Hunts

GrouseHunter22 · Post by **GrouseHunter22** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 2:10 pm

Anybody on here ever been Prairie Chicken hunting before? I just thought they looked cool and would like to try hunting them someday.

WildRose · Post by **WildRose** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 3:42 pm

When I was a kid it was still legal to hunt the Atwatters here in Texas and Both the Atwatters and lesser in NM. If you like big running dogs in wide open country it was a real fun hunt. It's a shame that they have all but disappeared. I'll do some hunting for them this year though in KS and SD while I'm up there chasing other things as well. CR

GrouseHunter22 · Post by **GrouseHunter22** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 4:56 pm

Do they fly like a grouse? I have read that.

WildRose · Post by **WildRose** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 12:53 am

Well as I remember.. and it's been over 20 years since my last PC point, they flew for the most part like a really fast Pheasant hen. Of course in those regions the wind is generally blowing a minimum of 20mph and so it didn't take them long to get a tail wind going and really sail. If the dogs didn't really hold sighted birds well you were in trouble too because it was not unusual to see them milling around in front of the dog in plain sight. Also like grouse they were real touchy about their comfort zone so you'd better have a dog that could stick them and hold them at a minimum of about 15-20 yards.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to "refresh" my memories in Kansas in October. CR

sdgord · Post by **sdgord** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:35 am

Here in South Dakota we get the chance to see a lot of chickens and sharptails on the west river grasslands. I like to use my bigger running Gordon on sharptails and chickens in the open prarie.
A dog that will stretch out and cover some ground will enable you to see a lot more birds. Plus the prarie grouse will hold for a pointing dog a lot better than the ditch parrots out here. Chickens and grouse get a lot spookier in the wind. Being out on the open grasslands makes them depend on their hearing a lot more than birds in heavy cover. That all being said our numbers are going to be down a bit more than in the past. Last spring and summer was tough on the young birds. But I have no doubt they will rebound soon.sdgord