Pheasant Hunt

Here are a few pictures of my latest Pheasant hunt with my dogs.

2010 Numbers Have Been Good

Bird numbers have been strong this year, but food has been sparse. A lot of walking needs to be done. Flush rate is averaging about 4-5 per hour.

2010 Grouse Opener

This season looks like it could be another good year to chase birds. Grouse appear to be plentiful and the weather is ahead of schedule. Stay tuned as we get serious over the next few weeks.

Maverick Gets First Bird

I had just arrived back to my in-laws farm from my meeting and Maverick was ready to get out of his kennel and stretch his legs. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and got my hunting clothes out and Maverick was going crazy. He knew it was time to go and get the birds.

I had about an hour before the rest of the hunting party arrived so I took Maverick to the swamp to work on some partridge. We did not have any luck except for the 10 turkeys that took off out of one of the hay fields.

When I got back to the farm Bill was there with his yellow lab Ginger and we were waiting on Tom and his black lab Annie. Tom arrived a few minutes after me and we loaded our guns and made out way to the field.

We started by walking some low areas that were to wet to farm. The grasses were thick and we had not luck. We walked for about 90 minutes and had not had a single flush. I was beginning to think that they were not around. We pushed a few cornfields (50 rows) and still nothing. I was ready to give up when Bill suggested we hit the last 2 small cornfields. The first field gave us the same result as the rest of the hunt. When Maverick started into the last field he went on point. I walked in a little ways and did not see anything. I got back to the edge of the field and up went the rooster. I took my time on the shot and the wings on the bird folded back and down he went in the thickest grass he could find. I think his wings were broke but not his legs because all 3 dogs trailed the bird to a fencerow roughly 250 yards away. We looked for the bird for about 30 minutes and gave up the search and headed back to the corn to finish the push.

This short section of corn was extremely productive. We flushed another rooster at the end of the corn. By not Mike, a neighbor, was standing at the end of the rows, he took the first shot and missed and then we both shot and the bird went down. As I was making my way to the down bird another rooster went up I was the only one with a shot and missed with the first 2 shots and attempted the 3^rd shot but only heard a click as I was on empty. Mike was not sure if hit the bird on the second shot but did not have a game vest on so I had to carry the bird and had the first bird of mine and Maverick’s hunting season. We still had a little bit of the field left to push but we were out of roosters flushing 3 hens.

We went over to the neighbor’s cornfields and were able to flush 2 more roosters. Tom and Bill put one down and again we were not able to locate the bird. They must be burying themselves deep in the grass to avoid detection. The last rooster Bill took a shot on but it would be what you call and wing and a prayer shot. The day was drawing to a close and I had a bird to clean.

Nothing is better than a safe successful hunt when your dog(s) are performing to the best of their abilities. I might get some time between now and rifle season for a few more birds before birds are closed for a few days. Good luck to everyone during rifle season. This is what I am going after the next few weekends with my bow.

Silly Birds

Keith and I traveled last Sunday morning a 1/4 mile from my house in hopes of downing some geese in a cut corn field. We had previously been in this field one other time, with no luck. I had been watching this field for two weeks, and witnessed birds going in every time. We set out 18 decoys, and then crawled into our blinds full of anticipation. One of us was fighting off the effects of the night before. This may have been the cause of our poor hunt as the smell of beer may have overwhelmed the birds somewhat. Hint, it was not me. Right away we had ducks working the field. The first two birds came in with one shot taken and no birds falling to the ground. Shortly there after another large flock of wood ducks blessed our presence. Four shots went up, one jammed gun and one drake wood duck later the hunt was on. Within another 30 minutes another large group of woddies and mallards began working, on the third pass as the second pass they attempted to land on Keith a drake mallard fell to the ground. No geese yet. Finally they began flying, every where but our field. Quielty a group of six birds lit in our field, out of gun range. Neither one of us saw them until it was too late. They sensed smoething was up, maybe their keen sense of smell gave us away, but they lifted never to be seen again. MOre flocks worked bubt nothing ever presented a shot. Conclusion: bird hunting is fun when they cooperate, and when your head is not pounding.

Steve Newkirk

Pheasant Season Opens With A Bang

Photo: l to r Duane, Jim, Bill, Jim; dogs l to r, Lady, Ginger, Maverick.
Opening day of pheasant and the wind was blowing. Maverick, GHS, is only 16 months old and holing his own. We were hunting a family owned farm and he was on point in the first 10 minutes. The sun was shinning and made it difficult to tell what the first bird was but nobody shot what was called a hen. Further up the field was a small patch of cattails and Maverick was working them over and up went the first rooster of the season. I wish I could say that the first rooster went down but 2 shots from my Benelli SuperNova missed their mark as well as one from Bill and several from the blockers down the field. Wish we could blame it on first bird fever but it would show it ugly head several more times throughout the day.

We pushed a patch of corn with nothing for our efforts. We pushed it again to get the wind into the dogs faces to work the next patch of field. Bill was through the field first and had rested his gun against a tree to take off a layer of clothes. When I made it to the end of the corn a rooster took off. I shot 2 more times and still missed the mark as Bill was running for his gun to fire a shot. I would miss the next rooster 2 times as well.

The afternoon gave us better luck as Bill dropped the first bird of the season with a nice shot and Ginger, lab, made the retrieve. Bill was the only one who was able to connect of a bird and he would do it again later on that afternoon. All told we would kick up 8 roosters for the day and about the same number of hens.

Nice shooting Bill perhaps we can help you next time.

Justin B. & Dutchess

These are nice photos of Dutchess after a successful hunting trip with Justin. She is a very good dog and spends most of her time with Justin when he isn't at work.