Cold Snap

Many people are puzzled by why I would want to live in this God forsaken place. Coming from the beautiful rolling hills of southwest Wisconsin's driftless area I understand the look of puzzlement on the faces of people I meet when I say, 'Yes I live here". Even though it's like living in a fish bowl some days after a few year's now I've learned to accept the curiosity of my neighbors and just plain don't care about what anybody else thinks about why I'm here. That's the guy with the bird dog's they say.

Hunting the "Cold Snap"

But for someone like myself there are definite advantages to calling this place home. Observing the wildlife throughout the year and scouting my hunting area tells me where broods are at in the spring for example. As I was relating to my neighbor a couple weeks ago this is an important part of being successful in the fall. Land use changes and birds locate to desirable cover to nest and raise their broods so logging their location throughout the spring and summer determines where we hunt. As the harvest then allows us to get into areas I know had a successful hatch we work our way through our inventory of possibilities that suit the type of cover I like to hunt with the setters. We avoid the areas that get a lot of pressure opting for the out of the way spots that I know hold a few birds. Again by watching the harvest progress on a weekly and daily basis this allows us to hunt those birds that have not seen any hunting pressure on a more regular basis.

Another key advantage combined with scouting broods and tracking the harvest is timing our hunts with weather conditions. When you plan a hunting vacation a year in advance you're at the mercy of many factors including access,hunting pressure,bird populations and weather,wind ,rain,snow and extreme temperatures both hot and cold. So I hope it's becoming more clear why I actually choose to live here! Combining the knowledge of where birds are likely to be, at what time of the year,week, and day with the advantage to hunt them in optimal conditions for success is what a passionate bird hunter lives for or at least I do. Because I can. I decided a long time ago that I was going to live focused on what was within my reach and means today not working my ass off till some time in the future when I was too used up to live my dream.

That brings me to the purpose of this narrative which is hunting the periods of significant temperature changes. Most people I know are fair weather hunters or skiers. In fact I've shared the chairlift many times with people on some pretty extreme weather days both cold and windy that have said "If you wait till the weathers perfect you're just not going to get in many days skiing!". And how very true that is. It also applies to bird hunting. But the advantage in bird hunting is that the birds change their habits when the temperature dips. So instead of looking at the forecast and saying not today we say "Hell yeah let's go!"

A cold Dakota morning in fresh snow.

On one such day a couple weeks ago the temperature dropped to single digits from a period of pretty mild overnight temps some of which weren't even freezing. It was time to run Mick so I picked a spot close to a half section of standing corn that had a couple acres of heavy weedy cover close by and some water and cattails across the road. Refuge from the cold and wind was this morning's formula with temps in the single digits. My fingers were cold in short order but I prefer to wear light shooting gloves anyway. I had my head ban on to cover my ears and a couple of layers over my wool long underwear. Luckily the jacket I chose had a tight fitting collar to keep the wind out as well which was 10 to 15 mph and enough to remind you  this is the real deal. It's cold! Mick was birdy immediately picking up scent as we walked up to the weedy patch. Shortly after he came to point on a hen tucked in on the edge of the adjacent bean field which I flushed for him. I can't recount all the times the setters have been on birds right out of the Jeep in the past. That's why I've learned not to release them until I'm loaded and ready to go! We continued on through this 2 acre patch just right for Mick although some of the cover is pretty thick but he makes his way at his own speed. He picks up scent again about halfway through and heads on a line towards the road and the edge of the cover. A hundred yards into this track he turns to the north into the wind and stops head high straight ahead. As I approach he goes rigid meaning I've got em R! I cautiously move ahead with my 20 gauge sxs and a long tail rooster bolts straight away to the right falling with a single report. Mick gets to the bird before me and stands with his tail wagging. Well done Mick I say scratching his ears. I take note again of the cold but that's why these birds were in here this morning instead of the standing corn. That's been the battle all season with crops put in late and virtually all the corn standing 4 weeks into the season. We then hunt the other side of the road and Mick works a group of hens then moves ahead working what turned out to be another rooster on the edge of the water but when he came to point I chose the wrong position and forced the bird to fly over the water. Not a chance of me getting wet today I thought as I watched him fly away. By the time we worked to the end of the shoreline and back to the Jeep a half mile south Mick was played out but had done a great job once again on the season's first really cold morning. That spot was a  good call I thought as we made our way back home for a cup of coffee and a bowl of bean soup.

Invigorated now by the cold the afternoon would belong to Beau today. Sunset was around 5 o'clock so I wanted to spend about three hour's on our next run. This again was an area with a half section of corn still standing so the strategy was the same. This was a day we would try to catch the birds spending the afternoon in the heavier cover versus staying in the corn all day. This I hoped would hold true for both pheasants as well as sharpatil grouse. The prospect of a mixed bag makes North Dakota hunting really exciting as well as extending your hunt beyond a limit of one species.

Beau and I arrived at our destination a good 20 miles from home and with the wind coming out of the north we walked to the south end and started our run skirting some cattails directly across from the corn. Beau again was into scent right away as well not to my surprise this time. He came to point a few moments later as a group of a dozen hens scattered in all directions after fighting their way out of the heavy cover. I was encouraged to find them as I thought at this time of day. Even though the sun was out it was still extremely cold with the wind still at 10 to 15 mph. Steady. We continued working along the south edge when we came to a run of cattails somewhat narrow and running along a low ridge. Beau became birdy working 20 feet across from me in and around the cattails. Working his nose to the ground we had a running bird I surmised. Suddenly behind me a sharptail took flight! I spun around and fired. Missing. Then Beau continued on still working in the same manner. He stops then right on the edge where the cattails meet the grass of the adjacent ridge. I walked ahead a few steps and another sharptail takes off from the heavy grass ahead of me flying right to left. I fire at 40 yards and the bird falls. Beau crosses and locates the bird in the tall grass. We've hit this run on the right day I thought and despite the intense cold I'm glad to be here!

We moved on covering a line along more of the same heavy cover with no birds. I then decided to circle to the north and come back to the west working the opposite edge along a bean field which had two sloughs adjacent to heavy grass we were working. My thinking being any birds that were feeding in the bean field would today be in the heavy cover of the sloughs at this time. We approached the first slough right on the fence line. Beau worked into the wind and was startled when a hen busted wild right in front of him. He looks at me like "Hey don't blame me that bird came from nowhere"! No worries I thought. Then a few seconds later he's on point not 10 feet from where the hen busted. I take a couple steps forward and a long tail rockets up high right past me crowing all the way! I fire before he levels off and he drops as Beau locates him a few feet away. Wow was that exciting or what I thought. Two more birds flushed as well but I had my back turned so I'm not sure what they were.

After gathering ourselves we continued around the 3 acre area of heavy cover without another bird. We walk west along the fence line towards the next slough which is a little larger. Beau works the edge in a counter clockwise manner and pick's up scent about half way around. He comes to point and I flush a hen right on the edge. Then he still acts birdy and within 20 yards is pointing again in some heavy cattails. I see him from the edge and walk straight at him. Another long tail cackles into the air and I again drop him with a single report from my 20 gauge sxs. This time on the ice right in the open. I pick up this bird and we again take a moment before making our way around the slough. Just as we were coming to the end Beau was again working scent in and out around the edge and another sharptail flushes to the left at 30 yards. I again drop the bird on the ice in the middle of the area and we repeat the celebration! Suddenly I'm not so cold anymore although my game vest is getting a little heavy!

We're a quarter mile from the Jeep now with a limit of roosters for the day and 2 sharptail so our opportunity on this run is for one more sharptail. Having been at it for most of the day I opt to just walk the fence line back to the Jeep. I've observed this population of sharptail many times at this time of the day feeding in the bean field and roosting in the adjacent grass for the night so this was a good call I thought given the extreme cold as well. We came to the crest of a hill and Beau became birdy again slowing up along the edge ahead of me. I quickened my pace but a covey of sharptail busted from around some bushes and out of range. Hoping for stragglers I approached cautiously and sure enough another bird flushed right on the edge straight away! Again I fired and the bird was down with a single report in the tall grass. I called Beau over and he located the bird for me in short order. What fun I thought. Right place. Right time. Right temperature!

With an eighth of a mile left Beau worked another half dozen sharptail on the edge as I watched them fly off to the hills. It'd been a long week and I'd run him more than planned but he was always a willing participant along with myself. Mind you days like this happen only a few times a season and certainly are not the norm but the advantage is that living in bird country allows you to seize the opportunity of the "Cold Snap!"