Thing I learned 2025 -2026 season

wildcat

Member
this is a continuation of what I posted at end of last year
most of these came on the drive home from the field
feel free to add or disagree


-Plant some trees
-Predator control works in a concentrated area
-Hawks kill more pheasants than coyotes. (Not sure)
-Cheap shells maim more pheasants than poor shooters
-to mark a pheasant point at it like a rifle with your finger and then walk to it
-Make sure you hunt the last day of the season
-Better to kill the late hatch rooster because he probably won’t make it through the winter
-Don’t hunt the last hour before sunset with an incoming storm
-Put some gravel near your food plot
-I’ve got no problem with ditch walkers but I do with drive-by shooters
-Coyotes keep foxes out which are harder on pheasants
-A dry May is better than a very wet May
-Buy your new truck after the season not before
-The old dog gets to ride up front
-Heat will kill a dog --cold probably won’t
-The land changes every year, just like you
-Protect your dog because they can’t stop themselves
-A big billed cap makes you lift your head up off the gun to see the pheasant—missed
-Look up more than you look down when walking in the field
-mount your gun every so often if you are bored
-I often hear the pheasant before I see it
-I’ll hunt with a group occasionally, but I don’t want to be in charge
-the pheasant always gets the last move!!
-Be ready in the first minute and the last minute of the hunt
-The heat is hard on everybody especially the dogs
-I’ll tolerate ditch walkers, but not road hunters
-Don’t change guns until you have to
-The pheasants aren’t always where they were
-Hunt private land next to public if you can
-No amount of time can erase the memory of a good dog
-During hunting season, I have a lot of friends without land or a dog
-Experienced hunter are the most fun to hunt with
-"you that way and ill go this way'--separate direction
-You will have one good shot, and one retrieve each season that you will remember forever
-Change your shot size before you change your choke tube
-Keep your choke open because you’ll have more close shots than makable far shots
-A trip to Argentina dove hunting improves your pheasant shooting
-Thursdays are the best day to hunt-I always feel bad about a dropped leg
-A few pheasants in a field is maybe better than too many
-Loss of focus and distractions leads to many missed shots
-Don’t go to your best field first
-Don’t open your gun until the dog gives you the bird
-When you have multiple dogs, run the dog with a hot hand
-The third bird usually takes the longest and is the hardest to get
-100 pheasants equals 200 eyes and 200 ears. One pheasant equals two eyes and two ears
-Put your shells in a small Ziploc in your pocket so they don’t fall out
-A released pheasant that survives will become wild., But most don’t survive
-A white pheasant is the Holy Grail of pheasant hunting
-The problem with a big piece of property is that after the initial flush, they are on the far side of the big piece of property
-Post holing the snow will make you lose your concentration
-Once you start missing, it’s hard to stop
-Your son-in-law’s first pheasant means your daughter married well
-You can afford to make a mistake when there are a lot of birds., But you cannot afford to when there are just a few
-The wind is a pheasant’s turbo booster
-A long shot on a still day is questionable and on a windy day, it’s really really questionable.
-Bigger shot size is more important than more pellets on a windy day (physics)
-You will miss more close shots with a full choke than long shots (at least, early )you will make with a full choke
-Any day you can hunt is the perfect day
-I don’t return the phone calls of the guy who calls me once a year to hunt. You have to have a ongoing relationship first
-Don’t expect to be invited
-The person invited should not invite someone else
-A second invite comes if you can take care of yourself
-Sometimes I can’t go when you can go, but that doesn’t mean you get to go to my spot without me
-Some of my best hunts were when I shot no pheasants
-The old trick of stopping and sanding still for 30 seconds still works, even with a dog
-Drive slowly down the road on the property line then go back to your starting point. This will push the birds further into the field and more likely to hold.
-A vacant truck with the radio on can work as a blocker
-Don’t take a rookie hunting in January
-On a cold day and a nice day, the pheasants are where you would want to be also
All other days they are where they want to be
-I’m not cold after I shoot a pheasant
-The landowner gets to give permission to whom he chooses.
Don’t feel slighted if someone else has been or is there
-There’s a big difference between 10° and 0° when pheasant hunting
-When is very cold your gloves are your most important piece of equipment
-0° separates the crazies from the enthusiast
-Not all spots that look good are good spots!
-You take what you shoot

Happy new year to all my pheasant hunting peers!!
 
Yep even if you accidentally shoot a hen take it. I had a game warden tell me once said he never wrote a ticket to anybody for shooting a hen accidentally. Don't take people hunting that are cheap, or annoying, or illegal, or unethical, or don't have a driver's license if they are over 18. Use short guys to beat the brush. Don't don't mud behind the barn!!! Use improved cylinder in your shotgun, but you can learn how to use full choke and you will make some long shots. A Bird in hand is better than two in the bush. Don't wear any blaze orange at all, wear drab colors or camouflage. Don't put your dog in a cage or a crate or a kennel at home always allow your dog inside on the couch and the bed. Always allow your dog inside your pickup where it is warm, never put a dog in the back of a pickup, you will have something bad happen to you if you do. That's called karma. Don't hunt with people who are cheap, and miserly. People from back East have usually rarely if ever hunted pheasants, or even seen pheasants. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. An old Ford pickup from the '60s or '70s works really good for getting permission. Bring a kid with you works really good for getting permission. Don't underestimate the other guy's greed.
 
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