And, J?ger's first big upland hunt!
At 7 months, and with the bird numbers being the way they are, I didn't expect much. And truthfully, the goal was to just get him on birds, and to only shoot the ones he'd pointed and held.
I know...tough goal, but I plan on testing him and I want to instill that a pointed bird is a bird that ends up in his mouth...not a bumped bird.
So, Saturday, in an undisclosed location west of Topeka...
After getting jacked up on the first spot by a group that apparently got permission somehow...I moved on.
I hunted by myself all weekend, so I tried to find spots that one guy and a pup could work well.
So, I walked out an old dry creek bed that's just choked full of reeds and some kind of small fluffy cat tail like weeds.I'm not sure what it's called.
About 3/4ths of the way through it, just walking the edges, and J?ger going back and forth from one side to the other, he cuts around in front of me and locks up solid!
Two roosters flush out just seconds apart, and I get them both shot, but the first one hits the ground with the landing gear down and takes off!
By this time, J?ger is headed for the other side where he apparently saw number two land. I hated to do it, but I called him off to help run down the cripple, cuz I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to!
He hits the track never seeing the bird and makes it all the way to the other side of the wheat stubble where the rooster had re-entered the thick stuff.
He searched and searched, but that one got away from us. He must have cut through the thick stuff and kept running through the stubble on the other side.
Back to number 2...
I marked the general area by a tree. As soon as we approached, I gave him the "DEAD" command and he started bull dozing his way around in there. I couldn't see him, but I could sure hear him!
Then,...it got quiet. I took a gamble, hoping I wasn't calling him off his search, and said, "Bring him here"...
I dug out my phone and started snapping pics as he got closer...
ATTA BOY J?ger!!
30 minutes later...exact same scenario. No chasing or tracking, just a constant "hunt" and then a locked up point.
But, this one was a little easier to find!
That ended up being the extent of our action on Saturday, but considering the bird numbers, and hunting solo with a 7 month old pup,...I was happy!
Sunday,...I figured I'd head out a ways to some land my buddy owns and hopefully lose the new guys that kept leap frogging me.
I parked up at the road so I could walk the quail buffer and the edge of the milo back into the thick stuff, but as I crested the hill about 1/2 mile in,...
Guess what I see. The same trucks that I've been trying to avoid!
We have signs posted all over the place that say "WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION",...but someone had told them...blah blah blah.
Totally messed up my whole plan. I hunted it anyway, but it was fruitless and I should have just left.
My next walk was close to 2 miles and I never saw a bird.
I just couldn't get back into the pheasants.
I finished the day walking an old wooded creek bottom. About 1/2 way through a 3/4 mile walk, J?ger locks up!
A really nice sized covey of quail busts out and I drop one.
J?ger found it, but he wasn't convinced it was dead.
We chased that covey all the way down the creek bottom but never got anymore shots. When they'd flush, and we'd find them again, they were already bunched back up. We never found one single out of the original covey. If he bumped them, I wouldn't shoot, and if he pointed, I couldn't get a shot! Quail in the trees can be trying!
I stayed and hunted 1/2 the day today. We woke to a heavy fog and the forecast of a major weather change, so I was hoping they'd hold in the grass a little later than normal.
The first big walk produced two hens squirting out the far end.
On our last walk, we pushed some milo down into a nice CRP bowl. J?ger got real birdy as soon as we hit the grass and I figured we had a runner.
Luckily, the rooster hit the bottom of the grass and cut left into some standing tumble weeds. Beyond that, it was short pasture so he had two choices, hold and hide, or fly.
He flew and I dropped him!
It was a tough hunt for sure, but I feel we did pretty good considering.
At 7 months, and with the bird numbers being the way they are, I didn't expect much. And truthfully, the goal was to just get him on birds, and to only shoot the ones he'd pointed and held.
I know...tough goal, but I plan on testing him and I want to instill that a pointed bird is a bird that ends up in his mouth...not a bumped bird.
So, Saturday, in an undisclosed location west of Topeka...
After getting jacked up on the first spot by a group that apparently got permission somehow...I moved on.
I hunted by myself all weekend, so I tried to find spots that one guy and a pup could work well.
So, I walked out an old dry creek bed that's just choked full of reeds and some kind of small fluffy cat tail like weeds.I'm not sure what it's called.
About 3/4ths of the way through it, just walking the edges, and J?ger going back and forth from one side to the other, he cuts around in front of me and locks up solid!
Two roosters flush out just seconds apart, and I get them both shot, but the first one hits the ground with the landing gear down and takes off!
By this time, J?ger is headed for the other side where he apparently saw number two land. I hated to do it, but I called him off to help run down the cripple, cuz I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to!
He hits the track never seeing the bird and makes it all the way to the other side of the wheat stubble where the rooster had re-entered the thick stuff.
He searched and searched, but that one got away from us. He must have cut through the thick stuff and kept running through the stubble on the other side.
Back to number 2...
I marked the general area by a tree. As soon as we approached, I gave him the "DEAD" command and he started bull dozing his way around in there. I couldn't see him, but I could sure hear him!
Then,...it got quiet. I took a gamble, hoping I wasn't calling him off his search, and said, "Bring him here"...
I dug out my phone and started snapping pics as he got closer...
ATTA BOY J?ger!!
30 minutes later...exact same scenario. No chasing or tracking, just a constant "hunt" and then a locked up point.
But, this one was a little easier to find!
That ended up being the extent of our action on Saturday, but considering the bird numbers, and hunting solo with a 7 month old pup,...I was happy!
Sunday,...I figured I'd head out a ways to some land my buddy owns and hopefully lose the new guys that kept leap frogging me.
I parked up at the road so I could walk the quail buffer and the edge of the milo back into the thick stuff, but as I crested the hill about 1/2 mile in,...
Guess what I see. The same trucks that I've been trying to avoid!
We have signs posted all over the place that say "WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION",...but someone had told them...blah blah blah.
Totally messed up my whole plan. I hunted it anyway, but it was fruitless and I should have just left.
My next walk was close to 2 miles and I never saw a bird.
I just couldn't get back into the pheasants.
I finished the day walking an old wooded creek bottom. About 1/2 way through a 3/4 mile walk, J?ger locks up!
A really nice sized covey of quail busts out and I drop one.
J?ger found it, but he wasn't convinced it was dead.
We chased that covey all the way down the creek bottom but never got anymore shots. When they'd flush, and we'd find them again, they were already bunched back up. We never found one single out of the original covey. If he bumped them, I wouldn't shoot, and if he pointed, I couldn't get a shot! Quail in the trees can be trying!
I stayed and hunted 1/2 the day today. We woke to a heavy fog and the forecast of a major weather change, so I was hoping they'd hold in the grass a little later than normal.
The first big walk produced two hens squirting out the far end.
On our last walk, we pushed some milo down into a nice CRP bowl. J?ger got real birdy as soon as we hit the grass and I figured we had a runner.
Luckily, the rooster hit the bottom of the grass and cut left into some standing tumble weeds. Beyond that, it was short pasture so he had two choices, hold and hide, or fly.
He flew and I dropped him!
It was a tough hunt for sure, but I feel we did pretty good considering.
