Partridges ONLY for the last stocking day...

[DDS]

What all of you saw today with unsportsmanlike like behavior I saw the first and only year I hunted pheasants at Clinton WMA. This was probably 8 years ago but after my first Saturday of the season and thanksgiving day hunting there I saw everything you say hunters where doing with chucker but with pheasants. Shooting birds in the ground, shooting in the parking lot, shooting by dogs at burds in the ground, ect. I finished the year out because I paid for the stamp but I only hunted off days and had a much safer hunt. However since that bad experience for the whole season I will never buy the stamp again. I have hunted private since. A lot safer and the guys that go tend to follow the rules and ethics of hunting. 

[bucky]

16 hours ago, amaraziti said:

I can see how some would hate this and some would have no problem with this. I personally would have liked the change of pace if I was not working this weekend and was able to get out. Never shot a chuckar and would very much like the challenge. But for the guys that don’t hunt much and this is what they get after buying a pheasant stamp I can see where the dislike is coming from. 

The biggest challenge with chukar's is getting them to fly and when they do get up they are not fast flyers and fly low so be careful if you're hunting over dogs. "IF" you do miss they usually only fly 30 to 50 yards and in most cases you will get another opportunity at them

[TouchofGrey]

1 last comment I forgot yesterday. As I said yesterday our group of 4 met a lot of people at Black River. These were the 3 best comments we heard during the day, 1) at least I don't have to clean my guy til next year, 2) look.. Another group of Chukar suckers, 3) guess I missed the NJDFG Memo that the last day of stocking was going to be BYOB... Bring your own birds! As others have posted the hunt produce no game, but we did have a great morning ribbing each other , and the beers were cold afterwards.

[birdshotnj]

18 hours ago, JimC1965 said:

I can't believe what I saw today. Pulled into the lot at Flatbrook and saw 6 to 8 birds in the parking lot. As the lot filled with hunters the birds moved off the road and into the brush adjacent to it. At about 722 a shot rings out in the field across the river. One of the guys in our lot stands 15 feet from the bird sitting on the side of the road and shoots him with a 12 guage on the ground. As a dog runs in to retrieve the wounded bird he pumps the shotgun and shoots another bird about 5 feet behind the first one. While the insanity is unfolding on our side of the lot a  group on the other side was unloading on a pair of birds running through the grass and into the river. One bird begins to fly over the parking lot and is shot out of the air. 5 or 6 birds shot within feet of the lot. Didn't see another chuckar the whole day. Put up 1 timberdoodle. Nice day out, but cant believe the lack of sportsmanship. I was expecting the guy to flush the birds then shoot. I was applaud at what I witnessed today.

I used to be at flatbrook 3 times a week. I haven't stepped foot onto NJ pheasant grounds in 4 years for this very reason. I've seen fistfights (yes, more than one occasion) over a damn bird. It's just not worth it to me, I'd rather go to a preserve if I get the itch that bad.

[mazzgolf]

Just don't go in the mornings of stocking days. I've gone in the afternoons and its fine. Plenty of space to be alone and you can still find birds.

Frankly, I find it more satisfying anyway. To me, it's just not as fun to park the car, and immediately starting to find birds that I know someone just put there a few hours before. 

I hunted with a friend and his dog last week after the orange army went through - I thought it was fun working the dog through the woods and brush. Even though they were stocked birds, it still felt like true "hunting". We only bagged one bird, but you could tell the dog had fun and it really felt like we accomplished something when that dog finally flushed a bird. We watched the dog work this bird for like 15 minutes (must have been running) until finally reached it and flushed it.

Anyway, seems more like hunting when its like that, rather than just kicking up birds in a freshly stocked field.

[vdep217]

39 minutes ago, mazzgolf said:

Just don't go in the mornings of stocking days. I've gone in the afternoons and its fine. Plenty of space to be alone and you can still find birds.

Frankly, I find it more satisfying anyway. To me, it's just not as fun to park the car, and immediately starting to find birds that I know someone just put there a few hours before. 

I hunted with a friend and his dog last week after the orange army went through - I thought it was fun working the dog through the woods and brush. Even though they were stocked birds, it still felt like true "hunting". We only bagged one bird, but you could tell the dog had fun and it really felt like we accomplished something when that dog finally flushed a bird. We watched the dog work this bird for like 15 minutes (must have been running) until finally reached it and flushed it.

Anyway, seems more like hunting when its like that, rather than just kicking up birds in a freshly stocked field.

I hunt the mill and this year there was one bad day that I there were too many people..  I hunt where it is difficult to get around the other side so your not going tword other hunters..  sat there where 2 kids that ran out in front of every one..  once talked to and had aware that they were hindering others hunt they apologized and came back in line