TR's: 07 Fall Days Afield

**brice618** · 10-29-2007, 10:03 AM

I just got word that my honey hole is even better this year. We hunt playa lakes here in lubbock, and generally they are all cotton farmers. Well this year there is a rotation I guess and the entire lake is now surrounded by millet and corn! Apparently lots of pheasant around too! Whoo!

**FreakofSnow** · 10-29-2007, 10:53 AM

Went for an 8 mile jaunt yesterday, up and back down about 2500 vert. Guess how many fresh elk signs i saw? NOTHING. I'm thinking that those fucking dirtbikers need to hang it up for the season. Just as I was leaving (still cursing the trail I had seen) I heard one in the distance.

The only thing I saw was a little 3 point white tail taunting me from private land near where I was parking.

**flatlander#2** · 10-29-2007, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by The Reverend Floater

Forgot about this part:

For the past 3 years, there's been a rooster that flys across the river to the right of our blind, into the trees at the foot of a draw. Every time, my buddy Ranjo goes over there with his GSP and sends her in, and every time the bastard cock flies out safely, laughing at him the whole time. This thing is legendary and is now known as Ranjo's Rooster.

So on Saturday, we're sitting there and hear the familiar cackle. Ranjo's not with us, so I'm thinking the jinx is up. I take Paco over and send him in. He takes about 5 steps stops abruptly and jumps to the left right into this thicket. Sure enough, Ranjo's Rooster flushes straight away from me at about 10 frickin' yards. Perfect going-away-shot.

Click. Click.

Look at my gun and the magazine is wide open, not a shell to be seen.

That rooster has bigger balls than anyone I know and it continues to haunt us. I'll update his status as the season goes on.

bah! Classic. Was blocking last year in a shit storm drive and ran out of shells. I had a rooster doing the stupid ass three stooges tall head sprint come running right at me, missed me by maybe six feet.

**flatlander#2** · 10-29-2007, 12:23 PM

My parents pheasant hunting two years ago, 70 years young.

**lemon boy** · 10-29-2007, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by The Reverend Floater

This obviously brings up a good question...good friends with bad dogs...what say you?

Offer to help train.

As the owner of an imperfect dog I usually don't inflict his (read my) and my imperfections on others too often. Of course his imperfections don't bother me much at all. That said, my poor shooting is a stern test of his tolerance.

**lemon boy** · 10-30-2007, 05:37 PM

Dang, while the weather is slowly trending into fall down here on the plains, it is downright winterish…kinda... up in N. Park. Slept out on Friday night, overnight low around 20ish but the ponds were not at all frozen. Woke up late and missed a few minutes right around legal and then was shooting like absolute DIRT. I couldn't hit crap, in the end I lightly winged one friggin spoonie that plopped down about 120ish yds out and needed a little sluicing before going head down. The upshot is that Sue put in a nice long swim for it.

Some cold pictures:

After that I headed over to a stretch of river that I like to jump and engaged in some more futile shell wasting. What's worse is I made the conscious decision to leave the camera in the truck so you can't see the white hoar frosted trees or any of the 6+ moose I saw (ranging from 20yds to 100yds), all either immature bulls or cows.

An on again/off again semi frustrating oft rewarding day in the hills. Pheasant season approaches.

**givethepigeye** · 10-30-2007, 08:01 PM

STiILL CANT POST A PICTURE CORRECTLY!! - I suck.

Well, I looked at my calendar this morning and saw that this is the 1 year anniversary of a trip to Saskatchewan for ducks and geese. I am such a JONG ass on snow, I figured I could share something here.

Overall great trip - but damn hard to get to from the Southeast. Shooting was great birds were plentiful and the hospitality of our guides was unmatched - This was not a "posh" guided hunt (Quill Lake is a farming town - we were basically on our own except for lugging decoys to Canada and securing access to fields. You could easily free-lance it, if you had the connections and desire.

Early first light in a bean field:

Waiting on the ducks:

Success - GTP on left w looking like the meat man at Albertsons:

The rest of the mornings results - not too bad for an hour and a half:

Day 2 - Goose hunt

From my Final Approach blind:

Nothing like an early morning beer and guns:

A good morning:

Day 3 - Back to the bean field for ducks

This was how the flights came in all morning:

Mostly Greenheads:

All in all fun was had, lots of stupid stuff went down (as is always does on our trips) and today really had me wishing I had gone back this year.

**lemon boy** · 10-31-2007, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by givethepigeye

STiILL CANT POST A PICTURE CORRECTLY!! - I suck.

Well, I looked at my calendar this morning and saw that this is the 1 year anniversary of a trip to Saskatchewan for ducks and geese. I am such a JONG ass on snow, I figured I could share something here.

Overall great trip - but damn hard to get to from the Southeast. Shooting was great birds were plentiful and the hospitality of our guides was unmatched - This was not a "posh" guided hunt (Quill Lake is a farming town - we were basically on our own except for lugging decoys to Canada and securing access to fields. You could easily free-lance it, if you had the connections and desire.

Early first light in a bean field:

Waiting on the ducks:

Success - GTP on left w looking like the meat man at Albertsons:

The rest of the mornings results - not too bad for an hour and a half:

Day 2 - Goose hunt

From my Final Approach blind:

Nothing like an early morning beer and guns:

A good morning:

Day 3 - Back to the bean field for ducks

This was how the flights came in all morning:

Mostly Greenheads:

All in all fun was had, lots of stupid stuff went down (as is always does on our trips) and today really had me wishing I had gone back this year.

pig- nice pics! If you go in and edit yours just change the [ url] tags to [ img] and the [ /url] tags to [ /img] (w/o the spaces)

**FreakofSnow** · 10-31-2007, 11:12 AM

I got the hall pass to get out and look for some elk yesterday. Little momma had the help of the mother in law w/ the twins and I was out. After a full 1.5 hour of sleep the ultra stiff coffee did little to perk me up. None the less we were at the gate at 6 pm and hiking. Hiking up through the old cuts in the dark we scanned openings for dark movement. After an hour we sat down for a morning break and to drop our kids off in the bush. Having accomplished that all important task, it was time for another. A few nips off the flask before the sun came up and we off to set up in our spot.

In a big bowl we watched as shooting light came in. We spotted numerous Muleys mulling the hillside. Mostly does, but did see what seems to be very early signs of rutting. Two small bucks ran around chasing each other and even reared up for a quick spar.

We split up to walk up the bowl. I went up first and almost immediately got a small 3 point in my scope, I passed. But I was pumped to think that I could have taken it if I wanted to. Lot of other encounters w/ deer throughout the day. But no close encounters w/ elk. Got strong smells a few times and found lots of sign.

Tally: 7 miles on foot, close 10 hours in the field, one flask, 4 beers.....good times

They're right down there

A cool old caddy we found out in the sticks

the general terrain type we hunted

**givethepigeye** · 10-31-2007, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by lemon boy

pig- nice pics! If you go in and edit yours just change the [ url] tags to [ img] and the [ /url] tags to [ /img] (w/o the spaces)

Thanks - that is the best advice I got today. BTW - love your pics. One day I will get out West to hunt. Its been either CAN, ME, or AR lately - I wish I had some pictures of our ME Eider hunt near Bar Harbor - super sketchy jumping out of heaving boats onto rocks in the dark, cold, Maine mornings.

**Grange** · 10-31-2007, 08:12 PM

I finally got around to uploading some pictures from my trip. I didn't bring the camera with me into the field since that pocket had extra water for the dog, but took pictures when we got back to the car.

I went with my father and brother-in-law and we hunted 3 days near Watertown and two days around Sioux Falls, SD. We only hunted public land. We had good luck at times, but mostly luck was not with us. Even though we didn't get a lot of birds I had a great time. Watching my dog work and get better each day reminded me why I bird hunt.

The second day of the hunt my father and I found a great spot in tall stiff cover that held a lot of birds. They were flushing in groups all around us. We ended up getting three birds out of the field. My father's brittany pointed two of them and my lab, Summit, flushed one. The last bird was hit by both of us but Summit made the retrieve.

The second day around Watertown we headed toward Webster to try some Walk-In areas. In the first field Summit started to act very strangely. She definitely had some sort of scent, but she wasn't flash pointing like she has been known to do and she wasn't rushing in like she's done most of the week. She was stutter stepping forward obliviously after something very close. I ran over there and saw a skunk about 20 feet in front of her with its tail raised. I called her over and we got out of the area. Close call for sure.

I was still real cautious because of that skunk when she got "birdy" again. She flushed a bird, but it wasn't a rooster. At first I thought it was another hen, but then there was no tail. Finally I realized it was a sharptail grouse. I was able to drop it and Summit retrieved it. My first sharptail. I was thrilled. That was a big goal for me this season.

By the fourth day of hunting I decided to give my dog an afternoon off and she wasn't happy about it. She spent a lot of time busting through a patch of cattail that was full of scent earlier that day. I tried to get her to come out, but she played deaf so by the time she actually listened she was beat up.

Even though my dog was in the truck I managed to drop one rooster. I didn't hit it all that well and it took off running. I chased after it for a good hundred yards before it got into some very thick grass. I must have looked like an idiot.

I lost it I originally thought and then I saw my father and his brittany. I called my dad over and within a matter of seconds Hawkens went on point. My dad released him and he found the bird and made a beautiful retrieve to hand.

The next day, which was the last day, I decided to see how my dog would do. I promised her we'd take it easy and if she looked too hobbled I'd put her away. It wasn't more than 5 minutes when she got her first scent. Wow I thought she looks fresh as can be. By this time of the week when she got "birdy" I knew a bird was soon to follow.

Sure enough she tracked the bird for easily 200+ yards and I had to run to keep up with her. Then as she was off to my left the rooster flushed with her hot on its heels. I decided to take my time and swing through since it was a passing shot. Boom! down goes the bird and the retrieve was immediate. We got the full cycle after only about 10 minutes of hunting that day.

An hour later a similar situation. She gets "birdy" and we're off to the races again. This time after several zig zags she heads out in a straight line. I can't keep up so as I begin to put the whistle in my mouth to call her off when she does the quickest 180 I've ever seen and heads straight for me. I take one step to get into a proper shooting stance and Flush! Two birds, a rooster and hen flew up between us. A quick shot again and another perfect retrieve to hand. Two for two so far.

As the day goes on we weren't seeing anymore roosters so we decide to make our way back to Sioux Falls and try a few public areas closer to town. With only an hour left we find a nice field surrounded on two sides by corn (very little corn was actually down that week). After about 10 minutes hunting Summit gets "birdy" and I'm thinking here comes my limit.

She tracks the bird, which turned out to be a rooster, again for at least 200 yards with me basically running behind her. She flushed it to my left, but this time my gun was loaded with defective shells. There must have been no steel shot in them because the bird didn't drop.

There went my limit. To say I was upset would be an understatement. Summit worked her butt off and I couldn't reward her. I felt like crap, but all hope was not lost. We were seeing a ton of birds in this field.

Walking with my brother-in-law and his GWP, Summit got scent and took off up the hill while the GWP, Casey, kept going toward some cattails. I went after my dog knowing this was my last chance. She flushed 3 roosters and one hen. I dropped the first rooster, but with the distraction of my brother-in-law shooting one of the other rooster and the other two birds the retrieve was far from perfect, but she eventually went after the downed bird and retrieved it to hand. Not the perfect cycle to end the day, but considering how well she did the rest of the time I gave her a pass.

While the hunting was not what we were hoping for I still had a lot of fun and plan on going back later this season to use up some or all of the second 5 days on my license.

To the pictures

Two of the many areas we hunted.

The three birds from the second day around Sioux Falls.

Summit's and my first sharptail grouse.

My father with his and Hawken's first sharptail. Casey wants one too.

Summit's and my pheasant and sharptail and my father's and Hawken's first sharptail.

Hawken with the bird I shot and he found for me.

Summit with our first two birds from the last day.

Summit with our last bird of the week.

Our last pheasant of the week.

Hawken on a set up point on a dead bird.

My brother-in-law and his GWP, Casey.

**lemon boy** · 11-01-2007, 07:34 AM

great write up grange! very nice.

**xboat** · 11-01-2007, 10:50 AM

good stuff, grange & flatlander. i freakin love SoDak. pigeye - that is a trip i am going to make within the next couple years for sure. cool pics! rev - i wish i was getting into the greenies like you, damn. i would have traded a day of upland for a day of that for sure. we're still waiting for real late fall weather to arrive. LB - i commend you on your solo hunting outings. i would be kinda freaked all the way out there by myself.

too lazy to add too many words right now, but i know you guys like the pics more anyway so i'll get right down to it.

was getting into the wood ducks before we headed to SoDak. in this spot that i was hunting it was just too easy, they land right in front of you.

should have mounted this one, oh well. they are the best tasting ducks out there (imo) so i had to eat them.

SoDak opening day. huge public hunting area - 13 people - out and back in 90 minutes - 29 roosters and we lost a few to the heavy cover. ended the day at a private area with 39 for the first day. me and my buddy ron.

SoDak day 2. hit up the public area again right away and did pretty good. finished up at our private ranch. the pheasants were plentiful and we got in some great shooting.

some sleeping pheasants

SoDak day 3. hit the public area again to scratch out a couple more and head to the ranch to finish out. got my first ever triple on this afternoon. 6 guys - 18 roosters. can't wait to go back.

i swear the dog had her head resting on these birds with her eyes closed, but got up just as i was about to take the pic.

every now and then i will work a split shift and head down to a marsh really close to work. 5 mins. to boat ramp. the reservoir is super flooded right now and the river bottoms are flooded way up into the willows & timber. some of the sweetest looking duck holes i have ever seen there. we got back into this area yesterday and had some good shooting. pintail, mallards, teal & woodies all within 45 minutes were working us. too bad the water is dropping because i won't be able to get the boat back here in a couple days.

**flatlander#2** · 11-01-2007, 10:57 AM

Where in sodak was this?

**Grange** · 11-01-2007, 01:13 PM

No kidding. Every place we went within and hour of Watertown was crawling with hunters. Roosters for the most part were hard to come by. Hens weren't and issue, but the roosters were mostly spotted on private land and heard in the corn. I'd bet if more corn was down we would have had better luck.

Cool Pictures. Glad to hear someone had good luck on public land. The hotel cleaning station was empty. The only hunter I talked that had any luck was hunting mostly private land.

**xboat** · 11-01-2007, 01:45 PM

flatlander - somewhere between watertown and the missouri river

grange - you guys have to remember that the first push through the public land was on opening day at high noon. i doubt a single person had walked through there since last winter. it was a very large area with alot of HEAVY cover. i saw hundreds of pheasants that day. the next day not so much, but we did get some more there. you guys hunted public land the second weekend of the season and you know they had been chased around a bit.

all other hunting was on private land. one of my best friends dad is from watertown and his whole side of the family is there. many uncles & cousins that hunt. we are very, very grateful that we get to hunt some prime ground without paying a dime.

**TeleMang** · 11-01-2007, 01:50 PM

Posted on ttips a week or so back... but here are a few pics from this years trip to ND.

I went with my dad and two uncles... what they lacked in stamina they made up for in shooting. Those old guys just dont miss. All in all we got our possession limit without much trouble. It was by far the most birds i have ever seen out there.

Here are a few scenic shots

Here is the little guy, Max, that we got to work with this year... 3 months old but he already is showing lots of potential. He was a fun little turd.

And here is the end of our best day.

The dog in the last picture is owned by the farmers whose land we hunt on. She is by far the best dog i have ever hunted with -- when the owner is around that is. When he isn't you feel like dropping her off on the other side of the river. She has the best nose i have ever seen though so i cant stay mad at her. Afterall, we didn't loose one bird all week.

And no, we are not responsible for that goose...

**Grange** · 11-01-2007, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by xboat

flatlander - somewhere between watertown and the missouri river

grange - you guys have to remember that the first push through the public land was on opening day at high noon. i doubt a single person had walked through there since last winter. it was a very large area with alot of HEAVY cover. i saw hundreds of pheasants that day. the next day not so much, but we did get some more there. you guys hunted public land the second weekend of the season and you know they had been chased around a bit.

all other hunting was on private land. one of my best friends dad is from watertown and his whole side of the family is there. many uncles & cousins that hunt. we are very, very grateful that we get to hunt some prime ground without paying a dime.

I generally hunt later in the year when the hunter numbers aren't quite as high and much of the corn is down. I'm sure it doesn't help that we don't hunt like most goups. We all go on our own with our dogs. On the rare occasions we form a line and "push" the field we will see more birds, but we just prefer the mini solo trips. Seems to make the flush of a rooster more satisfying to me because I get to watch my dog quarter without any limits and know she's the one that found the bird.

I'll be back there later this year and I hope my shotgun in the pictures is back by the time I go. I'll probably hunt closer to Sioux Falls and Brookings again. The bird numbers around there were just as high as Watertown and I won't have to get a hotel room.

TeleMang,

Looks like some nice hunting grounds. We're talking about giving ND a try next year.

**flatlander#2** · 11-01-2007, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by xboat

flatlander - somewhere between watertown and the missouri river

We're H. 14/47 area all family land although most years we hit this big sleugh that is probably a half section big and is "public". This year they had three+ inches of rain the week before I got there and was too squishy for walking.

**TeleMang** · 11-01-2007, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Grange

TeleMang,

Looks like some nice hunting grounds. We're talking about giving ND a try next year.

We used to go to South Dakota around the Pollack/Mobridge area (6 years ago was the last time we went i think?). We had lots of good times but stopped going because it was such a clusterfuck of people. It was nice on the private land -- but you had to know people otherwise you were screwed. North Dakota (we go around Bismark) is way more laid back and, with the mild winters they have been having lately, is getting more birds every year.

Let me know if you have any questions about ND. I have been coming out there since i could legally hunt.

**FrankZappa** · 11-01-2007, 05:09 PM

Hey lemon boy, you comin down to the valley for some this year?

Holler if you are. I'd go for a Hamms.

**lemon boy** · 11-02-2007, 07:43 AM

maybe but it's looking slim, it'll probably be froze over by the time I'm free again (doe this w/e, pheasant opener next)...life is rough. But I might

**brice618** · 11-02-2007, 08:19 AM

I love hunting behind britneys. Such beautiful dogs!

xboat- You're eating the wrong duck if you think woodies are the best tasting!!! I've never heard anyone say they liked a diver more than a puddler, but hey to each his own I guess.

**lemon boy** · 11-02-2007, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by brice618

xboat- You're eating the wrong duck if you think woodies are the best tasting!!! I've never heard anyone say they liked a diver more than a puddler, but hey to each his own I guess.

uhhhhhhhhhh woodies are not "divers"

**xboat** · 11-02-2007, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by brice618

xboat- You're eating the wrong duck if you think woodies are the best tasting!!! I've never heard anyone say they liked a diver more than a puddler, but hey to each his own I guess.

lol. read a little bit about them and what they eat. see what is laying all around those 2 in the pic?