Pheasant hatch was terrible.

[Gutpile]

Looks like the pheasant hatch was bad again. Didn't see one rooster in two trips to Whitman County. Saw 2 hens and one roadkill rooster. Looks like another year without decent populations to chase. Have seen quite a bit of quail though. Went coyote hunting and didn't see or hear a bird in the field. Was looking foward to a couple of good hunts this year but doubt I'll even go out. 

[Sagedawg]

 I agree. A few of my places you usally see birds just pecking around in the field. This year  they are few and far between. Even my farmer/rancher friends have said the same thing. I might try a hunt or two but dont think Im going to devote a lot to it this year. I did see quite afew Huns and quail though, as well as a couple of chuckars.


  Sage

[Gutpile]

Huns

Me likey huns!!! I don't see near the numbers I once did. I LOVE chasing huns. Havent chased chukars since hi school though.

[jjhunter]

We have one of the best pheasant hunting ranches in Whitman County and this is the worst year I have seen in 15 years.   It will be pretty hard justify burning $4.00 gasoline to chase birds that don't exist!   I saw five birds in 5 days of archery hunting and countless miles through CRP, scablands, and river breaks.  Usually, I will flush well over a 100 birds covering that much ground.

[Sagedawg]

Where abouts JJhunter? One of my fav places in Washington is Whitman county. Spend quite abit of time down there.


  Sage

[jjhunter]

We have one place down on the Snake and one place out in the scabground on the Adams County border.  But there is probably not a place that  I haven't stepped foot in the county.  I am sure that I am very familiar with the places you hunt.

[shorthair-on-point]

It is just as bad if not worse around Moses Lake and the Columbia Basin. The Game Dept around here even postponed their bird counts because of how few they saw when they were spraying weeds.

[Intruder]

My friends in Colfax are saying the same thing.... not a good year!

[boneaddict]

You know me, Mr Doom and gloom.  Firs the deer in th eMethow and now birds.  Quail hung in there but nothing banner.  Chucks and Pheasants did horrible. 

[JBar]

My friends in Colfax are saying the same thing.... not a good year!

+1 Our landowner over there told us the same, tons of quail but no pheasants. Not going to let that stop me from going on the opener but might just turn it into a weekend trip instead of 4 days. I'll save a couple of days and go back in the snow. Love the late season hunting.

[Broken Arrow]

Hunting the snake breaks for deer last weekend with my son, we flushed 7 roosters and 3 hens all with in shooting range. Don't disagree that it may be bad, but hunting there last year never saw one bird....was actaully thinking about pheasant hunting this year.

[ThePascoKid]

I saw plenty of birds last weekend deer hunting not as many as 4 years ago but alot more than the last 3 years.  Judging by everyones comments I think I will keep the areas to myself.

[jjhunter]

Did I say there were no birds??  Maybe I was just trying to keep my Thanksgiving dinner from being interrupted for the third year in a row by pheasant hunters   In all seriousness, I am seeing quite a few birds now that the grain is cut.  Should be a decent year - I expect to knock a few dozen down this year.

[Yummy and Tasty Animal]

i'm surprised pheasants can even survive the winter in this state...

[270Shooter]

I saw plenty of phesants but I'm not saying where.

[farmin4u_98948]

We have 500 acres on Satus Creek and I would give  you 50 Bucks to find a pheasant!! There are none to be found on this part of the Rez. I shot a coyote from the house yesterday at 320 yards. The 270wsm made a nice exit hole.

[Gutpile]

few dozen down this year.

A few DOZEN? Better post pics.

[JBar]

Second hatch must not have too bad! We saw plenty of birds around and managed to get a few. Most of the birds are young and not fully plumed so identification was tuff. Most flushes ended with a no shoot. You could tell the young birds from the seasoned ones ( they flushed 200 yards away ). Opening day gave us 3 roosters 4 quail and 5 roosters missed. Definately not what it has been but I think better than last year.

JBar

[Intruder]

I ended up shooting a limit on Sat morning.  Having said that I still think the hatch is below average.  Maybe not as bad as first thought but still nothing to write home about.  I'm still gonna go out though cuz there seems to be better than average numbers of quail. 

[goathunter]

hey hot shot 270hunter why dont you be a pal and tell a few guys.