Lots of corn, I hunt by myself, HELP!!!!

[BigGrassBass]

I just spoke with the farmer who's land I hunt every year and he hasn't even touched his corn yet. I always hunt by myself and I am wondering what any of you guys would do in this scenerio.

I am planning on hunting the east side of the corn where it juts up against a large cattail swamp in the morning in hopes of catching them sunning themselves on the edge of the field and then heading to the swamp for the afternoon.

In the evening I'm thinking I could "post" like I was deer hunting and wait for them to fly over me and go back into the corn.

What would you do?

[JRedig]

Borrow a St. Bernard to root them out of the corn, he'll level the whole field!

Post hunting sounds like a good idea, i've had luck with that when being VERY quiet.

[123fish]

I like your plan but I think it's backwards. They will roost in that cattail swamp and head into the corn for the day. When evening rolls around they will come out of the corn back into the cattail swamp to roost. Either way being on the edge is a good idea to intercept a bird or two.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

yup i would sit out on the edge of the corn and you should be able to at least see a few fly out of the corn into the cattails, mark em and go in after them, or just pass shoot. some of our groups best shoots ever were in the last 15 minutes of shooting time in scenarios like this.

[BigGrassBass]

Thanks guys.

I might also stalk through the corn with the .22 during the day, if it's still legal, and look down the rows a ways. I've done that before with a little success. Especially if it's windy or rainy to hide my sound.

[reddog]

Sleep in, you wont beat them into the corn. Wait till 3pm before going out, and shoot a limit as they walk or fly out of the corn into the swamp. mark my words.

[dakotakid31]

I must hunt a different breed of pheasents. There is a reason the are on the roads in the morning and then again in the evening. They go in feed,get pebbles,go roost,go back in late afternoon early eveing feed again,go back out for pebbles go roost. I would walk the edge in the morning then spend the rest of the time in the cattails. I have been hunting Central SD for 21 years and we never hunt corn-have access to hundreds of acres but swamps,highgrass and tree lines are way more fun and effective.

[BLACKJACK]

In the morning make your first pass right along the edge of the corn and work outward from there thru the grass and cattails, you may find a few that have lollygagged. Pace yourself during the day, then hunt the last hour of the day and then time your last sweep, as the sun goes down, right along the edge of that corn, you'll find a few that have walked out into the grass and not flown out.

[gonefishin11]

Hunt from 9 to 10 to find a strangler or two as BlackJack said. Then go watch some college football during the day when the temp gets warm and then hunt the last 1.5 to 2 hours of daylight.

DK, in my experience, the birds will eat grit in morning when the dew is on the grass (partly because they like to stay dry) and then they will feed all day in the corn. They tend to come back to roost in the last couple hours of the day. Also, SD is a whole different animal than MN, for the most part. There are birds everywhere, all the time.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

a corn row stalk with a .22....now that would be a new tactic i could see myself using now! always have the ruger along, but except for the occasional rooster running through the yard or in the harvested fields, ive never used it for any other type of pheasant oppertunity. (in minnesota, where i grew up, not south dakota where it is illegal.)

[fishuhalik]

The best day of pheasant hunting I ever experienced was in North Dakota, we were hunting a cattail swamp that was about 10 acres that was borded by 4 huge fields of standing corn. We set up on the edges and watched as flocks of 10-50 birds piled in. 5 of us all filled up in an hour, it was almost steady shooting. I bet we saw a thousand birds that evening.

[BigGrassBass]

OK, so the wife tells me I need to be home by 3pm. Aparently it's her sisters birthday or something...

I'm going to sit/walk the edge of the corn where it meets the slew in the morning and then I'm going to pull out the .22 and do some stalking through the corn. With the rain in the forcast I think they are either going to stay in the corn or in the slew but not move around much. I think the stalking idea is going to be the best for me. Especially along the first few rows that but up to the slew.