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Pheasant Opener
Another opener in the books! A little different because my father didn't make the trip. He said he didn't have the energy. The rest of us carried on with pride and dignity!
Tough hunting with many crops still in. We found pheasants in both sunflowers and corn. Not so many in the grass. We shot more grouse this year than we have the last few. It was also warm and my lab Glen really struggled. The last day was cooler and he had a lot more spunk. We also ran into some nasty sand burs!
I think bird numbers are ok. When the grain comes out, I believe the hunting will get very good.
Haven't hunted around here yet. Probably this weekend.
Tough hunting with many crops still in. We found pheasants in both sunflowers and corn. Not so many in the grass. We shot more grouse this year than we have the last few. It was also warm and my lab Glen really struggled. The last day was cooler and he had a lot more spunk. We also ran into some nasty sand burs!
I think bird numbers are ok. When the grain comes out, I believe the hunting will get very good.
Haven't hunted around here yet. Probably this weekend.
"Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Mark Twain
Replies
Yeah, the standing crops are gonna keep things tough. It's hard to work grass when the birds can just bail out into corn/grains. It's especially bad for those who can't access the private land where the stuff is growing to shake those birds out.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
I would love to do that one day. But, I probably won't get to.
It was an experience that I still wonder about....
I used one of my smoothbores, a 16ga cylinder bore flintlock with an effective range of 20-25 yards max if that! Maybe 15-20 yards is more accurate! I didn't give a damn about killing a bunch of birds, I simply wanted to see the country! BUT.....
The limit was 3 birds a day, and I killed 9 birds with 10 shots, and I've never really believed this! These were supposed to be wild birds, but I strongly question this! Had to get up to about 8-10 yards to get a bird off the ground with dogs.(About the effective range of my smoothbore) Anyhow, when the birds got off the ground I quickly noted that they would steeply climb to about 25-30 feet then level off and fly like hell to get out of the area. I tried to anticipate exactly when the maximum height was reached and leveling off was coming then led the bird a couple of feet and pulled the trigger. Total success, but I was suspicious! Our guide, fellow who owned the land/ranch, was always behind me 8-10 yards coaching me on what to expect, etc. I got the idea that when I fired he, too, was letting go with his high brass shells and was bringing the bird down for me! I fired 2-3 times and very quickly spun around to see if he, too, had just fired! Never saw anything that made me think that he, too, had let go with a round....just the opposite! But there's no way in the world that I was knocking those birds down like that! NO WAY!
JAY