First 2014 CO Pheasant

Had the day off today. Was planning on going out last Sunday but the weather had different ideas. I did not see another hunter in the field all day. Farmers were busy harvesting corn so that may have moved the pheasants out of the feed and into cover.

Was gorgeous out today. Leisurely start as I was just wanting to get my puppy out for some more manners in the field. Come, whoa, etc. If I got a shot at a bird that is a bonus. I am heading to NE right after Thanksgiving and I did not want any surprises from my young pup. My wife got me some GPS collars and this gave me the opportunity to try them out in real time.

Love the way they ran. Puppy was a little wild in the first field but he settled down. He only had hens flush in front of him. My older dog Luke got the job done. Only ran two fields and he popped up a nice rooster that ran out of room in the grass stand I found with cut corn on three sides and the road on the other. I will post the video when I get it chopped down. Two other boys took off after report and out of range. I was so proud of my boys.


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Get them happy dogs some water!!

Good looking dogs. Hopefully the bird counts will be up on the eastern plains this year. I saw more birds around Burlington late this summer than I have seen in a long time. Corn was up late in a lot of areas, but outlook is still hopeful. As far as pheasant go, I sure do miss the early/mid 80's out in eastern CO.

Very nice pic! Good lookin duo you got there,

Love English setters!
weve been out once and got 1 bird but most corn was still standing. Heading out again at least 1 day over the weekend/beginning of the week.

on a side note, look very closely at your picture. I thought you had a third dog and it was inside the truck. Look at the right of the headrest, looks likes 2 eyes and snout coming down...

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Originally Posted by sniper7

on a side note, look very closely at your picture. I thought you had a third dog and it was inside the truck. Look at the right of the headrest, looks likes 2 eyes and snout coming down...

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There is a second one in the side window!

Nice. I'm hoping to go Sunday.

I plan on going again after my NE trip next weekend. Would love to go out with some fellow members here. Will post when I am heading out next.

I see what you are looking at in the picture. Not sure what is reflecting in the window.

Super windy yesterday, but my dad and I got it done.

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Yea baby. We need a hunt together before this season is over.

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Originally Posted by SamuraiCO

Yea baby. We need a hunt together before this season is over.

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I'm off mon-fir this week. Goose hunting Tuesday though.

Goose hunting yesterday would have been good with the front moving in. Good luck tomorrow. I think you meant you have Mon-Fri off this week. I have Thursday off if you want to get after some pheasants for a day. Let me know and we will work out the details on where to meet on our way out.

PS good looking pups you got

Maybe next time then. I have the weekend of 13 and 14th if you want to try Sniper. Let me know.

Hey sorry, moved a couple days of work so I actually work tomorrow. I'll let you know if I can get one of those days off I work as of right now.

I am off this Thursday and am planning on trying to go out with another buddy. Will let you know if we are going. Probably not a butt buster getting up at 4am but I want to be on my way at 6:30. Hunt and be home before dinner.

Uggg...fresh snow on the ground and I thought we would find lots of birds. Leave it up to the locals hitting the wind rows even before I got out there. I am still doing a lot of scouting because I do not know the area well. Did find a lot of wind rows Pheasant's Forever planted. Held a lot of birds but all was on private land. It was specifically planted for winter cover. No wonder we see a lot of birds in this area.

Found only hens in the fields and no roosters seen that we could shoot at. Did see two nice roosters with a few girl friends peel out of our first field we road past. Seems they may have been rousted by locals and were just going back as we pulled up. They flew into a nearby grass field and disappeared. How funny that happens with such a brightly colored bird.

Did get my puppy on two good points. Then after we got all packed up and were heading home we come across a bunch in the middle of the road. No cover, no wind rows, no feed nearby. Could not figure where they came from but they were just hanging. Then they were gone.

Next weekend back to Nebraska Friday through Sunday.

We went out Friday, man the snow was deep in certain areas.

Went back to NE after Christmas. We had my two budddies older sons (both freshmen in college), couple of their friends as well. Our purpose was to get them some shots on birds. Also had my buddies second son but he just walked. He needs his hunter safety yet.

Snow storm on Friday slowed us down and we left later just to be safe. Was snowing and cold Friday when we got there. Dogs were pushing birds and I hit one big bird that squirted out to my right but got distracted by my buddies son as I was marking where it went down. He was trying to get my attention because two roosters popped out behind me (my hoodie was restricting my field of vision). When I turned around I went to where I thought my bird went down. Had my dogs working the area but the wind was blowing so strong it was hard to scent. I hate leaving birds in the field. Could not find any feathers or blood in the snow. Hate that. We ended up getting a couple from our first field and that it for Friday.

Saturday cold but clear. Was hard trying to find where the birds had been pushed to and where they were bunched up. Probably still in wind rows on private land. Birds were few and far between. Lots of hens but few roosters. The group harvested a couple of more hard fought birds. I did manage to misjudge the edge of the road and thought I had firmer ground but found nothing but ditch and got my truck really stuck. Lucky for us we were able to tow my truck out ourselves with a tow rope and was back at it after 1/2 hour of digging out.

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We got permission to hunt some private land but did not block it properly and lost a lot bleeding out the end. I did shoot one rooster that panicked and bled out to the right of where my dogs were working. He popped up just to my right and just hung in the air. Easy shot and was right where it fell easy retrieve for the dogs.

We went back Sunday before leaving but it was clear of roosters. We did get one as we were hiking back to the truck.

We also hunted around the reservoir that had some really thick tree stands and lots of tumble weeds. I took out both dogs out and quickly realized the pup was still too charged up to hunt that thick of cover. My older dog stays closer and checks in but the younger one has yet to learn this. I hoofed back to the truck and managed to push up one hen around some wind rows and rooster(s) on the other side by the cackle I heard. More work with the younger pup.

We all made it safe. Dogs are worn but no permanent damage. Need to get some musher's friend for the dog's paws for winter hunting. It will keep the paws better protected and keep ice balls from forming.

My younger pup got more good work and some really nice points. I even had my first point and honor between my two dogs. Damn if it wan't a hen. Sheesh. Was still pretty.

By my friend's phone app we averaged 10 miles per day walking. Was hard with the snow and heavier boots. Legs are still cramping and muscles tight. All good for the soul.

Might try a couple of more hunts here in CO before the season ends. Got to get my youngest on a rooster.

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Boys resting in the hotel after dinner.