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OK Pheasant Forecast Good, Opens Tomorrow

OK Pheasant Forecast Good, Opens Tomorrow

Quail Maybe Not So Hot The Oklahoma pheasant season opens tomorrow, Dec. 1, and runs through the end of January. Good news for Okies because the forecast is good. (Incidentally, the OK regs say that “legal means of taking” ditch chickens include “shotgun (conventional or muzzleloading), archery equipment, legal raptors, hand-propelled missile, slingshot…” so get […]

November 30, 2010 | By | Reply More
How to/Where to Walk Up Woodcock

How to/Where to Walk Up Woodcock

A SeriousBirdHunting.com reader named Chris emailed us after our Maine hunt reports were published with a question about woodcock: “How do you guys get the woodcock to flush by walking them up? I’ve never walked one up, actually did not think much of it without the use of a dog. Would be interested to know […]

November 23, 2010 | By | Reply More
Dog Tip: ‘Invisible Leash’ Basics

Dog Tip: ‘Invisible Leash’ Basics

by One of our buddies The electronic collar is one of the greatest inventions that anybody who wants to train a dog could ever wish for. But if used improperly, it can ruin a potentially good dog even more quickly than it can aid in eliminating unwanted behaviors. It’s a training tool for reinforcement of […]

November 22, 2010 | By | Reply More
Tragedy: Don’t Shoot Near the Truck

Tragedy: Don’t Shoot Near the Truck

Headline sound obvious? Maybe so. Read on. If you regularly track bird-hunting news, like we do, you unfortunately see regular accounts of hunting injuries, including a few fatalities. Driving a car is still far more dangerous than taking a shotgun afield, but that doesn’t make the stories about hunting accidents feel any better. One that’s […]

November 18, 2010 | By | Reply More
MN Hunt, Last 2 Days: Redemption!

MN Hunt, Last 2 Days: Redemption!

DNH. Did Not Hunt. Never thought it would happen, never had happened before no matter what the conditions. But on day 6 in Minnesota we were SOL. A record low-pressure storm – basically a land hurricane – sat on top of a huge chunk of the United States, including Minnesota. Wind, rain, snow, more wind […]

November 17, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
MN Grouse Hunt Report, Days 4 and 5

MN Grouse Hunt Report, Days 4 and 5

We knew some bad weather was heading our way later in the week, so our plan for day 4 was to get the most out of it – meaning hunt the areas where we’d found the most birds. That area was about an hour away, but after a disappointing day 3, we were all for […]

November 16, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
MN Grouse Hunt Report, Day 3

MN Grouse Hunt Report, Day 3

Even though the weather forecast was a little inhospitable, we had our hopes up for day 3. We’d found some birds, decent numbers, and thought we’d patterned them: We were looking for aspens or alders near aspens – all the right size, of course – with enough moisture in the ground to provide greenery for […]

November 11, 2010 | By | Reply More
Minnesota Grouse Trip, Day 2: Good!

Minnesota Grouse Trip, Day 2: Good!

Morning came late on day two, which gave us ample time to get our gear together and head on over to Reeds Outfitters just to see what kind of interesting stuff they had – like musky-sized in-line spinners that cost $20-30 apiece! We were amazed

November 10, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
Hunt Report: Our Minnesota Trip

Hunt Report: Our Minnesota Trip

After a somewhat disappointing launch of our ruffed grouse season in Maine, we were really looking forward to hitting Minnesota just right: the leaves down, the locals focused more on deer than birds and, not least, being in aspen central.

November 9, 2010 | By | 2 Replies More
French Ortolan ‘Hunting:’ No Thanks!

French Ortolan ‘Hunting:’ No Thanks!

Neither one of us understands France much. So it’s no surprise that we don’t really understand this French version of bird “hunting” which allegedly goes something like this: The ortolan (a songbird) is captured in a trap (using a live bird as a decoy – that’s the “hunting” part), then “fattened in darkness for one […]

November 8, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
New Cheney Shooting Details, Part 2

New Cheney Shooting Details, Part 2

Still No Apology? Here are the rest of the details from the recent The Washington Post article about the world’s most famous bird-shooting accident: > No one in the vice president’s entourage said a word about it publicly until the next morning, when Katharine Armstrong, the daughter of the ranch’s owner, spoke with a reporter […]

November 4, 2010 | By | Reply More
New Details About the Cheney Incident

New Details About the Cheney Incident

Part 1 The most famous accident in bird hunting was, of course, when our former VP Dick Cheney blasted an alleged friend of his while quail hunting in Texas, nearly killing the gentleman in the process. Just how serious was the accident? What details abour it are coming out now? And did Cheney ever apologize? […]

November 3, 2010 | By | Reply More
Pup’s First Year Isn’t About You!

Pup’s First Year Isn’t About You!

by A buddy of ours There’s one critical concept to remember as you prepare to take a young pointing dog afield for its first season: Those first few hunts are for the dog, not you. Over the past 150 years or so, many great dogs have been developed through exposure to only wild birds. That’s […]

November 2, 2010 | By | Reply More
TX Quail Better But Not Great

TX Quail Better But Not Great

Biologists at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say they are “cautiously optimistic” about quail prospects this season, which opened Oct. 30 statewide. But if you read below, looks like quail numbers are going to be down, though up from last year. As we’ve said before, it DOESN’T MATTER. You’re Serious, so get out and […]

November 1, 2010 | By | Reply More
Short Rant: Why Are There Pellet Injuries?

Short Rant: Why Are There Pellet Injuries?

Check Out This Video We were surprised to read about how many “hit by a pellet” incidents there were in the opening week of pheasant hunting in North Dakota. Not a ton, but any more than zero is disturbing. With a lot of hunters in public hunting areas – particularly when it’s the first time […]

October 28, 2010 | By | Reply More
In Other Pheasant News…

In Other Pheasant News…

MN, MI, WA, Resolutions, Prison Birds Pheasants are running for cover – okay, some are flying – all over the U.S. right about now, and here’s a roundup of some of what’s going on. Minnesota’s Brush Birds As we’ve said here before, Bob St. Pierre, Pheasants Forever’s marketing honcho, is a good writer and funny […]

October 26, 2010 | By | Reply More
CA Quail Hot, Quail Forever’s Forecast

CA Quail Hot, Quail Forever’s Forecast

CA Chukar On Fire Too Quail (and chukar) are looking “fantastic” in California, according to several reports, and California also is a standout in Quail Forever’s 2010 quail forecast. A few highlights on California from this newspaper column:

October 25, 2010 | By | 1 Reply More
Maine Hunt Roundup: What We Learned

Maine Hunt Roundup: What We Learned

Off to MN! Here’s a partial list of what we learned hunting the opening week of the Maine grouse season – partial because we’re sure we’re forgetting something.

October 22, 2010 | By | 3 Replies More
South Dakota Pheasant News Roundup

South Dakota Pheasant News Roundup

Conditions, $1 Mil Bird, Exotic Dancing, Trivia Oddly, there haven’t been many reports about early-season hunting in the pheasant capital of the world, maybe because early conditions aren’t ideal. But Google and ye shall find. Let’s start with the conditions, from The Daily Republic:

October 21, 2010 | By | Reply More
SBH Hunt Report: Maine Grouse, Day 6

SBH Hunt Report: Maine Grouse, Day 6

Our last day hunting Maine this year, and the weather forecast was for a sunny, cool day. Great…except for the 16 mph winds. And for once, the weatherman was right.

October 19, 2010 | By | 2 Replies More