Grew up in New England ruffed grouse, woodwork and occasional pheasant. Spent pretty much every afternoon chasing them. Lost touch with birds as I grew and lately focused on big game. Last fall with the help of a friend, and his dog, got back into birds, mostly stocked pheasant. What a blast. Never hunted over a dog before
This year , just got back from ND after 4 days of pheasant hunting. All wild birds, but LOTS of them. What a difference wild birds are. Run from the dog and LOTS of wild flushes, but we got almost our limit every day, not thanks to shooting but sheer number of birds.
We actually shot good day 1. Both got limit of 3 and we didn't start huntimg til noon. Days 2, 3 and 4 wind kicked up to 20+ mph and our shooting dropped with it. Man those birds hit the wind and are GONE. When you add in the slight hesitation of roosters only, any bird that flushed at 30 yards, at best gave you 1 shot before being gone.
Dog saved our bacon on a few retrieves that ran and hid. He was amazing!
This year , just got back from ND after 4 days of pheasant hunting. All wild birds, but LOTS of them. What a difference wild birds are. Run from the dog and LOTS of wild flushes, but we got almost our limit every day, not thanks to shooting but sheer number of birds.
We actually shot good day 1. Both got limit of 3 and we didn't start huntimg til noon. Days 2, 3 and 4 wind kicked up to 20+ mph and our shooting dropped with it. Man those birds hit the wind and are GONE. When you add in the slight hesitation of roosters only, any bird that flushed at 30 yards, at best gave you 1 shot before being gone.
Dog saved our bacon on a few retrieves that ran and hid. He was amazing!
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