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Bill K
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 253
Location: North Shore of Boston

Well here it is - Tuesday, January 24th.

Upland season here in Massachusetts ended just about two months ago.

And Opening Day of Upland season 2017 in New Hampshire (we hunt MA & NH) is 249 days away.

Our dogs - Hank & Bing* (English Setters par extraordinaire), who were recently called 'the best upland dogs in the state' (of course that was said by my hunting buddy Bob at our annual fish & game club's game supper) are enjoying '44 weeks off with pay' as we jokingly say.

* BTW Bing is the Grandson of legendary Still Meadow Jim - 6 time Grand National Champion, considered to be the best bird dog ever, and Bing is every bit as good. Then again Hank out performs every other dog I've seen. We are blessed.

Frankly I am bored, an occasional round of clay pigeons is 'OK', but it isn't 'field work'.

Upland Season is just too dam short !
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Savage16
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:19 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 30 Nov 2011
Posts: 1693
Location: Minnesota

My dogs would agree! My wife, well, not so much.

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mtbirder
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:47 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Posts: 189
Location: Montana

Here in MT it ended 1/1. The season here is way too long.

By the end of mountain grouse season, the birds are up too high and in too deep of snow to chase. In December, the sharptails are in groups so big they have dozens of eyes on the lookout and are spooky as hell. Towards the end, roosters either run a mile or lift off 100 yards ahead at the sound of a dogs footfalls. A guy feels sorry for the cute little huns who have been shot at for 4 months and just want to eat enough to make it through winter.

4 month upland bird season in Montana just plain sucks - don't move here.

Barring political morons and their world events, 219 days and I'll have to suffer through another one.....CZ Bobwhite or maybe Citori Superlight Feather in hand.......

Just to kill time, Guess I'll have to fish the Bighole, Yellowstone and Madison in the meantime..... And oh yea, there's my Grif girls......
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:12 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Over for two months already. Ouch. Too short for sure. Our seasons add up to 5 months and that would be too short if it weren't for a need to recover (both birds and hunter).

Feel sorry for huns? As wild as they flush in Wyoming I have a hard time ever feeling sorry for them! They are having a tough winter here and thusly are actually in need of a little more thinning down since forage is getting scarce (no wheat field huns here). In some areas the crops on harvested birds are not full enough. I doubt I can make much more of a dent between now and Jan. 31st though.

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mtbirder
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:20 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Posts: 189
Location: Montana

5 months? Didn't realize. Enough people are moving to where I am - maybe I'll move to Hudson to gain that extra month Shocked
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IDcut
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:26 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 376
Location: North ID.

Aug 30th season opener for forest grouse, Jan 31st it closes.

Quail, chukar and huns mid Sept to Jan 31st.

A solid 5 months for the forest grouse 4.5 for the others mentioned.

If one is interested in chasing turkeys, the fall season runs from mid Sept to the end of December, with a 5 bird limit in the northern units.
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fin2feather
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:52 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 2171
Location: Kansas High Plains

Mid-November to Jan. 31st here. Going to try to make this final weekend but the wife contracted some sort of malady so we may not make it.

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pudelpointer
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:42 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Posts: 1007
Location: Lancaster county, Pa

PA closed last week NY open until Feb. 28th. Then in March the dogs are back pointing Woodcock on the way north. After that a steady diet of pigeons for the rest of the summer add in late summer Woodcock and Grouse again. Bird season is never over just can't carry a gun for a good portion of it. Get out there and find new cover get the dogs into some birds build your data base.
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fourtrax
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:23 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 827
Location: N. Shore, mn

Went over to Wisc. Monday for a day trip after Ruffs. Saw several at a distance but no grouse were harmed................... Yet.

Planning on returning once more later this week or weekend.

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:59 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

Season ended on the 15th here in WA. Haven't been able to get out for a month due to harsh weather. Sigh....

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Dave in Maine
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:08 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1972
Location: Maine

Season ended here 12/31.
Of course, work kept me in the office and out of the field until ... 1/6. Funny how that works.

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Bill K
PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:31 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 253
Location: North Shore of Boston

How utterly fascinating to hear from you all.

I live in northeastern Massachusetts, and 2017 will be my 52nd hunting season - I got started when I was a kid, and I am exceedingly grateful to many members of my family's previous generation who were absolutely wonderful sportsmen who inspired me.

Now I mention this as a back drop for my commentary.

As a matter of note the species of upland birds we hunt are pheasant, quail, woodcock and ruffed grouse.

The game of skeet was invented by Charles Davis of Andover Massachusetts - about 15 miles west of where I live. He created the game to perfect his grouse hunting skills, and as a kid I hunted the same areas he did - birds were plentiful.

Nowadays I couldn't find a grouse to save my life. Like buffalo, I believe I saw the passing of a species. I am stunned and saddened.

Back in the 1960s wild pheasant were every where, but the 'pheasant blight' (whatever the hell that was) of the 1970s wiped them out. So the pheasant we hunt are stocked birds - similar to native birds, but not the same. Hunting a wily cock pheasant was akin to pursuing a 10-point buck. And don't get me started about birds with 2-foot tail feather and inch and a half spurs. I remember when we lost our last farm to hunt, we got drunk and cried like babies.

The same happened to quail, so again stocked birds are our pursuit. They offer good action, but public areas can be rude, scary and potentially dangerous.

Which brings us to woodcock, a noble quarry but don't taste all that good (and I think I'm being kind). There are incidental woodcock hunters, and then those who peruse them seriously. In order to play the game right requires venturing into areas where nobody in their right mind really want to go. One thing for sure - woodcock hunting gives you a whole new appreciation for flat level floors.

Our season (taking into consideration we hunt both NH & MA) starts on October first, and winds down on Thanksgiving.

The weather we encounter during season ranges from summer-like (when our guns feel like they are coated in thin salad dressing - due to sweat & humidity, which gives an appreciation for checkering), to bitterly cold which presses home the quest for the appropriate hunting gloves and boots.

It's exciting, it's like a gentlemanly gun fight, camaraderie, good dogs, the value of trucks and classic guns makes my heart soar - which means for 44-weeks between seasons I am bored shit.

I know I'm rambling - but having a good time pouring my heart out, which brings me to ...

Upland season is just too dam short !
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Griffon
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:28 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Apr 2014
Posts: 429
Location: Maine

You have two fine dogs, you hunt in NH and don't like woodcock because of the terrain? I think your ship has sailed and left you at the dock. Woodcock in Maine provide some excellent field opportunities for me and my 4 legged friend for 6 weeks. A woodcock breast with a strip of bacon around it on the grill...lovely. Definitely better than the crows we will be hunting as soon as Farmer Brown spreads manure across his fields. Now back to the thread about the hyper velocity of a BB traveling through the eye of a needle with a strong Northerly tailwind.

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Bill K
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:28 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 253
Location: North Shore of Boston

...

Sometimes my word-smithing is good, and sometimes it is not.

I like woodcock hunting, I've hunted them in Maine - where they are plentiful, but they are not so plentiful in my immediate neck of the woods. It's more hit or miss (no pun intended).

Quoting one of the most prolific upland hunters I know - regarding where you find woodcock, look for an area where nobody really wants to go and that's where they are.

They are a challenging quarry and I've shot a fair number of them.

My thing is I don't like hunting something I do not intend to eat, and at best they are OK.

Nobody I know relishes them, maybe I'm missing something here, maybe I and everybody I know are terrible cooks when it comes to woodcock.

My final comment is - you are what you eat, and woodcock eat worms. So maybe it's mental imagery that puts a taint on their flavor in my mind.

Enough said

Besides my lack hunting enthusiasm leaves more birds for you.
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:44 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Bill, it sounds like you are old enough to be retired. Considering your bird situation and desire for better, I think I would find a way to be retired somewhere else. Very Happy

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Only catch snowflakes on your tongue AFTER the birds fly south for the winter...
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