Dang only a couple of members hunt??????

[weimdogman]

Let's hear about your trials and tribulations!

Yesterday I shot a pheasant just as I got blinded by the sun. I saw it go down in a mix of cattails and 8ft high crap we call rice. My dogs are allowed to break on fall and I didn't see her anywhere. I could circle the spot where I marked the bird down and saw reeds moving and could hear the dog working. After a minute all was quiet so I commanded fetch as the dog will sometimes point a cripple until told to fetch. I could hear rustling coming towards me and looked to see the dog coming from 60 yards off with a live cripple. Good girl!

Hunted a area for grouse and had about 60 bust wild. Figured there would be some stragglers. There were probly 5 but they wouldn't hold either. They were very skittish as 1 swung my way and then flailed hard away.

[Garrison]

I hope the reason for so few posts here lately is due to everyone out hunting and enjoying life and not because of bickering amongst friends.

I have been hitting it pretty hard with my guys, at least 5 days a week. But, I am working with a young dog who is figuring out some spooky wild birds, so I am limiting my side of things to good dog work only and lots of days with the blank pistol. Raising coveys most days and enjoying every minute of it!!

Good to hear you are getting after it.

[Sharon]

There are the same number of users/guests on line at any moment (See the bottom of the main page) , but I guess they have nothing to say. Had a look at 2 other usually popular gun dog forums and they seem pretty dead too. Either most are hunting or we've got covid depression going on.

I can't hunt anymore ( 2 rotor cuffs gone so can't hold a gun up) , but still get the dog out. Had to use dog spray this week to keep 2 coyotes from having him for lunch. :roll:

[weimdogman]

Garrison hope that pup is shaping up nicely. Sounds like you are doing your part.

[RatDog]

I’d much rather be hunting but sadly the mortgage must be paid so here I am bustin my pick in this godforsaken desert near Carlsbad, NM. Saw a covey of quail today. Only 9 more days then back home and chase some birds.


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[art hubbard]

WOW,I have never had 60 grouse flush wild. You must live in grouse paradise.

[weimdogman]

WOW,I have never had 60 grouse flush wild. You must live in grouse paradise.

This is Miles of prairie and creek beds. Some pasture and some corn -milo- sunflowers. May have been every bird from 10 sections.

[RatDog]

WOW,I have never had 60 grouse flush wild. You must live in grouse paradise.

This is Miles of prairie and creek beds. Some pasture and some corn -milo- sunflowers. May have been every bird from 10 sections.

Yeah once it gets cold they flock up like that. Not at all uncommon to see groups of 30 or 50. Only problem is you’ll almost never get at a shot at one when they’re in those groups. Too many eyes and they’re crazy skittish. Best you can hope for is some stragglers.


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[oldbeek]

Hunting or training on wild quail every day I am healthy enough. Fantastic year for birds. Never got skunked yet. Don't like to shoot to many.

[weimdogman]

Hunting or training on wild quail every day I am healthy enough. Fantastic year for birds. Never got skunked yet. Don't like to shoot to many.

Well I hope you and your dogs stay healthy ! A little fresh air,sunshine and exercise good for everybody!

[art hubbard]

When I said I've never seen that many grouse I was talking our mountain grouse, never thought about your praire grouse. Not tuned in to those. Sorry for my mistake...

[weimdogman]

Hunted last 30 minutes of light yesterday. 15 acres grass with a little waterway and 2 little cattails pieces. Dogs pointed a Coyote in the waterway who slipped out.
Went to the other end of the grass where ther is a little thicker grass. Dogs were pointing and cat walking as I got up to them. Cockflushed and I dropped him clean. Dogs made a nice retrieve with only a little jostling
Never made it the spot where the bird went down and had 1 flush wild. It stayed low for a while and I had to wait for it to get higher as there is a acreage across the road. My long shot hit him but he kept going and I lost sight of him at over a half mile.
Hunted today , running just 1 dog. Pointed a couple hens and had a rooster pinned in a big clump of that 8ft high rice. It came out and I missed it as it hooked with the wind.
Went to a GameProductionArea and got a solid point on a ........squirrel That is a first for me!

[Mosby]

This time of year involves elk, deer and bird hunting for me. I got out for 3 days in Iowa for pheasant last week but had to come back home to get ready for deer season. Loading up the freezer for the year. Hope to get out for birds weekly after deer season is over.

[Garrison]

We got in to them this weekend. They earned it!

54D86217-55B9-47EF-8FCE-4895A58596A0.jpeg

[weimdogman]

I had 2 of my dogs locked up on a young rooster. I flushed and shot it over frozen slough. Came down with a splash. I watched intently as she broke ice. Water was only 2.5 feet deep and she made a nice tiring retrieve.

[RyanDoolittle]

There are the same number of users/guests on line at any moment (See the bottom of the main page) , but I guess they have nothing to say. Had a look at 2 other usually popular gun dog forums and they seem pretty dead too. Either most are hunting or we've got covid depression going on.

I can't hunt anymore ( 2 rotor cuffs gone so can't hold a gun up) , but still get the dog out. Had to use dog spray this week to keep 2 coyotes from having him for lunch. :roll:

Forums are old technology. Social media is in, forums are out.

I enjoy the forum because it's easier to access past information. But when it comes to photos and hunting stories it is hard to compete with Facebook and Instagram.

[RyanDoolittle]

As mentioned above its deer hunting season for me. We wrapped that up on saturday but with winds recorded at 107mph (173km/hr) it's tough to get a dog out. Today is the last day for Pheasants here and Hun numbers have been so bad the past 3 years that we will leave them alone. See what the weather brings today, I may try to sneak out of the office early for one last kick at the can.

[weimdogman]

107 mph is a bit breezy

[MNTonester]

As a leg gets gimpier year by year, my shooting has been hampered (not that I've ever been that great a shot). Met with my oldest and youngest brother for our yearly hunt in SW MN late October. Winter had been in near full force and the conditions were cold, snowy and windy. Nevertheless, we should have limited. I believe my youngest brother did; my oldest got three; I ended up with two. The day we left SW MN to head north to hunt grouse, Indian summer showed up. Here's a photo of me and my brothers from a couple of years back. I couldn't get this year's pheasant photo to load. Also, a photo of Oscar and the two grouse we've gotten this year. I'm planning to chase grouse a few more times weather permitting and a couple of day trips to the St. Cloud, MN area to chase pheasant. I tried to post a second picture but it I'm told the maximum URLs allowed is two and apparently the algorithm believes 1=2
]
I'll try Oscar and the grouse separately

[MNTonester]

Oscar and grouse. part two of previous post
[url=https://ibb.co/QNyq84N][/url

[weimdogman]

I am very fortunate to be able to go out as much as I do. I have been out 26 days and bagged 45 roosters. I have 3 other families I give the much appreciated birds to. The dogs have probably had another dozen birds shot by guys hunting with me.
Many of my hunts are less then 2 hours at dusk.
Still get points on plenty of hens but the roosters are much more challenging. For example the last 2 nights -45 minutes 5 hens and 1 rooster that I got -1 1/2 hours 8 hens,1 wildflush rooster and 1 statue of a point that I got a nice clean retrieve on.

[MNTonester]

trying for this year's photo

my oldest brother and me... 10/22/20 and felt more life 1/22. Two days later Indian summer started to roll in

[weimdogman]

Hunting pheasants in hipwaders,one of the smartest move I ever made


We need snow here in a bad way.

[weimdogman]

Had a really nice end of the day hunt with a friend and his young gsp. Was 55° with a 4 to 8 mph breeze. Hunting a big piece of public ground. Small food plot and a mixture of tall grass,brome and some cattails in low areas. Clouded over about 4 and I think birds put up for the night early because they all held great for our dogs. We had 5 or 6 hens pointed and 1 rooster which we bagged out of the brome. Dont know that I have had that happen before. Got 1 out of a small patch of cattails,1 out of tall prairie grasses and we both missed a bird that his young gsp held in a clump of cattails for over a minute while we got position.
A very satisfying 1 1/2 hour hunt of public ground.

[granite7]

Howdy, new member here and I hunt. I’m looking forward to training my first hunting dog. My latest trial was just poor shooting on my part.

I was working the northeast corner of a pivot irrigation field with some fresh snow on the ground. My dog is over to my right and I see rooster tracks in the snow. I whistle her over and show her the tracks. She sniffed for a few seconds and the stepped to my left. The Wiley old rooster had slipped past us and was slightly to my left and behind. My girl took two steps to my left and the rooster flushed. I then proceeded to miss three shots at a towering bird.

[polmaise]

Howdy, new member here and I hunt. I’m looking forward to training my first hunting dog. My latest trial was just poor shooting on my part.

I was working the northeast corner of a pivot irrigation field with some fresh snow on the ground. My dog is over to my right and I see rooster tracks in the snow. I whistle her over and show her the tracks. She sniffed for a few seconds and the stepped to my left. The Wiley old rooster had slipped past us and was slightly to my left and behind. My girl took two steps to my left and the rooster flushed. I then proceeded to miss three shots at a towering bird.

WAS

granite7 , "dang only a couple of members hunt?????" posted by our learned friend.
Training your first hunting dog must be a blast and huge excitement for everyone who has gone before, myself included. Your latest trial may have been lack of hunting experience ,and well...I can't vouch for any proficiency in shooting from the shoulder whilst walking and the sudden flutter of flush from bird to safety catch and gun in shoulder and aim and shot whilst dog safely at point ,but it sure does improve your shooting game ,the more you hunt and shoot it ....or not ? meaning...when I was first shooting/hunting, there was only one shell in the double barrel , with four plates on the kitchen table.
That wiley old rooster without footprint in the snow was doing exactly the same as if there was no tracks, my advice is the dog would do exactly the same , with or without the snow and your shooting similar ...without experience of learning to do it better , and having 4 plates full.

[granite7]

Hi, thanks for your input! I have hunted for many years, but my shots on birds have always been few and far between. It was definitely me rushing in excitement. I’m OK that the rooster lived to fly another day.

[weimdogman]

Yesterday I shot a bird at probably 45 yards. It was fairly high as it got a good lift from the wind. When I shot wings folded in and the bird probably fell 10 feet before recovering and flying away like nothing ever happened. I have shot plenty of birds but that was the first time I have ever seen that.
Earlier in the day I hunted a 160 acre piece which is a stubble field with a narrow draw and some brush around the farm yard. Dog finally got birdy as I was done and at the ditch. Hunted it for a 100 yards and she locked up. As I approached on the road , 2 hens and a rooster boiled out with the wind. I drilled the rooster and he hit with a thud,bounced up and was running for the barnyard. Dog took off after him and rolled him at about a 100 yards. Bird flew off WTH.

[oldbeek]

We got in to them this weekend. They earned it!

54D86217-55B9-47EF-8FCE-4895A58596A0.jpeg

Owens valley ? I was going to take a look at that place, but birds near home on flat ground keep me nearer to home.

[oldbeek]

Hunting or training on wild quail every day I am healthy enough. Fantastic year for birds. Never got skunked yet. Don't like to shoot to many.

Covid caught up to me the next day. Got back out in them on dec 14 close to home.

[Garrison]

We got in to them this weekend. They earned it!

54D86217-55B9-47EF-8FCE-4895A58596A0.jpeg

Owens valley ? I was going to take a look at that place, but birds near home on flat ground keep me nearer to home.

Yeah, heading back up after Christmas for a week. Skipping the Nevada chukar trip this year due to time and family distancing constraints because of my own health issues, good to hear you are on the mend!

Garrison

[weimdogman]

So I have hunted 36 days which probably average 2 hrs each. I carry a old 870 in 12 gauge which has a sling but I seldom use it preferring to carry my gun in my left hand. Being right handed I put birds in the left side of my hunting jacket. I have noticed some soreness in my left shoulder and thought it was from carrying the gun. Shot a bird and put it in my jacket walked 50 ft and dang it's the birds in the jacket that are bothering me. Put the bird in the back and all was good again. I guess it's a little like ladies and their purses.

[mask]

Chukar hunting has been tough this year. I have been walking about 2 miles per covey. Got rained out today but looks good for tomorrow. I have been hunting alone all season, the one bright note is my two young dogs are starting to act like pros. There are quite a few huns this year and I have killed many. Quite a few chukars as well and I have yet to come home without birds. The dogs have been running from 20 to 35 miles which is a lot in the country I hunt. I'm blessed to still keep at it. Merry Christmas to all and good hunting.

[IDHunter]

Chukar hunting has been tough this year. I have been walking about 2 miles per covey. Got rained out today but looks good for tomorrow. I have been hunting alone all season, the one bright note is my two young dogs are starting to act like pros. There are quite a few huns this year and I have killed many. Quite a few chukars as well and I have yet to come home without birds. The dogs have been running from 20 to 35 miles which is a lot in the country I hunt. I'm blessed to still keep at it. Merry Christmas to all and good hunting.

What part of Idaho you in? I'm in SW... Meridian area. I was out today and it was a muddy mess from the moisture over the weekend and then the extreme warm up that we've had in the last 36 hours.
Lately I feel like the birds have been consistent, like you said. Finding them where I'd expect to find them, relatively speaking. Like you, it seems like it tends to be some pretty good hikes to get into them, but I'm also seeing that once I do find them I'm finding a couple of coveys in pretty close succession. It's like walk 2 miles before you find them, and then find a couple different groups within 400 yards. Wish I could say I was coming home with birds every day, but my young dog (10 months) isn't holding up his end of the bargain yet. More often than not he is busting the birds rather than pointing them, so I'm spending a lot of time watching birds fly away without even shouldering the gun. I keep telling my wife, with better dog work I think I'd be bagging several per outing. Maybe one day.

[weimdogman]

Well yesterday was 50 with 25 mph wind. Had to get the dogs out anyways
Today is 20 with 50mph wind and snow

Happy to see moisture but not wind driven snow.
At times cant see 150 feet in town so.....

Anyways like to wish all a merry Christmas and good times with family and friends ,wether they have 2 or 4 legs!

[MNTonester]

Welcome Granite 7. Hope there's enough cooperative weather for you and your dog to get out some more. Had hoped to chase some grouse with a young fellow and his boy today, but a blizzard rolled through Wednesday and bitter cold on its tail today. Between the cold and drifts, this might be the end of my hunting this year (the season runs to 1/3 here in MN). I'm really hoping for one last attempt at either grouse or pheasant but have my doubts.

[slistoe]

IMG_2885.jpg

Best trip out this year was with a buddy who had picked up an old damascus shotgun. I think he said it was made in England in 1869. He loaded some black powder cartridges for it, we tested it at the range on some clays and then headed out for birds.

[weimdogman]

Got out for a couple hours. Warmed up a little and I was very comfortable. Hard hunted birds were still spooky and in the thick (noisy) stuff. Missed 1 I should have had for the dogs who worked him perfectly. That low winter sun complicates shooting

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[weimdogman]

Still out chasing roosters. Jan. 3rd was the worst day weather wise. Temp was 8° with a little breeze , windchill zero. Medium heavy fog rolled in early the night before so everything had a thick frost.
My son and a family friend from Texas were here along with my nephew and his lab. Cattail slough is 3/4 of a mile long and 200 to 500 yards wide. Took about 3 hrs to cover this snow jungle. They all got a bird and I had a gun malfunction which hampered me. You know it is nasty out when a 870 pump freezes up!

[weimdogman]

My 2 weims were excellent and the nephews lab stayed close . Prob wouldn't have gotten a shot or found the the downed birds without a dog!

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[oldbeek]

We got in to them this weekend. They earned it!

54D86217-55B9-47EF-8FCE-4895A58596A0.jpeg

Owens valley ? I was going to take a look at that place, but birds near home on flat ground keep me nearer to home.

Yeah, heading back up after Christmas for a week. Skipping the Nevada chukar trip this year due to time and family distancing constraints because of my own health issues, good to hear you are on the mend!

Garrison

Covid takes a lot out of an old man. My son who already had breathing problems will probably be on oxygen from here on out. We are looking at ways to hunt with a quad for him. Getting on quail every other day now. Trying to walk at least 2 miles per hunt. Dang dog is starting to limp if we run every day. She doesn't know where half throttle is. PS> For you guys in cold weather.... Weather here in So Cal is 55 degrees with 5 mph breeze. Only got 7 points today with quail scattered out in knee high brush 1/2 mile from home.

[weimdogman]

Owens valley ? I was going to take a look at that place, but birds near home on flat ground keep me nearer to home.

Yeah, heading back up after Christmas for a week. Skipping the Nevada chukar trip this year due to time and family distancing constraints because of my own health issues, good to hear you are on the mend!

Garrison

Covid takes a lot out of an old man. My son who already had breathing problems will probably be on oxygen from here on out. We are looking at ways to hunt with a quad for him. Getting on quail every other day now. Trying to walk at least 2 miles per hunt. Dang dog is starting to limp if we run every day. She doesn't know where half throttle is. PS> For you guys in cold weather.... Weather here in So Cal is 55 degrees with 5 mph breeze. Only got 7 points today with quail scattered out in knee high brush 1/2 mile from home.

I sure hope your son is able to get better. Glad you are getting into quail.
As for your weather ,that's a little warm for me ,and you are still in Ca.

[weimdogman]

Nice day today so got out for a couple hours. Have had nasty weather- a little snow but 50/60 mph winds so expected some areas of the cattail sloughs to be drifted in. Had 20+ birds fly out of the bean stubble and into the slough so we knew we would find birds. Well the birds were spooky but still had some good dog work and a nice retrieve on a crippled bird. Plenty of great points on hens!
Birds always are running in front and it is cool when you get them into a pinch point. Had 10 hens trapped up under cattails against a 6 foot high drift on the edge of the slough. Dog was on point and never flinched as the birds came out 1 or 2 at a time. He was a little disappointed I couldn't shoot 1 for him.
After that we went to another field with CRP of clump grasses bordering a corn field and little waterways. All wild flushes except for a few hens.
That same area has some lighter grass running down to a waterway that has some cattails and other rushes.
Dog really came alive running that shorter grass. Birds were running ahead and he was working the wind and seemed really happy to be out of the slough. They were all hens but he was happy to work them. I saw something funny as he was pointing a bird , another bird ran at him from the side and out between his hind legs and flushed just behind him.

[weimdogman]

Had a couple new experiences hunting pheasants this season.
1. Got a point on a bird and it flushed as I approached. I hit it but not hard. A second bird flushed a little further in front and I didnt shoot. Both flew about 300 yards and landed on the edge of the cattails where the road borders the slough. As I hunted that direction dog went on a walking point and 1 bird flushed at 60 yards. We got to where bird flushed and dog went on point. I bumped into what I thought was a fence so I sent the dog in on a deer trail which curved in to the front of me. She froze up and I said fetch thinking wounded bird couldnt fly. I heard a wing flap and a bird squeak. Dog wasnt returning to me so I said here and she came out with feathers in her mouth. I tried to walk in but was hitting against something. Walked in on the deer path and found a roll of old fence,woven and tangled barbwire that the bird had crawled into. Had to reach in from the top and position the bird so I could pull it out. Cut my arm in about 4 places.

2. Hunted a public area where 2 roosters in different areas ran out of light cover into heavy cover and then back out into light cover to circle back around to back where they were. Dog stayed with both and I got 1 really as good fortune but missed the second as a hen flushed just ahead of the dog and I didnt figure another bird had doubled back. I imagine this tactic worked before for those birds so like dogs learning something on their own,they did it again.

[NEhomer]

Had a nice hunt Saturday morning. Two points, two birds on two shots.

[deseeker]

NE Homer glad to hear someone is shooting straight I'm having a problem hitting birds this year
Glad you had a good hunt

[weimdogman]

3 to 6 inches of snow with mild temps and tolerable winds in the forecast for today. Really excited about hunting this weekend. Snow weighs down some of the undergrowth that one's feet catch in when hunting the heavy stuff. Birds get concentrated in the heavy cover that I love to hunt. My weims show up waaay better against snow then dead grass and cattails.

[ckirsch]

The earlier posts about big coveys of grouse reminded me of an encounter years ago.

I was pheasant hunting with three others here in western South Dakota, on a very windy late December day. I typically give up on prairie grouse by the middle of November, given that, as described in earlier posts, in late fall they are inclined to assemble in large flocks and become almost unapproachable. My friends and I were attempting to surround a large plum thicket that was often full of pheasants. When we were still around a hundred yards out, I noticed dozens of shadows gliding slowly by me on the snow-covered surface of the wheat field we were crossing. I looked up to see at least two hundred sharptails flying about fifty yards above us, moving almost imperceptibly into the very stiff wind. All four of us had over/unders, and we took twelve grouse out of that flock, even with the required reloading. When the skirmish was over, and the dogs had swept the wheat stubble for the last of the fallen sharpies, we thought we might as well continue on and try the plum thicket, even though we assumed anything that might have been in there would have long since departed during the grouse firefight. "bleep" if we didn't collect three of the four roosters that had inexplicably remained in those plums.

This fall, I often reminisced about that hunt, when I finished up three or four-mile jaunts searching for sharpies with no success. My luck with pheasants hasn't been a whole lot better. Keeping my fingers crossed for some good seasons again while I can still get around well enough to hunt.

[MNTonester]

Had major back surgery 11/8. Was able to get out with my two brothers for our yearly pheasant and grouse hunt a two weeks before. Was in SW MN mid October and the first day there it was 80 deg. We limited our time to later in the day to go easy on the dogs. We had our opportunities and all missed. Next day upper 70's and again we went easy on the dogs. Oscar, my poodle put up the only rooster we saw that day and my youngest brother and nephew both missed. The next day it poured and we decided to head north for the grouse hunting leg of our hunt. We did fairly well on grouse; I got two and over the next few days I think by brothers, son, and nephew got birds. The following week we did a day pheasant hunt near St. Cloud and I actually bagged a rooster. My oldest brother got a gift rooster that abandoned a safe getaway and turned back toward us and killed himself on a power line. This is probably our last hunt with my oldest brother who has dementia. I went under the knife after that and could be six to 12 months for recovery. Then my youngest brother had a heart attack 10 days ago (but is doing okay). This family tradition is coming to an end. I just hope I can sufficiently recover by next Fall to get out as much as possible.

[Sharon]

I hope you can too Sir. Your contribution to this forum is much appreciated. Even though the pheasant killed himself on a power line, he tasted just as good at dinner I bet.