2016 Trip Recap & Final Post

Final trip statistics:

9 days of pheasant hunting totaling 21 hours on the ground. Eight days of duck hunting totaling 16 hours of hunting time. Total of 22 birds killed: 7 pheasants and 16 ducks.


Dan got 4 1/2 pheasants (3 solo & 1 we both shot) & 13 ducks (12 solo & 2 we both shot), Bill shot a whopping 2 1/2 pheasants (2 solo & 1 we shot together) & 3 ducks (2 solo & 2 shot together). Counting shared birds for both of us (since we can't say that it would have required the 2nd person to bring down the bird), the shooting statistics were: 17 birds on 49 shots for Dan (35%) & 7 birds on 22 shots for Bill (32%). Dan was 13 birds on 36 shots for ducks (36%) & 4 birds on 13 shots for pheasants (31%). For Bill on ducks, it was 4 birds on 15 shots (27%) & 3 pheasants on 7 shots (43%). As always, Dan is a little quicker on the draw & a little (maybe a lot) more willing to shoot at birds that are "questionable" with regard to their range. He says that he's just more confident in his shooting abilities than I am in mine... He probably right - nobody has ever accused him of having a confidence deficiency!


Winnie pointed approximately 22 birds & had 4 of our 7 pheasants shot over her points. She retrieved 3 pheasants. Maggie flushed 3 roosters & 5 hens. She retrieved 12 ducks – 0 pheasants. Jackson flushed 8 roosters & 7 hens. He retrieved 2 ducks and 2 pheasants. 1 Pheasant & 2 ducks were killed, but not recovered.


Many of the pheasant flushes were combinations of Winnie pointing and Mag or Jax flushing off the point or picking up the trail and working it out to a flush. She ranged out more than I can remember in previous years (which is what Dan wanted her to do) and she learned through the course of the week a new command - when Dan would activate the tone on her collar, she would come back toward us. This was very handy and she picked it up quickly and without much effort or concern. She hunted like the veteran she has become and displayed both a great nose and the tenacity to use it on some of the long trails that the roosters laid in front of her. Both Maggie & Jackson hunted well - which is to say that they conducted themselves as I would expect them to do. Jax particularly busted into and stayed in the heavier cover (cattails & heavy/thick brush) without being instructed and was a real asset in those types of spots. One negative was that steadiness was an issue (again), particularly with Jackson. We used some hen flyaways to do a little training, but that would be 1 area that still needs some work. On an overall note, Dan reminded me that Jax is now 4 & that I should probably stop being surprised when he's doing the right things (which is most of the time) - he's a good / smart, well-trained dog, so stop being surprised when he does what is expected of him! Dan is right about that... Mag, despite being 9 years old, was always energetic and ready to go. Even on the final days of the trip, she was bouncing at the door of the house when it was time to leave. I don't know where she gets her energy, but I could have used some of it!

Dan retrieved one pheasant because neither dog (Jax nor Winnie) was steady & we were working on that from a training aspect. He did a nice job of marking the bird and delivering it all the way to hand for me.


Ducks shot were: 9 GW Teal, 1 Redhead hen, 3 Ringnecks (2 hens & 1 drake), 1 hen Canvasback, 1 hen Bufflehead, & 1 hen Shoveler. There were ducks in the area (in large numbers), but they didn't seem to be huntable - except maybe from field setups?. The weather was warm and kept the birds off pattern and provided seemingly little in the way of migrating birds. Although the water levels were lower than in recent years - some spots were dry and others that held water had sizeable stretches of mud between the cover and the water - the large amount of potholes, ponds, & lakes gave the ducks an abundance of choices - which also made hunting them difficult. We did set up 1 field hunt, which didn't produce, as the birds didn't fly anywhere off the roost that morning. 

The numbers of pheasants we saw was surprisingly low, as we thought we were in one of the best parts of the state (Aberdeen area) for pheasants. We hunted CREP and WIA properties, as well as a couple GPAs (not much different from our hunting places and habitat types last year). At this time, we're not sure what caused these low numbers, but we're going to try to find out...

Overall, we had a good time on the trip (especially with Dad along with us). Bringing the Suburban worked out fine. It was more comfortable for the ride out & back and didn't bring up any specific difficulties while we were there, although there were a couple fields we drove through that messed-up the underbody plastic pieces. On the downside, we only got 12-13 mpg, so the benefit we thought we'd get in that area didn't pan out. As always, we're going to do a thorough review of our trip and see what adjustments (minor and/or major) are needed before next year.

Final Pheasant Hunt

We cleaned-up and finished packing at the house, leaving Lilly at 10:10 AM. We drove south for about 2 hours to hunt pheasants at the Tuschen Slough GPA just outside Spencer, SD. This is the same spot we hit on the final day last year and had good success, so we figured we should try it again.

Maybe for the first time of the trip, our plan unfolded as we had hoped! We hunted for 2 hours there: 1 hour over Mag & Winnie and 1 hour over to Jax & Winnie. Winnie pointed a rooster that held long enough for Dan to kick it up. He knocked it down with his first shot and tried to anchor it quickly after it landed with a second shot. Unfortunately, it was still alive & ran into some thick grass. Winnie was trailing it & Jackson and I came over to assist, but all of our efforts at recovery proved unsuccessful.

Later in that first hour, Jackson flushed two roosters about 10 seconds apart. The first presented a beautiful shot for me and as I pulled the trigger I only heard a click instead of a bang. It was only then that I realized I had neglected to load any shells in my gun when we started the hunt... as the second bird flushed, Dan killed it cleanly with one shot and Jackson made the simple retrieve.

Winnie pointed what turned out to be a hen around this same time. Dan flushed it and she stayed nice and steady as it flew away.

During the second hour, we continued to hunt the cattails and similar brushy edges of the shallow lake in the GPA. Maggie flushed a group of birds which turned out to be two hens and one rooster. I was in very close proximity, but the sun prevented me from correctly identifying any of them as a rooster so I did not shoot. Dan took one shot at the rooster, but missed.


When we got back to the Suburban, we cleaned our one rooster, changed clothes, & fed the dogs. We hit the road headed for home at 3pm. All 3 of us are both surprised and impressed that Dad did not choose to take any days or even half-days off from hunting & still kept up with the overall pace of the trip without incurring any injuries! We're heading across southern MN now & expect to be home several hours ahead of schedule. I'll post a trip recap over the next couple days - when I have a chance.
I know it's a bit off topic, but we could help but marvel at the size of the farm equipment out here. I'm not sure the picture does it justice, but this thing seemed about twice the size of anything I see in the fields around my house...

More of the Same

This morning we set up a pass shoot on the point at the WPA along the north side of  Rt. 12 at the intersection of 430th Ave. We hunted from 6:55 until 8:15 & gave Maggie the opportunity to retrieve 1 hen Shoveler. It was finally more seasonably chilly, with wind blowing from the SW at 25 mph.

 

We had 2 birds in range just before legal shooting time, & the single Shoveler that Dan made a very nice shot to kill (with one shot), and 2 more pairs that were skirting the edge of reasonable shooting range. We figured we had nothing to lose, so we took shots at the questionable ranging birds & came up empty on all of them.

 

There were many ducks at the wetland complex we were hunting, probably well over 1000, in addition to 1 very large white pelican. It landed near us and Maggie had a hard time figuring out why we weren't shooting it. Overall, it was a fitting way to wrap up what has been a frustrating & lackluster week of duck hunting.

A Lot of Action

This evening we hunted the Casanova GPA SW of Aberdeen from 3 until 5:40. Jackson & Winnie were both afield during that time. We put up around a dozen hens within shooting range & 1 rooster at that distance. We also had 1 rooster flush slightly out of range that we shot at anyway.

 

The rooster that we killed was another display of teamwork with Winnie pointing & trailing it, then Jackson picking up the trail and going a little faster than Winnie & ultimately flushing the bird. I promptly & cleanly folded the bird with one nice shot at about 40 yards! It took me a little while to get my feet set and get on the bird, which is why it got out so far. I was lucky that from Dan's angle he couldn't identify if it was a rooster or hen - so he held his fire. Under normal circumstances, with the amount of time it took me to pull the trigger on that bird, Dan would have usually fired at least twice...

 

The out of range flush was Jackson's fault, as he was ranging too far and put up a rooster at about 50 yards. I hit it with the first barrel but not enough to bring it down and missed cleanly on my second. Dan fired 1 shot to try and help since it had been clearly hit already, but also came up empty.

 

Through the evening, Winnie registered many points. Some were on hens that held to be flushed & many others were birds that decided to run. For a large portion of the night, we were hunting a large field of 5' tall tumble weed plants that made it very easy for the birds to run, a little tougher for the dogs to get through, and really difficult for humans to try to keep up with the dogs who were trailing the pheasants.

Since we got most things packed during the late morning/middle of the day, we had only about an hour of work to do tonight when we got home. At this point, we are 98% packed. We're hunting a point tomorrow morning and not setting decoys, as we expect it to be purely a pass shooting spot. This also helps us move quicker tomorrow and get on the road a little earlier to head home. After ducks in the am, we'll stop at the house to pick up the boat and do a last walk-through. We'll then drive South toward home & stop just before Sioux Falls, SD to hunt pheasants. That will get us moving in the right direction & still hope to be able to put in a few more hours going after some roosters.

Almost a Great Duck Hunt

This morning, we hunted the cut cornfield on the east edge of Lake Lily (where Scott watched several thousand mallards drop in to feed at dusk last night) from legal shooting time until 9 AM. Hunting with us was our landlord, Scott Karlson, and his dog Lottie. Since we knew Scott was bringing a dog, Jackson was our companion as to avoid the dog fight that would have been started by Maggie, had she been there... Lottie is a very lovable and energetic 11 month old yellow lab.

Scott secured permission from the landowner on the private ground we were hunting and also provided a trailer full of full body goose & duck decoys. Although we had a great spread & were expertly camouflaged in our layout blinds, we still didn't kill a single bird.


We think that a combination of warm temperatures lately and a nearly full moon last night was the reason that no ducks showed up to feed this morning.


Through the morning, we had only 4 mallards nearby, & just 2 of them being potential shooting opportunities. With nothing really flying, we cleaned up early and headed back to the house to begin packing for our return trip.


We got things about 90% packed and ate lunch before heading out to the Casanova GPA for pheasant hunting.

No Evening Pheasants

It's a good thing we bagged one bird this morning. That saved us from getting skunked for the day. This afternoon, we hunted at the GPA near Faulkton from 2:45 - 4:15. This is the GPA that we hunted a few days ago but wanted to give another try because the habitat there looked so good. For whatever reason, after 90 minutes, we had flushed only 3 hens & 1 rooster - but it was out of range. Since we weren't finding birds in the numbers we were expecting, we decided to switch places and head to the Casanova GPA, closer to Aberdeen.


After the 45 minute drive to get there, we had only 35 minutes left to hunt & didn't find any birds to shoot during that time. Both Winnie and Mag were birdy a lot & Winnie pointed a couple times, but we only saw 1 bird - it was a hen that flushed about 70 yards ahead of us.

The most positive news I can report is that Scott (our landlord) came up here from Sioux Falls where he lives & spent the day scouting for waterfowl to hunt tomorrow. He sent me a text around 5pm saying that he found a field with 5000 mallards feeding in it & he has permission for us to hunt it tomorrow morning. I'm not sure if 1 spectacular hunt could salvage the trip, but it sure wouldn't hurt.

Below is a picture of one of the cattail sloughs at the Fulton GPA. In the foreground, you can see Dan (& 1 of the dogs -if you look closely).

Good Teamwork on Morning Pheasants

From 10-11:30 this morning we hit 2 pieces of small CREP (Conservation Reserve Easement Program) land about 8 miles N of the house. The first place was a bust, but the 2nd produced 2 hen flushes and a rooster that we killed (video below). The teamwork was that Winnie pointed the bird (you can hear the Hawk screech of her collar at the start of the video) and Jax ran to the sound of her point and flushed the bird. I'll let you decide who killed it... Dan fired a second shot simultaneously with my shot (you can hear his first shot and see that it missed). Jackson made the simple retrieve and delivered the bird to me.


We've just finished lunch and are now heading to the GPA near Faulkton (about 75 miles SW of here).

Should Have Went Golfing

Looking back at this morning, it seems we would've had a better chance at a birdie if we brought our golf clubs. We hunted at Teresa's slough just SW of Webster & were set up & ready to hunt 15 minutes before shooting time (6:50am).  At about 7:15am we had one duck fly across us well out of range. It landed 150 yards to our right and didn't swim back toward us or offer any further opportunities. Given the clear blue skies, 50° temperatures, & the fact that we hadn't seen a duck for an hour and a half, we decided to quit hunting at 8:45. This gives us time for a little bit of pheasant hunting this morning before lunch - in addition to our regular pheasant hunting this afternoon.  As you can see from the picture below, Jackson nearly fell asleep while sitting on his retriever stand... We're going to take him and Winnie out now and then hunt Winnie & Mag this afternoon.

A Scunting We Will Go

No pheasants killed is the report tonight.


We were at 4 different spots W & SW of Aberdeen. We didn't like the cover at the first place, so we didn't get out of the vehicle. At 2 other spots we scunted for 30 minutes each, producing no flushes of any kind.

Lastly, we went back to the Casanova GPA but had only 20 minutes of hunting light left when we arrived. During that 20 minutes, we saw a little over a half dozen wild flushes that were between 50 & 100 yards from us. We are not sure what caused these birds to flush like that, other than it's getting later into the season & any birds that have made it this long are very educated & weary. We did have 1 hen flush near us. It was 20-25 yards to the side of Winnie & in Dan's general vicinity. Although we are both getting a little trigger-happy, Dan identified it quickly enough as a hen to not shoot it. Jackson was birdy several times, but didn't produce any flushes.

While this was another day of less than stellar bird count, we're starting to chalk up this year to being in a new area & taking our lumps to learn that area. In doing that, we're taking more lumps then we're happy about - but that's the way goes sometimes. On a positive note, we're thinking that the Casanova GPA is a good spot to hunt. Given that we're getting late into the trip, and we would like to actually kill a few pheasants, we will probably go there the next 2 nights. We're planning to hit a pheasant spot along the route home on Saturday afternoon.

In the absence of any hunting pictures, here's a look at the dogs eating dinner. Winnie got to eat first, so she's watching the other 2. Both Maggie and Jax are looking a little too thin, so I upped their daily portions will continue that until we get home. Hopefully, I can fatten them back up & avoid the wrath of Jennifer & the boys for making them so skinny.

Change in Morning Plans & Other Updates

Last night, we stayed up until 3am watching the election returns - even though certain politicians didn't. Given the importance of the election & lackluster results so far hunting ducks, the decision to get some rest wasn't too hard.

As an update from Monday duck hunting: After watching the video, we realized that I also shot a duck (we thought that Dan shot 2 and me 0). The situation was that as the ducks came at us, we both stood to shoot as I called "Take 'em". As I acquired my target & just before I pulled the trigger, the bird folded (Dan shot it a split second before I pulled the trigger), so I adjusted to shoot at a different bird. I then fired at it (as he shot a 2nd & 3rd shot to bring down a different duck). I didn't think I hit it. About 15 minutes after Mag retrieved Dan's 2 birds, we saw an object floating out on the water about 75 yards away and getting farther (the wind was blowing from our backs). We wondered if I could have hit the bird I shot at & decided to walk around the pond to check it out once we were done for the day. I/we forgot to do that and didn't give it another thought until we were reviewing the video and saw that I did hit the bird and that it then circled back over the water. Although the film doesn't show it splashing down, we are pretty confident (based on all the circumstantial evidence) that the object we saw floating was that duck...


This afternoon, we're going to head out between 1 & 2 to go back to the Aberdeen area for pheasants. We're hopeful that we can turn around our performance in the pheasant fields.