It's time for stiff tailwinds and fast-flying birds
Upland bird hunting season is in full gear with pheasant season opener Tuesday
Twice, different shooters turned to me and asked, “How much do you lead ‘em?”
How much do you lead cock pheasants flying overhead with 15 to 18 mph gusts for a tailwind to push them along?
“All I can really tell you is swing through the bird and keep swinging, don’t let your barrel stop,” I said.
The shooters my Lab, Whiskey, and I helped at a European-style shoot at a local ranch last week may have been practicing on released birds, but when it comes to wild birds and season that opens Tuesday (Dec. 1-Jan. 31, 2021) the shooting is not going to get any easier.
A wild pheasant can be tough to bring down and when they do hit the ground they have a bad habit of disappearing.
More than any other game, pheasants have been at the heart of what transformed me into a hunter in my younger years. In my very young years I was “the hunting dog” that dove into cover and chased up birds.
My best days afield were teenage years spent with my brothers and a pair of black Labradors, Joe and Beau, chasing the plentiful pheasants of Iowa’s farmlands.
The first outdoors column I wrote for publication—in the daily for Iowa State University—was a pheasant season forecast with some shooting and hunting tips.
If I recall correctly I admonished readers to shoot for the head or hope that a far-back hit broke a leg, or both, because a pheasant with a broken wing is good as gone without a good dog. I think my ‘witty’ line of the day was that a pheasant might run off “like a Porsche down the autobahn.”
The best thing about a cock pheasant is it sometimes yells its head off as it takes wing in panic and that can draw your eye to that brilliant green head you’re supposed to target.
Don’t let those long tail feathers get into your head or you’ll miss behind them or spend the day spanking butts and ruining pretty tailfeathers.
Oklahoma lies on the outer edges of the range for pheasants but some great hunting can be had in the north central and western part of the state out through the Panhandle. Osage County, too, is open for pheasant hunting this year.
Osage is not a gang-busters pheasant hunting destination but Tell Judkins, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation upland game biologist, said they are present in some numbers and as a non-native species that likely will receive little hunting pressure, there was little reason not to open the opportunity for those who can enjoy it.
Judkins and Tanner Swank, the Pheasants Forever / Quail Forever farm bill biologist based out of Woodward, are quoted in the Oklahoma report of the PF/QF nationwide pheasant forecasts calling for slightly better odds for hunters this year over 2019.
Some areas of the Panhandle were little drier and had tougher production years, but overall, the biologists note, things look pretty good.
While I sat in a tree stand Saturday watching not one deer—not even a doe—walk into range I fantasized about how many pheasants and quail Whiskey and I might find in December—if I ever get around to putting some danged venison in the freezer.
We would start with another European shoot, for Whiskey’s exercise more than mine, and maybe try one of the nearby preserves for a warm-up or get with some friend to purchase some quail or pheasants for our own put-and-take style shoot for dog training.
Preserves with released quail and pheasants are not hard to find within an hour’s drive of Tulsa.
You won’t get true thrill of busting wild birds and you pay for the pleasure, but a few hundred bucks for a couple of people and their dog to get in a good morning or day’s shooting (with birds pretty much guaranteed) isn’t at all bad compared to at least a 2- or 3-hour drive and overnight(s) out west.
For nearby released birds or European shoots try Gordie’s Wildlife, Cherokee Spur Ranch, Flying J Ranch and Hunt Club, Quail Run Hunt Club or Bluestem, to name a few.
Otherwise, do like Whiskey and me and hit the road. Look over some Oklahoma Lands Access Program lands and Wildlife Management Areas out west and just hit the road and see if it leads you to shots at fast-flying cacklers on a stiff tailwind.