends (and making new ones along the way). From what I heard, it was a down year there due to all the corn still being up because of all the rain, but I did not hear one of the guys complain about the number of birds that were shot. We even finished early one day (without our limits) and watched the birds fly from the corn into the fields and then listened to em cluck. The friends, time with the dogs and the memories are what's most important to me.

[cw642]

Bob please use the WHOLE sentence when quoting me. Trust me the dog work is what I am after, If it wasn't for the "exceptional point by my three year old" you never would have heard about it. I feel very fortunate I can train my own dogs. It takes a lot of time to achieve the quality that I prefer. As a result a good day for me is not whether I fill a limit but rather how well my dogs performed. Yes, a bird in the bag is a big deal for the dogs, and it should be. They train for 6m out of the year for a few months of actual hunting. Then if you think about the half dozen older people I'll stop and drop a bird off to, have a pot of coffee with them, and a spend a good hour or three visiting with, I guess my typical hunt isn't like most. So for you to judge me by one statement is a joke, and to take it out of context and judge my intentions is a bigger joke. And good day to you Sir.

John 8:7 read it.

CW

[cw642]

Bob I actually want to open an invitation for you to come hunting with myself and my pooches. Maybe after seeing it first hand you will understand what its all about when I get time to hit the field. I bet I'd write about the first bird you shoot before I'd talk about how fast or how many I shot the week before.

CW

[JDM]

I have just returned from the SD opener and three days of hunting. I also hunted ND the weekend before for four days. I think this is the good old days. In seven days of hunting, I don't know if I have hunted more than a total of 12 hours. Yes, it is that good and really that easy. It is bittersweet. I enjoy a successful hunt and I will never apologize to anyone for my enjoyment in pulling the trigger on a big old rooster, but sometimes I miss the days of working your butt off for the entire day to scratch out a limit. Like I said, fast limits are bitter sweet. I have seen thousands of birds in the last week and a half. Now, I will try MN! Time to go put a rooster in the crock pot. mmmmmmm.....

[fishroger]

Just returned from North dakota. Yes, its fun to pull the trigger and bag some wily roosters. However, to me it was secondary. Had 2 dogs with us, my 8 month old and my friends 8 yr. old, both labs. My 8 month old was on his first hunt. Hes raw and excited. Had trained him with wings proir to going. He picked up the scent well and followed the older dog. Sometimes he would get excited and go 100yds down the shelterbelt and start flushing roosters, my buddies got a little frustrated, but he was like a kid in a candy store for the first time, you had to laugh. We bagged plenty of birds, didnt limit, but just watching the old pro and the young pup was worth it for me.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I'll throw in my .02 Although I like to watch my dog work and am proud I trained her, to me, in the field, she is a tool just like my gun. My goal is to bag birds. I love that. I dont hunt pheasants often due to the distance involved with getting to good pheasant country so I am happiest when I get my limit each and every time which is only 2-3 times a season. If pheasant hunting opportunities were close by I would not feel the same way but they are so I do. I'm going to Iowa for opener this weekend. Probably the only time I go there this season. I hope to get my 3 birds 3 days in a row. Also if bagging game is not your primary goal when in the field then you are hiking.

[123fish]

JDM if you want to extend that good hunting a little longer just don't pull the trigger on that second or third bird quite as fast. I only live about a mile from my pheasant hunting and I've had a couple of chances to double within the first 10 minutes of hunting. I'll shoot one and let the other one go. I too love watching the dog work and 10 minutes is just too fast to end it. It all depends on your individual situations though and certainly don't begrudge anyone a limit no matter how long it takes to get it.

[cw642]

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[jigging-matt]

I thought we tried to keep things civil around here? After reading your post CW, I would say bob is doing the right thing and not trying to start an arguement. The name calling is childish. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you don't agree that is your right. Let's get this topic back to what it should be about and not start bashing eachother over a difference in opinion. I love to hunt and now that I have a dog I can't wait to get him in the field and watch him work. Since that seems to be the common thread here lets stick with that and leave the hostilities out of it.

[JDM]

You must hunt alone? If I don't shoot, then I don't get a shot. It is a tough group, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Each to their own.

[BobT]

I chose not to reply to you CW because of the aggressive nature of your comments, which violate the spirit of this site.

As far as attacking your ethics, I absolutely did not intend to do so and if my comments lead you to believe otherwise, please accept my apology.

Bob

[UGUIDE]

From South Dakota.....

We had around 15 hunters on Sat, 10 on Sunday and maybe 6 on Monday. Got close to our limit everyday. I think total tally was 86 birds taken. We hunted milo food plots and a lot of stnading corn that had been stripped. One of our better openers. Here's a couple pics.

[123fish]

That's a good point JDM as I do hunt alone quite a bit and I can hunt every evening if I want to so it does make it easier to let one go if you want to extend your hunt a little longer. When the gang is together though that's a different story as some of those boys are real gunners. It keeps it fun though and I enjoy seeing those guys get in on some of the action that I enjoy on a regular basis. Right now I own the hot dog so I get my share one way or the other. We had a limit for four guys Friday and was two short of a six man limit on Saturday. It's getting tougher though and we worked for the birds we shot. Easily the most hunting pressure in our area since the mid sixties.