West Side Pheasant

[engelwood]

Just hunted a release site today. Got there a little late at about 8:30 the lots were PACKED!!! But thank God I had missed the revolutionary war style march at 8am. Walked out and everyone seemed pretty spread out, foggy. One thing I would suggest is to always have a orange or bright colored hat on. Sometimes with the tall grass you can barely see anything so it really helps to have bright headgear. Also I think I'm going to be using a whistle more with my dog, good communication and lets other hunters know where you are. A time or two I heard shots and I could hear the pellets hit the trees above me , that can be pretty sketchy. Anyway this was my first time hunting release sites over here (besides the youth hunt with my little brother). And it worked out ok for me today, you just have to figure out how to hunt them. Most of the people were gone by 10am either with limits or just bored and not willing to work for it.

Ended up shooting my first pheasant today, dogs first year legitimately pheasant hunting, lot of firsts today. Walked around and ended up getting this rooster around 12:45, dropped it on one shot with a Praire Storm load. 

Nice work!!!! Good to get the dog out and get it some work!

[BOWHUNTER45]

What I find silly, is that at Scatter Creek, they won't let you walk just inside the fence and spread out a bit before 8 am.

Seems like it would work a lot better if guys could go in before 8 am and get set on a line to start walking and spread out at least 60 yards apart.   (You know, just get inside the fenceline a bit and wait until 8.  Instead everyone gets funneled through the openings at the parking lot.........  I stopped hunting there at 8 am after the first time I went.........it was crazy. 

Thats how it used to be  and why they changed it is beyond me ...just had to keep your dog on a leash ...

[Stilly bay]

What I find silly, is that at Scatter Creek, they won't let you walk just inside the fence and spread out a bit before 8 am.

Seems like it would work a lot better if guys could go in before 8 am and get set on a line to start walking and spread out at least 60 yards apart.   (You know, just get inside the fenceline a bit and wait until 8.  Instead everyone gets funneled through the openings at the parking lot.........  I stopped hunting there at 8 am after the first time I went.........it was crazy. 

Thats how it used to be  and why they changed it is beyond me ...just had to keep your dog on a leash ...

so everyone waits in the parking lot and walks out single file at 8? back in the day when you start along the fence line half the hunters treated it like a foot race, must be an all out cluster now. throw in some fog and the pheasant snipers that hike in from the black river side and I bet it can get hairy.

[singleshot12]

Dang...Makes me nervous to hear about things like that...Some people have no muzzle awareness  Glad you came out of it OK..so to speak.

Has nothing to do with muzzle awareness.
There are something like 50 shotguns in a 1 mile area at 8am.
There are likely going to be 20 birds flushed in the first 10 minutes.
The guys on the other side of the blackberry line, 75 yards away are completely invisible to the shooter.
I wear big Oakley eyeshields and they're not to make a fashion statement.

I disagree, Typically a pheasant release site is around 300 acres, typically around 30 birds are released and volunteers usually spread the birds in differant areas. It's all about muzzle control. Accidents could totally be avoided if hunters spread out and didn't shoot through brush or towards another hunter within a hundred yards or so. Most hunters are careful and responsible but there's always that one say out of ten with tunnel vision or just plain crazy. Stay away from the cluster *censored*s and you should be fine

The hunters that follow the rules don't advance past the safe zone until 8am.
They certainly aren't spread out over 300 acres at 8am.
I talked to a volunteer who said 60 birds planted the night before.  The coyotes and hawks leave about 45 of those for the hunters.
I have been there enough to know what it's like for the first 20 minutes of a weekend hunt.

Even if hunters are clustered up there is always one in the group that lacks muzzle awareness. So if someone gets peppered at close range it's a result of "lack of muzzle control" plain and simple!  You don't shoot into brush just assuming there is nothing behind it and you don't shoot towards another hunter or dog within stinging range.

There is always going to be a few reckless hunters out there, but hopefully they will be weeded out.

Pheasant release sites get popular fast with over crowding becoming a problem also that is exactly why we need more sites established in more county's.

[singleshot12]

Dang...Makes me nervous to hear about things like that...Some people have no muzzle awareness  Glad you came out of it OK..so to speak.

Has nothing to do with muzzle awareness.
There are something like 50 shotguns in a 1 mile area at 8am.
There are likely going to be 20 birds flushed in the first 10 minutes.
The guys on the other side of the blackberry line, 75 yards away are completely invisible to the shooter.
I wear big Oakley eyeshields and they're not to make a fashion statement.

I disagree, Typically a pheasant release site is around 300 acres, typically around 30 birds are released and volunteers usually spread the birds in differant areas. It's all about muzzle control. Accidents could totally be avoided if hunters spread out and didn't shoot through brush or towards another hunter within a hundred yards or so. Most hunters are careful and responsible but there's always that one say out of ten with tunnel vision or just plain crazy. Stay away from the cluster *censored*s and you should be fine

Single12 ..If your from up North I know where your hunting  You can avoid the crowds if you have access to private land where alot of birds end up up there  I have hunted around there years ago , even built a house for some people and used to take an hour for lunch and turn my dog lose in there back field and sometimes he caught more than I shot 

Yeah that is what I'm waiting for   Once they get a few days taste of freedom and start eating bugs and berries, they tend to wise up and even run and flush faster, almost like hunting wild roosters, almost