# Pheasant Report



## Gr8outdoors27 (Sep 24, 2012)

Just figured I would drop a line regarding colorful chickens. I dropped chasing ducks and geese for a few days to hunt some pheasant with my dad. I have still seen plenty of birds in the areas that I am hunting. Are they as numerous and widespread as last year? No. Are there some young ones from a late hatch? Yes. Can you still shoot some pheasants? Yes.

This is my first year with my dog. He is 10.5 months old and doing awesome. He sometimes gets a little more range than I would like, but I have discovered it is only when he is hot on the trail of a bird. It's my first dog and there is nothing better than watching man's best friend work birds in the field. Drake has made a big difference in the amount of birds that I have been seeing.

I have found birds in a variety of locations. Buffalo berry patches, thick grasses, and tree rows have been the top producers of birds. I haven't found much around field edges this year yet. I have been seeing 50 or so birds on every outing. Am I getting shots at all of them? No. Some birds are very wary and are getting up a ways away, but I have still done pretty decent so far this year.

A few more days hunting with dad and then it's back to waterfowl for awhile!

Here's a few pics of Drake with his prized upland birds. Some of the pictures got cut off, not sure why this happens.


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Nice pictures and a good looking dog. Glad you're seeing birds and putting a few in the bag.

By way of comparison, we had our pheasant opener in Washington State this past weekend and I shot my annual "trophy pheasant". Birds are not plentiful in our state, so I consider every pheasant a "trophy".

My brother has been back in ND since the beginning of September and he's seeing plenty of birds, also. And I'll be there in a couple more weeks for 2 weeks of pheasant and waterfowl hunting. Really looking forward to the trip -- my favorite state to hunt birds is ND.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Excellent all the way around. Your dog has perfect conformation. Got a soft spot for labs.


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## Gr8outdoors27 (Sep 24, 2012)

Thanks guys. First dog and boy is it fun. We went out again today and got a limit within an hour of hunting. Chukarbob, congrats on the Washington bird. I had a buddy who lived in Pullman for awhile and he said they were few and far between. They are a magnificent bird that's for sure! Good luck hunting boys!


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## Rooster Guy (Nov 2, 2013)

Hey congrats on the birds man! I just got a pup of my own last year--springer spaniel. I will be heading out to ND on wednesday for a week, hopefully i can have as much luck as you and your pup had!


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Spoke to my brother, who is at an undisclosed location in ND. No, he's not in the witness protection program. Anyway, he went out for an hour or two this morning and had shots on seven roosters. To protect his reputation, I won't say how many he bagged.

I'll be joining him a week from today, along with our other brother and 4 cousins, for a family get-together / pheasant hunt. Everyone is raring to go. Hopefully the 2 decent hunting dogs in the group will put up some birds. In range. I hope to hunt 2 weeks, perhaps sprinkling in a little waterfowling to give my dog a breather.

Report will follow.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

CB, for cripes sakes get a camera. We need pictures too! I'm sidlined with dog injuries again (3rd time this season). So I have to live through the actions of others. By the time Carly recovers I'll have to take her in to get her spayed. Sigh. Looking forward to December.


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Got the camera, Dick, why, there's even one on my phone; but they tend to lay unused in my shooting bag. I'll try for some pictures this coming trip. My brother has a very handsome English Setter, "Dave", who is very photogenic, if a bit far-ranging for my brother's age and physique. My Lab, Remy, is a good looking dog from the right angle and hunts well despite a psychological disability (she's crazy).

Confess that I've never attached a photo to a post on this website, but have to assume it's not too hard to do.

A week from today I will have completed my first morning's hunt in ND and the anticipation is almost unbearable.


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## Gr8outdoors27 (Sep 24, 2012)

I haven't been able to get out hunting in awhile due to work, waterfowl hunting, and other priorities, but I finally got back out chasing some ringnecks. This is my second year out here and last year I stopped hunting at about this time, because it was almost impossible without a dog. Well, good thing that changed! I have still been finding more than enough birds to keep me interested. Some areas are a little tough due to the crops still standing, but in areas where they have been harvested it's been good. Here are a couple more pics. The last image got cut off pretty bad, but there is another rooster in the pic.


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

Cool pic and good looking dog! Hope to see or shoot a few birds myself tomorrow and the weekend! Low expectations...High aspirations! lol


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## JBB (Feb 9, 2005)

Hope this pic works. It is from last year. Not able to take these two out because I am spending a year in Washington DC with 5.5 million of my best friends. Cannot understand why anybody would chose to live here when there are places like ND. Glad they chose to stay away, just do not understand it.


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## Gr8outdoors27 (Sep 24, 2012)

I know the photo will be cut off again, but we got 12 more yesterday. A few buddies came over for the weekend to keep Drake and I company. We had to do quite a bit of walking, but it was worth it. The birds have vacated a lot of the early season cover and are starting to bunch up in some thicker stuff. Cattails mixed in with tall grasses is where we found them. Also found a few birds on the edges of corn fields.


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## brobones (Mar 10, 2004)

Your hard work paid off, don't get much better than that.....


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## Gr8outdoors27 (Sep 24, 2012)

Brought Drake out again today since the temperatures rose above zero. Found decent amounts of birds. They seemed to be really picky about the type of habitat they were in. I didn't find any birds in grass, or any birds in strictly thick cattails. For whatever reason a mix of both is what they were holding in. Kicked up 50 or so birds and got two. I should have had my limit by noon, but I was wearing the stupid glommits and couldn't get my trigger finger out quick enough for the first bird. They were either flushing wild or holding tight enough for Drake to almost catch them as they flushed. It was a fun day hunting with my dog this late in the season. I have been missing out! Tomorrow will be nicer so I think I will go out and get the dog some exercise again.


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