Monday December 20 I took a hunting trip to eastern Colorado; leaving before 4 A.M. and returned around 8 P.M. It is reminder of one the hardships of living in the Denver area for hunting and fishing a long drive anywhere productive. Those living in the front range area will be glad to hear, the 170 miles to Julesburg CO is more than worth it. In one huge field our team of 6 scared up 13 birds in one field and less than half was hens. We only hunted Colorado Department of Wildlife walk in hunting programs leased fields and found most of them above average in production. The only thing I ashamed to admit is although the birds were plentiful this groups shooting was poor.
At sunrise we entered a frosty field clouded by fog. The edges of the grass field did not yield any birds, in fact every flushed bird held very tight. I laughed very hard when one of the boys I brought along almost stepped on a bird, when the rooster flushed, the bug eyed youth did not get off a shot and I was so much in mirth I squeezed off a shot to find I still had the safety on. The whole day we never got a double flush and only one bird flushed on a field edge all day, even though there was bird sign everywhere. We chose Sedgwick and Phillips counties for the hunt for they had the most walk in fields.
But all the fields near 385 and 6 showed a lot of traffic and several of the fields where occupied on a Monday. We were also perplexed because some the state leased land you were more likely to bag a zebra in than a pheasant, the cover was sparse or non-existent. This is too say you best hunting will be your first field of the day and the best field are those most off the beaten path. For a successful hunt you will need to scout and mark the primo fields, so you have at least one quality field.
This hunt cemented in my mind that for the new hunter there is nothing better than pheasant hunting. First, my media addicted boys have a new obsession Pheasants not because of the massive amounts of fowl shot-but the fury of a flushing pheasant. Hunting pheasants where there are pheasants keeps the attention of young hunters. The other issue was it was great for reinforcing the lessons learned in hunter safety. Walking through a rough field with six other guys, helped them see the importance of knowing your field of fire. But the best experience was when a rooster flushed after a
hunter walked past him, all turned to see the noise, but they first checked to see if it was a hen or rooster, all yelled rooster, they checked each other's position and the one with the best shot downed a pheasant. It reinforced a lesson you always know what you are shooting at¸ before you shoot.
All in all we were all very appreciative at the end of the day for Colorado Department of Wildlife Walk in Program. We were also amazed at how many birds we saw. Lastly, the long successful day caused us all to pledge to do it again soon.
