Chasing rockets

[Rally]

I’ m in Sd. Pheasant hunting. Tough conditions, with high water and 6” of new snow on poor ice. Birds can run in the cattails but the dogs and I go through. Got two yesterday, and three today by 12:30 ( shooting starts at 10:00). Plenty of birds but I should have brought chest waders! Cash, the new Springer pup looks promising. Got him into a piece yesterday where we put up 31 hens and 6 roosters. He was having a blast and swimming in ice water.
Shot my third bird yesterday, but couldn’t retrieve it. Landed in some cattails with poor ice. My big lab ( Buck) went through the ice right in front of me. Every time he got back on the ice it collapsed again. Put my gun down and jumped in with him, it was only knee deep there. I’d get him up on the ice and it would just about hold him, then collapse again. He had wind of the bird and didn’t want to quit. We kept at it until it was crotch deep on me. Had to get him turned around in the trench we broke, but the pup and my other lab ( Hank) were also swimming in it. Got the pup up on the ice and turned Hank and Buck back to shore. Buck wanted that bird pretty bad so had to keep turning him around and pushing him infront of me. About five minutes back to good ice where my gun was at. Had to heal Buck until we got back to the truck. Hate to lose one like that but would hate to drown a dog.

 

[462]

Rally,
Your "new" dog looks to be quite interested in dead pheasants.
Michael

 

[Rally]

Michael,
If you look at that tailgate shot, the bird on the far left has no tail feathers. Cash “ helped” Hank retrieve that one. Lol Cash is already hunting on his own in short loops. All go. I have high hopes.

 

[Spindrift]

Sounds like you and your dogs had a rather cold but eventful trip. Nice birds! Good to hear your new buddy is showing interest. Best of luck!

 

[Intheshop]

Nothing better than being in the "field" with a good hunting dog. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bret4207]

Outstanding!!! Years back up this way, before the coyote population boomed, there used to be something of a resident pheasant population. That is one bird I've never even seen while hunting. Neighbor raised something like 50 and released them. They found kill sites on over 30 within 2 weeks near the feeding sites. Coyotes, bobcats and the big hawks (Red Tails) or maybe owls were thought to be the culprits.

 

[Rick]

Hhmmm . . . I would think the owls and the hawks would carry them off as opposed to finding a "kill site".

 

[CZ93X62]

Coyotes are AWFUL. In the early 1970s Cal-DFG stocked some Merriam's turkeys in the local mountains, and the population really took hold in a hurry. By the late 1980s the hunting was good, and I was ALL ABOUT turkey hunting--Spring and Fall. Though pheasants left my close-in area with the oncoming tide of Spanish tile rooflines into our formerly agricultural areas, there were still plenty of birds to be had in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys. Migratory birds and waterfowl, too.

Then came that whole FUR IS DEAD horsewarp in the early 1990s. The fur markets for coyote pelts ("desert wolf") collapsed. Hunters quit harvesting fur. Coyote populations exploded, and continue to do so. Game bird populations have plummeted. I heard my last turkey in the local mountains in 2008, and stopped seeing tracks about the same time. They are gone. Pheasants in the ag valleys to the southeast are largely gone. This rant is about to go socio-political, so now is a good place to stop. Just don't stop whacking song dogs--the truly good ones are the dead ones, AFAIC.

 

[RicinYakima]

CZ, Just have CA introduce some wolf packs. That will be the end of the coyote issues.

 

[Ian]

And bears and mountain lions, preferably those with an affinity for Gucci Memoire.

 

[Rally]

Went out this morning and was soaked from going through the ice by 11:00! My best dog is limping from going through the ice, and it was 42 degrees forecast for today. All four pair of boots are soaked. Can’t justify getting a dog hurt so pulled the plug. Headed home tomorrow and never fired a shot today. Pushed birds into the cattails, where they can run but the dogs fall through. Plenty of birds around but conditions are as i’ve Ever seen here in over twenty years. Suppose to get near zero next week and i’ll Be back after it freezes. Wife wants to stop at the casino on the way home, hope she has better luck! Puppy is having a blast, just needs some ground time.

Ric,
That’s kinda mean wishing wolves on any place! Not necessarily the wolves, but the people that come with them under the guise of “management”.

 

[Bret4207]

Hhmmm . . . I would think the owls and the hawks would carry them off as opposed to finding a "kill site".

To a degree, but that's when you find the remains on top of a round bale, stump or under/in a tree. You also see the tracks in the snow if there is any and can figure out what happened. Hawks and owls leave a different carcass/remains than a cat or coyote. A Coyote about all you find is the wings and tail feathers. A Bobcat is different and tends to be in the brush more and there's more left, sometimes they'll half bury whats left. Works the same way with rabbits, grouse, etc.

 

[Rally]

Wellllllll, we left where I normally hunt this morning and stopped at the casino on the Nd/ Sd. line just off I29. Got there too soon and couldn’t get a room until they had some cleaned, about 1:30- 2:00. Wife went gambling, I had a pair of almost dry boots, and one good dog and a puppy. Did the roadside clothes change and went looking for something not so wet. Little colder and windier today, but less walk- in areas or birds. Finally found one with a few tracks and a strip of cattails about a half section long. Walked across to north side without going through, good start. There were a few more tracks inside but nothing special. Followed the North side about a half mile without putting up a single bird. Pushed out the end with not a single flush nor fresh track. Walked out to a little island of cover, not a track, old or new. Turned around an ran the south side back, wind out of the North. About half way back to my truck when I went through the ice but just to my knees, no big deal, I’ve grown webbed feet the last four days. Get right out no problem. Little farther I’m seeing fresh tracks and Hanks tail looks like an auger. Up to two hens, another ten feet and a third hen. Cash’s little stub tail is a blur, he’s liking this stuff! Couple more steps, up comes a single rooster, full cackle, got him just as he peaked. Hank is on him shortly after he hits the ground, Cash pulled out his tail feathers “helping”. I’m pretty tickled because I’ve hunted this area before with little success. Walk about another 100 yards and Cash is just going nuts about 10 feet infront of me. Pile of broken down cattails, can just see his butt and tail just about propelling him! Up comes a hen! He’s doing the Snoopy dance in the air! Now I’m a real happy camper. About 60 yards from the truck and Hank jumps three more hens to my left front. Another ten yards and another single rooster , a single shot and the A5 16 gauge is two for two. It drops out of my sight but Hank is headed there. I get over there and Hank is working ever smaller z pattern, wind in his favor. Couple seconds he’s got it and Cash is adjusting tail feathers again but didn’t pull them out. I had to go check out where the bird landed to see if he ran at all, because it didn’t look like I hit him that hard at the shot. Not a single track, just an impression in the heavy snow.
Good day. Sorry about the poor picture, forgot to take it with the dogs. Had to take it next to a dumpster at the casino.

 

[Ian]

At least you got ALL yer boots soaked! Nice birds. Closest I ever got to pheasant on the wing was a canned hunt at Black Canyon wing & clay in Colorado. Didn't participate but fun to watch. The upside is the local countryside has a growing wild population based in escapees.

Did the wife win anything?

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

I still remember the only time i went to S D with my dad. That was before i was old enough to carry a gun. If you were one of the blockers at the end of the drive. It was just like an English hunt. Waives of pheasants flying at and over you.
My father was a very poor trap shooter. But put a bird in front of him and it was usually dead in short order. I have a newspaper clipping from the mid 50's. My father and 2 friends each limited out in one day on pheasants -ducks -grouse.

 

[Rally]

Ian,
She was up $200 by dinner time but isn’t now! Lol

 

[KeithB]

Casinos don't stay in business by having the odds in your favor. It's like entropy, you can beat the game a few times in the short term but in the long run entropy always increases.

 

[Rally]

Without a doubt Keith, but she likes pushing buttons. I don’t gamble at all, just enjoy the food and price of cigarettes. They give vets a 15 percent discount on food and 30% on a room. Cost me $42 for a brand new room with king size bed. The casino just finished this big wing this last summer. Had steak and shrimp buffet last night, and helps it is between my place and where I hunt pheasant. Not bad having the wife along after shooting a limit and have to wait until 10:00 am to hunt the following day.
Was a 4” snow and falling temps this am, about 20 mph wind. Dogs wanted back in the truck pretty quick this morning! Wife wants to shop in Fargo on the way through. Ho ho ho.

 

[KeithB]

How people spend their entertainment money is their business not mine. My grandma used to sew aprons from scrap cloth to sell at the local bingo hall to afford money to play. She never spent more than she earned selling her stuff, and when she came out ahead she put the mony away for rainy days. It was her social outlet and source of once a week entertainment. She never bet or gambled on anything else. She also occassionally enjoyed a small sip of Mogan David before going to bed on cold nights. I don't mistake her (or anyone here) for a gambling addict or an alcoholic.

 

[fiver]

shop in Fargo?
most people floor it when they get close so they got enough momentum to coast on by in case the truck breaks.