Originally Posted By: Dave Erickson
Brent, he was a big bird and only got one other his size this year in South Dakota. Im going ice fishing today, but I plan on at least one more Iowa day trip before it closes Sunday.


I shot a pair of older birds (>1 yr old) a few days ago and just reaching down to pick them up, I could tell that one was much larger in body size than the other - maybe by 50%. Both were perfectly healthy and well plumed. I was sort of surprised by that, but I guess golden retrievers and humans come in all sizes too. Why not pheasants?

I killed a bird last week that was smaller and a very weak flier, but when I cleaned him, I found out why. He had been shot by someone else with a load of #4s. He was healing up, but had obviously been battling infection in his breast and one leg. I ended up tossing him, but I believe he may have survived had I missed him.

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BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)

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