Pheasant Release Site Update

[flatshooter]

Struck out at Hopewell and Namaka today, there was plenty of evidence of predators killing pheasants though. There was one hunter at namaka that couldn’t control his dog and it ran a 1/4 mile to try and interact with my pup that was at heel. The dog would not listen to handler or my instructions to leave my dog alone. How do others handle this situation? What is good etiquette?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[britman101]

sounds like a young dog that was interested in playing with your dog versus hunting. All you can hope for is the other person to come leash up their dog so you can be on your way.

[alacringa]

Originally Posted by flatshooter

Struck out at Hopewell and Namaka today, there was plenty of evidence of predators killing pheasants though. There was one hunter at namaka that couldn’t control his dog and it ran a 1/4 mile to try and interact with my pup that was at heel. The dog would not listen to handler or my instructions to leave my dog alone. How do others handle this situation? What is good etiquette?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have run into similar things at release sites a few times this fall. Usually Schaffer will keep working when he's on the job, even if other dogs are present, so no concerns with other dogs approaching; but I get really tired of hearing the same guy yell at the same dog for the same thing for an hour and a half. I do my best to avoid/ignore other hunters, especially if they have clearly not provided their dog with any kind of training.

[elkhunter11]

We had our quickest hunt of the season in the snow yesterday. The dog found our four birds in under 30 minutes, and I had to pull him off another point on the way back to the truck. One bird was hidden so well, that we circled one bent over tree multiple times, and I finally had to get down on my knees to look under the snow covered branches to see the tip of the tail. As well as the bird was hidden, and as tight as it held, we would never have found it without the dog. Another bird ran a long ways in the snow before it finally flushed. When we arrived at the site, two people were just leaving empty handed, as they had no dog, and had not been able to find any birds. We will likely get out one more time before calling it a season.

[Jadham]

Went to Namara on Wednesday. It was suppose to be a decent day but ended being -10 plus a strong wind. And fog. Anyways found some Huns, which was neat. Struck out on pheasants despite working cattails for a few hours.

Was just about to head back to the truck when the release truck came in. Needless to say, it was dead simple to get two after that, dog just chased one down.... I thought it would take off maybe it was stunned or cold? The other flew at least.... actually found it unsatisfactory way to end the day.

[Springer]

Originally Posted by Springerman

Check out the ACA website for releases at sights as it has been recently updated showing which sites are still having birds released.

Thanks Springerman...

[7rem mag]

Will get out to Namaka tomorrow if all goes well. Still infuriated with all the dummies that leave their duck/pheasant carcasses on site, be aware dog owners in case your dog get one and may get sick. There were some dead ducks at Frank on Thursday.....

[Browner14]

Was reading earlier in the forum about not being able to hunt Pheasant after 2 pm. Is that correct or is it the same as sunrise to sunset in the hunting regulations? Thanks.

[SteezySmiley]

Originally Posted by Browner14

Was reading earlier in the forum about not being able to hunt Pheasant after 2 pm. Is that correct or is it the same as sunrise to sunset in the hunting regulations? Thanks.

you can now hunt them all day, that is an old rule.

[elkhunter11]

Was at Daysland for an hour, very hot, and very few birds. My dog found two birds in the brush, and one flew behind trees, so we were only able to shoot one. Saw three other people, all with dogs, and one of them took one bird as well. Apparently, they haven't released since the opening day. I had a friend with me that had never hunted over a pointer, and he enjoyed the experience.

[wind drift]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Was at Daysland for an hour, very hot, and very few birds. My dog found two birds in the brush, and one flew behind trees, so we were only able to shoot one. Saw three other people, all with dogs, and one of them took one bird as well. Apparently, they haven't released since the opening day. I had a friend with me that had never hunted over a pointer, and he enjoyed the experience.

Yup, I was out there also today. My first blank at Daysland. Felt like the hottest day of the year. I felt bad for my Britt, but she had lots of water to drink and found more to cool off in. I was thinking the heat may have affected the release schedule. Maybe the stress on the birds in the pens would be high and too many would be lost in transport.

[flyon]

Got the new pup out for the first time to a release site and we got our first pheasant!

I am totally new to pheasant hunting, few questions:

1. Should I be focusing on hunting into the wind? Is this more for the dog to pick up scent or to stop birds from picking up our scent?

2. Morning? Afternoon? All day?

3. How long will you run a dog? We were out for about 2 1/4 hours and he was pretty exhausted. Temperature dependent obviously...

4. Shot and shell size? Using a 2 3/44 #6

5. How often does the ACA release birds at each site?

Cheers,

[Ceilidh69]

Is that a WPG or a Germain wirehair?

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by flyon

Got the new pup out for the first time to a release site and we got our first pheasant!

I am totally new to pheasant hunting, few questions:

1. Should I be focusing on hunting into the wind? Is this more for the dog to pick up scent or to stop birds from picking up our scent?

2. Morning? Afternoon? All day?

3. How long will you run a dog? We were out for about 2 1/4 hours and he was pretty exhausted. Temperature dependent obviously...

4. Shot and shell size? Using a 2 3/44 #6

5. How often does the ACA release birds at each site?

Cheers,

Nice looking WPG pup. The wind direction is important, as the wind carries the bird scent to the dog. As such, crosswind is what I prefer. I don't find the time to be a huge factor, if the birds are there, the dog will find them. I wouldn't run a young pup for long periods, mine was seven months old on his first hunt, and I only ran him for 30 minutes or so, then a good long break. Your ammunition is fine. The number of releases depends on the site, most major sites are three times per week, random days and times. I do know that they released at Daysland, early yesterday, we showed up at around 1, and were done in 15 minutes. Three hunters with no dog were just quitting, and they mentioned that the truck had released over three hours prior, and that they had worked the immediate area since then, and had taken a few birds.

[catnthehat]

This is Arrow Dog's Chessie named Murphy.
He took him to Daysland for three consecutive days Murphy did great!
There was apparently no release truck, and they had to work a bit, but Murphy found the birds .
Murphy looks very pleased with himself!
Cat

[arrow dog]

Thanks for posting the pics Cat! Took Murphy,who's a year old, to Wessex Pheasants a few weeks ago to introduce him to pheasants. He caught on pretty quick. This was his first hunt and he was great. Stayed within shotgun range and quartered like a pro. Even grabbed a wounded bird out of the air.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by arrow dog

Thanks for posting the pics Cat! Took Murphy,who's a year old, to Wessex Pheasants a few weeks ago to introduce him to pheasants. He caught on pretty quick. This was his first hunt and he was great. Stayed within shotgun range and quartered like a pro. Even grabbed a wounded bird out of the air.

Great to hear!!!

Murphy is a super handsome fellow. Sounds like he's gonna give Butch a run for his money in producing birds!

Just got back from a goose hunt with Elk. My boy is growing by leaps and bounds each time out. Laying by my side, marking cripples, and then making em pay

So nice to not have to haul your carcass out of the blind to chase em down and shoot them, and haul em back.

[Dave P]

So what am I missing here. Was at Hopewell today, and it was busy. When I was leaving, about half the trucks where just fill of people sitting. Are they waiting for the bird truck? To see a bird and then go pursue? Seemed like a boring way to the morning to me but what do I know.

I struck out, but the biggest win of the day was I dropped my collar remote, and managed to find it about 900m away.