Pheasant Hunting

[CoElkHunter]

Hunted pheasants this morning with my father in law and his buddy at a game preserve about an hour east of my home. My father in law has three German Shorthairs, but only two are in the photo which his buddy took. Not really my thing to hunt at a preserve, but with limited time constraints, it is better than not hunting at all. His dogs are well trained and I enjoy hunting over them. We ended up with fifteen birds and they fly about three quarters speed of wild pheasants.

 

[TTundra]

I look at my club hunts as time to work the dog. Sure, it's a blast walking and talking knowing you'll shoot a lot, but seeing the dog get on that much scent and reps, priceless.

 

[Vashper]

It's warm in Colorado. And here -20 C

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Fantastic. What shotgun and shells did you use ?

 

[CoElkHunter]

I look at my club hunts as time to work the dog. Sure, it's a blast walking and talking knowing you'll shoot a lot, but seeing the dog get on that much scent and reps, priceless.

I guess the wild birds have taken a beating this year in Nebraska where we normally hunt with the persistent drought. The hatch was pretty much wiped out, so it was nice the dogs had a lot of birds to hunt.

 

[CoElkHunter]

View attachment 447442View attachment 447443View attachment 447444View attachment 447445
It's warm in Colorado. And here -20 C

Nice harvest of birds! Yes, it was 50 F today in the afternoon. Way too warm here, although it’s supposed to snow tonight.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Fantastic. What shotgun and shells did you use ?

My father in law used his 12ga Benelli Super Black Eagle and his buddy used the same model in 20ga. I used my 12ga Remington V3. Your limited to #6 shot at this preserve. His buddy was using 3” shells in his 20 and we 2 3/4” in various brands. With the unavailability of shells here, you buy and use whatever you can find.

 

[PARA45]

I guess the wild birds have taken a beating this year in Nebraska where we normally hunt with the persistent drought. The hatch was pretty much wiped out, so it was nice the dogs had a lot of birds to hunt.

It was the same this year in SD, tough hunt and not a lot of birds. Regardless, it was fun to be out chasing roosters.

 

[CoElkHunter]

It was the same this year in SD, tough hunt and not a lot of birds. Regardless, it was fun to out chasing roosters.

That's just it. Other than some dove hunting in September, I haven't been able to get out to hunt birds. I couldn't make it to Nebraska this year. Walking for mostly the entire four hours today in our time allotment was great. Since it was during the week, there was only a couple of other people hunting in a different area on the preserve. Like you said, it's ALWAYS great chasing MY favorite game bird!

 

[Vashper]

and the box with empty shell casings in the background - is it from this hunt?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

In the Cape you get partridge, but here in Zimbabwe we only get the various Francolin (spurfowl). There are a pair of Natals roosting in the tree outside my bedroom window, that evening and morning call is to die for. That is right here in Borrowdale, ie suburban stuff.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[fourfive8]

Haven’t hunted pheasants in years and I do miss it. @CoElkHunter, Thanks for posting!

Have been fortunate enough to hunt Guinea fowl and francolin while in Africa and they are an excellent substitute. Well worth consideration for anyone there on a regular PG/DG hunt.

 

[Shootist43]

CoElkHunter, thanks for sharing. We all need to remember that a "Bad Day Hunting" beats a "Good Day" doing almost anything else.

 

[Tanks]

Great. Unfortunately due to Covid moving things around last year I did not make it to SD for pheasants. Maybe this year.

 

[CoElkHunter]

and the box with empty shell casings in the background - is it from this hunt?

Yes! We shot all of those in one day. Thank God for semi auto shotguns! Ha! Ha! Ha!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Great. Unfortunately due to Covid moving things around last year I did not make it to SD for pheasants. Maybe this year.

Well, it was a good year to miss SD or anywhere else for pheasant due to the drought killing the majority of this years hatch. I'm hoping the moisture will return next spring/summer and the birds will recover. Remember, only about 25% of both pheasant and mourning dove populations survive in any given year to re populate their respective species. I haven't heard statistics regarding quail or other upland species, but I'm sure it's similar. Given that statistic, it has been shown scientifically that hunting has no affect on their populations.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

It was the same this year in SD, tough hunt and not a lot of birds. Regardless, it was fun to be out chasing roosters.

where I am in SD I have not seen a bird in 2 months, normally I see a lot on and off my property pretty sad

 

[fourfive8]

Dang sad to hear of the poor but predictable pheasant recruitment this past year throughout the pheasant breadbasket of the US

I get all nostalgic thinking back on some of those real banner pheasant years in western Kansas. Late season after Christmas and after all the farmers’ friends and relatives had their hunts. Almost no one hunting and lots of very wild birds! Kind of reminded me of some of the Guinea fowl in Africa if they’ve been harassed- wild as heck, running like crazy then flushing way out of range. I noticed even the francolin that hadn’t been hunted would usually hold ok but uncanny smart about putting a tree or bush between them and you the gunner right after the flush. The ring neck doves there are fairly slow compared to the mourning doves here. But! Those sand grouse on the beacon and pitching into water are beyond anything I’ve seen for wing shooting. Good stuff!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Dang sad to hear of the poor but predictable pheasant recruitment this past year throughout the pheasant breadbasket of the US

I get all nostalgic thinking back on some of the real banner pheasant years in western Kansas. Late season after Christmas and after all the farmers’ friends and relatives had their hunts. Almost no one hunting and lots of very wild birds! Kind of reminded me of some of the Guinea fowl in Africa if they’ve been harassed- wild as heck, running like crazy then flushing way out of range. I noticed even the francolin that hadn’t been hunted would usually hold ok but uncanny smart about putting a tree or bush between them and you the gunner right after the flush

Yep. I hunted pheasant for about three seasons in Kansas on private land through a friend of a friend who went to high school with the farmer who took us around to different locations. He had combined for farmers in the area and had permission to hunt on opening weekend which NEVER happens without connections. 48-64 birds taken by 10-12 hunters ( I shot 9 one weekend) and one field seeing 100 + birds getting up as they were pushed towards the blockers. I never saw anything like it since and probably never will. Now for me, it's driving five hours to Nebraska and hunting public CRP fields and MAYBE getting a pheasant or two over a weekend WITH three dogs! Oh well, I still have the indelible memories of those Kansas pheasant hunts.