I had high hopes going in. My bro-in-law lives just North of Montevideo, which should be pretty decent pheasant country. I spent Monday and part of Tuesday out there. We logged a lot of miles but had terrible luck. We hunted several WMAs, a bit of private land, and a WIA. All we saw was one hen and one rooster (that was far away and flushed by someone else). Rough hunt!!! 
There will be days like that. It makes you appreciate the “easy” hunts that much more. Seemed like there were a lot of hunters in the Montevideo area on Friday afternoon when we passed through.
Thanks for the update. I was planning to try the Montevideo area next, but I’ll probably try some public land down by Marshall instead. I have been seeing birds on some private land close to home, but I want to save that for the late season when I like the walks to be short and sweet. 
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There will be days like that. It makes you appreciate the “easy” hunts that much more. Seemed like there were a lot of hunters in the Montevideo area on Friday afternoon when we passed through.
Yeah, no biggie. Nice to get away from work for a few days and be one with nature, even with no birds. I think it was a combo of weather hunkering the birds down and the public land getting pretty hammered. We spoke with a guy who’s grandma owns the WIA land–he said it really gets worked over. We’ll get at it again.
One thing with hunting public ground is that you have to use better tactics than the next guy. Pheasants learn very quickly and most hunting parties are very predictable so the pheasants learn quickly.
First, don’t start hunting where everyone else starts hunting. If you park by the road edge, walk the side line and start at the back side of the property.
Secondly, be quiet! Yelling at dogs, slamming doors, etc. All that does is lets the birds know you’re coming. I’ve seen pheasants flush at the far side of a wma when someone slammed the bolt of an autoloader shut on a round. Pheasants can hear!
And sometimes the birds just aren’t there. Nice day, sun shining, the birds may not be in the tall grass.
Grouse
I hunt almost only public land and I think I do pretty well. The best advice I can give to a guy who hunts alone or with one other person, is to hunt with the wind at your back. If you have a good dog and you trust him, you will see more roosters in shooting range doing this. I swear by it!
That’s an interesting point. I’ve noticed that hunting downwind has been much more productive during our late, late season hunts when birds are at the wariest.
How can that possibly be?
No clue, but the birds have held much tighter offering better shots. We’ll see how this year goes.
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