Took ole Waylon for the Pheasant Hunt

[DoggyDaddy]

i think there are a few without dogs, but not many. Everyone I hunted around this year did. Yesterday there was a dad with two kids. They had one English pointer. Today there were four guys with 2 labs and a springer spaniel.

I only went pheasant hunting one time with my dad and one of his buddies, but I was really young. I don't think I was even carrying a gun. Did kick up a covey of quail while rabbit hunting once. I actually shot one, by pure luck. It startled me so much that I only got my shotgun up under my armpit instead of against my shoulder and just fired into the covey. I'd like to hunt them again sometime but I hear they're not around nearly as much anymore. Mom cooked it for me and that was some of the best, sweetest meat I've ever eaten.

 

[BigMoose]

i think there are a few without dogs, but not many. Everyone I hunted around this year did. Yesterday there was a dad with two kids. They had one English pointer. Today there were four guys with 2 labs and a springer spaniel.

Now I gotta see if I can train my wife's dachsund to do this.

 

[Expat]

Now I gotta see if I can train my wife's dachsund to do this.

I have seen guys using their beagles on pheasants.

 

[Expat]

I only went pheasant hunting one time with my dad and one of his buddies, but I was really young. I don't think I was even carrying a gun. Did kick up a covey of quail while rabbit hunting once. I actually shot one, by pure luck. It startled me so much that I only got my shotgun up under my armpit instead of against my shoulder and just fired into the covey. I'd like to hunt them again sometime but I hear they're not around nearly as much anymore. Mom cooked it for me and that was some of the best, sweetest meat I've ever eaten.

Definitely no wild quail up here any more.

 

[Hardscrable]

Late ‘70s - mid 80s hard winters and at the same time continual loss of habitat pretty much eliminated quail and pheasants at least here in the north.

 

[Hardscrable]

Thru the mid to late ‘90s there were 2 people near a couple of my farms that raised and released pheasants. Pulling into 1 field one day 18 young cocks crossed the road from a woods into my corn about a mile from each persons property that released them. Wouldn’t have believed it if hadn’t seen it. Those were about the last ones I have seen. Havent seen a quail in probably 40 years.

 

[ghuns]

There aren’t any wild ones left in too many places.

I wish DNR put as much effort into reintroducing pheasants as they did wild turkeys.

 

[Expat]

I wish DNR put as much effort into reintroducing pheasants as they did wild turkeys.

I agree. With all the global warming, those savagely cold winters are a thing of the past, so why not? Unfortunately it seems like most farmground got rid of the wind blocks and old fence rows.

 

[Hardscrable]

I agree. With all the global warming, those savagely cold winters are a thing of the past, so why not? Unfortunately it seems like most farmground got rid of the wind blocks and old fence rows.

As a former farmer who took out a lot of fence rows, brush, etc. it was a financial decision ( those areas cost you money to not remove ). Don‘t forget about developers, factories/businesses, etc. Habitat disappearance is in essence a result of our modern society. And I wouldn’t bet your last dollar on “climate change” resulting in no more hard winters.

 

[Michigan Slim]

As a former farmer who took out a lot of fence rows, brush, etc. it was a financial decision ( those areas cost you money to not remove ). Don‘t forget about developers, factories/businesses, etc. Habitat disappearance is in essence a result of our modern society. And I wouldn’t bet your last dollar on “climate change” resulting in no more hard winters.

My rabbit hunting as a youth was fantastic. Now the land has businesses on it.

 

[Hardscrable]

My rabbit hunting as a youth was fantastic. Now the land has businesses on it.

If I had a dollar for every rabbit that I have cleaned… Got a ton of them while shelling corn. When one would run they would only go a short distance usually and stop. I would get out of combine with a single shot, bolt action .22 loaded with a .22 short and hunt them down. Grab head, twist it around and pop it off. Hang it upside down to bleed out with twine, and clean it later. Once as a kid saw my Dad while picking ear corn on a tractor mounted unit grabbed an ear of corn, threw it at the rabbit, hit it & knock it out. Yes we ate it.

Still have access to good spots - especially areas like wide, heavily sodded ditch banks along corn fields, etc. - on friends farms but have given it up due to age and bad knees, hips, back.

 

[Expat]

I agree on development. Elkhart county seems determined to get rid of any farms or woods left in the county. There’s always another trailer factory needing to be built…

 

[Michigan Slim]

If I had a dollar for every rabbit that I have cleaned… Got a ton of them while shelling corn. When one would run they would only go a short distance usually and stop. I would get out of combine with a single shot, bolt action .22 loaded with a .22 short and hunt them down. Grab head, twist it around and pop it off. Hang it upside down to bleed out with twine, and clean it later. Once as a kid saw my Dad while picking ear corn on a tractor mounted unit grabbed an ear of corn, threw it at the rabbit, hit it & knock it out. Yes we ate it.

Still have access to good spots - especially areas like wide, heavily sodded ditch banks along corn fields, etc. - on friends farms but have given it up due to age and bad knees, hips, back.

I have been remiss in my duties as a father. My daughter has never shot a rabbit. Maybe this year we can try to walk some up on state ground.
I have land in Michigan loaded with deer and turkeys, lots of partridges, but darn few rabbits. I need to start making brush piles to give them some good hides. They're in the swamp but I'm not needing a rabbit quite THAT bad. LOL

 

[Hardscrable]

I agree on development. Elkhart county seems determined to get rid of any farms or woods left in the county. There’s always another trailer factory needing to be built…

Yep, even during times half of the existing ones are idle. More RV plants mean more jobs ( that often can’t be filled ) drawing in more people ( many immigrants not speaking English causing more $$ needed for schools for free food and English as a second language ), more/higher property tax assessments meaning more $$$ for our county leaders to fantasize spending .

Admission - I no longer live in or own Elkhart Co. property ). Expat - move a county south = much lower taxes and still have good restaurants serving “American” food

 

[Expat]

Yep, even during times half of the existing ones are idle. More RV plants mean more jobs ( that often can’t be filled ) drawing in more people ( many immigrants not speaking English causing more $$ needed for schools for free food and English as a second language ), more/higher property tax assessments meaning more $$$ for our county leaders to fantasize spending .

Admission - I no longer live in or own Elkhart Co. property ). Expat - move a county south = much lower taxes and still have good restaurants serving “American” food

I have thought about trying to get a few acres out in the country down there.

 

[thunderchicken]

If I had a dollar for every rabbit that I have cleaned… Got a ton of them while shelling corn. When one would run they would only go a short distance usually and stop. I would get out of combine with a single shot, bolt action .22 loaded with a .22 short and hunt them down. Grab head, twist it around and pop it off. Hang it upside down to bleed out with twine, and clean it later. Once as a kid saw my Dad while picking ear corn on a tractor mounted unit grabbed an ear of corn, threw it at the rabbit, hit it & knock it out. Yes we ate it.

Still have access to good spots - especially areas like wide, heavily sodded ditch banks along corn fields, etc. - on friends farms but have given it up due to age and bad knees, hips, back.

As a kid we had a few farms to hunt rabbits and it was always a fantastic time.
About 20yrs ago, we knew a guy that gave us access to his property down on an old coal mine. It was down near Petersburg and was the property where the little world field trials were held. Beautiful rolling hills but in the ditches was the most gnarly reeds.
One time, Bill had some friends down from Wisconsin and another guy we knew up from KY and then us all hunting together. So there was 7 hunters and like 20 beagles on the ground. At one point the dogs were all separated in small packs and had 4 or 5 rabbits on the run at once. Man that was some great beagle music.

One time I just sat on the tail gate with a box of shells and waited for them to cross the giant gravel roads those Earth movers once used.


But this thread was about bird hunting. I sure would like to go pheasant hunting but just don't know where to go and don't have any bird dogs.

When I was a wee little feller my dad had Brittany's. I've been told before they flooded it, he and my grandfather used to hunt pheasant and quail in what is now Brookville Lake (reservoir).