nstric
New member
Finally got back out afield after what felt like a long hiatus. Five minutes into the drive and I was seeing plenty of birds eating in the fields, right off of 141. More birds than I'd seen driving all year long, combined, by a country mile!
Upon arriving at the field I see 20+ pheasants feeding to the south, a few more running in the road ditch ahead of me, and another 12+ in the farmstead adjacent to where I planned to hunt. I knew it was going to be good.
Gunner and I walk in, he locks up in the fenceline, and though I figure it's old scent he knows better. Up come another dozen or so pheasants, about half of which were roosters. Too close to the house to drop any.
We step into the cattails and another point is quickly made. Birds burst out from all angles, and I drop one of the roosters. I saw right where he fell, could see the cattails shaking from flutttering wings, but still couldn't locate the bird. The snow was that deep. Thankfully, Gunner's nose did the locating.
We press on to the north, my legs very quickly tiring from the extremely difficult walk. Imagine snow drifts chest deep, boots catching on cattails underneath, etc. I was getting a workout, no doubt. Gunner didn't seem to mind, working his way up and over where he could, underneath some, and pushed through where needed. He was a champ! Who says pointing breeds won't hunt the hard stuff?!?
We're now at the NW corner and 8 hens flush a bit wild. They were either running ahead of us, or birds that hadn't yet been seen. This north side is completely filled in . . . drifts six foot deep easy. We swing east and Gunner locks up, a rooster flushes, and I see Gunner just about take him from the air. I swing right to left and bag bird number two.
Twenty paces later, another point, right in the six foot deep stuff I'd mentioned above. I push into it, notice a hole, step in, and a rooster comes up my leg. One more shot, and we've our limit. Less than ten minutes into the hunt!
On the walk out I actually get stuck trying to take the most direct route towards the truck. Mistake! I was seriously stuck. Comically so. Snow up to my chest . . . way too deep to swing a leg out . . . and way too compacted to tredge through it. You know that snow that is hard enough to just barely hold your weight, but then you fall through?
I ended up calling Gunner over to stir up the area; make a path if you will. I had recalled a show on Alaska on the Discovery Channel where it was common practice to use sled dogs to do similar. See . . . who says one can't learn anything from TV?!?
Anyhow, it worked. I was then able to use my gun to push myself out and into the path Gunner created. The entire process gave me quite the laugh.
Back at the truck, we snap the picture, jump in the truck and head towards home. To my delight, I saw big groups of pheasants out feeding. Some flocks which appeared to top 30. Up until today, I'd only seen one pheasant while driving all season long. Today, during a 20 minute drive, I saw 75+ easily. It was a great day!
Upon arriving at the field I see 20+ pheasants feeding to the south, a few more running in the road ditch ahead of me, and another 12+ in the farmstead adjacent to where I planned to hunt. I knew it was going to be good.
Gunner and I walk in, he locks up in the fenceline, and though I figure it's old scent he knows better. Up come another dozen or so pheasants, about half of which were roosters. Too close to the house to drop any.
We step into the cattails and another point is quickly made. Birds burst out from all angles, and I drop one of the roosters. I saw right where he fell, could see the cattails shaking from flutttering wings, but still couldn't locate the bird. The snow was that deep. Thankfully, Gunner's nose did the locating.
We press on to the north, my legs very quickly tiring from the extremely difficult walk. Imagine snow drifts chest deep, boots catching on cattails underneath, etc. I was getting a workout, no doubt. Gunner didn't seem to mind, working his way up and over where he could, underneath some, and pushed through where needed. He was a champ! Who says pointing breeds won't hunt the hard stuff?!?
We're now at the NW corner and 8 hens flush a bit wild. They were either running ahead of us, or birds that hadn't yet been seen. This north side is completely filled in . . . drifts six foot deep easy. We swing east and Gunner locks up, a rooster flushes, and I see Gunner just about take him from the air. I swing right to left and bag bird number two.
Twenty paces later, another point, right in the six foot deep stuff I'd mentioned above. I push into it, notice a hole, step in, and a rooster comes up my leg. One more shot, and we've our limit. Less than ten minutes into the hunt!
On the walk out I actually get stuck trying to take the most direct route towards the truck. Mistake! I was seriously stuck. Comically so. Snow up to my chest . . . way too deep to swing a leg out . . . and way too compacted to tredge through it. You know that snow that is hard enough to just barely hold your weight, but then you fall through?
I ended up calling Gunner over to stir up the area; make a path if you will. I had recalled a show on Alaska on the Discovery Channel where it was common practice to use sled dogs to do similar. See . . . who says one can't learn anything from TV?!?
Anyhow, it worked. I was then able to use my gun to push myself out and into the path Gunner created. The entire process gave me quite the laugh.Back at the truck, we snap the picture, jump in the truck and head towards home. To my delight, I saw big groups of pheasants out feeding. Some flocks which appeared to top 30. Up until today, I'd only seen one pheasant while driving all season long. Today, during a 20 minute drive, I saw 75+ easily. It was a great day!
