tactics question and wind

[Bob Peters]

1. Often I've heard about being sneaky around pressured birds. Approaching from a different way than most other hunters. The part I don't understand about this is that I was told playing the wind is so important. If there's a big crp field and I'm going to walk it with my dog, we want the wind at our faces for scenting and increased stealth. Doesn't this force every hunter to walk to field the same way as long as the wind stays constant?

2. If walking a field with the wind directly in your face, when you get to the end do you walk back towards the truck with the wind at your back and still hunt, or is this a waste of time because the birds hear you?

[benelli-banger]

you can zig zag, which you really need to do to cover the field...

[Altillathedak]

I like cross wind situations a lot. Long walks mean you are gonna do part of a walk with nonideal wind conditions. Dogs will figure out how to work down wind with exposure.

[1pheas4]

If there's a big crp field and I'm going to walk it with my dog, we want the wind at our faces for scenting and increased stealth. Doesn't this force every hunter to walk to field the same way as long as the wind stays constant?

Yes. Typically (all) the hunters walk in the same direction (in this case into the wind) from one end of the field to the other end. If you have blockers at the end of the field it's best to have them make their way to the other end as quit as possible, unless you have a big group. In this case you can have hunters flanking the sides of the field too. Sometimes noise can be used to push the birds to the blockers n an attempt to "corral the birds" to one side/area of the field. Otherwise being quiet is good.

If walking a field with the wind directly in your face, when you get to the end do you walk back towards the truck with the wind at your back and still hunt, or is this a waste of time because the birds hear you?

Last Saturday I hunted by myself (no dog) and flushed a rooster in a field that I already worked on the way in (I was walking it again as I made my way back to my truck and working with the wind to my back). I was very quiet the entire time I worked the field.

Pheasants will often run back and behind you when you push a field and therefore you have a chance of flushing a bird/birds even if you are working with the wind (instead of against the wind).

[KSBrittman]

Well put on birds doubling back , I often hunt with 2 dogs and one almost always hunts further out and one closer often the long dogs get a lot of action but the shorter dog picks up birds that double back .

Quartering into the wind is good to .

[birdshooter]

I like cross wind situations a lot. Long walks mean you are gonna do part of a walk with nonideal wind conditions. Dogs will figure out how to work down wind with exposure.

Absolutely agree here.

I also feel If I'm working a large field with just me and a dog I may start by walking the edges first.

[BritChaser]

With a big field hunting alone, I like to zigzag across the wind, gradually moving upwind while keeping an eye on the dog.

[hunter94]

With a big field hunting alone, I like to zigzag across the wind, gradually moving upwind while keeping an eye on the dog.

all good comments here........i like a cross wind myself.........lots of variables also involved.....not only previous hunting pressure/direction, but adjacent fields and edges, roads and end of fields.....all play a part in how the birds will react to you and your dog......it's a helluva chess match when hunting late season birds!.........gotta luv 'em, gotta hate 'em.

[Altillathedak]

all good comments here........i like a cross wind myself.........lots of variables also involved.....not only previous hunting pressure/direction, but adjacent fields and edges, roads and end of fields.....all play a part in how the birds will react to you and your dog......it's a helluva chess match when hunting late season birds!.........gotta luv 'em, gotta hate 'em.

Yep. Also in play...can you push the birds towards cover you can hunt versus onto adjacent land you don’t have access to.

[hunter94]

Yep. Also in play...can you push the birds towards cover you can hunt versus onto adjacent land you don’t have access to.

another good point well taken, sometimes herding them to a different nearby field may be your best bet......a lot of work..........the list seems endless...