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Guest

OK, I've only been chasing pheasants with any dedication for 10 or 11 years, but I've found I really prefer cool to cold weather ... say 35 degrees down to zero. Personally, I find they do more running when it's warm and hold a little better when it's cold. I'm reminded of this from last weekend, when it was a hair shy of 60 here, and the birds seemed like they were on wheels.

I know that's not always the case, but have you guys found it at all true?

With a pointing dog, the day after 8" of snow, clear, no wind, about 25 degrees-birds will be holed up under a clump of weeds or down in the cat tails.
BTW: going to be 74 in KC today but cold front coming down tomorrow and might hit some snow driving to Mitchell.

What in hell is a phesasant???!!! Rolling Eyes

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

Mid 20's with about 1-2" of snow on the ground. Wink

Unfortunately, they are calling for mid 60's here for our opener on Sat. Yuk.

I guess my favorite temps regardless of bird are low 20s at night and 30s during the day with a light breeze. Also prefer overcast skies. Very Happy

Guest

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Western MA

I prefer around the 40's, with a kind of dampness that isn't quite rain. Keeps things quiet and seems to make the birds hold better.
Being without a dog, I try not to get into a road race with them, I always end up looking like Wyle E Coyote. A couple weeks ago, I managed to get one in a swampy area, I fell in, but the bird looked much worse at the end of the fight.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I can hunt in almost any temp----just leave that prairie wind out of the picture Rolling Eyes

I have found frozen pheasants along fencerows where they turned into the wind to keep the feathers down and ice/snow formed around the beak and they basically suffocated---Straying from the topic slightly the problem here in Illinois is not so much the temp or wind speed but the lack of cover Embarassed

Their is little to none left anymore---The ditches are mowed,CPR is almost a thing of the past,fencerows gone--what is a hedgerow?????Without decent cover the bird population locally has almost dissapeared.

Guest

Well said, HOA. And times and norms have changed, too. I can remember growing up in central Illinois, along the Illinois River vallley, and there were not only cover and birds, most landowners didn't think twice about giving a party of two or three young guys permission to hunt. Even w/o dogs, it seems like we always got some shots. Even in the late 70s and early 80s, mixed bags of pheasant, quail, and rabbits weren't at all unusual. And we were just high school or junior college kids stompin' around without a dog or hunting behind a beagle or somebody's half-trained mutt. Little did I know that as a teenager with a Stevens 311 20 gauge, I was seeing the last of the easy days.

Guest

Anything cooler than the temps I've been hunting here!!!! I'm going out on a pheasant hunt right now.....supposed to be in the 50's.....we'll see..........