Fooled by Birds

BritChaser

BritChaser

Well-known member
What's the best trick a game bird ever played on you? I was chukar hunting in northern Nevada when I found a covey that I had flushed. When I found them they stood in the open in a little swale on a rise. As I looked down on them I had the high ground with the closest horizon about 50 yards away, a good position. The birds would not fly even though I was but 40 or 50 feet away. So I walked down into the swale putting a new horizon just yards behind me. Once I reached the bottom of the swale they flushed and flew right over the new horizon I had created behind me. Smart birds.
 
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I was hunting a fence row with three or four ceadars growing right next to each other in the fence line. There was about three inches of snow on the ground and a covey of quail were nested under the ceadars. The my dog would go on point and the birds would run to the other end of the trees. Dog would break point go to the other end and the birds would run back. I was alone and there was no way to block the birds and get them to rise. We did this dance for about 15 minutes when I gave up. Pulled the dog off and went and found easier prey.
 
RoosterTim said:
I was hunting a fence row with three or four ceadars growing right next to each other in the fence line. There was about three inches of snow on the ground and a covey of quail were nested under the ceadars. The my dog would go on point and the birds would run to the other end of the trees. Dog would break point go to the other end and the birds would run back. I was alone and there was no way to block the birds and get them to rise. We did this dance for about 15 minutes when I gave up. Pulled the dog off and went and found easier prey.
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LMAO! Throw a hedge apple or a rock at 'em next time:D
 
brother-in-law and his son came down for a 4 day quail hunt-

points were made they took turns- one covey just sort of dissapeared on this dry creek bank- 2 Britt's were pointing- they walked all arround- I said hold on a bit and stand- saw two holes- one Britt was staring hard-

we were carrying a bit of drinking water-

1st quail to come out of that hole they both missed- we still joke about that
 
kansasbrittany said:
LMAO! Throw a hedge apple or a rock at 'em next time:D
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On my first ever pheasant hunt out in western KS, my uncle showed me this exact same trick for the dogless hunter. We were walking a weedy fallow field together that had patches of piled up tumble weeds in it so thick and tall you could never get a shot off if you went in to bust out the birds. We walked from tumbleweed patch to tumbleweed patch picking up dirt clods in between. We'd find a good vantage point, get ready, toss in the dirt clods and see if anything flew out.:rolleyes: It would have been incredibly effective if I had been decent with a shotgun back then. Sure saw a lot of roosters fly away though....:eek:

It's amazing how many birds will hold while you are kicking the sides of a tumbleweed patch but suddenly bust out once a dirt clod comes crashing through the middle.

Replacing the dirt clods with a bird dog has really increased the amount of satisfaction I get out of pheasant hunting, but the dirt clod was undeniably effective in the ol' days.:cheers:
 
Several years ago when I was at the corner of an old homestead blocking out in the milo about 30 yards I decided to quickly relieve myself while waiting for the farmer and his dog to come through the overgrown homestead. Before I could finish my pee a rooster busted out of the milo within shooting distance and before I finished a second one :eek:
I noted where one went and about 2 hours later as we finished out our hunt I decided to walk out the grader ditch where the bird had flown. When I got about 10 yards from the end and it appeared the bird had left my buddy put down his gear and started to unload his gun. Being the jokster I am, I looked over at him and raised my gun at the clouds and pulled the trigger to surprise him. Well I turned out to be the one who was surprised when that rooster busted out directly infront of me :p only to have my buddy see me being the most surprised and then to only end up emptying my gun and watching the bird fly off into the sunset:cheers:
 
I have one- on that same hunt- my male Britt was locked up- the two stood there and questioned the common scense of a Britt

I took a picture- I took a few-

there was this stump- 2 feet tall- looked rotten- that Britt was staring-
I kicked the stump- they thought I was nuts- I kicked it real hard and it sort of broke apart- a quail flew and circled- 8 shots fired and that quail was still flying- those two still talk of the 4 day hunt with a Britt and a Setter who I think did a lot laughing at my brother-in-law and his son- but they did carry and sneak my dogs candy and sandwhiches- I pretended to not notice-

I did get a bit upset one time- my male who never did that- brought a quail he pointed, held, and brother-in-law stepped in and killed, to him- that's not proper for a money dog
 
I was hunting along a riverbank with a 30' SHEER drop down to the water. The dog pointed towards the ledge so I eased up to the edge and looked over the side. About 6' down from me a rooster is perched on a tiny ledge looking back up at me. As soon as we made eye contact, he jumps off the ledge he had been standing on and flys STRAIGHT DOWN towards the water and then levels off and flys straight upriver just above the surface of the water. Once he was out of gun range he flew across the river and landed on the opposite bank, which was also steep and high.

In my shock, I did fire a couple shots down at the bird, but I am so thankful that I missed. There would have been no way possible to retrieve that bird, and any person or dog could have been hurt or killed even trying. I'm glad he got away clean.

My hats off to that rooster!:thumbsup: I wonder how many hunters, foxes, coyotes, etc., he fooled with his cliffdiving trick...:rolleyes:
 
Toad said:
I was hunting along a riverbank with a 30' SHEER drop down to the water. The dog pointed towards the ledge so I eased up to the edge and looked over the side. About 6' down from me a rooster is perched on a tiny ledge looking back up at me. As soon as we made eye contact, he jumps off the ledge he had been standing on and flys STRAIGHT DOWN towards the water and then levels off and flys straight upriver just above the surface of the water. Once he was out of gun range he flew across the river and landed on the opposite bank, which was also steep and high.

In my shock, I did fire a couple shots down at the bird, but I am so thankful that I missed. There would have been no way possible to retrieve that bird, and any person or dog could have been hurt or killed even trying. I'm glad he got away clean.

My hats off to that rooster!:thumbsup: I wonder how many hunters, foxes, coyotes, etc., he fooled with his cliffdiving trick...:rolleyes:
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Very vivid, well-told story!
 
I was hunting in NC Kansas with my good buddy GW several years back in new snow and -18 degrees. We were chasing roosters in CRP. I had Flint and one of the girls down when GW (the reincarnation of John Wayne) hollers at me in his gravelly voice "are you gonna honor that dog's point"? I look behind me and Flint is locked up with his nose pointing into the snow. I walked back about 20 yards and thrust my foot into the snow, hen. I start to head back to the front only to have GW holler "hey, he's pointing that hole again". I walked back a second time to Flint's point and stuck my foot in the hole, hen. I started off again only to look back and find Flint proudly pointing that same hole again. I walked to him again and flushed one more. I started off and GW hollered again, "hey". Now frustrated, I replied "WHAT". GW hollered, "how come you didn't shoot that chicken"? Crap, brown bird = hen after the 2 decoys had already flown. I never noticed the bait and switch.
 
That's a good one!:10sign:
 
Prairie Drifter said:
I was hunting in NC Kansas with my good buddy GW several years back in new snow and -18 degrees. We were chasing roosters in CRP. I had Flint and one of the girls down when GW (the reincarnation of John Wayne) hollers at me in his gravelly voice "are you gonna honor that dog's point"? I look behind me and Flint is locked up with his nose pointing into the snow. I walked back about 20 yards and thrust my foot into the snow, hen. I start to head back to the front only to have GW holler "hey, he's pointing that hole again". I walked back a second time to Flint's point and stuck my foot in the hole, hen. I started off again only to look back and find Flint proudly pointing that same hole again. I walked to him again and flushed one more. I started off and GW hollered again, "hey". Now frustrated, I replied "WHAT". GW hollered, "how come you didn't shoot that chicken"? Crap, brown bird = hen after the 2 decoys had already flown. I never noticed the bait and switch.
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Great story! Thanks for posting it.
 
I was guiding for a friend and his dad on a local preserve, they do not get out much so neither have dogs, but enjoy good dog work.

In the afternoon I join in the shooting, and knock down a rooster, it lands in a nasty multi-flora bush, the dog gets there and points at the bush, I can see the dead bird. Nudging the dog with my knew to go get the bird, but the dog does not move. I break my gun, put it down and start crawling under the bush to get the bird. I get in a few feet when I hear cackling, and wings, there were two roosters (refuges from previous hunts) that were hiding in the other side of the bush.

Always trust your dog.;)
 
I was hunting in Nebraska with a group of fellas and we were hunting the third day along both sides of a small river. We had had fair luck even though it was a January hunt. We had sort of all gotten together and split up into different groups, and were hunting small fields and thick woods along the river. It was good deer ground by the look of it. Well abuddy and I walked up on one of our group eating a can of tuna at the top of the river bank sitting on a log with his back up against a tree. We had time to ask if he'd done any good and gotten his reply of NO! He said he had not even had a shot on the whole trip yet. As we were comtemplating his statement, a big old cock cackled and rocketed skyward from the bank less than six feet below where he sat. My Buddy and I both fired and dropped it within a few feet. This guy threw his can of tuna down jerked his hat off and went to stomping on it with some choice words for the pheasant and for us! We had tears in our eyes after that! He was the same guy I posted in another thread about not want to bring a dog 'cause he'd have to smell it in the car. Poetic justice I guess!
 
We used to have permission to hunt this trashy, overgrown, waterway/dump area. The ground on both sides of the waterway was all baled for hay, but the waterway itself was so rocky and full of old cars and junk that the owner couldn't get any equipment in there to maintian it. The fields on three sides of the place were rotated between wheat, corn, and occasionally soybeans...

Anyway, as you might imagine, it was a rooster paradise and we used to have permission there in the days BD, (before dog). It was a true 'honey-hole' for pheasants if there ever was one...:thumbsup:

Our group of three used to hunt it by posting one guy at the end to block and having the other two push it towards him.

On this particular day we saved the honey-hole place for last, as we often did. So we pushed the waterway out all the way to the end, getting a few birds on the way and missing some too. When we got to the end, we started a good end-of-the-day BS session that probably ran a good 15 minutes at least. During this time, we all unloaded our guns and basically just stood around joking and talking about the day's hunt. Finally, we decided it was time to hit the bar & grill so we headed for the truck. As soon as we moved, a rooster got up between the blocker and my friend who were (maybe) 15 feet apart. They were also standing in the baled part of the field, so the grass was hardly more than ANKLE DEEP!

That rooster had to have been laying on its belly like a statue, and it's still nearly unbelievable that neither of my friends saw the rooster laying there in the short grass. Also pretty unbelievable that it stayed frozen there in one place for that long. I distinctly remember all three of us saying "WHAT THE F###???" when that bird got up.

During the truck ride to the restaurant, I remember we said, "even the worst dog in the world would have found THAT bird!"

I bought my first hunting dog the following Spring.;)
 
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