ashamed to be a Pheasant hunter

Ok I just have to vent a little about the quality of hunters I saw opening weekend. I have never seen so many ground pounding field jumping SOB’s in my life. I hunted the Howell unit this year for the first year ever. I have to say I am disappointed. Not in the hunt it’s self as much as the lack of morals most of the hunters in the area showed. I have over the years had a chance to be a part of a few different Pheasant hunting units. Starting 20 years ago with the Goshen,Ut unit where we created what I thought was a great opportunity for birds to hunters vs field access. Last year I hunted the Clarkston,Ut. Unit and never saw once what I witnessed Saturday. First was the line up of cars on each entrance of the same field. Most hunters know if someone parks in front of a field opening morning, you relent that to them knowing they will hunt the whole field to find a bird. Not in Howell! You park on one corner and as you start walking the field someone jumps in the other side so you can shoot at each other form opposite sides of the field. Then if you see a rooster running as you road hunt you jump out and ground pound it. Then jump back in your car and look for another one. I have never been so disappointed in a hunt in my life. The quality of the area was overrun buy the shear number of hunters they sold tags too. I have never in my life seen so many road hunters driving the fields hoping to snipe a bird from the road.
How can anyone call this hunting? I work my dogs all year and to miss a rooster as it flushes is to me as much a part of hunting as dropping one. All I can say is I am ashamed to be called a Pheasant hunter if that’s what everyone thinks when someone says I hunt Pheasants :>/
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AGCHAWK
Dang! Sounds like the pheasant release sights they have here in Western WA. Solid walls of orange from every corner of the area with muzzles pointed in all directions.
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one hunting fool
i would expect that if i hadn't paid $40.00 per permit for the chance to be somewhat limmited on hunters. they flat outsold the area and knowone enforced the hunting rules.
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chet
It's sad... I quit pheasants all together! Chukars get my full attention now. Got rid of all the lazy road hunters. When I run into someone hiking in the desert (rare) they are really class acts! There are some great people in the pheasant fields too, but the ignorance of few ruin it for many.
sorry about your experience. come out west and hunt some devil birds with me!
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one hunting fool
i got a great place to hunt them here also. i have a buddy that i took chucker hunting and he said this is a canned hunt because it is so easy. but i like it. and after an hour i drive about 2 miles away and hunt huns. its been great so far come up north ;)
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Default Avatar
thats how most people deer hunt now too. man some people just dont think
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ABert
Road hunting...for...pheasants?!? I have never heard nor seen such a thing. I have seen folks jump fields and whatnot when I hunted western WA, though. One of the very few good things about living in the TX panhandle years back was the pheasant, quail and dove hunting. Guess I got spoiled hunting birds there as I haven't seen that many birds anywhere else. This was also back in the day when you would knock on the door of a farm house and ask permission to hunt the land. Now days you have to pay.
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79Ford
It's really too bad this state gives people like that hunting licenses, but money talks.... I'd say rather than being ashamed of being a pheasant hunter maybe you should be proud to be one of the only pheasant hunters in the area with morals, common sense and courtesy to fellow hunters. Not to mention having other hunters safety in mind. On the flip side you can always go out and pay $15 a bird and have the field pretty much to yourself.
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waynedevore
Opening weekend of Pheasant hunting I'm the guy way off by himself in the poorer area where I might have to work the dogs all day to get a chance at a couple birds. :thumb
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