Rate your 08-09 upland season

[JConrad]

Great in SODAK and ok in MN.

SODAK = 9 and MN = 7

Wonderful to see my dog progress.. She is still a bit of a pup at 21 month old but the season was terrific for her. At one point she had a steak of 43 shot birds without a lost bird. Pretty amazing for a young dog. A number of her retrieves still amaze me when I think about them.

When her streak was broken she was on a retrieve on a bird that my son shot in heavy cattails. She made that retrieve without a problem. While she was after that bird I had a bird get up about 50 yards from her in heavy cattails whick I dropped but did not kill. (My bad) Evidently the bird ran across the pond which had no snow on the ice and she could not find the bird. She started to cross the pond but I called her off since I was afraid she would break through the ice. I still call it a lost bird but in a way I can't blame her.

Anyway, great season for my dog and great in SODAK...

Already looking forward to next season....

[redhooks]

This was the first year w/ 2 labs and it was interesting. I learned it's better to hunt them one at a time. Never enough time spent in the field but had fun every time I was out.

Lola the 3yr old keeps getting better, but still hunts for herself every now and again. The 9 mo old got out and played in puppy gear but managed to kick up several birds on her own,and also made her first retreive on a sharptail in ND.

Mn grouse hunting was poor, kicked up maybe 7 birds and shot zip. Not enough time in the woods and not enough birds to make me put the boat away.

Only trip to ND was great, my father-in-law lent me an old browning squareback that i could'nt miss with. Shot ducks, roosters and sharptail and a bonus MN prarie chicken on the way home. I planned on mounting the prarie chicken but the pup tried to play tug-o-war with the older one and the bird lost out. 6 outta 10 and looking forward to next year!

[uplander]

Had a great time this year missed more birds than i care to remember...Dogs were more than solid...My young setter didn't get enough work...but that is my fault..The 5 year old was always money..got to wow some people who never had the chance to hunt behind a poining dog for grouse and doodles..That's always fun for me...I love after the sittuation unfolds and they look at me and say ..."are you Freakin kidding me...Is that how it always is"...and I get to say " no but when it is...there is nothing like it" Can't wait for next season good snow fall amounts should be good for the grouse!...Now it time for cabin fever..and maybe a little yote hunting

[Blaze]

ND = 9.5/10

MN = 8/10

Great year for the dogs and I. My 3yr old male is hitting his groove, and my pup is showing lots of promise. Next year should be even better if the birds survive this winter!

[Jason Ramsey]

My best season so far, my shorthair is only 2 and a half and looking better every time I take him out. Of course I'm in central Indiana and my exposure to wild live pheasants is limited. Only went to one put and take, the rest were wild birds and managed 12 roosters over my dog this season. Had an absolute blast. Wish I was a bit further north west and can see wild birds much more often....

[jparrucci]

My upland hunting season would have to rate at about a 7 out of 10. I had to delay my usual duck opener trip a week, so I missed out on the earlier pheasant opener, and didnt really get into the swing of things until November. Once I finally started chasing the ditch parrots, things didn't always go as planned either. My shooting was way off all season as I missed a number of easy shots. Last year I was pretty solid with only a few misses that I regretted. This year I whiffed on a number of close or pointed birds. The bird numbers were definitely down this year. They also seemed to be in larger groups when I did see birds. A number of times I would be walking a WMA or WPA and not see any birds or have the dog get birdy, then all of a sudden his tail would go, and then a couple of dozen birds would all bust at once. I think I saw FLOCKS of 50+ birds a couple of times. I shot less than half the birds overall as I did last year, partially due to some poor shooting, but more due to lack of birds on public land (and really really pressured and smart birds for that matter)

My brit entered his prime this year at 4 years old. He is nothing short of amazing out there. I did wear him out twice this year, which hadn't happened before. He didn't quit, but he sure was starting to slow down on those two occasions. I also overworked him on a day where the temps were in the low 20's, and even with his vest on he was starting to get hypothermea from being wet. The wind was blowing like crazy, and he was soaked from working partially frozen cattails. I had to bring him back to the truck and warm him up after that one. Now I know his limits on the cold.

My final hunt of the season, we were working a smaller section of cattails near a dirt road, and he locked up on a perfect point. I started moving ahead, the bird flushed- one shot and I had a nice rooster. It was a mature bird with decent, but not huge spurs, a HUGE tailfeather, and it was pointed perfectly and retrieved to hand. Finally, I had a rooster for the wall. I wanted it to be at least a mature bird that was in great shape, with a perfect retrieve and point, and I finally got that. This winter isn't shaping up to be real easy on the birds though, so lets hope they get through it ok. BTW, ALL hunting down on public land.