smurfman wrote:Took two roosters and missed one today. The first one came within 200 yards of the truck but it was an hour and a half to find the next one which I missed. Stopped around 11:00 for lunch and to rest the dogs.
Hit the woods for ruffs and mudbats a little after 2:30. Found three ruffs by 4:30 but they would not hold for a point. My young dog finally pointed a woodcock which I was able to bring down. He picked it up fine but would not keep it in his mouth. Need to do a bit of force breaking this winter. Shot the other two timberdoodles over my older dog, he was pretty tired but worked hard.
The final rooster was shot a half hour before sunset. There is a swale that I know of that pheasants often use to roost for the night when crops are still in the fields. I took the younger dog there and he was able to find and point a rooster. It was a good experience as we flushed three hens before a rooster was found.
Tomorrow we will try to find some sharpies, one of the fields was disced over last year and it will be interesting to see if the new growth has any birds yet. The deer hunters gripe big time about the DNR wiping out the brush as it was just beginning to get thick enough to hold deer. They have no idea about bird habitat and I hope they never do as the birds here cannot handle much pressure. I shoot maybe one bird a year from this area if I have a young dog. Otherwise it is all "practice" if I have more experienced dogs.
There are a few pheasants around there too, I get surprised now and then when a rooster flushes and the occasional hen keeps me on my toes regarding bird identification. From what I have read about sharptail/pheasant competition I wish roosters and hens could be taken in the sharptail zones.
LarryP wrote:Isn't the limit only 2 roosters?smurfman wrote:Took two roosters and missed one today. The first one came within 200 yards of the truck but it was an hour and a half to find the next one which I missed. Stopped around 11:00 for lunch and to rest the dogs.
Hit the woods for ruffs and mudbats a little after 2:30. Found three ruffs by 4:30 but they would not hold for a point. My young dog finally pointed a woodcock which I was able to bring down. He picked it up fine but would not keep it in his mouth. Need to do a bit of force breaking this winter. Shot the other two timberdoodles over my older dog, he was pretty tired but worked hard.
The final rooster was shot a half hour before sunset. There is a swale that I know of that pheasants often use to roost for the night when crops are still in the fields. I took the younger dog there and he was able to find and point a rooster. It was a good experience as we flushed three hens before a rooster was found.
Tomorrow we will try to find some sharpies, one of the fields was disced over last year and it will be interesting to see if the new growth has any birds yet. The deer hunters gripe big time about the DNR wiping out the brush as it was just beginning to get thick enough to hold deer. They have no idea about bird habitat and I hope they never do as the birds here cannot handle much pressure. I shoot maybe one bird a year from this area if I have a young dog. Otherwise it is all "practice" if I have more experienced dogs.
There are a few pheasants around there too, I get surprised now and then when a rooster flushes and the occasional hen keeps me on my toes regarding bird identification. From what I have read about sharptail/pheasant competition I wish roosters and hens could be taken in the sharptail zones.
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