N W Ia,opener 2005,great friends,family,& dogs.

Another opener has come and gone for us here in Nw Ia.As always my bestest friends Tom A, and Paul B. were here for a morning hunt.This year was very special for me as my oldest boy Cole has now joined us at this annual event.I might not talk to Paul for many months but I always know he’ll be here for opener.I never really get to excited about opener as there are alot of hunters out there and the pressure can be terrible at times.So we go out for a few hours and then go eat a nice lunch.We hit 4 areas and seen birds in 3 places.The first 2 draws held many birds and we even got some shooting in.Paul and I got the barrels nice and hot at one place.Did we hit what we shot at?I’m still amazed that a guy can miss birds that are right under a pointing dogs nose Both my setters did a fine job with some awesome points and one very good fine on a winged rooster.This was my females 12 opener,#10 for the male.
Cole did a great job with safety and got a shot at 1 bird but did not connect.For those of you that are interested Cole is still trying for that first Iowa rooster.
Tom & Paul,thanks for hunting opener again.You guys are the best and I’m very lucky to call you guys friends.
Take care,
Ryan Hale

Congrats Ryan, something tells me once Cole gets his first there will be no stopping him.

Brian and I got 5, well Brian got 4 I got 1 saw a nice buck up close and got to watch the dogs do their thing, great day out with friends.

Congrats Ryan, something tells me once Cole gets his first there will be no stopping him.

Brian and I got 5, well Brian got 4 I got 1 saw a nice buck up close and got to watch the dogs do their thing, great day out with friends.

Ryan…I’m sure that slight breeze we had today didn’t help with the accuracy any either. Plus them arms were prolly still sore from pounding them nails! Nothing better then spending a day with family and friends.

Great report hopefully the wind will calm down tommorow!

Ryan…I’m sure that slight breeze we had today didn’t help with the accuracy any either. Plus them arms were prolly still sore from pounding them nails! Nothing better then spending a day with family and friends.

Great report hopefully the wind will calm down tommorow!

Shawn,glad you got out with Brian.He is a class act and your not going to find too many people that will out shoot him on anything in Iowa we can shoot at.If you still want to get out with us and the setters let me know.
Ryan Hale

Shawn,glad you got out with Brian.He is a class act and your not going to find too many people that will out shoot him on anything in Iowa we can shoot at.If you still want to get out with us and the setters let me know.
Ryan Hale

I’m ready anytime you got time Ryan, and yuor right about Brians shooting hes quick, but hes at least human he does miss once in awhile

I’m ready anytime you got time Ryan, and yuor right about Brians shooting hes quick, but hes at least human he does miss once in awhile

Yeh I miss too But I lready shot the one you missed the first shot!! I didn’t think I should have a perfect season anyway

Ryan I’m glad you had a good time.Do I need to get Cole his first rooster too?
Goodluck all tomorrow!1
Brian

Yeh I miss too But I lready shot the one you missed the first shot!! I didn’t think I should have a perfect season anyway

Ryan I’m glad you had a good time.Do I need to get Cole his first rooster too?
Goodluck all tomorrow!1
Brian

I was happy to shoot 50% thats something that hasnt happened since I was your age Brian LOL
I just enjoy being out in the fields with friends and family thats what its all about.

I was happy to shoot 50% thats something that hasnt happened since I was your age Brian LOL
I just enjoy being out in the fields with friends and family thats what its all about.

Thanks alot Ryan. The day was casual and the birds were everywhere. I recall I missed a full limit before I connected and that was a tag team effort by the two of us. I was just glad to see one drop and I was the only one to shoot at it. Helps to build some confidence. We definitely warmed up the barrels. I love hunting with your dogs too. Cole will get it all put together. He just needs to get to the day when it is just him and the point is on. He will concentrate and get it done. tell cole never to worry about missing it is part of the fun. I think the best part of the day was whne Decon pointed the same bird twice with 10 yard flushes and we never even ruffled a feather. I shot 5 times at that bird between the two times it flushed. Heck I missed because I wasn’t leveling out and I have the brusie on the arm to prove how poorly I was shouldering the gun.

Thanks alot Ryan. The day was casual and the birds were everywhere. I recall I missed a full limit before I connected and that was a tag team effort by the two of us. I was just glad to see one drop and I was the only one to shoot at it. Helps to build some confidence. We definitely warmed up the barrels. I love hunting with your dogs too. Cole will get it all put together. He just needs to get to the day when it is just him and the point is on. He will concentrate and get it done. tell cole never to worry about missing it is part of the fun. I think the best part of the day was whne Decon pointed the same bird twice with 10 yard flushes and we never even ruffled a feather. I shot 5 times at that bird between the two times it flushed. Heck I missed because I wasn’t leveling out and I have the brusie on the arm to prove how poorly I was shouldering the gun.

My group had tremendous success in NW IA. The hunting was almost too short each day since limits came so easy. We had access to prime private land. The public land was not as great. Talked to many that struggled on the WMA’s. We spent most of each afternoon driving the countryside looking it over since we had so much time to kill. Nice problem to have for a change.

My group had tremendous success in NW IA. The hunting was almost too short each day since limits came so easy. We had access to prime private land. The public land was not as great. Talked to many that struggled on the WMA’s. We spent most of each afternoon driving the countryside looking it over since we had so much time to kill. Nice problem to have for a change.

Thanks for the report and story Ryan! Keep on pluggin’ Cole! It will come

Thanks for the report and story Ryan! Keep on pluggin’ Cole! It will come

Through some strange alignment of the stars and freak of nature, my setter and I managed to bag 2 roosters on public land here in eastern Iowa last Saturday.

We hunted some private land near Dubuque on Saturday morning and I got lots of points, unfortunately, they were all hens. On the way home, we tried some DNR land and my luck changed. Nothing like a good point from the dog and then the rooster wildly cackling on the flush, trying to evade my #5s streaking towards him. What a rush! I need to make some friends with some farmers and get access to some private land. Might try to take a trip to NW part of the state, too; since a buddy from out east may be coming to visit in a few weeks and he wants to get his first wild IA birds. Someone told me that there was a lot of public land in the Iowa Great Lakes area/NW Iowa, is this really true?

It was a good time, and renewed my interest in chasing roosters once again. Been getting into the woodcock good, too.

Regards,

Joe

Through some strange alignment of the stars and freak of nature, my setter and I managed to bag 2 roosters on public land here in eastern Iowa last Saturday.

We hunted some private land near Dubuque on Saturday morning and I got lots of points, unfortunately, they were all hens. On the way home, we tried some DNR land and my luck changed. Nothing like a good point from the dog and then the rooster wildly cackling on the flush, trying to evade my #5s streaking towards him. What a rush! I need to make some friends with some farmers and get access to some private land. Might try to take a trip to NW part of the state, too; since a buddy from out east may be coming to visit in a few weeks and he wants to get his first wild IA birds. Someone told me that there was a lot of public land in the Iowa Great Lakes area/NW Iowa, is this really true?

It was a good time, and renewed my interest in chasing roosters once again. Been getting into the woodcock good, too.

Regards,

Joe

Lots and Lots of WMA in NW Iowa. Here is a link to the WMA’s. Just find a county in the area and do some searching.
If you need more help send me PM.

Ron

Lots and Lots of WMA in NW Iowa. Here is a link to the WMA’s. Just find a county in the area and do some searching.
If you need more help send me PM.

Ron

Joe,there is a ton of public land in Nw Ia.You would have plenty to hunt if you came this way.Great job on the roosters,better give that setter a few extra treats.
Best of luck,
Ryan Hale

Joe,there is a ton of public land in Nw Ia.You would have plenty to hunt if you came this way.Great job on the roosters,better give that setter a few extra treats.
Best of luck,
Ryan Hale

Is there still a lot of corn in your area. We have a ton of it still in the fields here that made hunting this weekend a little difficult. The farmers here are in a heck of a predicament. The elevators are full so a lot of the farmers with corn in the field have nowhere to go with it. Anyways we hunted all day on Saturday for 2 roosters between 4 of us, but we got to see the dog make some nice points on some hens and on the two roosters. On Sunday we headed South to try to get away from all the standing corn and my dad and I were limited out by around 2 or so. We had a blast watching the dog work and she made some awesome points and a couple of retreives on running birds that were getting out to the 200 yard mark. It was fun and the dog is starting off the year good as we have found all of our knocked down birds so far(never lost a one last year) Hope this weekend will be more of the same. Good luck to everyone going out this weekend.

Is there still a lot of corn in your area. We have a ton of it still in the fields here that made hunting this weekend a little difficult. The farmers here are in a heck of a predicament. The elevators are full so a lot of the farmers with corn in the field have nowhere to go with it. Anyways we hunted all day on Saturday for 2 roosters between 4 of us, but we got to see the dog make some nice points on some hens and on the two roosters. On Sunday we headed South to try to get away from all the standing corn and my dad and I were limited out by around 2 or so. We had a blast watching the dog work and she made some awesome points and a couple of retreives on running birds that were getting out to the 200 yard mark. It was fun and the dog is starting off the year good as we have found all of our knocked down birds so far(never lost a one last year) Hope this weekend will be more of the same. Good luck to everyone going out this weekend.

Guys,

Thanks for the info on the NW. I may try to get up there sometime in the next few weeks.

Regards,

Joe

Guys,

Thanks for the info on the NW. I may try to get up there sometime in the next few weeks.

Regards,

Joe