Sunday, November 30, 2014

Oklahoma quail hunting has been excellent, but don't expect same from pheasants - 2014



While the early season quail hunting has been excellent, hunters can expect the pheasant hunting to be about the same as last year, which is not very good.

Oklahoma’s two-month pheasant season opens Monday, but the ringneck population hasn’t rebounded as well as the bobwhite quail.

While the early season quail hunting has been excellent, hunters can expect the pheasant hunting to be about the same as last year, which is not very good.

The quail hunters in northwest Oklahoma have been flushing a few roosters but it’s been spotty, said Scott Cox, upland game bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildife Conservation.
“I am pretty sure there are going to be a few more birds than last year,” said Scott Cox, upland game bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “It (the population) can’t do nothing but go up since we bottomed out because of the drought.

Nebraska Pheasant hunters still have many opportunities

Pheasant hunters still have many opportunities.

Tight holding roosters and walking behind the dog waiting for a flush or point may be behind us for another season, but there are still plenty of opportunities for pheasant hunters. Those who don’t mind walking in dew covered fields or in bitter cold are up to the challenge of the late season.

Late season birds are educated birds. They have survived the early season and natural predators. They will panic at the glimpse of a pickup, will flush in the dark morning hours at a door slamming and will not be found anywhere close if you don’t hunt quietly and change a few tactics.

Hunting smart and changing your approach, will help the late season upland hunter bag more birds.

Gun loads
Seasoned upland hunters know that by the late season you need to change your gun pattern from improved cylinder or modified choke to a tighter pattern full choke for longer shots.


Shot sizes also need to change. Heavier shot is needed. Use 4-shot, instead of 6, for its knockdown power. Most late season pheasants won’t hold well for a dog and they won’t let you walk up on them. You’ll see far more birds out of range than in range during this time.

Tactics
Zigzagging through a field causes confusion to a pheasant. Even if there are only a pair of hunters, the movement from different directions may make the pheasants sit tight.

Hunters should start at opposite ends of cover and hunt slowly toward each other zigzagging steadily through the area. Pheasants confused by the movement will usually wait until the last moment to run or flush.

Hunt in the afternoon. Most hunters will hunt early mornings and be gone by lunchtime. Early afternoon hunts will give you several hours of hunting time and rarely will you encounter other hunters. This gives the birds time to congregate back into fields that were hunted in the morning.

Instead of hunting straight from a parking area out into the field as most hunters do, hike back into the property following crop field edges and travel lanes. Then hunt the field back toward the truck. Public land pheasants are smart, but you can dupe them with a couple of non-standard tactics to make your day a success.

The Nebraska pheasant season runs until Jan. 31. Bag limits are three daily and a possession of 12 with the season open statewide. Pick up a copy of the Public Hunting Atlas or go online at outdoornebraska.org to find additional public lands that were added after the print version of the atlas was released. If you bag game or fish on public lands share your photos at #OFWHuntFishNE and see success that others have on public lands.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

California DFW Announces Los Angeles County Pheasant Hunts for 2015

Written by CDFW

Category: California News

Published: 26 November 2014

Los Angeles, California - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is offering four special pheasant hunts in Los Angeles County in January.

The program consists of two types of hunts: Family apprentice hunts that can accommodate 18 hunters each, and junior hunts that can accommodate 12 hunters each.

Two family apprentice hunts have been added for Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, and a family apprentice hunt and a junior apprentice hunt are scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. The deadline to apply is Dec. 17.

The hunts will take place at Peace Valley in Los Angeles County, which is located at Interstate 5 and state Highway 138, 8 miles south of Gorman. This hunt is on state property that is managed by the California Department of Water Resources.

All applicants must have a valid 2014-15 California hunting license. Adult participants in the family hunts must also have an upland game stamp (junior license holders under the age of 16 do not need an upland game stamp.) For more information and to apply, please visit 

For more information on pheasant season, please visit 


For any additional questions regarding the application process, please call (916) 445-3565.

SD Pheasant Hunting Lodge Keeps Busy - Video


FLANDREAU, SD - Despite our early snow and cold temperatures, some South Dakota hunting lodges are booked through the holidays. With pheasant numbers on the rise from last year, we caught up with a few hunters bagging their limits and having a good time.

The bitter cold can't keep Paul Frauen and his family from the Kansas City area out of the field. They've been coming to South Dakota for three straight years now.

"I like it because you're out, you're moving around and covering a lot of miles. Watching the dogs work is by far my favorite part," Frauen said.

Frauen and company are staying at the Rooster River Hunting Lodge in Flandreau. Matt Kitto, who works at the lodge, says business is booming.


"Our season has been going phenomenal. We've seen a lot of repeat customers but we've had a lot of new customers come in. I tell you what, you couldn't ask for better bird numbers. The bird hatch was real good and we've seen a lot of young birds," Kitto said.

Minnesota pheasant summit still taking registrations

Minnesota’s first “Pheasant Summit” is scheduled for next month in Marshall. There’s still time to register. See below for details.

The event, convened by Gov. Mark Dayton, is borrowed from a similar event convened last year — and again this year — by South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

Like South Dakota’s “Pheasant Habitat Summit,” the event isn’t about training dogs or improving marksmanship, but protecting grasslands, wetlands and other critical habitat for pheasants and other upland birds of the prairie.

No agenda has been produced for the event yet, and it remains unclear what, if anything, might come from the summit. One of the DNR’s stated goals is to solicit ideas from the public. As such, the DNR has an online survey that can be filled out for those unable to attend.


Pheasants being released in 9 Nebraska areas


The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is releasing rooster pheasants in nine wildlife management areas in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The pheasants will be released to increase hunter opportunities to encourage families to go hunting together.

The pheasant season runs through Jan. 31. Contact Game and Parks at 402-471-0641 for more information.

The worst way to end a streak… Pheasant Hunting


We are in South Dakota, and hunted CREP land this afternoon (CREP is a special program in certain areas of SD that allows public hunting).  Dutch picked up scent of a bird a few minutes out of the truck. Followed him for several hundred yards before he slammed on point. I walked in, the rooster exploded behind me, and after all the calm shots I have been talking about before, I was a tad bit flustered. I recovered enough to drop a leg,  then hit him again, but he kept going. Watched him sail past Dennis out of range, and kept waiting for him to fall. I saw him swoop in to cover abruptly, a sometimes sign of a mortally wounded bird, and hustled over to (hopefully) find him, even though he was several hundred yards away.