I️ haven’t had that much blood on my seamaster since Mike asked for my “help” with that eBay counterfeiter
And the only reason for that was because you hadn't yet received your all 76 states sniper certification.
Thanksgiving coyote. Called in a pair early this AM(about 1:30). I was only able to get this female. Her partner was smart enough to stay out of range. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki
Spent 4 hours this morning and two this evening walking the fields and woods edge for pheasant. Ending up taking one this evening. The fields were hit hard yesterday. Looked like an army had marched through. Only reason I got this one is because this massive rub caught my eye. Then he flushed when I stepped in.
Me too lol. Unfortunately hunting pheasant around here is basically walking until you get lucky and shooting one. Wild populations are almost nonexistent. Every year odnr releases a couple hundred in certain public hunting lands over the course of about a month. The highest numbers being released the evening before Thanksgiving. I avoid Thanksgiving morning because it's a **** show. There can be well over a hundred people walking the fields at once. The next few days are better, with only a handful of people even showing up. The first couple days the birds hardly even fly. Being farm raised they generally just run around, often not even that. Just sitting and trying to hide. I still enjoy getting out regardless, and pheasant is delicious. But one day I plan on going somewhere that I can hunt these birds the way it's supposed to be done. Truly experience what the hunt has to offer.
That does not sound all that appealing. Do you have many that survive the season and live throughout the year?
There are definitely survivors. Some people have groups with good bird dogs that manage to get birds throughout the season. But most will be killed. I'd be willing to bet more are killed by predators than hunters. Being farm raised, most don't have the necessary instincts to stay alive. There are huntable, wild populations in Ohio. But the few hunters who have that knowledge are tight lipped. They keep that information closely guarded. Can't say that I blame them. Edit: Having said all that, I should point out that hunting here still isn't easy. Although the birds generally aren't hunted in the most traditional sense, it's a lot of work. Since they don't flush easily, or at all, you've gotta stalk them. Most birds stay buried in cover. Tall grass, corn fields, and thick briar and scrub brush. So what they lack in evasive skills, they make up for by being rediculously difficult to find.
Re: Pheasants. I went on a hunt on Saturday. The DNR released 100 birds. Less than 10 were harvested. There should be plenty out there, right now
Well today was our opening day for deer gun week. Didn't see the one I'm looking for. I'm starting to think I'm spinning my wheels. Me and a buddy walked a couple miles seeing if we would jump anything. Only jumped one, but I found two dead heads and he found a complete coyote skull. Also, I found a Peet bog (quicksand). Yeah, I went from solid ground to waist deep with nothing solid under my feet in one step. Had to use my shotgun horizontally to push/pull my way out. That sucked. Soaking wet, covered in mud for the next three hours. But hey, at least it was a memorable day.
I don't have any dogs myself, but always go with someone with a dog while hunting birds. Except when @Rook52 and I went grouse hunting in Wisconsin. We did that the hard way-dog free.
Found another one. Apparently, although I can't kill a big buck, Im pretty good at finding dead ones.