Hobie1026
Active member
I got out last weekend to explore Nebraska some more. Chose a new area. I got the maps, loaded the dog and the gun in the Pathfinder and headed out.
Saturday was grim. The first WIA I stopped at was nothing but a pasture and draw that had been grazed down to nothing. No food, no water, very little in the way of cover. I headed further east, stopping at several more WIAs.
Not a single bird to be found. It was drier than anywhere else I'd seen. Each step Loki took his paws raised little dust clouds. I talked to a couple other hunters that night that were staying at the same motel. They hadn't had much luck either.
Sunday I got up and left for the fields, trying to navigate back roads in the dark. The first field I had planned on hunting had little in the way of cover so I moved on. Found another WIA that looked promising. There was a strip of tall grass near a corn field.
I got out and turned Loki loose. 15 minutes into the hunt Loki started acting a little birdy. Then his tail went into propeller mode. I mentally braced myself for the flush, imagining the single rooster cackling as he rose, the impossibly long tail flowing out behind him.
One more step and suddenly I was surrounded by whirring feathers and small birds flying in all directions. My brain was so prepared for a pheasant it didn't even occur to me that I should shoot. Too late I remembered bobwhite quail were occasionally found in this part. I swung and shot and as always I shot at the covey, not a feather was disturbed.
I was able to mark them down and we managed to hunt up 2 singles. I missed the first one but was a little more collected when Loki flushed the second one and was able to connect. My first ever bobwhite quail.
After some more walking and no flushes I left, heading to look for other spots. I was heading to a public area to the south. As I was driving I saw a tiny public parcel. Hardly more than a weed patch. I wanted to get to the big WIA but figured I could hunt this in 20 minutes and be on my way and since I was right here...
We got out and in just a few feet Loki got birdy. Seconds later a hen flushed out of the grass, followed a second later by a rooster. 1 shot and a perfect retrieve. We kept walking, and about 200 yards further Loki flushed another rooster. I missed clean with the first barrel but saw the bird flinch when I fired the second barrel. I hustled over to where I saw the bird go down and told Loki to hunt dead. No bird.
I wasn't leaving til I either flushed that bird again or worked the whole patch. So I positioned Loki into the wind and we pushed the entire field back and forth. An hour later, at the very back of the field, I saw the rooster stick his head up. Loki saw it at the same time. The rooster had a broken wing but took off running. Loki ran him down and was able to bring him to hand. I was so happy to have gotten that bird in the bag and not lost it I decided to call it a day and head for home on a high note.
As someone else on here said, with the scarcity of birds this season every one feels like a trophy. I drove home with 3 and felt like the luckiest man alive.
Saturday was grim. The first WIA I stopped at was nothing but a pasture and draw that had been grazed down to nothing. No food, no water, very little in the way of cover. I headed further east, stopping at several more WIAs.
Not a single bird to be found. It was drier than anywhere else I'd seen. Each step Loki took his paws raised little dust clouds. I talked to a couple other hunters that night that were staying at the same motel. They hadn't had much luck either.
Sunday I got up and left for the fields, trying to navigate back roads in the dark. The first field I had planned on hunting had little in the way of cover so I moved on. Found another WIA that looked promising. There was a strip of tall grass near a corn field.
I got out and turned Loki loose. 15 minutes into the hunt Loki started acting a little birdy. Then his tail went into propeller mode. I mentally braced myself for the flush, imagining the single rooster cackling as he rose, the impossibly long tail flowing out behind him.
One more step and suddenly I was surrounded by whirring feathers and small birds flying in all directions. My brain was so prepared for a pheasant it didn't even occur to me that I should shoot. Too late I remembered bobwhite quail were occasionally found in this part. I swung and shot and as always I shot at the covey, not a feather was disturbed.
I was able to mark them down and we managed to hunt up 2 singles. I missed the first one but was a little more collected when Loki flushed the second one and was able to connect. My first ever bobwhite quail.
After some more walking and no flushes I left, heading to look for other spots. I was heading to a public area to the south. As I was driving I saw a tiny public parcel. Hardly more than a weed patch. I wanted to get to the big WIA but figured I could hunt this in 20 minutes and be on my way and since I was right here...
We got out and in just a few feet Loki got birdy. Seconds later a hen flushed out of the grass, followed a second later by a rooster. 1 shot and a perfect retrieve. We kept walking, and about 200 yards further Loki flushed another rooster. I missed clean with the first barrel but saw the bird flinch when I fired the second barrel. I hustled over to where I saw the bird go down and told Loki to hunt dead. No bird.
I wasn't leaving til I either flushed that bird again or worked the whole patch. So I positioned Loki into the wind and we pushed the entire field back and forth. An hour later, at the very back of the field, I saw the rooster stick his head up. Loki saw it at the same time. The rooster had a broken wing but took off running. Loki ran him down and was able to bring him to hand. I was so happy to have gotten that bird in the bag and not lost it I decided to call it a day and head for home on a high note.
As someone else on here said, with the scarcity of birds this season every one feels like a trophy. I drove home with 3 and felt like the luckiest man alive.
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