efficiency

[Toad]

They say, "bootleather kills birds", but I don't know about that... In terms of efficiency, drought does a much better job, I think...

Walked Saturday and Sunday until I was completely wrecked, which took a lot fewer miles on Sunday, and ended the weekend with one bird in the bag... I didn't see a bird, a feather, a roost poop, nothing until after lunch on Saturday... That's bad!

We did finally find a few Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, but most of them were too crafty for the likes of us. We each missed one rooster, so I guess we had 4 (maybe 5) in gun range in two days of hunting. Had a few tight sitting hens to keep things interesting, and saw a few more hens and roosters flipping us the bird from a few hundred yards out.

Tough hunting,,, yes. Great weekend with friends and dogs,,, yes. I really hope the drought stops hunting so guys like me have a chance next year.
:cheers:

 

[SetterNut]

This is a year where putting in a lot of miles and having a dog with some experience is a big help. And its still tough to find birds.

This is also a year that is a tough to get a young dog experience, its a long time between birds.

 

[BritChaser]

They say, "bootleather kills birds", but I don't know about that... In terms of efficiency, drought does a much better job, I think...

I've heard the same put another way: You don't get pheasants with your gun; you get them with your legs.

The droughts have been devastating. That's mother nature for ya - not always a pleasant gal.

 

[Toad]

This is a year where putting in a lot of miles and having a dog with some experience is a big help. And its still tough to find birds.

This is also a year that is a tough to get a young dog experience, its a long time between birds.

Agreed. Even at 2 years old, Junie is still trying to work out how to hold the birds. She just doesn't have the experience on birds since the number of hunts and the number of birds per hunt has been lower in her lifetime. In the years of plenty, busting a bird is no big deal, you just keep hunting and get the next one... Same as missing a bird with your shotgun, no big deal, just get the next one...

Tougher this season just to say, "no big deal". I know I was kicking myself for missing my first bird, after hunting a half day and not seeing any. Junie busted one, and Daisy busted one too which is rare but these things happen... It wears on you in seasons like this though... Knowing that if you want enough birds for dinner, you all have to be flawless.

Anyway, I didn't want to be too negative about the whole thing. I had a great trip to a new area that I've never hunted before. It took us a while to find birds, but we finally did. Made some contacts to hopefully have a little private ground on to add to the mix next season. And the main thing that I always want is an adventure, which I definitely got, so it was a good trip...
:cheers: