# Snow fall and walking



## dash (Apr 30, 2006)

Anybody getting out after the Big Snow??? I'm hoping to get out next week and just wondering if I need to bring my snowshoes for the cattails yet.
Good luck to all. Time is getting short.


----------



## wburns (Feb 27, 2009)

Still storming in the central part where I live. You will need them around here, even out of the cattails. I just bought a new set so I am looking forward to getting out and using them.










Here are some pheasants in my tree rows I took about 15 minutes ago trying to stay out of the wind.


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Snowshoes for sure now. I just took the dogs for a short walk and it is knee deep where the wind didn't lift it yet. And it's going to be tough for the birds again this winter.


----------



## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

Dick - I spoke with a farmer friend who lives south of your area and he said they have a ton of snow in the yard. The poor pheasants are going to have some tough sledding if we start getting some big winds and really cold temps. I was hoping for a light winter and a great spring just to see how well the pheasants could rebound in one year in the area I like to hunt.


----------



## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I am going to try it for a few days and see how it goes. The area I hunt didn't get as much snow as where I live so we will see. 
I was also hoping for a mild winter this year that was easy on the pheasants. Looks like that is not going to happen and ice fishing is screwed yet another winter!


----------



## GW (May 31, 2007)

Here in NW Iowa, we've received 20.5 inches of snow since Wednesday, December 23rd  This is on top of the foot already on the ground.
I tried pheasant hunting this morning without snowshoes (mine are in route from Cabelas), and there was simply too much snow. My Labrador had a terribly difficult time busting her own path, even in the cattails.
We can hunt until January 10th here in Iowa, but I may be forced to call it a season a little early. It has been a good fall and winter though, with many quality hunts and lots of birds bagged.
I'm already hearing turkeys gobble in my mind....
GW


----------



## hunter9494 (Jan 21, 2007)

probably the smartest thing you guys can do is leave the birds alone. every time you bust the birds out of winter survival cover, the birds are put at risk for finding adjacent cover that will allow them to survive another frigid night... unless you don't care about carryover and next year's production. when i lived in Nebraska many years ago, i put out corn and wheat during a really tough time and i am sure it helped the carryover in my neck of the woods. there just comes a time when you have to stop and think about the long term, rather than shooting another limit. hopefully you guys get a break in the weather and a warm spell.


----------



## prairie hunter (Mar 13, 2002)

hunter9494 said:


> probably the smartest thing you guys can do is leave the birds alone. every time you bust the birds out of winter survival cover, the birds are put at risk for finding adjacent cover that will allow them to survive another frigid night... unless you don't care about carryover and next year's production. when i lived in Nebraska many years ago, i put out corn and wheat during a really tough time and i am sure it helped the carryover in my neck of the woods. there just comes a time when you have to stop and think about the long term, rather than shooting another limit. hopefully you guys get a break in the weather and a warm spell.


Your advice and actions are misguided.

Hunting late season further reduces the rooster population. Roosters will displace hens from better cover and run them off from food even if they are the ones that scratched down to the dirt.

Pheasants that are busted from excellent winter cover often return as soon as the hunter leave. Watch a cattail slough towards dusk. The birds keep flying in until dark. Probably later since you can still hear the roosters cackling.

Feed pheasants is risky at best. Piles of corn will tend to concentrate pheasants into a smaller area, thus the entire local flock becomes more susceptible to predation (avian and mammal), more susceptible to disease, and if you stop feeding - starvation unless they are able to disband and relocate.

Anyone that wants to feed pheasants should feed them all winter long. Dumping a bag of corn does little good once it is all eaten up or covered by a foot of snow.


----------



## hunter9494 (Jan 21, 2007)

all your arguments are way off........i have watched and lived in pheasant country for many years, watching pheasants and their habits. although some will fly back, many once displaced, may not make it back to adequate cover, especially the hens. the birds flock together for survival and warmth, busting them up provides no benefit whatsoever. and when you broadcast supplemental feed, you do it on bare ground, where the wind blows off the snow naturally and where the birds would naturally be scratching for seeds, attracted by the semi bare dirt. if you want to disagree, get your facts straight first, junior. and keep shooting your "seed birds", genius. oke:


----------



## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

You can't BANK PHEASANTS guys...If you can get out, shoot the roosters...They will literally kill the hens when food gets scarce. We covered this last year quite a bit and bioligist Doug L. had a nice story on it as well. A pheasant has a life expectency of about 10 months according Pheasants Forever. It's pointless to try to carry over a bunch of roosters. Any hens that may be lost do to getting harrassed during hunting, probably didn't have the genes to make it over the winter anyway. Sounds brutal, but that is nature.


----------



## Sparky477 (May 4, 2004)

I was out for awhile yesterday, lots of snow and lots of birds. It's tough to get to them. I'm off work until Jan. 4 and my springer doesn't think it's time to quit yet. So we'll be out this week trying to reduce the rooster population 8)


----------



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

prairie hunter and Rick are right.You can't bank pheasants....get after the roosters,winter cover or not.


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Just went for a short hike this morning on the snowshoes. Different set of muscles for those babies. Drove around a bit too but didn't hunt. Saw one rooster. The cattails are filled, the crp is snowed down, graded roads are questionable, and the section lines are drifted shut. It's a long walk to any place you wish to hunt.


----------



## sioux1975 (Nov 30, 2005)

Any responses to the amount of snowfall in the SE part of the state? I grew up in the Wyndmere area, so have done some hunting there in past years, out around Oaks, and in the Ellendale area. Anyone know how much snow in those 3 areas? Debating on ice fishing or hunting and I know which of those two would be easier. But hard to miss out on that last weekend of the season.


----------

