With enough money, it’s easy to pay for guided hunts or maybe even own or lease private hunting land. With enough luck — being born right or living in the same pheasant-rich rural area for much of your life — getting access to prime hunting acreage can be somewhat easy.
Most of us have some money and a little bit of luck, but not enough of either to keep us busy for an entire pheasant season. What’s the option? Public land, pheasant release sites. Enter the protests: Overhunted. Crowded. Spooky birds.
Public-land pheasants are never easy; if you and your dog love to hunt challenging roosters, heed these secrets, which are hereby made public.
Forget the opener
Public land is not the place to be during opening weekend’s circus. It’s hard to ignore early season’s inexperienced birds, but dealing with crowds and avoiding the maneuvers of other hunting groups just isn’t enjoyable.
Don’t worry, because opening weekend’s hunting pressure isn’t as efficient as you think at killing birds. When you show up later, the fair-weather hunters will be gone.
Most of us have some money and a little bit of luck, but not enough of either to keep us busy for an entire pheasant season. What’s the option? Public land, pheasant release sites. Enter the protests: Overhunted. Crowded. Spooky birds.
Public-land pheasants are never easy; if you and your dog love to hunt challenging roosters, heed these secrets, which are hereby made public.
Forget the opener
Public land is not the place to be during opening weekend’s circus. It’s hard to ignore early season’s inexperienced birds, but dealing with crowds and avoiding the maneuvers of other hunting groups just isn’t enjoyable.
Don’t worry, because opening weekend’s hunting pressure isn’t as efficient as you think at killing birds. When you show up later, the fair-weather hunters will be gone.
Wait out the warm weather and heavy vegetation
In addition, another reason to skip the first few days, is the crop harvest on surrounding farmland near the areas you plan to hunt may not be complete until a couple of weeks into pheasant season. Standing fields of corn provide pheasants with shelter, refuge and food.
Once the crops are down, birds that were chased out of the public grasslands and wetlands earlier in the season come streaming back in … along with formerly private-land birds that now need cover.
Timing the crop harvest is simple. Once the harvest nears 80 or 90 percent completion, get out there and hunt.
Hunt weekdays
To get your dog on birds while having a chance at solitude, hunt during the week. Yes, it eats vacation time, but if you’re serious about pheasant hunting, this is the time to go.
Friday isn’t a weekday. Everybody gets a jump on the weekend then. Mondays are bad because the cover just got pounded Saturday and Sunday. Time your jaunts to start on a Tuesday afternoon, then hunt Wednesday and Thursday, too.
Persist
If you’re not hunting until sunset, you must already have your limit of birds or the dog must be pooped out for the day.
Keep the Noise Down
Make no mistake about it - you’re hunting spooky birds, so be as sneaky and quiet as possible, use a bell not a beeper collar, limit talking and whistling for your dog and other noises that might alert birds to your presence and send them flying or running.
In addition, another reason to skip the first few days, is the crop harvest on surrounding farmland near the areas you plan to hunt may not be complete until a couple of weeks into pheasant season. Standing fields of corn provide pheasants with shelter, refuge and food.
Once the crops are down, birds that were chased out of the public grasslands and wetlands earlier in the season come streaming back in … along with formerly private-land birds that now need cover.
Timing the crop harvest is simple. Once the harvest nears 80 or 90 percent completion, get out there and hunt.
Hunt weekdays
To get your dog on birds while having a chance at solitude, hunt during the week. Yes, it eats vacation time, but if you’re serious about pheasant hunting, this is the time to go.
Friday isn’t a weekday. Everybody gets a jump on the weekend then. Mondays are bad because the cover just got pounded Saturday and Sunday. Time your jaunts to start on a Tuesday afternoon, then hunt Wednesday and Thursday, too.
Persist
If you’re not hunting until sunset, you must already have your limit of birds or the dog must be pooped out for the day.
Keep the Noise Down
Make no mistake about it - you’re hunting spooky birds, so be as sneaky and quiet as possible, use a bell not a beeper collar, limit talking and whistling for your dog and other noises that might alert birds to your presence and send them flying or running.
Take different approaches
Don’t approach the cover the same way as everybody else. Designated parking areas, road intersections and other easy parking spots are notorious for one or two trails leading out from them. Everybody travels basically the same circuit, and pheasants catch on to the routine.
Instead, park somewhere else or snap a lead to your dog, skirt the area and then come at the cover from a totally different direction. This ploy is even better when it positions the wind just right for your first pass, allowing your dog to work into the breeze. Make your first swing your best swing.
Hunt the far end
If the area is just too big to skirt before starting to hunt, spend the time and effort needed to walk your way to the back reaches and corners of the property. Many pheasants live a relatively hassle-free life where soft hunters never bother to go.
Hunt hard and far, and criss-cross good areas thoroughly. By doing so, you’ll get more birds than you will by driving around looking for a new spot every half-hour. Field time is more productive.
Hunt out-of-the-way spots
I can’t tell you how many pheasants I have shot by literally going the extra mile to hit a tiny patch of cover way over there, a ring of cattails right here, the brush around that distant and dilapidated windmill. A rooster is always worth the extra mile and effort. Just go and do it …
Shoot well
On public land, shooting opportunities don’t come easily. And they are not unlimited. Too many misses on public land birds will frustrate you.
There’s only one solution. Get out and shoot beforehand. Re-familiarize yourself with your shotgun, and get in the groove of swinging on a moving target. Take at least one professional shotgun shooting lesson.
Don’t approach the cover the same way as everybody else. Designated parking areas, road intersections and other easy parking spots are notorious for one or two trails leading out from them. Everybody travels basically the same circuit, and pheasants catch on to the routine.
Instead, park somewhere else or snap a lead to your dog, skirt the area and then come at the cover from a totally different direction. This ploy is even better when it positions the wind just right for your first pass, allowing your dog to work into the breeze. Make your first swing your best swing.
Hunt the far end
If the area is just too big to skirt before starting to hunt, spend the time and effort needed to walk your way to the back reaches and corners of the property. Many pheasants live a relatively hassle-free life where soft hunters never bother to go.
Hunt hard and far, and criss-cross good areas thoroughly. By doing so, you’ll get more birds than you will by driving around looking for a new spot every half-hour. Field time is more productive.
Hunt out-of-the-way spots
I can’t tell you how many pheasants I have shot by literally going the extra mile to hit a tiny patch of cover way over there, a ring of cattails right here, the brush around that distant and dilapidated windmill. A rooster is always worth the extra mile and effort. Just go and do it …
Shoot well
On public land, shooting opportunities don’t come easily. And they are not unlimited. Too many misses on public land birds will frustrate you.
There’s only one solution. Get out and shoot beforehand. Re-familiarize yourself with your shotgun, and get in the groove of swinging on a moving target. Take at least one professional shotgun shooting lesson.
Manage expectations
Be patient and don’t expect immediate returns even when you’re hunting with a dog. To put things into perspective, I looked at my hunting journals for a personal statistic on pheasant hunts and discovered that I average three to four hours of work per public-land rooster in the bag, slightly longer than it takes to bag one ruffed grouse.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see how there are few hunting rewards as satisfying as a brace of hard-earned, public-land ringneck for you and your dog at the end of a long day.
Line up your expectations with the realities of the challenge. You can get birds, and with effort, you will. However, it’s important to realize you won’t be limiting out in an hour or shooting up boxes of shells. Somedays you will not bag or even see a pheasant.
All that said, here are a things to remember when you hit the public fields:
• Be happy just to be hunting.
• The dog, if you own one, is getting a workout.
• You’ll probably get to hunt all day.
• Things will get tough.
• One bird in hand is a bonus, and a limit is a blessing.
Dog notes
No single breed of dog is perfect for all the types of cover you’ll run into while hunting public-land pheasants, so you have to adapt as a team.
Yes, I will shoot a bumped bird. If safe – don’t hesitate to shoot them out of trees or on the ground. However – the risk in shooting at birds on the ground is that your dog, or someone else’s dog is standing beyond your target on point. With pheasants, don’t be a purist. Take them when you can get them. The guys that write the books, articles, and rules and standards for hunting dogs can do it their way (or just say they do). You are not bound to their ethos as long as you are safe and legal and not being the game hog that doesn’t allow other hunters, particularly seniors, juniors, and the less physically able a chance.
Use a bell not a beeper. Get to dog as fast as you can safely. Don’t walk up behind a dog on point – circle around and meet the dog head-on. Don’t talk or whistle excessively at your dog and keep it close, real close. 40 yards is too far. Don’t fall for the field trial and other doggy fantasy… You want to constantly watch and read your dog, pointing or flushing. Get up and around your dog when it acts birdy whether it is a flusher or pointer as fast as you safely can.
Be patient and don’t expect immediate returns even when you’re hunting with a dog. To put things into perspective, I looked at my hunting journals for a personal statistic on pheasant hunts and discovered that I average three to four hours of work per public-land rooster in the bag, slightly longer than it takes to bag one ruffed grouse.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see how there are few hunting rewards as satisfying as a brace of hard-earned, public-land ringneck for you and your dog at the end of a long day.
Line up your expectations with the realities of the challenge. You can get birds, and with effort, you will. However, it’s important to realize you won’t be limiting out in an hour or shooting up boxes of shells. Somedays you will not bag or even see a pheasant.
All that said, here are a things to remember when you hit the public fields:
• Be happy just to be hunting.
• The dog, if you own one, is getting a workout.
• You’ll probably get to hunt all day.
• Things will get tough.
• One bird in hand is a bonus, and a limit is a blessing.
Dog notes
No single breed of dog is perfect for all the types of cover you’ll run into while hunting public-land pheasants, so you have to adapt as a team.
Yes, I will shoot a bumped bird. If safe – don’t hesitate to shoot them out of trees or on the ground. However – the risk in shooting at birds on the ground is that your dog, or someone else’s dog is standing beyond your target on point. With pheasants, don’t be a purist. Take them when you can get them. The guys that write the books, articles, and rules and standards for hunting dogs can do it their way (or just say they do). You are not bound to their ethos as long as you are safe and legal and not being the game hog that doesn’t allow other hunters, particularly seniors, juniors, and the less physically able a chance.
Use a bell not a beeper. Get to dog as fast as you can safely. Don’t walk up behind a dog on point – circle around and meet the dog head-on. Don’t talk or whistle excessively at your dog and keep it close, real close. 40 yards is too far. Don’t fall for the field trial and other doggy fantasy… You want to constantly watch and read your dog, pointing or flushing. Get up and around your dog when it acts birdy whether it is a flusher or pointer as fast as you safely can.
Conclusion
The October sun was hanging low as my dog and I trudged across one last corridor of reed canary grass in upstate New York. It had been a good day, with over a dozen birds seen one rooster missed (it happens) and one rooster in the game bag.
For some reason I looked up from the dog’s work. A rapidly moving speck was gliding toward us from the cut cornfields across the river— a pheasant! As it sailed closer and got bigger, I knew it was a rooster. The bird lit into cover not a hundred yards away. The wind was perfect. My dog saw it too and soon located it and slammed on point right about where I thought it should happen.
I walked in and the shot was easy, but of course it took two of them. Roosters do that to a guy, and that’s why I love to hunt them. As I picked up our bird from the happy dog, I said some thanks to God — for the energy and attitude to be out there hunting hard and for the two heavy birds in the bag.
The October sun was hanging low as my dog and I trudged across one last corridor of reed canary grass in upstate New York. It had been a good day, with over a dozen birds seen one rooster missed (it happens) and one rooster in the game bag.
For some reason I looked up from the dog’s work. A rapidly moving speck was gliding toward us from the cut cornfields across the river— a pheasant! As it sailed closer and got bigger, I knew it was a rooster. The bird lit into cover not a hundred yards away. The wind was perfect. My dog saw it too and soon located it and slammed on point right about where I thought it should happen.
I walked in and the shot was easy, but of course it took two of them. Roosters do that to a guy, and that’s why I love to hunt them. As I picked up our bird from the happy dog, I said some thanks to God — for the energy and attitude to be out there hunting hard and for the two heavy birds in the bag.
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please click on the picture.
All shirts come in various colors and sizes and in long and short sleeve. Some also have sweatshirts, stickers and mugs available as well.
APPLE BAKED PHEASANT
1 pheasant, quartered
4 tbsp. butter, divided
4 med. apples, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
3 tbsp. half & half (cream)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
Brown pheasant in butter on all sides. Remove from pan. Add apples to pan and saute, adding the sugar. When apples are softened, place in bottom of casserole dish. Place pheasant pieces on top of apples with juices from pan. Pour half & half over top, salt, and pepper. Cover casserole and bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.
4 tbsp. butter, divided
4 med. apples, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
3 tbsp. half & half (cream)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
Brown pheasant in butter on all sides. Remove from pan. Add apples to pan and saute, adding the sugar. When apples are softened, place in bottom of casserole dish. Place pheasant pieces on top of apples with juices from pan. Pour half & half over top, salt, and pepper. Cover casserole and bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.