With snow on the ground, what habitat do you typically head for to find birds?

With water frozen in sloughs now, I focus here. As much as I hate it, the birds usually hunker down in the cattails surrounding sloughs. Makes for difficult times though. Potentially unsafe ice for yourself and dog. Cattails seems to cut the heck out of the dogs...pokes us hunters in the eyes. Plus those cotton picken cattail heads explode when you bump them and that white crap drifts through the air sticking to your clothing so you can drag that back into your truck.But none-the-less, the birds are here and you better kill them instantly...those buggers can disappear if your dog isn't right on them when they fall.

Anyone have any success anywhere else like trees or CRP?

Wish I could give you some suggestions, but you get to hunt wild birds, and all we have is stocked birds. With that said, if we get early snow, it seems we find the birds in the thickest cover by the swamps, or in the hedgerows with the hemlock trees. This may not be of any help to you, but thats how were stuck hunting in the north east.

In Southern California we use the white stuff to our advantage. In the higher elevations the birds (quail/chucker) will move down out of the snow line and stay there for a while even as the snow melts and the line retreats uphill. It nice of Mother Nature to help out once in a while.

Be it Fall or Winter pre and post storm or front passage birds can be found near roads and trails as they like to stock up on pebbles for their crop. During a storm or weather with precip you'll find them in pines or hunkered down in heavy cover. After the storm breaks they will move to cover edges, like fields, orchards and marshes to feed. However I generally follow my bird finder's nose after I point him in the general upwind direction.

Niel You were talking about not able to wait for fall hunting. Do what I do, I have a farmer friend that has a hunting preserve,I help him with chore's and he lets me buy chucker's and I run my dogs all summer. He live's about a hour away I go over early morning run one dog at a time, then help with any thing he needs help with. But I don't have to go to work. Keep in touch Dave