2024 pheasant season

Congrats crawdaddy! Great picture.

Just hens for me and the new pup so far. Seen a bunch of roosters walking back from deer stand but all hens with the doggy. So fricken dusty hes always sneezing when he gets his head buried in the weeds. So windy last 4 days not even dew in the morning.

That’s what I am worried about in Iowa. Those white gravel roads are powder when its this dry. Not easy to hunt ditches in and our vehicles will be rolling flour mills.

You got that right Suzuki. Those dry ditches will be dusty as an old forgotten wine bottle in mother Hubbard’s basement. Fingers crossed for a little sprinkle of rain here and there.

CaptainMusky wrote:

He is 10 so I told my son don’t make him jump into the truck bed.

I try to not have my dog jump in or out of the truck bed ever, regardless of age. Sure its convenient for you but its not good for them long term. I think about their hips/joints like a set of factory OEM shocks/struts. That suspension only will last so for so many potholes before it wears out. Repeatedly jumping up and down from high up only speeds up the wear and tear. Once you realize they’re hurting, its too late. The old “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” saying comes to mind.

Got out for the first time earlier this week. The two we got held really close (father in law shot the head off of the one) and we kicked up a handful of hens too. Pretty happy for only driving about an hour from the south metro.

Kind of bittersweet since my springer that is now blind was not in the field with me for the first time. Just not the same without your own dog out there. Time to get another pup.

Might have to take the new pup out tomorrow and try again now that it rained for once.

Went out yesterday and this morning. The rain was a godsend. I might have been soaked but we managed one and the scenting conditions were so much better. Not much corn left standing and would imagine most if it will be gone by next weekend around where I was hunting.

dhpricco: I agree it’s not even close to the same without your dog out with ya. Hopefully he’s good for awhile but yes, time for a new pup. I just shot some grouse today with my 7 mos Springer and looking forward to getting her on her first rooster, hopefully soon.

Iowa opener was fun like usual. Our first field is the epitome of the best Iowa has to offer. Our friend/host lets us hunt it once, first thing on opening morning then done for the weekend. He is very protective of this spot. We dont even hit every square inch. Its a real treat to have such an experience. We did ok on public land as well and a few ditch parrots met their fate.
Here is a gratuitous meat pic from the first field.

That looks like a blast. So far this season I’m not seeing any major impacts from the wet spring like folks were thinking. I hunt both ‘very poor’ areas in SW MN and ‘Good’ areas in central MN all public. Curious what others feel their seeing anecdotally.

I am hearing and seeing similar pheasant numbers to last year. Now that most crops are out I’ve been able to give a decent eval. Mayyyyybe slightly lower numbers but minimal imo.

Second weekend here we come. Hopefully they shared in the moisture yesterday. Between that and the temps it should be a classic hunting weekend in Iowa. If we can dodge the rain. Also we know how to have fun at night in Emmetsburg.

I was checking and working on deer stands today which is also where I pheasant hunt. The heavy wet snow completely flattened the grass there. That spot is essentially ruined for pheasant hunting now this season. And it was my most productive spot last year because we go zero snow, which allowed the grass to remain up. Total buzzkill.

Kicked up 3 hens and 2 roosters walking around checking stands. Tons of standing corn around too. Ground is so wet they won’t be working for a while either.

3 of us got our 6 yesterday. Lots of points for the dog and plenty of birds flushing wild. We saw a pile, numbers are definitely solid in that area.

Kicked up some birds hunkered down on Friday morning after the snow but couldn’t get any shots on them. Regretting going out now because the crusty ice did a number on my new pups paws and pulled his nails up. He’s out of commission for the weekend. Wish he could have made it to Monday for a bye week (slug opener), though if he’s recovered I’ll probably sneak out once between deer sits.

Suzuki and I, along with another friend hunted Iowa again this past weekend. It was a tale of 2 days. We struggled a little on Saturday and had a few opportunities slip away from us. The 3 of us ended the day with 5 birds.
Sunday we woke to rain and overcast and I don’t think any of us were expecting much. The rain however, seemed to bunch up the birds and when we found roosters we found multiples every time. We shot our 3 man limit of 9 by 11:30a.m. It was a great day with great dog work and good shooting.

I took Tracy out for a few hours Saturday at metro hunting spots but we didn’t get one. Went by mankato on Sunday and we got two. Hunting was tough but we’re both hard headed. One was a cripple she chased out of a thorn bush.

New puppy got his first rooster. You can see he was excited.

Not by his facial expression.

JEREMY wrote:

Not by his facial expression.

LMAO

Sunday morning was fun.

That is a good haul Suzuki!

went to South Dakota for a couple days. seen a good number of birds and had a good time.

Nice pic. That is a pile o birds!

Nice work fellas. Suppose I’ll add a pic from my trip last week. I’ve never had a pheasant water retrieve before and ended up having 2 on this trip.

Nice work Gitchi and crew!

Curious what everyone shoots at roosters?

I am a pretty big believer in 2 3/4” copper plated 6s. Usually I carry a 20ga but will take the 12 pretty much all of December – that’s when I break out the 3” 4s as my last few shots.

WPAs get blackcloud 4s all season.

Shoot 16 gauge all season and have moved to copper plated bismuth 5s so I don’t have to switch out for WPAs. Will mix in some 4s late season. All 2 3/4.

Charlie W wrote:

Curious what everyone shoots at roosters?

I am a pretty big believer in 2 3/4” copper plated 6s. Usually I carry a 20ga but will take the 12 pretty much all of December – that’s when I break out the 3” 4s as my last few shots.

WPAs get blackcloud 4s all season.

Im not too picky any more. I limit my shot range because I cant hit them far out with consistency so I stopped doing it. 3″ #4 Blackcloud all day long in state land. I could use that load for everything and be happy. Since we mostly hunt lead land I still use 2 3/4 #4 or #5. Usually copper plated. Whatever is laying around.