Winter Roosters
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:25 pm
Winter has set in. The grass waterways that yielded pointed birds earlier in the season are empty now. The pheasants are flocked up in the heavy cover - Tree Rows, Cattails and Kochia Weed Patches. Close range hens flushed off of points outnumber the roosters by 10:1 or more. A few roosters hold for close range shots but more run and sneak out at longer ranges presenting going away shot angles. The few days we are fortunate to hunt fresh snow it is a helpful but more often it is crusted and noisy, which is never helpful to hunting pressured late season roosters and exhausting to walk through to boot. Such is the challenge of late season pheasant hunting. Nothing easy about it.
Its cold.
Dog loves it!
Birds Ahead Boss
But they are running and we need to move up. Point and relocate, over and over ...
Bunch of em in here Boss
More often than not my Garmin alerts me to the dog on point buried in cover. And the birds run on those cattails too, especially the remaining roosters.
A Rooster pointed in those cattails that held for meatball close range shot.
Bringing in our limited out 3rd rooster for that day while watching more flush out on ahead. Rooster was taken after a long point and relocate pursuit of moving birds up a weedy fenceline. Many hens stopping and holding for a point and close range flush while the roosters ran ahead. Yet another point, with the hen flushing close and a rooster going out long, brought down by a single shot of heavy nickel plated 5s going straight away and high.
Had been at it a couple of hours this day with not a shot fired despite moving quite a few pointed hens and out of range roosters. Got another point in a Kochia weed patch. Dog out of sight in the waist high weeds, Garmin alerting me and telling me the dog's location. I wade in, a hen goes up close and a huge rooster pops further out, no gimme but a doable shot. I fired once and hit him hard in the back due to the going away shot angle he presents, he starts to fall but then struggles on to land in a weedy road ditch about 75 yards away. Dog is on the scene immediately, bouces into the cover and then back out going down the high side of the ditch, using his eyes and ears and then dives back into the cover/ditch. Emerges in short order with the giant rooster.
He had a set of spurs on him.
Most days I was too tired to bother with setting up a pretty photo of birds and my dog. I was focused on finding a place slightly out of the wind, getting my birds cleaned and getting some rest ahead of doing it again the next day. Did take this one however.
Was hunting a cattail slough one day with the crosswind slightly at our back. Spud was making intelligent casts out and working back towards me when he slammed down on point. Four Sharptails popped about 30 yards ahead of him between us and came at an angle past me presenting a 45 yard high crossing shot. I rolled the first one and shot behind the second one. Spud looking proud bringing in the first one.
Every one is a trophy, especially the ones in Winter. They are so well equipped to survive on the prairies. Snowshoes on their feet, talons on their toes for digging through ice/snow, lungs twice the relative size of a rooster pheasant enabling them to fly much longer distances between roosts and feed each day. Saw alot of them, many sitting in trees.
Took some Hardy Folks to live here.
Natives wearing their winter coats.
Hunted another state the last two days hunting public lands for the first time. First day there were 2 other pickups parked in different parking lots of an area of a few hundred acres on a Tuesday. Spud pointed/moved 35-40 hens and one lone out of range rooster that first day. Here he is pointing yet another hen. 2 roosters for the trip, the only two we shot at after busting heavy cattails and blown over crusted snow covered grass for several exhausting hours.
Its cold.
Dog loves it!
Birds Ahead Boss
But they are running and we need to move up. Point and relocate, over and over ...
Bunch of em in here Boss
More often than not my Garmin alerts me to the dog on point buried in cover. And the birds run on those cattails too, especially the remaining roosters.
A Rooster pointed in those cattails that held for meatball close range shot.
Bringing in our limited out 3rd rooster for that day while watching more flush out on ahead. Rooster was taken after a long point and relocate pursuit of moving birds up a weedy fenceline. Many hens stopping and holding for a point and close range flush while the roosters ran ahead. Yet another point, with the hen flushing close and a rooster going out long, brought down by a single shot of heavy nickel plated 5s going straight away and high.
Had been at it a couple of hours this day with not a shot fired despite moving quite a few pointed hens and out of range roosters. Got another point in a Kochia weed patch. Dog out of sight in the waist high weeds, Garmin alerting me and telling me the dog's location. I wade in, a hen goes up close and a huge rooster pops further out, no gimme but a doable shot. I fired once and hit him hard in the back due to the going away shot angle he presents, he starts to fall but then struggles on to land in a weedy road ditch about 75 yards away. Dog is on the scene immediately, bouces into the cover and then back out going down the high side of the ditch, using his eyes and ears and then dives back into the cover/ditch. Emerges in short order with the giant rooster.
He had a set of spurs on him.
Most days I was too tired to bother with setting up a pretty photo of birds and my dog. I was focused on finding a place slightly out of the wind, getting my birds cleaned and getting some rest ahead of doing it again the next day. Did take this one however.
Was hunting a cattail slough one day with the crosswind slightly at our back. Spud was making intelligent casts out and working back towards me when he slammed down on point. Four Sharptails popped about 30 yards ahead of him between us and came at an angle past me presenting a 45 yard high crossing shot. I rolled the first one and shot behind the second one. Spud looking proud bringing in the first one.
Every one is a trophy, especially the ones in Winter. They are so well equipped to survive on the prairies. Snowshoes on their feet, talons on their toes for digging through ice/snow, lungs twice the relative size of a rooster pheasant enabling them to fly much longer distances between roosts and feed each day. Saw alot of them, many sitting in trees.
Took some Hardy Folks to live here.
Natives wearing their winter coats.
Hunted another state the last two days hunting public lands for the first time. First day there were 2 other pickups parked in different parking lots of an area of a few hundred acres on a Tuesday. Spud pointed/moved 35-40 hens and one lone out of range rooster that first day. Here he is pointing yet another hen. 2 roosters for the trip, the only two we shot at after busting heavy cattails and blown over crusted snow covered grass for several exhausting hours.