California recently announced that its art contest for the 2012-13 state upland game bird stamp will feature the band-tailed pigeon (Columba fasciata). Appropriate because looks like upland hunters who think their money is helping upland birds are the real pigeons here. Excerpts from this good article in the San Bernadino Sun: Where does our Upland […]
Ever see those duck and goose leg bands on waterfowl hunters’ call lanyards? Maybe you’re a waterfowler yourself and have them. If so, cool – they’re legit trophies of the hunt, like shark-tooth or bear-claw necklaces and many other examples. Why are we bringing this up? Because Nebraska banded some wild pheasants this year. Details: […]
USDA Not Helping Enough No surprise to anyone that bobwhites aren’t doing so hot overall. But an official declaration that “conservation efforts on behalf of bobwhite quail and other native grasslands birds are far inadequate to stop their decline in the U.S.” hasn’t happened (we don’t think) until recently. A coalition of 25 state wildlife […]
Day 8, the last day of our 2011 Rangeley, ME-area (plus a day in NH) grouse hunt, started with a bang. We hunted a new area, and ended up flushing 15 grouse and 2 woodcock with two grouse down. We were fired up and wondered if we’d exceed our record for the week of 26 […]
Before our Maine hunt we wondered whether 8 days in a row of grousin’ was too much. Would we physically hold up? Would the weather (and whether we got into birds) make the time go fast or make it feel like a slog? Didn’t have a clue, but we were thinking about it so we […]
Word is the pheasant situation in Iowa is so bad that Iowa hunters are heading to South Dakota to hunt birds. But the silver lining may be not taking the birds and their habitat for granted. More below, from a couple Iowa papers. The Issue From the Knoxville, IA Journal Express: > With pheasant hunting […]
Where’s the next good cover? We don’t know, but we’re going to find it. Sometimes that’s our problem when we’re after birds. We’re always in search of the undiscovered honey hole or clue to finding more birds. It’s a problem and a benefit at times. Day 6 of our Maine grouse hunt was more on […]
After day 4 of our Maine Grousin’ Adventure we’d seen enough woodcock. They’re fun and all, and can save a slow day, but we didn’t come to Maine for woodies. We wanted to see some grouse. Preferably a lot of grouse. So that was the focus for day 5. Once again we headed up north, […]
Preseason scouting with Google Earth is a lot of fun. But it also can be too much fun when you end up with lots of spots to check out, not all of which are as easy to get to as they appear on Google Earth, maps or even a GPS. That’s why after a couple […]
Monday meant we were back hunting in Maine, but this time in a totally different place. Our general m.o. is to check out a bunch of new territory, find productive areas, try to find other places like that on Google Earth and by driving around, etc. until we have spots we can milk-run at the […]
Since Maine is one of those few, stubborn states that don’t allow hunting on Sundays – apparently the folks in Augusta still drive Model Ts – we headed to New Hampshire…on Sunday. The bad thing was we we’ve never hunted New Hampshire before – which was also the good thing. We’re always up for new […]
How do you find a chicken (or two) in a million-plus acres of wilderness – without a dog? A little Google Earth, a lot of walking and some grey matter. We’ve never been to the Rangeley, Maine area before, and were/are (we’re still here) psyched to go. Brendan did a ton of Google Earth, map […]
Today we’re finally off to chase some chickens, of the wood/furry variety: ruffed grousin’ in Maine. And yep, we’re going for 8 solid days. Eight! This is after we (Brendan and Jay) swore that we wouldn’t hunt more than 4 days at a stretch after last year’s week-long Maine marathon followed by a week-long Minnesota […]
What if you were a Serious grouse hunter and had the opportunity to take a serious pheasant- and quail-chaser into the grouse woods for a virgin trip. Would you be licking your chops? Issuing warnings? Secretly laughing inside? Well, that’s what Bob St. Pierre recently did, and we got the scoop on it. Bob is […]
We’re not diehard quail hunters (yet), so we found the following tidbit very interesting (from this Arizona paper): The best time to hunt is in the morning when the quail are calling and moving in the search for food. Some hunters prefer to use a call, and then wait for the coveys to answer. The […]
When a state issues a press release about ruffed grouse that’s combined with one about raccoon populations and then it puts the ‘coons first, that shows you where the crazy forest chickens rank in the pantheon of game…in that state, at least (lol). Anyhow, the good news is that West Virginia’s grouse populations are supposed […]
As East-Coasters, we think about hunting out West – particularly for leg-shakingly tough chukar hunts – but are like, Why go all the way out there when we can beat ourselves up out here? Well, this may be the year to make the trip. As previously reported here, Califor-NI-A is supposed to have an off-the-charts […]
Doom and gloom. That’s all anyone heard about Montana’s birds earlier this year. But turns out now that hunting season is here (opens Saturday), things aren’t as bad as they once seemed. Dang forecasts! Here’s the skinny, excerpted from a great article in the Great Falls Tribune. It can be summed up in one word: […]
How do you cook your birds? We’ve found two ways: slow and fast. Sounds goofy, but we’re serious: Cook strong-tasting woodies fast and eat rare on a cracker with hot sauce or even horseradish, and cook mouth-watering grouse and pheasants slow so you don’t dry ’em out. Oddly, while we do branch out gastronomically with […]
Just in case there was any doubt (other than common sense) that poor bird forecasts hurt tourism, a recent article on radioiowa.com had this to say: > A survey released last week showing Iowa’s pheasant population is at an all-time low is not only bad news for hunters, it’s a big blow for the Iowa […]
Just read this article on hunting ruffies in MN this year. So much of it, while well-intentioned, is wrong. Here goes: > The good news is, counts were up 34 percent this spring in parts of northern Minnesota. Counts remained stable in southern Minnesota. This COULD mean that there’s more easy birds (young ones) early […]
Lessons from 2012 Maine-NH Hunt
Don’t know if we’ve fully recovered yet from our not-quite-a-week of hunting Maine and New Hampshire for ruffies and woodies. We all actually bailed 2 days early, having put in 5 consecutive days instead of our usual 7. Felt like wimps about it, but hey, we were BEAT…from 5 days of the most brutal hunting […]
No Grouse Comeback in SW Penn?
Sounds like ruffed grouse will never be as much a part of the landscape of southern Pennsylvania as they once will. “Never” sounds ominous. Permanent. But that’s the conclusion of an article by Bob Frye in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Why should you care if you don’t live or hunt in PA? Reasons: > Pennsylvania is […]
Hey: All Ruffies Drum Differently!
Did you know that? Not until now…. This info won’t help us hunting, but it’s interesting – and makes sense. Here’s more, from newscientist.com: Male ruffed grouse are the first animals known to make unique non-vocal sounds. Humans and many other animals, particularly birds, can be identified by their voices. But no one had looked […]
Ran across this quote from an article about Iowa’s pheasant count: > “I haven’t even gone pheasant hunting the last couple of years because the birds just weren’t there,†said Tim Wolf, a 61-year-old bank president who lives in Waukee. YES THEY WERE! They most definitely were there. Maybe not like this… > “But I’ve […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Across the Pond Bird Follies, Vids
Ah the UK, the land that gave the world 17 pieces of silverware on the table, animal rights and other questionable stuff. Okay, it wasn’t all bad – that’s where our bird hunting came from too. But it’s different here…or there, depending on your perspective. Here’s some recent bird news plus some interesting vids. Katie […]
Do Congress, Tea Party Hate Pheasants?
We make it a point to try not to get suckered by political hoo-ha, so that’s not what this is about. We ran across a blog post on the Discovery-owned treehugger.com titled “Why Does Congress Hate Pheasants?” and a related one, “Do Tea Party, Heritage Foundation Oppose Hunting?” Interesting stuff, written by the same gent, […]
Quail, the most beleaguered of our beloved gamebirds, is getting a helping hand in Kansas. Or rather, a bigger helping hand. The state just announced that it’s “launching a new quail restoration initiative aimed at making a difference in declining bobwhite quail populations at a landscape level.” Here’s more: > Includes the designation of two […]
Worms and Birds: What Else Don’t We Know?
Believe we’ve talked about this at least once, but a recent Wall Street Journal article on the plight of Texas quail got us thinking about it again. Here’s the applicable stuff: …Rolling Hills Quail Research Ranch, a 4,700-acre spread an hour west of Abilene. Last month, researchers there found that the levels of parasitic worms […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Lone Star Outdoor news recently carried an article on a speech given by Dr. Dale Rollins of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch near Rotan, Texas. Seems that a major threat to quail, at least in the Lone Star state, may be an eyeball worm. News to us! Highlights: > Especially mysterious were the continued […]
