Pheasant hunters

[rockville]

Pheasant's all over the place in the old (empty) Bonny Reservoir when I was archery deer hunting in Colorado. If my buddy gets drawn in 2020 I may head back there and pheasant hunt while I scout for him.

That would make scouting a little more fun

[eford]

I have hunted pheasants since the late 1970s with a variety of 12 gauge shotguns. Most of it has been without a bird dog. I’m always happy to hunt when there is a dog to retrieve the downed birds. Stopping the hunt to look for an elusive bird can eat a lot of time, and many times those birds were seen going down, yet they aren’t found. Deep, heavy native grass makes it hard to find a pheasant.

The #1 reason the birds have it so good are the Crop Reduction Program (CRP) fields. These former grain-producing fields are left untilled and planted to native grasses, which are usually knee-high or even taller. These fields are superb nesting areas. No nest, no new birds. Plus, the birds will have reasonable cover from coyotes in these fields. A field can go out of CRP after the contract is up, or remain there. Land owners get the $$ for not growing crops on it and the birds thrive.

Lots of milo fields and CRP is Walk In Hunting Area, aka WIHA or WeeHa. An uncut milo field is a true gold mine for an upland bird hunter. Most farmers won’t allow their fields to be hunted before harvest, and some won’t let it happen until the end of the season. Reasons vary for the hunt / no hunt access, but a milo field next to CRP is a dream. Birds frequently walk between the two to avoid being seen. With this being the last weekend of pheasant season, the birds still alive are the walkers. The fliers have been shot.

There is no perfect shotgun type or manufacturer for bird guns. Great hunters use O/U guns as much as they use a pump action or semi auto shotguns. Find one that fits (shoulders) perfectly and you are set. No head or eye adjustments, just shoulder and shoot. I saw a lot of old style Browning A5s this year knocking down birds. I used a Winchester XP4 with the stock extenders to make a longer length of pull and bagged more birds this year than last year. I also hunted more and found more birds in all the “usual places” such as at the tall weeded corners of fields, cut milo fields, the low areas of CRP and near open silo feedlots. The feedlots are another gold mine for birds. Size 5 or 6 shot is preferred at the beginning of the season and Size 4 toward the end. Birds tend to be shot at longer ranges at the end of the season so the 4s give you a little better reach.

I should include the Bobwhite quail in the upland bird scene here (SW Kansas). This year had more quail than in the last 10 years. The quail flourish for the same reasons as the ring neck pheasants. Quail are terribly susceptible to being killed in hail storms. We have had hardly any hail in three years and not much in the sustained the drought-like conditions.

Bird season is also a quasi deer hunting - scouting time. Some bird hunters from eastern Kansas found a big 13 point White tail buck in the cut milo field next to where my sons and I were hunting deer. That milo field was green wheat in 2017 when Craig took the nice buck hanging on a wall in his house.

Last but not least six or seven people walking a filed seems to be a very nice group size. Add a few blockers, if possible and the hunting can be quite good.

[rockville]

I have hunted pheasants since the late 1970s with a variety of 12 gauge shotguns. Most of it has been without a bird dog. I’m always happy to hunt when there is a dog to retrieve the downed birds. Stopping the hunt to look for an elusive bird can eat a lot of time, and many times those birds were seen going down, yet they aren’t found. Deep, heavy native grass makes it hard to find a pheasant.

The #1 reason the birds have it so good are the Crop Reduction Program (CRP) fields. These former grain-producing fields are left untilled and planted to native grasses, which are usually knee-high or even taller. These fields are superb nesting areas. No nest, no new birds. Plus, the birds will have reasonable cover from coyotes in these fields. A field can go out of CRP after the contract is up, or remain there. Land owners get the $$ for not growing crops on it and the birds thrive.

Lots of milo fields and CRP is Walk In Hunting Area, aka WIHA or WeeHa. An uncut milo field is a true gold mine for an upland bird hunter. Most farmers won’t allow their fields to be hunted before harvest, and some won’t let it happen until the end of the season. Reasons vary for the hunt / no hunt access, but a milo field next to CRP is a dream. Birds frequently walk between the two to avoid being seen. With this being the last weekend of pheasant season, the birds still alive are the walkers. The fliers have been shot.

There is no perfect shotgun type or manufacturer for bird guns. Great hunters use O/U guns as much as they use a pump action or semi auto shotguns. Find one that fits (shoulders) perfectly and you are set. No head or eye adjustments, just shoulder and shoot. I saw a lot of old style Browning A5s this year knocking down birds. I used a Winchester XP4 with the stock extenders to make a longer length of pull and bagged more birds this year than last year. I also hunted more and found more birds in all the “usual places” such as at the tall weeded corners of fields, cut milo fields, the low areas of CRP and near open silo feedlots. The feedlots are another gold mine for birds. Size 5 or 6 shot is preferred at the beginning of the season and Size 4 toward the end. Birds tend to be shot at longer ranges at the end of the season so the 4s give you a little better reach.

I should include the Bobwhite quail in the upland bird scene here (SW Kansas). This year had more quail than in the last 10 years. The quail flourish for the same reasons as the ring neck pheasants. Quail are terribly susceptible to being killed in hail storms. We have had hardly any hail in three years and not much in the sustained the drought-like conditions.

Bird season is also a quasi deer hunting - scouting time. Some bird hunters from eastern Kansas found a big 13 point White tail buck in the cut milo field next to where my sons and I were hunting deer. That milo field was green wheat in 2017 when Craig took the nice buck hanging on a wall in his house.

Last but not least six or seven people walking a filed seems to be a very nice group size. Add a few blockers, if possible and the hunting can be quite good.

That is some real good information thanks

[eford]

Just heard on the radio yesterday that when Trace Atkins wrote the song "Should have been a Cowboy" he was hunting Pheasants around Dodge City Kansas.

It was Toby Keith who wrote the song.

Here’s how it went down. After a day of hunting near Dodge City, Toby Keith and the other hunters  headed to a bar with some kind of dance floor area. One of the hunters asked a woman to dance. She said no. The rejected hunter went over to his table with the rest of the guys and ordered beers. About five minutes later, a guy who looked like a cowboy asked the same woman to dance and she said yes. Of course, all the guys in the hunting group knew what happened earlier and saw the woman when she said yes. One of the hunters turned to the rejected one and said “you should’ve been a cowboy and maybe she would have said yes to you.” Keith saw and heard it all and got the idea for a song.
When Keith returned to his hotel room he found his roomie was asleep. Keith went to the bathroom and wrote the song in about 10 minutes.

Not necessarily related to the song, there are larger than life size statues of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) along the north side of Wyatt Earp Boulevard in Dodge City. An odd thing about the statues is James Arness was 6’7” tall so his statue is impressive to say the least. Doc is seated, playing cards by Boot Hill.

[Big Muddy rancher]

Thanks for the correction

I've listened to it enough I should have caught my own mistake

Also thanks for the "Rest of the Story"

Interesting about the statues.

[cacsrx1]

I have lived in central SD all my life (43 yrs).  The last 5 years have been the worst I have ever seen.  SD Game Fish and Parks doesnt want you to know that, they want to sell licences .....period.  Places that used to hold literally thousands of birds now hold zero.  People want to blame it on a number of things.  There are no more predators, there is no less habitat then there was 10 years ago.  They want to blame it on the winters, nesting conditions (to hot, too cold, to wet, too dry) etc.  IMO thats all BS.  When the hunting lodges release their tame birds (locals call them chickens) into the wild by the 100,000's they are bound to have a disease that the wild birds cant take.  2 years ago virtually all the adult birds disappeared from February to June......but shhhh, dont tell anyone.