Ringneck pheasants are a phenomenal hunting challenge and successful hunters must employ a host of shooting and hunting skills. Ron Spomer listes 10 tips to improve success on ringnecks in this post from the Sporting Classic Daily website and his savvy advice can put more roosters in your game pouch and on the table.
Not Too Late
Opening day of pheasant season has come and gone in many parts of the country, yet you can count on those wily roosters to survive the first wave of hunters and flourish in late season. Actually, hunting can get better as the season progresses and agricultural crops are harvested, forcing pheasants into smaller spaces where they are more easily accessible. Bad weather has the same effect. As the winds howl and snow accumulates, you will find hens and roosters in the most sheltered places. Often such cover forces birds to hold to the point of a dog or flushing under foot.
Roadrunner Skills
Wily Coyote chases a roadrunner in most cartoons, yet if Hollywood really knew their birds, they’d replace the lanky speedster with a ringneck pheasant. If you have the good fortune to hunt in the Dakotas, you have seen how wild ringnecks can be. If you are hunting standing corn, driving and standing is the only way to hunt them. If you use the driving process, it’s fun to be the “side-blocker” as roosters will constantly try to break back and flush before reaching the end of the drive.
Use Heavy Shot
Some areas require the use of non-lead shot and investing in Hevi-Shot or other legal alternatives is well worth the increased cost. A friend hunted in South Dakota and borrowed steel shot from a waterfowling friend. “I knocked five ringnecks down, but only retrieved one,” he lamented. Pheasants require your best shots and loads.
Check out these additional tips: http://sportingclassicsdaily.com/tips-for-more-ringnecks/
