dougdelite: pheasants without a dog? is it possible?

[brian flatlander]

dogs are good, but they can make your experience awful too!!!!

 

[NEWHunter]

As others have said or alluded to, if you hit one, I would advise that your sole focus be centered on recovering that bird - unless it falls dead in a plowed field. Don’t get distracted by additional flushes, don’t look away to reload, don’t celebrate because after hours of traipsing around you finally saw one (let alone hit one), etc. I’ve not recovered a couple in my time due to the aforementioned mistakes. Maybe I still wouldn’t have found them either way, but i know my odds would have been better. Good luck!

 

[pwrwgn57]

If they do their pheasant stocking similar to PA there will be multiple days over the course of the season when they will put birds out. PA publishes their schedule on the website so all the "hunters" can follow the stocking truck to the field and hunt, IL may do the same, or provide a range of dates and locations when they'll stock. I've shot a few birds without a dog; as others have said, finding the bird once it's down will be tougher unless the cover is sparse. Don't take your eyes off where it dropped and get to that spot as quickly as possible.
I'd also recommend if you hit the bird and it starts to fall but its head is up or looks like you just winged it, shoot again if safe to do so. It may save you time searching or possibly losing the bird if it hits the ground and starts running.

 

[300stw]

Hunting phesants without a dog is like dating your best friends wife,,,,
It can be done but the outcome can be bad...

 

[wyoelkfan15]

As a kid I grew up pheasant hunting without a dog most of the time. If we did have a dog it was fat, lazy and untrained for hunting. Overall we always got into birds.

It helps if you can identify better habitat and cover areas. Hunting with a buddy or two allows you to cover alot more ground. It's way more efficient with a good pup that knows what it's doing, but it's 100% doable to get into roosters without a dog.

 

[Dave N]

What's a pheasant? Haven't seen any long tailed birds around here for years.

 

[Wildabeest]

Only advice I have is… get rid of the damn cat!

 

[DouglasR]

Pembroke Welsh Corgi Litter of Puppies for Sale near Illinois, CENTRALIA, USA. ADN-575609

Pembroke Welsh Corgi Litter of 5 Puppies FOR SALE near CENTRALIA, Illinois, USA. Gender: Male(s) and Female(s). Age: 1 Year 2 Months Old. Nickname: Litter of 5 on PuppyFinder.com. ADN-575609

puppyfinder.com

how long can a corgi survive at -10?

 

[TheGreek]

The IL released bird sites I’ve hunted, all up in the NE area of the state, release birds in the morning before the hunt based on the numbers of permits sold for that day.

 

[DouglasR]

thanks for all the feedback!

Hearing these success stories gives me much more confidence to give it a try next season.
Kinda gonna be like my version of @np307 "s fox squirrel hunt in the sense that I'm gonna be happy if I just get one by the end of the season.
I figure if I go to the areas that have at least a few reported harvests and I just walk around all day surely I'll eventually jump a bird of some rabbits.
If things get to boring or seem to pointless I can alway dip out to the hardwoods and blast some squirrels at most of the locations.
And most of these areas allow archery deer hunting too so if I can get my lazy ass out of bed I could hunt upland in the morning and deer in the afternoon.
*this is always the plan with squirrel, but I rarely get up early enough.
South Dakota guided hunt sounds pretty cool even if it was just a drop camp type deal.
I've never hunted anything with dogs before and I think it would be really cool just to get to experience that and see what its like!
As far as recovering wounded birds, over the past couple years, as a man trying to follow the traditional path of evolution of the master hunter, I've developed a canny eye for a naturally camouflaged, fallen squirrel.
Sometimes you put the high brass shells in the 20 gauge and fell a squirrel 2 ridges over into a pile of leaves and it can be quite the tracking job.

@cedahm I remember us having this conversation in steamboat, but my memory was clouded by too many copper ridge steam beers.
Definitely gonna call you with some questions this fall.
You're going to South Dakota you say?

If nothing else, this will give me a good excuse to go explore some new area.

Thanks again!

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

how long can a corgi survive at -10?

They have a double coat, they definitely aren't a sleep outside in the winter dog like a husky, but they do well in the cold.

When we camp in cold weather gus sleeps in my sleeping bag at the bottom.

 

[fleabagmatt]

Only advice I have is… get rid of the damn cat!

I can't believe nobody has suggested teaching the cat to point birds. It's the obvious solution.

 

[TheGreek]

I can't believe nobody has suggested teaching the cat to point birds. It's the obvious solution.

Might have a better chance of teaching @DouglasR to point birds.

 

[DouglasR]

Will a 20 gauge kill pheasants?
Is this like asking if a 60lbs bow will kill a deer?

 

[TheGreek]

Will a 20 gauge kill pheasants?
Is this like asking if a 60lbs bow will kill a deer?

Yes. And Yes.

 

[fleabagmatt]

I can't believe nobody has suggested teaching the cat to point birds. It's the obvious solution.

See, y'all thought I was kidding. Ronny Boehme is ahead of the curve on this. I wonder if his Bracco Italianos would honor a cat on point?

 

[OntarioHunter]

Doug, a word of caution on the South Dakota guided hunts. Many of them are group shoots. You ride out to the fields in a school bus full of hunters. The herd splits with some staying at the end of the field while the rest fan out at the other end and drive the birds to them. Usually involves a lot of whooping and hollering ... and occasionally shooting each other. May get a lot of shooting but not a great "hunting" experience. Not in my book anyway. The one-on-one guided hunts are more expensive but usually much more rewarding.

 

[ammo]

Doug, a word of caution on the South Dakota guided hunts. Many of them are group shoots. You ride out to the fields in a school bus full of hunters. The herd splits with some staying at the end of the field while the rest fan out at the other end and drive the birds to them. Usually involves a lot of whooping and hollering ... and occasionally shooting each other. May get a lot of shooting but not a great "hunting" experience. Not in my book anyway. The one-on-one guided hunts are more expensive but usually much more rewarding.

Gotta disagree on that - it depends who you go with. The school bus full of hunters is a group of life-long friends and family I've been hunting with for 15 years. The guides we hunt with are dialed on safety. No shooting each other, no shooting dogs. No yahoos. We're quiet when we get out of said bus (we hunt wild birds that will spook if you're a jackass).

The 'operation' (pushing the birds, watching the dogs work, working a field and shelter belts) is a load of fun and a great way to spend time with people you love. It's one of my favorite weekends every year and sure beats the heck out of watching the boobtube in the midwest on the couch with my dad eating cheesy poofs.

The dogs love it too.

 

[Aqhreiner]

Long story short, my cat checked the search history on my new personal at home computer and caught me looking at beagles and Brittanys and threatened to move out if I brought one home so it looks like if I want to become a gentlemanly smallgamesman I'm gonna have to do it without a dog for at least this season.

Have any of you guys ever had success doing this?
I don't think our pheasant hunting's all that great here in Il, but there's a few killed in the public hunting areas every year according to the stats sheets so it's gotta be possible.
They also do these controlled hunts that you have to apply for where I think they release the birds before you go out?
Maybe they just stock it once a year like a pond? Not really sure.
I've never seen pheasant on any of my previous hunting endeavors over the past few years, but last year while pursuing deer I stumbled into some area that looked like they could be pheasant/rabbit habitat and when I went back and checked the stats, sure enough some birds and rabbits had been harvested there.

Does anybody have any tips for the hunter without a dog they'd like to share.
I guess my first plan is to find some public hunting areas that have a lot of tall grass/prairie and just start walking.
I guess through YouTube I've learned about "linear habitat" ie. narrow strips of grass that haven't been mowed and finding those seems like it would be a good bet for a guy without a dog because the dumbass bird is more likely to run out the side or the end into the open as opposed to a big prairie where they can just run or hide anywhere.
I think I saw an area that was mowed like this on my last deer hunting trip last fall.

If I go to one of the controlled hunts without a dog will I look like a horses ass?

Have any of y'all ever been on a trip somewhere just to bird hunt?

Do any factors such as weather or mating season effect the best time to hunt pheasants?
Like do they move more on colder days or anything like that or does that not matter because you're just trying to jump them?

as always, thanks for any tips or help!

My tip for a beginner…get a dog or stay home.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

My tip for a beginner…get a dog or stay home.

As a dog owner, I think this is a ridiculous take.