Good day in the field with good dogs and good friends

[ezzy333]

Spent a few hours chasing the wily pheasant today and am here to report we didn't hurt the population a lot. We had two main objectives for the day and I think we about 50% successful. Jesse(Britlver) and his wife Steph along with Molly(young Britt) and Hunter(puppy) came down from WI to see if we could give Molly some experience in the field and have Steph shoot a bird(has never shot at a pheasant before). WE did get Molly some exposure but Steph is still pheasantless though she did get a couple of shots.

Molly like most young exuberant pups did a nice job of hunting but had a couple of occasions where she forgot to stop and point. The birds were running really bad and with the wind it was hard for the dogs to find let alone point the birds and once they flushed they were long gone. We run Molly first with my female Time and we did get a couple of points from Time but as I said the birds were wild and they would run out and then flush 20 to 40 yards out. We circled back and picked up Rush but had about the same results with the three of them. We found birds but if Molly flushed them we didn't shoot and most of the rest were running out way ahead of us. Think we had one bird that the dogs were trying to pin as Time trailed it and Rush circled to the front but it ended up Jesse stepped on it and I think it startled him so bad he forgot to shoot( I am sure he will have a different version). To end the day we put Rush and Time and myself away sitting on the truck as Steph, Jesse, And Molly got one more shot at it and sure enough Molly finally pointed, though again the bird run and she had a little trouble handling the running bird which had caused all of the dogs trouble with the high wind and it flushed out in front of her a ways.

Jesse has a nice young Britt that is handling well, hunting well, with good range, and showed me at least that she is well on her way to being a real nice hunting dog as she gets more exposure to birds and I do feel we were successful in teaching her something today. Now we still need to work on Steph, but in all honesty it was a hard day and I am sure she will be showing us all up in a very short time. Most of us probably don't think or remember the first time we shot over a dog but it came back to me when she said "the dog is on point, now what do I do?" She know after today so she is just that one step closer to getting it done.

I sure had fun today and hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did. Today was the slightly less than perfect day but was close to the successful hunt for me that some can't understand but we came home with an empty bag, three tired dogs, and a dog and a inexperienced hunter a little bit smarter than when they went, and a very happy old man that was able to help a couple of fine young kids that I can call friends have a day in the field to add to their memories.

Ezzy

[Garrison]

Sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to spend the day.

Glad you saved some of the wily pen raised drop and shoot population in Illinois, I hope the coyotes don't get them I'm heading out there to hunt with the family over Thanksgiving.

[rick,b]

sounds like a good day

[ezzy333]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

[brad27]

What, no pics?

[ezzy333]

What, no pics?

I knew this was coming and should have eold everyone I forgot the camera and left it at home. The way the day worked out not sure there would have been many good ones at least as we just couldn't get close to hardly anything. Could have had one real good one of Time but both dogs were in the heavier cover most of the time and hard to see.'

Ezzy

[Garrison]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

Thank goodness, I didn't think a real sportsman such as your self would consider shooting planted birds sport.
I didn't realize that there is such a healthy pheasant population an hour out of Chicago, must be a really secret spot.

[brad27]

Just ribben ya. You know we all like pics of a good day out.

[ezzy333]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

Thank goodness, I didn't think a real sportsman such as your self would consider shooting planted birds sport.
I didn't realize that there is such a healthy pheasant population an hour out of Chicago, must be a really secret spot.

Must be quite a lot you don't realize but am sure you will learn as you gain experience.

Ezzy

[ezzy333]

Just ribben ya. You know we all like pics of a good day out.

Yep I know and can't believe I left the camera home. I am always hoping someone will go along so we can have a desinated picture taker and today when we could I don't have the camera.

Ezzy

[Garrison]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

Thank goodness, I didn't think a real sportsman such as your self would consider shooting planted birds sport.
I didn't realize that there is such a healthy pheasant population an hour out of Chicago, must be a really secret spot.

Must be quite a lot you don't realize but am sure you will learn as you gain experience.

Ezzy

One can only hope, glad you had a good time with your dogs and friends I think that is what we all love about this sport.

BTW my dog and I have been on wild birds at least three days a week the entire season and have not shot a single one with anything but a camera. Just given you a hard time..

[Brittlver]

I just want to say a huge thanks to Al(Ezzy). Steph and I had a blast out there and I know Molly did too. Like I was telling Al over and over that I prob. made his ears bleed, LOL I don't care that I didn't shoot a bird, I just love being in the field with friends and family and now our wonderful dog Molly. I loved watching the birds fly away. Yes there were two that I could have shot but was either to startled or just didn't want to shoot. I will say that this memory will stick with me and I am sure it will be with my wife too. Can't wait to do it again. Thanks again Al.

Jesse

[gittrdonebritts]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

Thank goodness, I didn't think a real sportsman such as your self would consider shooting planted birds sport.
I didn't realize that there is such a healthy pheasant population an hour out of Chicago, must be a really secret spot.

Have you ever been to IL ? there is way more here than just Chicago.

Glade you guys had fun wish I could have been there.

[Garrison]

We weren't hunting any drop and shoot birds but I am sure there will beplenty of them left for you.

Ezzy

Thank goodness, I didn't think a real sportsman such as your self would consider shooting planted birds sport.
I didn't realize that there is such a healthy pheasant population an hour out of Chicago, must be a really secret spot.

Have you ever been to IL ? there is way more here than just Chicago.

Glade you guys had fun wish I could have been there.

Twice a year, I agree it is a beautiful state full of wonderful people, my family included.

[wems2371]

Just ribben ya. You know we all like pics of a good day out.

Yep I know and can't believe I left the camera home. I am always hoping someone will go along so we can have a desinated picture taker and today when we could I don't have the camera.

Ezzy

Hmmm, I must have missed the GDF hunt invite. Just kidding and I was out chasing phez with friends too. Sounds like a good day!

[ezzy333]

Hey you know you are welcome anytime as long as you bring the dogs, your husband, and Mary and crew if you can manage it. Love to see the dogs work and always fun to see them with other dogs. And of course it becoes special when we can do it with friends.

Ezzy

[birddogger]

Glad to hear you had a good time! Ron and I had a similar experience yesterday with the wind, running birds, poor scenting conditionings, etc. We managed to bag two. Those pen raised birds sure are easy aren't they?

Charlie

[ezzy333]

Think so if you don't know how to use them. Of course native bird are just as easy if you drop and shoot them.

Ezzy

[bfred]

Today was the slightly less than perfect day but was close to the successful hunt for me that some can't understand but we came home with an empty bag, three tired dogs, and a dog and a inexperienced hunter a little bit smarter than when they went, and a very happy old man that was able to help a couple of fine young kids that I can call friends have a day in the field to add to their memories.
Ezzy

Thanks for sharing your weekend hunt story. Although coming home with a few birds equates to a great day, I agree with you that
getting out with good friends, seeing a few opportunities arise while watching the dogs work puts a smile on my face.

We got out Saturday as well. Four good hunting buddies and seven dogs, three of them year old pups.

We parked the truck, put on our vests, and gathered our shutguns. We popped the topper on the pick-up bed
to let the dogs out and as they hit the ground 2 roosters and a hen flushed not more than 30 yards from the truck.

We gathered the dogs and headed out into the fields in a methodical, slow walk. We came across a few rows of
standing corn as my setter pup, Jax, was ranging well out in front of me. He'd get out a ways, I'd call COME and he'd range back to me.
As we approached the end of the corn row, Jax and my buddie's GSP pointer pup Cloe, both slammed on the skidders, bumping
a rooster. I took the shot at 20 yards and down he went, with a couple of the labs with us fetching the bird.
A very excited Jax and Cloe got a nice muzzle full of Illinois pheasant, as I gave them the "good dogs" and a couple hardy pats.
To me, that was exactly what my intentions were for this weekend was to be fortunate enough to knock down a bird or two in front of the pups.

We hunted, with a few breaks in between to water the dogs and statigize our plans, for close to five hours total.
Couple the older GSP worked very well throughout our hunt, providing four gorgeous locks.
They didn't seem to mind the pups tagging along with them, sometimes getting in they're way as they changed
course trying to stay on scent. Got to love that schooling those pups are getting,
watching then follow the seasoned dogs, you just know they're talking.
The wind really picked up as the day grew, and many areas, even down in the timbered fingers are still really thick.
That and the warm temperatures, no doubt those birds were running.
We need some cold weather along with some snow to knock some of that down.

I didn't get a chance to drop another bird in front of my pup Jax, but we'd finished the day with six birds, tired dogs and
some good conversation fodder when cleaning birds and enjoying a couple cold drinks back home in the garage.

ps. My apologies for not having pics. Got a little grief about that from my my hunting pals too, as I usually always bring a camera along.
Guess I was a bit too exited about getting the pup out hunting. I'll make sure to include some next hunt.

[Dave C]

Good write up pal, well done.

ATB
Dave.