This is week 9 recap of the 2023 Pheasant Hunting season. There are only a few more weeks left. The weather is generally colder, we often times have snow and the birds are getting smart. We see a lot fewer hunters this time of year. The ones we do see are generally the more dedicated hunters, like us.
The weather plays a big role in how and where we hunt. This past week I experienced conditions ranging from the lows 20s with a strong wind to upper 40s with a light breeze. The birds use different cover depending on the temperature and the wind.
December 10th
This was a local hunt on private land that we go to quite often. It was cloudy, cold and windy. Accordingly the birds were in heavy thermal cover.
We started by walking through a couple food plots. While walking through the second one I heard a rooster cackling as it flew to an area of swampy canary grass. So, that is where we headed next.
We ended up flushing 4 hens out of heavy grass in about 10 minutes. Stella had to submarine into the grass to get them out.
We saw a rooster, out of range, later in the day.
December 11th
This was a central Minnesota hunt. We started out at a WMA/WPA complex that we had never hunted before. Driving by it, we saw some food plots so we decided to give them a try. It was in the low 20s, with a strong wind from the south. There was a heavy frost on the weeds which made thing very pretty. (See video).
Just beyond the food plots there was a huge slough consisting of cattails and tall canary grass. As we worked the edges, Stella woudl occasionally get birdy, then move on. At one point, she got real birdy and I followed her as she tracked. Walking was near impossible through the heavy cattails and grass. The bird eventually flushed wild.
After that, Stella continued to track birds through the cattails and I continued to fight through them, only to see the birds flush way out of range. This was pointless, so I pushed through to the other side of the marsh and we worked back to the truck.
We then drove to another WPA and ran Willow on a big loop. She did well, after a correction, but we didn’t see any additional birds.
December 14th
Day 1 of a two day Iowa trip. We tried hunting a WMA that we had not hunted in a couple years, due to the drought. The prairie was very different than what it used to be and not in a good way. We walked for an hour before we saw the first bird.
Unfortunately, I fell into a hole very early. While I was not hurt, the GoPro ended up pointing down and I never realized it. So the videos from this hunt are not very good. I did have to include one clip of when I got two pheasants, one right after the other. A double is pretty rare.
We ended up seeing 5 roosters and a bunch of hens. The weather was good and Stella was working well.
December 15th
Our second day on Iowa turned out to be a pretty good day. The weather started in the upper 30s and climbed into the high 40s, with a very slight breeze. It was cloudy so it was not too hard on Stella.
Right off the bat, Stella tracked a rooster that flushed in front of Kevin. He missed.
We then walked for a long time, tracking some birds but not seeing anything. Then we got into a new area. Stella got birdy and tracked two separate hens into shorter canary grass. Then she got onto another bird that turned out to be a rooster that we dropped.
In the same area, she started tracking another bird that turned out to be a rooster that got up between us that Kevin dropped.
As we continued on through the same place that we started tracking the two roosters, Stella got birdy again. We followed her for almost 1600 feet before we flushed a rooster in short grass that I dropped.
We had along walk back to the truck, with no more shooting opportunities. All in all, a good day.
Video
I have been recording hunts with a GoPro for about a year now. Some videos have been good but there have been a lot of missed opportunities. In some cases, there are deficiencies in the camera but in most cases it has been user error.
This week I had two issues. On my first hunt, I had the camera angled back a little too far. On the third day I fell into a hole and did not realize that the camera was pointing down. I have posted a separate blog on my GoPro experiences and learning opportunities.
Despite the problems this week I was able to capture some decent video. On day 2, the frost on the prairie and marsh was really pretty. On day 4, there is plenty of bird action. See the week 9 recap video below.
Summary
I was able to get out 4 times this week but that might be a little much. We continue to see birds and harvest some. So ends the week 9 recap.
