KBell
New member
We set out for Pocahontas area today. Weather conditions are fabulous with 50's to start and 60's by noon. I am sure some of you were wondering when we would make our annual trek back to the pipelines and sloughs.
We set out just a little before nine. Breakfast was good and we got to "jawing" with some locals about the wrestling/football today. I thought it might impact hunter numbers and I was right.
We start with the pipelines. Forty our so yards from the vehicle and Sophie locks up. I motion to my hunting partner and step in. Up pops rooster number one and he is determined to take a straight away route. At the shot I notice two other birds flush to my right. I stick with bird one. He is not solidly hit and I know it. As I proceed forward I hear more flushing and shots by my son. Sophie heads straight to bird one and he is in the bag. Never moved from his landing spot. I head back to communicate with my son. After signals-he confirms he has two in hand and that a total of seven roosters flushed after the first shot. Talk about energy--I am feeling the rush! Our next three points are hens. Sophie is solid today I thought. Quartering well and covering lots of ground. We are approaching the junction with road number one when a solid point occurs. I motion to my son. At the approach rooster two for me flushes back and over my head. I let him quarter away having long ago learned that a quick shot here leads to a miss. The prairie storm load of 5's ends his day. At the shot rooster two takes a straight away from the nose of Sophie. My contribution to the day ends as the over chamber connects and the load of prairie storm does its job.
We have finished our first section together and only have a bird to go. We need to switch plans as Sophie tends to work for me in the field.
We look for a slough south of Laurens. We are sharing thoughts of our hunt together and the weather is amazing. Listening to wrestling coverage only fuels our desire. We see a sole cornfield that is in the process of being picked. The first and only one today. I look at the adjacent ditch and instantly know what to do.
I am involved in the Minnesota-Iowa game discussion on the radio as I see Sophie enter and then my hunting partner follow not twenty yards from their starting point. A hen climbs high and wide into the strong sunlight. I hear the shot to see the low-flying rooster bird crash into the eighth row of picked corn. An additional rooster--he looks to be an "old boy" flies directly over the cab of the truck and back into the standing corn behind me. All smiles as my partner heads back to the vehicle with Sophie in tow. Today was a hunters day in our Hawkeye state I thought and tonight will hopefully be a Hawkeye win!!
We set out just a little before nine. Breakfast was good and we got to "jawing" with some locals about the wrestling/football today. I thought it might impact hunter numbers and I was right.
We start with the pipelines. Forty our so yards from the vehicle and Sophie locks up. I motion to my hunting partner and step in. Up pops rooster number one and he is determined to take a straight away route. At the shot I notice two other birds flush to my right. I stick with bird one. He is not solidly hit and I know it. As I proceed forward I hear more flushing and shots by my son. Sophie heads straight to bird one and he is in the bag. Never moved from his landing spot. I head back to communicate with my son. After signals-he confirms he has two in hand and that a total of seven roosters flushed after the first shot. Talk about energy--I am feeling the rush! Our next three points are hens. Sophie is solid today I thought. Quartering well and covering lots of ground. We are approaching the junction with road number one when a solid point occurs. I motion to my son. At the approach rooster two for me flushes back and over my head. I let him quarter away having long ago learned that a quick shot here leads to a miss.
The prairie storm load of 5's ends his day. At the shot rooster two takes a straight away from the nose of Sophie. My contribution to the day ends as the over chamber connects and the load of prairie storm does its job.We have finished our first section together and only have a bird to go. We need to switch plans as Sophie tends to work for me in the field.
We look for a slough south of Laurens. We are sharing thoughts of our hunt together and the weather is amazing. Listening to wrestling coverage only fuels our desire. We see a sole cornfield that is in the process of being picked. The first and only one today. I look at the adjacent ditch and instantly know what to do.
I am involved in the Minnesota-Iowa game discussion on the radio as I see Sophie enter and then my hunting partner follow not twenty yards from their starting point. A hen climbs high and wide into the strong sunlight. I hear the shot to see the low-flying rooster bird crash into the eighth row of picked corn. An additional rooster--he looks to be an "old boy" flies directly over the cab of the truck and back into the standing corn behind me. All smiles as my partner heads back to the vehicle with Sophie in tow. Today was a hunters day in our Hawkeye state I thought and tonight will hopefully be a Hawkeye win!!
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