519vx
Member
Well, the last day is here. Ive had a great trip so far, but the dogs and I are tired. My older dog tore a nail on her front pad in the field at the end of the day yesterday, so she?s done. Though she?s in pretty good physical condition, the heat and hours afield have taken their toll on my younger dog, but we are still going to do one more hunt before we start heading east toward home.
I head north toward a ditch I found last year and that I had scouted yesterday. I get there and as I opened the truck door, birds started to flush. My wife Kathy decided to stay in the truck with the older dog while I hunted the younger one. The stretch of ditch that is really good is only about ? to ? mile long. The birds seem extra spooky here, I?m sure they have been hunted as they are jumpy and flushing a long way out. One would jump, and 3 or 4 more would then jump. The immediate area had a combination of cut and standing crops. Most flew into a standing sunflower field. By the time I worked as far as I wanted to, I?d guess somewhere around 50 or more birds flushed. It is a good spot, but none were in the bag. Its already warm out and the pup isn?t hunting her best, so I decide to call it good for this trip and end the hunt.
I take my hat off and wave it to my wife back at the truck so she can drive down the overgrown section road to pick me and the dog up. She doesnt come. What the heck? I motion again, nothing, so I start walking back toward her. As I start to get closer, she starts pointing to the left side of the ditch. Hmm. I bet another bird came in behind me while I was hunting down the road. The dog and I get back into hunt mode. The wind is blowing the wrong way and the dog wants to hunt into the wind, not downwind which is the way the ditch laid out. She finally started hunting where I wanted her and quickly picked up scent. About 10 feet later, she flushed a gorgeous rooster. He flew out of a clump of tall grass across a picked bean field. I really took my time and lined up on him. I squeezed and he dropped. He hit the ground, bounced a little, and took off like a rocket running. My dog was on him at first visually, but he cut across some rows and she lost him so went to scenting. I put my gun down and walked out to see if I could see him. Despite the warm, dry, and breezy conditions, she picked up on the scent and followed that to a small woodlot with tall grass around an abandoned house. Two more different birds flushed close as soon as she hit the edge of the grass/trees. She ran back and forth but was overstimulated with all the scent, and we were unable to locate bird.
I called her off and walked back to the truck. The hunt was now over and it didn?t end the way I had wished. My wife saw the whole thing and asked what happened. I shook my head and said I just wasn?t sure?that I?d never had these problems with hard hit birds that I couldn?t recover. My shots seemed to be ?on? and the shells were fresh, I had just bought them new the week before the trip. I reached into my vest and I took out one of the shells and held it. I looked at the shell and?.? WHAT? NO WAY!! The shell says STEEL on it? The shells look the same as the ones I usually use, high brass with dark red sleeve. So for the last three days Ive been shooting #6 STEEL loads? That explains plenty. Nearly all my shots were further out, where steel doesnt have the energy/penetration that lead does. That explains why the day before reddog said ?you rocked that bird, too bad he didnt come down?. It was completely my mistake. I bought the wrong ammo. It?s humbling enough to live that and live with the lost birds, it?s even more humbling to admit such a critical error that cost me birds. It seems like a (and frankly is) a dumb mistake, but hopefully others can learn from it.
All in all it was a great trip, and I got to spend some time with my dogs in pheasant mecca. Best of luck to anyone headed out there this fall.
I head north toward a ditch I found last year and that I had scouted yesterday. I get there and as I opened the truck door, birds started to flush. My wife Kathy decided to stay in the truck with the older dog while I hunted the younger one. The stretch of ditch that is really good is only about ? to ? mile long. The birds seem extra spooky here, I?m sure they have been hunted as they are jumpy and flushing a long way out. One would jump, and 3 or 4 more would then jump. The immediate area had a combination of cut and standing crops. Most flew into a standing sunflower field. By the time I worked as far as I wanted to, I?d guess somewhere around 50 or more birds flushed. It is a good spot, but none were in the bag. Its already warm out and the pup isn?t hunting her best, so I decide to call it good for this trip and end the hunt.
I take my hat off and wave it to my wife back at the truck so she can drive down the overgrown section road to pick me and the dog up. She doesnt come. What the heck? I motion again, nothing, so I start walking back toward her. As I start to get closer, she starts pointing to the left side of the ditch. Hmm. I bet another bird came in behind me while I was hunting down the road. The dog and I get back into hunt mode. The wind is blowing the wrong way and the dog wants to hunt into the wind, not downwind which is the way the ditch laid out. She finally started hunting where I wanted her and quickly picked up scent. About 10 feet later, she flushed a gorgeous rooster. He flew out of a clump of tall grass across a picked bean field. I really took my time and lined up on him. I squeezed and he dropped. He hit the ground, bounced a little, and took off like a rocket running. My dog was on him at first visually, but he cut across some rows and she lost him so went to scenting. I put my gun down and walked out to see if I could see him. Despite the warm, dry, and breezy conditions, she picked up on the scent and followed that to a small woodlot with tall grass around an abandoned house. Two more different birds flushed close as soon as she hit the edge of the grass/trees. She ran back and forth but was overstimulated with all the scent, and we were unable to locate bird.
I called her off and walked back to the truck. The hunt was now over and it didn?t end the way I had wished. My wife saw the whole thing and asked what happened. I shook my head and said I just wasn?t sure?that I?d never had these problems with hard hit birds that I couldn?t recover. My shots seemed to be ?on? and the shells were fresh, I had just bought them new the week before the trip. I reached into my vest and I took out one of the shells and held it. I looked at the shell and?.? WHAT? NO WAY!! The shell says STEEL on it? The shells look the same as the ones I usually use, high brass with dark red sleeve. So for the last three days Ive been shooting #6 STEEL loads? That explains plenty. Nearly all my shots were further out, where steel doesnt have the energy/penetration that lead does. That explains why the day before reddog said ?you rocked that bird, too bad he didnt come down?. It was completely my mistake. I bought the wrong ammo. It?s humbling enough to live that and live with the lost birds, it?s even more humbling to admit such a critical error that cost me birds. It seems like a (and frankly is) a dumb mistake, but hopefully others can learn from it.
All in all it was a great trip, and I got to spend some time with my dogs in pheasant mecca. Best of luck to anyone headed out there this fall.