This article will discuss basic methods for hunting pheasants . Although the hunter needs to take into account many factors when deciding how to hunt a particular tract of land, this article provides a starting point.
The pheasant hunter should start by scouting for a good public hunting spot at their state's natural resource management department's website (or other department managing your state's hunting and fishing regulations). Most of these state regulatory websites have information on their websites that help the newcomer find where state hunting lands are. Many will provide information regarding what parts of the state have the highest pheasant numbers as well. An alternative method of searching for state hunting lands is to get a topographic map or atlas of public hunting lands at an outdoor sporting goods store. These atlases will provide descriptions of most of the public hunting land in your state. Even with a map, you will still need to drive around and scout (or hunt) the locations to determine whether they are worth your time.
Select a couple of locations to hunt and select nearby backups in the event your first choice is taken. The prime pheasant hunting locations will have large areas of thick cover (thick prairie grass, shrubs, and marshlands), crop lands nearby, and have sections small enough to be covered by your hunting party. Marshes and other areas with cattails will often contain pheasants, but some are difficult to hunt. Remember that very cold temperatures or strong winter storms will often concentrate the pheasants into the thickest cover such as cattails, and they will likely be more birds in a smaller area.
When hunting, it is important to work the area very slowly and concentrate your effort on the densest area of cover. These areas are especially productive from mid morning till about noon and again during the late afternoon. Keep the hunters about about 20-30 yards apart and walk in a zigzag fashion slowly working towards a location that leaves the roosters no choice but to flush (if possible). It is also essential for the hunters to stop for about 5 seconds every 10 or 15 steps. This copies the movements of some of their natural predators and should help create anxious pheasants (more likely to flush).
When deciding what areas of a piece of hunting land to walk remember to focus your efforts on the natural edges of the cover, particularly if the cover boarders picked croplands (pheasant food). When determining the course your party will walk on a field, try to walk into the wind and toward an area the cover ends such as a picked field, water body, or other natural boundary. Many pheasants will keep running in front of your party until the cover abruptly stops. At this point, some will be more likely to flush.
Another method of forcing the roosters to fly instead of run is to put hunters on the ends or corners of the area you are hunting to use as blockers. This helps keep pheasants from running out the sides of the field you are hunting, and creates additional motives to flush instead of run.
Lastly, remember to choose a good time when planning your pheasant hunt. If you only have a couple of days to hunt during the season, wait until the agricultural fields boardering the cover have been picked. If the crops are still standing unpicked in the field, the pheasants will likely be using these for cover rather than the cover you are hunting. Of course the alternative is to attempt to get permission to hunt the standing crops, but hunting these requires more advanced strategies. Your best bet is to wait until later in the season. The most successful pheasant hunting strategy is to first find food, then find the nearest cover, and lastly work the cover in a manner that forces the pheasants to take to the air.
Automatic blog by iAutoblog
No comments:
Post a Comment