Pheasant Hunting with a Bow

[Scott E]

The great state of CT has created some gun laws that are kinda crazy. I've decided that I don't want to get a permit to buy ammo soo I'm going to do it the hard way.

My brittany pup gets kinda grumpy when I miss so I'll be needing all the best tips on how to go about hunting pheasant with my bow.

Points? I have some Barta blunt and broad heads of course
Approach?
Practice?
Dog safety? This is the most important to me because my dog really is my best friend.

Thanks all,

Scott

[Brazos]

I ordered a video from In Flight Archery.  I recommend it.

[Cookie125]

I haven't tried pheasants yet but when attempting ducks I was using magnus bullheads. Not sure if its something you'd be interested in but they shouldn't stay in the bird like broadheads may do which is bad news for your dog if they grab it.

[Tim]

A small group of us use to go a couple times a year at a local farm.  We probably shot 25 birds on the wing over the 10 year period.  Here are a few of the things we learned.  

Always best to have someone working the dog who is not a shooter.  We found one dog is better than two.....here's why.  Once the dog goes on point you need a dog that will hold and not creep or flush right away.  Once on point the handler sneaks in and leashes the dog, also getting a visual on which direction the bird is pointing.  The hunters should set up about 15 yards in front of the bird.  The guide would than stay low and flush the bird.  Most often the bird will flush directly up giving the shooters a chest shot.

We found broadheads and flu flus are the way to go.  The birds are tough, especially in flight.  The reason we leash the dog is because most often the arrow will stay in the bird and it's a safety issue.  One dog is easier to control than two and again it's the safety issue of an excited dog and a bird / broadhead scenario.

The birds we hunted were planted birds, not wild free ranging pheasants, there is a difference.  Unfortunately here in eastern PA wild birds are very rare.  I don't have any experience in hunting wild birds....sure wish I did!

Hope that helps, we had some wonderful times each February when we'd go to pheasant mode.

[reddogge]

If usng flushing dogs like springers or labs chances are you aren't going to get to leash them. And they go all out (labs especially) on the retrieve, very aggressive. I wouldn't use this type of dog. Maybe you can control a brittany a little better. Sticking a broadhead into my best friend's eye would make for a bad day.

[Scott E]

I was doing some reading on the topic and the person who made the Bow Hunting Pheasants DVD suggested using the G5 small game head so I ordered some. I'm going to try and shoot some video when we go out next Saturday.

[oxnam]

Originally posted by Brazos:
I ordered a video from In Flight Archery.  I recommend it.

Thanks Craig for the DVD recommendation.

Our DVD is a great resource for getting started right and illustrating how to get better faster.  

The type of tip you choose should depend on your bow and arrow setup.  For example, if you are shooting a 45# bow and spiral fletchings, you will not have enough power to reliably kill pheasants when you hit them with a blunt.  Sometimes broadheads are going to be your only option if you want reliable kills.  Many will say you should never use dogs if you are using broadheads.  That's not true if done properly and there are a couple things you can do to keep the dogs safe.  First, make sure you breadheads are completely dull and pose no cutting risk.  Second, run the dog in the field on a lead or attach one after they have gone on point.  Sure this increases the headaches but it keeps the dogs safe.  The other option is to steady the dog to fall, meaning they won't retrieve or move until released.  Third, regardless of whether you are using a broadhead or not, not let dogs retrieve birds that have arrows protruding from it.  Even a G5 SGH could seriously injure a dog if the arrow  got shoved into their mouth or throat on a retrieve.

The faster your bow shoots, the more options you will have for tips while expecting reliable kills.

As for practice, buy or borrow our DVD        We go over aerials in detail with drills to build a solid foundation.  The short answer about what to practice is shooting clay pigeons off a thrower.  You won't find better practice other than shooting at the real thing.  
Good luck and enjoy the time out with your dog.  Also keep in mind that you can hunt closer to civilization with a bow which can open up a lot of prime hunting ground.

[Sockrsblur]

Interesting thoughts....

[Jerry Jeffer]

Nice info Oxnam. Going to check out your video since I am running into a lot of birds lately.

[Bear Heart]

This has my interest.

[jebeckjr]

A group of us from here are getting together at my hunting camp in the beginning of March to hunt pheasants.  I was just out last week hunting pheasants with my bow as well, with some moderate success.  Here's what I learned:

- spiral flu flu's really slow an arrow down after the first 20 yards or so
- you need to be quick - I would hesitate like I was hunting with a shotgun to lead them out a bit, but that was a mistake.  I did better when I was ready and shooting in the first 10 yards or so.
- it was easier with my GSP (a pointing  dog) vs my friends labs (flushing dogs).  In both cases, it wasn't a matter of being ready - it's easy to tell when the dogs were birds - but being closer to the flush and in a better shooting position
- definitely agree that the dog handler should focus on the dog and not shoot
- I can definitely see why dull broadheads may be an advantage.  I didn't use them, and said no broadheads for the March event, but if using a pointing dog, I can see how it would work.  Judo points flew better than the "thumper" blunts, and I was more accurate with them, but the best I could was grab feathers and knock them down,
- practice aerial shots, and then practice more!  The "aerial archery" DVD was a great help on how to practice and what to expect!

It's a ton of fun!  Good luck with it!