Can you pheasant hunt without a dog

It was an amazing time in my life and I respect it as a difficult and challenging path that leads many to owning a bird dog.

Some, not. Bird hunting without a dog is different. In fact, I will quickly agree that it is altogether a separate pursuit. The methods, the measure of success, and the outcomes are all different. For that fact, we should respect it as the separate hunting pursuit it is. Some of us will only hunt with a dog, some of us just want to watch a dog work.

Some of us want to just walk alone with no dog, some of us have never wanted a dog. Heck, maybe some of us are even allergic to dogs. These reasons are personal choices and should not be the subject of vicious snobbery or public judgment. I do not tell you how to live your life, you do not tell me how to operate my dog.

Constructive conversation over expanding varying training methods, reasoning for training, and any other healthy discussion is important to the advancement of our pursuit. After all there, is more than one way to skin a cat. According to Minnesota , The math starts to make a lot of sense fast when we think about losing more than half of the revenue for the pursuit of upland birds. When we start singling out people bird hunting without a dog, we begin to also turn them away from conservation efforts that are questionably more critical than big game issues.

At the end of the day, the fight for the future of upland hunting trumps all our opinions. I want plenty of things in life—we all do. But that does not always make them obtainable. Inviting a bird dog into our lives is not a small decision. It involves a day a year commitment. It requires money, time, and space. Some people cannot afford it, some people live in small apartments. The fact is that sometimes dogs just do not fit into our lives at some given moment.

Just because someone is bird hunting without a dog does not always translate to an option. All the more reason to take someone else hunting if you do have dogs and leave a dogless hunter free from judgment.

The single most common debate of why birds should be hunted with a dog is because of bird recovery. The facts are simple and straight forward: yes, dogs will recover more crippled birds.

Divide Pushers and Shooters In addition to having at least three people, you should also think about dividing up your group into pushers and shooters. Hunt Pheasant With a Plan Image from Getty Not only do you need to get a group of guys together and have a strategy for that group, but you need a plan for the hunt itself.

Any thoughts or questions? Leave a comment below! Wade Thiel Wade divides his time among various outdoor activities in both urban and rural environments. You may also like. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.

Making these subtle movements are enough to flush the birds out of hiding and enable you to get a good target for shooting them down. The group hunting tips will still borrow some tips from the solo-hunting pheasants hunting without dog tactics like slowing down, using the weather, and sticking to the edges, among others applicable. And their mistakes will cost you significantly.

To turn this around, make sure they know about the activity and know their part in the whole excursion. Carry your whole crew of friends who savor the hunting activity. This will help speed up the hunt, and increase your success rate. When you are a unit, it will be a collective initiative to find pheasants, and the practice becomes more fun having a group with you. It is also a great security measure for a hunting trip.

Teams of pheasant hunters should consist of pushers and shooters. And each is instrumental in ensuring a successful hunt.

The teamwork will ensure that you get the best out of the hunt and spend the least amount of time searching. Extra team members mean that you will have more eyes and ears in the exercise. When there is a communication breakdown, a shooter might miscommunicate with a pusher, and someone gets shot.

That is why a team must have a system to communicate and avoid any field accidents. When you go for pheasant hunting without a dog as a team, you will inevitably need to communicate with your team members. And talking or using sound equipment like walkie-talkies will not do you justice since they are a bit too noisy. The solution to this is to develop a communication system among the team members so that it is easier to communicate even while you are yards away from each other.

If you are hunting in groups, everyone must be dressed in the right attire meant for hunting. Both shooters and pushers must have reflector jackets to avoid anyone getting injured by a bullet meant for a pheasant. Well, pheasants hunting is not the time to do that since these birds have excellent hearing. Hence, hunting time is not the time to chat or laugh.

When hunting in a group, the participants must be in unison once they get on the ground. And the only way this can be achieved is if everyone knows and follows a standard plan, which should be discussed before the hunting starts. These are some of the information that all team members should know before hunting to know what to expect. If you are a group of four or more hunters, start moving towards the center slowly, then after assembling at the center, head outwards away from each other.

This tactic ensures that the birds that escaped the first time cannot escape from you again. Be sure to stop as you move and listen for birds moving.

Pheasant hunting without a dog can be a fulfilling experience after you have had a successful hunt, whether you went solo or tagged along with your mates.

The tips above will significantly help you and your team get the best out of the exercise. This type of cover allows them to see any oncoming danger yet also be thick enough to offer them protection. Pay particular attention to gravel roads, especially early in the morning. Pheasants like to fill their craw with grit before feeding. There are two possible scenarios here, you will either push the bird out the end, which will require a brisk walk to keep up with the rooster, who will race to the end and try flush before you.

If you are pheasant hunting without a dog, you need to be extra certain of every shot you take. Are you sure of dropping that bird and finding it by yourself? If your idea of a good hunt is more of a stroll upland with the odd chance of flushing a bird, then you can happily pheasant hunt without a dog.