Friday Morning Pheasants

Today we hunted a couple pieces of public land outside Storm Lake - the first was a small stretch of the Maple River in Sac County & the second was a 3 mile stretch of the Raccoon River, just SE of Storm Lake. We started at 9 & took just under an hour for the first spot, bagging no birds. Dan took 1 marginal shot at a rooster & I had a close flush by Jax, but my swing on the bird abruptly met a tree, which ended any chance at a shot. Hunting along the river bank is sometimes similar to grouse cover - small diameter/young trees and thick...

At the second spot, the setup of the hunting area, roads, & 3 mile stretch of river necessitated that someone drive the truck ahead each mile & block/wait - with the idea of switching jobs each mile & then having a ride to take Lance & his dogs back to his vehicle that was parked at the start of the hunt. I volunteered Jax & I to take the first turn driving up to wait. During their first mile, Dan & Lance each dropped a rooster & Winnie retrieved both of them. While waiting for them & hunting a little, Jax flushed a rooster < 20 yards from the truck & I missed it because I wasn't ready to shoot so close to the parking area! I write this at 12:45pm having just arrived at the 2nd mile waiting spot because Dan & Dad are walking the opposite side of the river with no way back across until the end of the 3 mile stretch. Lance offered to take a turn driving/waiting, but I volunteered to do it again - Jax is hunting ok, but also appears somewhat sluggish & could use a day of light duty... Also, it is 22 degrees with 16 mph wind (see pic below) & I don't mind sitting in the warm truck waiting for them instead of walking through the heavy cover in 8 degree wind chill weather (see 2nd pic)!