Anybody still hunt birds in KY? I haven't been out yet and it doesn't look like I'll get to hunt the first part of season, is anybody seeing any birds?
I flushed a couple woodcock last week while running my dogs. Weather is looking pretty warm for the quail opener though.
I went last Thursday and didnt see a thing. the ground is like concrete. I dont think they would stay long if they happened to stop. A friend of mine has been twice and not seen any. Hunting in Central Kentucky in the bluegrass area
I would think a woodcock would break his pecker off in ground this hard and dry. I just pulled the monthly data and we had .78" the whole month of October, .7" of which came on one day.
I have been finding resident birds in places that are usually under water this time of year near the river (cane breaks ) . yes its hard on dogs but if you stay near the creeks and rivers dogs wiill cool off in the water . still not many birds .
I didn't hunt the quail opener for the first time in years because of the weather. I'm looking forward to getting out Saturday though. The dogs need more exercise to get ready for the prairies in a little over a week.
I got the survey. If I kill any woodcock, I will send it in. It's looking pretty tricky right now, unless we get some rain today. I really dont have any super soggy places to go that still hold birds when it is this dry.
Been shooting limits the past 2 weekends. Opener we moved several birds, but few shots. On the quail opener, woodcock were acting weird. Fresh chalk in several areas and a birdy dog, but no finds. Then Storm found some scent and the bird flushed 40 yards out. A little later we hit an area and had 5 birds flush wild seconds apart. Re-flushes were the same and no birds killed.
Went grouse hunting today with a friend and we killed 5 woodcock, flushed about 14. When I cleaned them there was no fat like the locals have so I guess they are starting to migrate through our area.
I shot a decent 8 pointer yesterday morning and watched him run for about 100 yards before piling up in a thicket on the edge of a field. I went to get the ATV to drag him in and when I pulled up to the deer a woodcock flushed within 10 yards of the deer. This was in Carter County and I've never seen a woodcock on this farm. Just one of those interesting things that happen every now and then. Hopefully a few more are around that I can get some work with the new pup.
I was really glad to get my 10 month old pup in on them. She did flush a couple of them but she had around 12 good solid points on the woodcock and 1 grouse point. In my opinion that hunt was better for her than 50 planted quail in a field. She seems to have the backing and pointing down, but the woodcock didn't help on retrieving. She, like most dogs, didn't like the taste.
