Last night I did some adjustments with shims to see which one felt the best. Turns out the way it came to me was the best. Switched the chokes and practiced shouldering last night and it just felt natural.

I went hunting this am and saw birds but they flushed to far away. Planted live pigeons for training my pup and I hit every bird instantly! It seems that this gun just fits me!

I didn’t even feel a kick either when it shot and seemed quiet on my dove loads!

Love it so far!

Well,

I got a new toy yesterday! I got a nice christmas commission check and decided to spend a little more then what I originally budgeted.

Picked up a Winchester Sx3 Waterfowl Hunter in Duck Blind Camo. I have watched this gun go down in price at a local gun shop and couldn’t pass up the deal I got for it.

Trial run tomorrow am with a late season pheasant hunt, and then some training with the pup and some pigeons!

That is the price you pay.

I have traveled in many storms and had some of the most fun successful hunts ever.

In winter a storm is a good thing, the birds hear the sounds of a storm.

On a calm winter day sound travels for miles and they are gone before you know it.

Weather = Advantage in any hunt.

I drop all mine off at Ammo Craft in Hopkins.

Storms are the best time to hunt! My favorite!

How do the preference levels work?

First year I applied I believe I got it, then the next year I didnt get it, then I got it again, and then got a surplus. Then I didnt get it and then i got it again. Seems I get it every other year.

anyone ever got back to back license?

This year in South Dakota I called the dog over to where I was standing waiting for some people to catch up. All the sudden the dog (lab) looked down, and was on what I call a point. He stares at the ground ears tilted head. Just stares and stares. Finally I said get em. sure enough a rooster gets up literally a half foot away from me.

That bird sat next to me for 2 minutes before the dog came over and pointed him out.

These birds are one of a kind!

now until Friday, Jan. 11, 2013

Check out Ammo Craft in hopkins on Shady Oak Road. They have everything you need to get started reloading. I think they even have used equipment there.

p4walleye:

In response to your opinion, which is your entitlement to do so.

There were more birds around you then you think. Birds this time of year are smart, they wont fly, they will run around you no matter how much you zig zag. Specifically the area you hunted has a lot of acreage, and for three guys to hunt efficiently with out a hound dog is not possible.

Even with 1 dog these birds will still get by you. I only say this from experience, and seeing it first hand.

By me saying experiencing it and seeing it first hand, is exactly what it means. I have excellent hearing and I can catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I have seen birds and dogs run circles around each other to the point where the bird is actually doubled back and following the dog as its on its scent. twas pretty comical. I have seen birds running through the grass or cattails, and have that movement stop completely, and then you go over there and no bird what so ever until you see the weeds moving behind you all the sudden. These birds are sneaky.

Although you may have only seen a few birds and 1 that you can shoot. I can tell you there is more then just that.

All I can say is after living, breathing pheasant hunting, and doing it for over 25 years I have learned this….

“Smart ones run, dumb birds fly.”

Good report!

To bad you guys didn’t connect! There is lots of time yet in the season though!

from 10 until 4 I focus most of my hunting to thickets, fencelines, or shelter belts. The roosters seem to like those areas.

better luck next time.

Ding Ding Ding!!! I do the same! Bing for the win!

However, if its not a populated area it isn’t updated with the birds eye.

I think Xd’s are just a copy of glock with a couple added features that really do not matter to me.

Id still rather have a glock having shoot both.

Call Ammo Craft in hopkins, Ask for Bud. Tell him the problem you are having with the glock. I bet he would fix it just because he loves glock’s that much.

The one thing I did this time around I wont do next time.

When my new pup was born, I came and saw them from week one to the week I brought him home.

I will NOT go and see the dogs every week again unless I know I am first pick.

I was second pick, and I knew the first pick was looking at the two I had picked out. Luckily, I got the one I really wanted, and the first pick chose my second choice.

Don’t get too attached unless you have your $$$ in for #1 pick.

I can’t imagine how it would have felt knowing the dog you wanted was chose by someone else and you had to pick another

CONGRATS!

What kind of hounds you running? This cold weather is great for my lab. Most the time he doesn’t even wanna drink water with this colder weather. I heard its pretty dry down there. I haven’t been down that way yet this year. Hopefully get a late winter hunt in down there.

I started carrying water with me on every hunt. It has come in handy several times to wash seeds out of dogs eyes, to watering them, and this year putting out a fire on the truck!

Could smell burning when we stopped the truck. Looked under it and nothing was flaring up. The truck we take sits low to the ground so it is not uncommon to get the burning smell from grasses or corn stalks touching the exhaust.

Started hunting a field and happened to look back at the truck with smoke blaring out of it. Took of running with my water bottles and sure enough there was a corn stalk stuck in the cat that I didn’t see. Luckily it was put out! Could have been a bad end to our trip!

Congrats on the success! Glad you found some birds. No one likes loosing birds, I let my dog search for about 30 minutes before I will pull him off. If it is there they will find it, if its running its long gone.

Not trying to be a jerk here, but you should always carry water with you out in the field, you never know when you or the dog might need it. I specifically bought a new vest this year that allows me to carry two water bottles at a time. I can take a break and water the dogs and myself at any time out in the field.

just my .02 cents I guess. I hate loosing birds but it does happen

Call me crazy but I always carry water in my vest, extra shells, a small 6 foot rope that I can use to release conibear traps or use to make splints or a tourniquet, and a lighter for fire. Some minimal things that can save you or your dogs life. I also keep some paper and other essentials in the stock of my shotgun.

Again congrats on your birds!

Call Ron at Ammo Craft Gobbler Specialties in Hopkins, He has a worker who works on glocks, lives on glocks, and has been waiting for an issue like this to arise so he can fix it.

Sportsmans connection makes an atlas that has exactly what you are looking for.

I use this thing all the time! I even pencil in any new land I stumble across, and my private spots I have permission to go on. Since it is used for strictly hunting, I often find myself putting in notes for each WMA.

Example.
Cover, Food, Water, Thickets, Shelterbelts, Nesting grass. If I see a bunch of birds I will note that as well and how many I got.

I use a pencil so I can change anything if needed.

Gander, Cabelas, FF will have these.

Looks like this image below.

If you are hunting public, find a back access or come in for a different angle then most people do. It throws the birds off.

I hunt a lot of popular spots that get hit weekly. The difference between me and the average person is they go in the parking lot, and work the way everyone else does. I come in from the side or the back side on a gravel road of some sort and the birds don’t expect that.

In the later season like this you have to think ahead of the bird.

Birds were jumpy from the start of the season for me however. It just goes to show being quiet is key. Pick who you hunt with.

Opener I hunted with a friend of mine who took his dad who is a big time duck hunter. He for some reason brought his duck call with him. During our pheasant hunt whenever he saw ducks, or heard ducks he would stop, pull out his call and blast on it.

I turned around and walked back to the truck lol.

I hunt them like I normally would in weather like this. However, I can’t wait for a good snow storm to get out and hunt the birds.

I find little thickets, or pockets of smaller sloughs out of the way and target those area. After feeding, they find a place to just mess around.

Well, my initial plan was to shoot some pheasants this weekend. I have a friend who raises birds for training his dog. His dog tore her ACL so he has a bunch of birds. I took 9 of them, to use for my 17 week old puppy and his training. Turns out, birdman couldn’t deliver this weekend.

So instead of pitching lead at pheasants I ended up down on the river pitching jigs at walleyes! Caught a couple dandy fish, but it was slow. Maybe this weekend I will have a report on bird hunting.

Let me rephrase that for you.

Marth “Stubbs” Stewart!

you weren’t kidding about your fingers!

Interesting way to put it JT. Baseball to shotgunning. I like it. And I will try this weekend at Pitching some lead at some pheasants and come back with a report!

Sweet! Way to go Martha Stewart!

check gun broker and see what others are going for.

I have been looking at these guns as well the 3500 and the 2000.

Both seem ok, when you pick up one of these guns, and the step up from the the Franchi and then a benelli, you can really tell the difference in the guns.

Stoeger being the cheapest feeling.

I have read bad reviews on this gun, and good ones. Same with all the others next in line.

For the price, you might want to just save up a few extra bucks and get something better quality.

You get what you pay for, and at first I didn’t realize it until I handled a few guns in the same class. The Steogers feel like they are made with cheaper metals and synthetics.

In any event, go handle a few of these guns. buy the one that seems to fit you the best!

I noticed an abundance of deer on my trip as well.

it wasn’t uncommon to kick up a buck here and there, or a couple does. This year however, seemed to deem a lot more deer. We were kicking them out of every place imaginable!

Something tells me that the numbers will be going down though this weekend… I think it is east rivers opener?

You could try stuffing the tip too, but it probably would still get in the way, and you don’t want anyone knowing you stuff