Bang'n Away

KBell

KBell

New member
Collected these two "veterans" on private land by Pocahontas this morning. Thank you Marcella. The lefty sports a 27 inch tail and the righty has a 26.

Saw two roosters picking in a neighboring field and bumped the first rooster of the morning. Second was a solid point by Sophie. Seven hen points with one being a double.:D

Awesome scenting conditions today with Sophie often "grunting" with the nose full of scent she was getting. Lefty was a solid point and held for a full minute before I flushed him. Righty was a point, then decided to try his tennis shoes out and was then "force pointed" by Sophie. She jumped him to the flush. I still haven't worked this "kink" out with Sophie yet but we are working on it. Lefty was her most solid point this season.

Strange to see much snow along fencelines and in the slough bottoms and creeks. All in all an excellent training and scenting day for Sophie!:)
 
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nice parrots bell but what i really like is the shooting iron people on this forumhave sum really nice over and unders i feel emberrassed with my auto cordoba lol
 
Very nicly done! Was hoping the rain wouldnt be that big of an issue today. Oh well. Thinking of heading back to SD for the weekend. Our goose hunt fell through:mad:
 
Thanks guys!

Thanks everyone,

Hello Madison. I have one dog Sophie who is a spaniel and GSH mix or in other words an oops at a hunting trip I was on two years ago. Her mother Heidi was one of the best working and pointing dogs I have ever had the privilege to see in action. Her father Bubba was one heck of a retriever. No one wanted these pups when born--I rolled the dice and have been "profiting" ever since.

Over and under, don't ever apologize for your shooting irons. I carry my feather light due to my age, not my stature. It is quick to the shoulder and I mount Brownings well no matter what the style is.

I prefer my peerless by Remington for most outings. It has been years since I carried a pump or semi-auto in the fields. I like the safety and weight of the O/U's.
 
26 and 27 inches!?!? Man, o, man . . . I've shot better than 1000 roosters over the last ten years and not a one of them topped 25 inches.

Very impressive. Congratulations!
 
Hello Nate,

My record is a Kansas rooster at 33 inches. He resides over my fireplace and I look at him often for "inspiration". The longest spur I have harvested is from an Iowa bird, it is 1 and 1/8 inches. He resides in my hunting room. I have two other Iowa birds with 1 inch spurs.

I have seen many long tailed birds over the years but few 1 inch or longer spurs. I have shot three myself and have witnessed two others. I "guided in South Dakota in 1993 and they had a long tail contest where over 100 tail feathers were submitted that were 26 or more inches long. That is why I belong to the "long spur society".
 
KBell said:
Hello Nate,

My record is a Kansas rooster at 33 inches. He resides over my fireplace and I look at him often for "inspiration". The longest spur I have harvested is from an Iowa bird, it is 1 and 1/8 inches. He resides in my hunting room. I have two other Iowa birds with 1 inch spurs.
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33 inches is insane! You've got to post of pic of that trophy!

About 10 years ago, a friend of mine took one that hit right at 30 inches. That's the longest tail feather I've ever SEEN.
 
What are we doing?

Hello Nate,

What the heck are you and I doing home on this beautiful Saturday morning of pheasant hunting? Seriously, I have a deer to finish processing(my son's) and a family christmas party later today. I posted pics of the long spur boys that I have. Enjoy!

P.S. Those coyotes are more resistant(go figure) to the Parvo and carry it quite often and transmit it most in their saliva and stool. I called my Vet friend and confirmed this.

I forgot about the reserves opening up.:eek: I do not hunt them most of the time. More traps from our fur-hunting brothers in there and size make me "re-think" hunting these. I now have three roosters and a hen on our family farm. Grove trail pics verified this morning! If this keeps up, I might have 5 pheasants on this 400 acres by close of the season!:)

Ken

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Honor System

I had the greatest pics(2) of the slough I hunted today on my camera and a pic of Sophie and myself after the hunt. All is lost, I either forgot to hit save on the pics or did not have the disk in correctly. Either way, you men will have to take my word on this one!

South of Primghar is where we started. After morning conversation with Kevin (college friend) I embarked on an 80 crp patch that has not been hunted since week two of the season. As we were talking, rooster number one scooted across the road to the adjacent ditch. Only one to go! Twenty yards in Sophie locked hard on point-Hen. Another 30 yards-Hen. Reverse direction-Rooster that looked to be this years hatch. That's two game on.

Going North and roughly 200 yards when Sophie locks hard on point--3 hens. Sophie is definitely in the game now. Next point--hawk killed hen.:mad: Sophie eats the foot--we "crunch" for the next 30 yards. Next point-two roosters and my second double this year. Had to spend a few minutes searching for number two-tall switchgrass in the 5 foot range. Turn the corner on the North side and heading East-bump a hen. At the next corner, bump rooster number three--crossing left to right which all of you know by now is my favorite.:) Heading South now to truck and point--two hens. The next 300 yards is uneventful--other than the weather--what a still, beautiful day to be packing 9 pounds of pheasant to the truck. Last 15 feet and a solid point--walk in and nothing. Stomp around and nothing. Sophie repoints--Hen.

Grand total-5 roosters, 8 hens. Great scenting and dog work by my 2 year old GSH. She really gets it now. I have full confidence in her pointing ability. Kevin and kids have two dressed roosters to eat. Great day!
 
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Spurs!

Wow! Longest spurs I've ever seen. Great pics. Did they hold for points or flush wild?


P.S. That Sprite can in the original pic made me realize how thirsty I am. Gotta go and grab a cold one
 
Great job!!!!!!!!! The leg that sophie ate, we call those Feetos!!!!! Think Dave Walker may have coined the phrase, not sure. I will break off a leg of a quail or pigeon during training sometimes and feed it to the dogs.!
Anyways, great job, I would love to see a picture of Sophie!
 
That is the method I follow in my training to. :thumbsup: Learned it from a friend of mine who hunt tests and trials Viszlas, who learned it from a GSP trainer and who learned it from Dave.

Great system.
 
Hello Shorthairs for Life. Those birds were all pointed by my Simba. A black lab that pointed and hunted like no other dog I have owned. Sophie is making a strong bid however.:) The bird on the post with 1 and 1/8 spurs held on three different points and over 10 minutes of stomping around in the cover before he flushed. No wonder he had the "credentials" he did. You also spotted one of my weaknesses. I love the Sprite or Squirt when out bird hunting. Endorsements maybe??

Ha Ha Mstand. I like the feetos comment.:) My grandma Esther actually loved to eat pickled chicken feet when I was younger. Maybe these dogs and Esther knew something we missed?:D I can still hear Sophie crunching on that thing as we moved through the switchgrass yesterday. Enjoying one of my favorites tonight--pheasant breast in wild rice. Hmmm.
 
Kbell, I am alright with missing it!!!! LMAO As long as there is steak and chicken breast I will for go the feet!
 
Meriden

Spent this beatiful day in the Meriden area hunting some private land and the gas pipeline that you guys know I like to hunt.

Started out on the pipleline and Sophie had an immediate point. It was calm this morning and the scenting conditions were perfect!:) Up pops a rooster and I watched him rise, level off and then sail off down the trench. He definitely had a season under his belt.:) Next point came off the top of the opposite bank. A hen that crossed the trench. A patch of cattails made the next point interesting! Up comes a hen and at the same time, a coyote bails out the far end. I level for a shot and fall on the ice! These pipeline trenches are usually wet at the bottom. As I regain my footing, I now have a 60 yard straight away shot. I didn't plan on eating him anyway!:p One shot of copper 5's are now embedded in the ass of that coyote. Fortunately, at the shot he bolted up the right hand embankment and took off for Larrabee. My next three steps led to rooster number two in the air. Again a second year bird with a nice tail. He sailed straight down the trench and I hoped to see him again. The next three hundred yards were uneventful. Sophie heads up the left bank and locks solid 1/2 way up the bank. I literally can see the ground in front of her--the cover is sparse. I trudge up anyway and jump three hens. They were hiding in plain sight-never ceases to amaze me how they can hide in nothing. Back to the bottom of the trench and immediately Sophie heads up the right bank to the top. We semi-point, relocate and point again. Up pops a hen. As Sophie jumps at the flush, she bumps up rooster number one who flies right to left across the trench. By now you all know what that means and he is in the bag. As we near the end of the first trench Sophie points directly ahead of me. We are in the location of where rooster #2 landed. Up pops a straight-away rooster cackling all the way. Shell #3 is spent and so is this late-hatch rooster. He is not the old-boy I sent up there earlier.

We are at a private piece of roughly 20 acres. Not hunted since the opening weekend. As we begin I notice a rooster flush from the far end of the piece. Seemed jumpy--looking around I see spent shells, litter and rooster feathers. Proceed and flush three hens from the piece. No points and the birds are running. I am somewhat skeptical now as I have another parcel to hunt. This one also was supposedly idle since the early season. Only difference, this parcel has a house nearby. This proved to be a huge difference. Upon entering, Sophie immediately goes on point. I entered and up pops a hen. She has a large body and pronounced tail. Great to see! We make the rest of the first pass and from her actions I can tell the birds are running.:p It is 10:45 now. The wind has increased and the scenting conditions have fallen. On our second pass we bump a hen. I believe she may have run into us. At the end of this second pass Sophie slams on point. I enter and flush not one but four roosters!!:laugh: You all know which one I chose and he finished what turned out to be a beautiful Iowa day and a great hunt. All three roosters were this years bird! Nate, your recipe is going to be applied to these fellas! I posted some pics of the pipeline and private I hunted today. Final tally--eight roosters, twelve hens and a coyote. Not a bad day at all!:thumbsup:

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Looks a lot like the area South of Pocahontas towards Fonda we used to hunt. I loved those big dreges and how the birds would sit just over the edge on those very steep hills. We used to have a lot of fun in that area. congrats
 
Very nice read.

I've roughly 10 fields up in the Pomeroy and Fonda area, and haven't experienced the same success this year. Fields that used to hold upwards of 60 birds have been very, very sparse this year. I've hunted up there once this year, and decided that would be it.

Hope you enjoy the pheasant recipe.
 
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