pheasant opener

tripod3

tripod3

New member
Got out at daylight and saw birds everywhere, some still roosting.
I dropped a couple and quickly realized how difficult it became trying to recover them in cover. Not being able to find them it got very discouraging.
There were so many it would have been easy to drop several more limits on the way out. But why without the ability to retrieve.
A real exciting letdown. Many guys told me they never saw a thing all day.
 
I'm assuming you don't have a bird dog. So when you drop one you need to RUN as fast as you can to where you marked it fall. If you see legs down, almost like landing gear they are not dead. Sign of a dead rooster is if its head falls hack against it's back. Other wise it will burrow in or run. As a boy in South Dakota I watched my Springer Spaniel run several dropped birds down well over a hundred yards, or find them dug in deeper than one would imagine close to where they fell. Key is too get on them instantly. Sorry to hear about an otherwise good hunt.
 
Yeah, no dog. I often assume most here know that I'm not walking.
A friend was set to go help with his dog and had to cancel.
It just turned out to be very frustrating to be able to shoot and not recover.
What you say is so true about runners. I have pics of myself in the past holding live birds run down on foot.
 
Well if you have access to birds you should be able to find someone to accompany you. I went on many an outdoor adventure as a kid with the role of grunt/retriever and was quite happy to do so. Good luck on your next outing.
 
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You just keep going at it like you do.. you are an inspiration to the spirit of hunting.. even if you have to get more selective on shooting what you can recover don't stop going out.. not that you would let anything stop you anyway
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Yes you hit what's been on my mind. I passed up some great photo op's. So it has had me thinking about swapping gun for camera.
Should have done this for deer also as two friends were laughing at me passing on a buck in a tough spot. It would be easier to get one on the road. haha
 
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