Midseason Rooster Riddle

We got started last November in T-shirt weather.

- Garhart Stephenson

A butterfly bounced by on the breeze as I gathered with friends at a secluded section of CRP cover. I was pretty sure the fringe area didn’t hold a great number of birds. Yet there were good mid season reasons to hunt there.

We split into two groups with John Stark and myself covering a lot of ground while Howard Johnson teamed with Mike and Rebecca Atman to work a more direct path to a far corner where they then posted up hoping to cash in on any birds we pushed their way. We moved a couple dozen birds and bagged several roosters. Not bad for a quick afternoon hunt on the day of arrival.

The following morning we hunted another friend’s immense safflower field. We witnessed an awe-inspiring thousand bird exodus as we plunged into the ideal cover. However, unlike the previous day, most of the birds flushed at more than 100 yards. A multi-pronged maneuver pushed some over a hill to where Mike and Howard hunkered down along a fence row. As cut-off man along the fence, I should have worn track shoes.

Two hours of strategic plotting and boot-work resulted in half a limit, typical of mid season in the Dakota pheasant belt. Even though there are birds to be had long after the opener, pheasant hunting in November is still a bit of an enigma. A body never knows what to expect.

Some birds hold tight as though it was still opening day. Many more join the mass exodus. Yet others squirt to the side a short distance before hunkering down or at least jump at somewhat manageable shooting distances. Each situation is different, yet happily there are patterns to exploit. Pheasants are creatures of habit, mostly learned habit.

Young birds try to follow when others run and flush out of range. However, some get lost in the scramble, and they are usually more manageable away from the mob. Alone, they make mistakes. When dealing with a mass evacuation, the stragglers are a blessing, indeed.