Highlight of your year..so far.

reddog

reddog

Well-known member
Mine happened tonight, and it wasn't even hunting related.. Sitting in the pub at Plankinton having a couple beers with my wife and a group of about 15 came in Christmas caroling and sang 5 or 6 songs. Something about the whole setting felt like things were right in our world...

Hunting related highlight had to be the two days with walleye and pheasant limits... And some fine dog work all season..

Spending time in SD with the wife (recently retired) ranks right up there too.
 
Highlight

Hunting behind both of dakotazeb's Brittany's. Now I know what it's like to hunt behind a dog that's been trained and is an experienced hunter. That was a first for me.
 
picking up my new springer pup 2 weeks ago was the highlight so far.....getting him out for some field walks before our quail season ends mid jan will be the icing on the cake. then the work starts to get him fired up for next fall.
 
pastor john

i am writing this for him. a few days ago i hit a sharptail, i saw the hit as did one of my dogs, divot. peyton, john's dog, now about 10 months also, maybe saw the hit, maybe the bird or maybe divot following the bird hoping it would come down. the bird came down about 350 yard away and both dogs where hunting for it. divot was the first to come back and empty mouth. as we were standing there talking, i see peyton out about 200 yd. and she has a bird in her mouth, john was so excited about that i thought he was going to pee his pants. neither one of them had ever seen a sharptail so that was an extra treat

cheers
 
Taking my 6 year old daughter out for the first time. Hands down the best experience i had this season.
 
Bringing my british lab on his first "real" rooster season. Hes 1.5. We were with a group that had some very experienced dogs, that only quality private land. We got out of the pickup and a rooster flushed out of the ditch and someone dropped it. Beau leaped out of the seat of the pickup, beat all the other dogs to the bird, and I pointed to my friend who had dropped the bird and he brought it to my friend. I was no longer worried about how he'd compare in the field to these older dogs.
 
Hunting wild bird's here in Wisconsin on a big marsh, 2 dogs plus me pushing towards some trees and I could tell both dogs were pushing birds. As we got close to the edge of the marsh and the trees both dogs were pointing and creeping off and on.

As we got up to the trees both dogs locked up and I snuck around and got into position. 4 birds flushed pretty much at the same time and I took my 2 (wi limit). Willy the drahthaar retrieved both birds at the same the. time It was just a really cool scene...
 
SD Trip

My dad was battling cancer and after some treatment that almost killed him was given the cancer free bill of health right before the trip. He couldn't walk for any distance so he drove the truck for us. On the last day just like in a Outdoor Life magazine article a ditch rooster showed itself for dad. He got out and the bird made its move, it literally got hung up in the wind offering the easiest shot of all times. My dad missed three times at the stationary target in the sky with the new 16 gauge I got him last year. I'm just glad he'll be around for another pheasant season and maybe next year he can knock just 1 more out of the sky.
 
This entire season has been amazing. I've been hunting for 29 years and I've never ever had a season that I've found this many birds. My dog, Cookie, who will be 6 in February is really in the zone this year.

We've harvested as many mature birds this year as I've harvested in the last 10 combined (4 of these birds had at least 3/4 inch spurs. As many of you know, a bird like that is alive for a reason).

My single day highlight included the dog pointing 2 rooster doubles. On the first one I already had 1 in the bag and I picked 1 out and let the other fly off. On the way back to the truck he locked up and I flushed another double. It's rare for me to run into many rooster doubles (maybe a couple a season), but 2 in one day was pretty cool (even if I had to watch them fly off).
 
PTM
Although not as severe as your father my Dad had hip surgery during season this year and the last bird he shot this year was pretty sweet. I wish I could get him out for 1 more but I don't think it's in the cards with the weather and the wildness of the birds right now. Hopefully your father is Cancer free for good and he's got many more birds in his future.

Shorthair4life
There isn't any wild birds in Wisconsin....I think I read that somewhere.
 
Last edited:
As far as hunting goes things have been slim this year (at least in the pheasant dept) but my high light came today as JP made it off the injured reserve for one last pheasant hunt. He really showed his stuff today and put up a handful of birds including his last rooster of the season.

20131221_121700-1_zpsc7a8bbb1.jpg
 
Last edited:
As I walked into a hotel in SD carrying an uncased shotgun with two labs on lead a super cute 25ish mom carrying a newborn baby opened the door for me. She commented that we smelled of skunk with a laugh and a smile. The future looked a whole lot better
 
One of the things I try to impress on hunters is to go SLOW and let the dogs work, most still hunt to fast. Well on a late season hunt on my land at a place we call the oasis our group of 7 hunters with 6 dogs got about 50 birds up, a really good result. But as to prove my point one of the hunters with his wirehaired pointer walked up to me and as we stood there in cover that had just been worked-- his dog found 6 hens and a rooster in an area the size of half a tennis court--we just stood there only moving to the dogs points to flush the bird. When his dog found the last one it walked out of the cover to the winter wheat field and sat down. I turned around a found the rest of the group just standing there watching--I just could not resist and said "see that's how you do it SLOW" :D
 
Gatzby said:
As I walked into a hotel in SD carrying an uncased shotgun with two labs on lead a super cute 25ish mom carrying a newborn baby opened the door for me. She commented that we smelled of skunk with a laugh and a smile. The future looked a whole lot better
Click to expand...

Great story. thanks for sharing.
 
I snapped this pic as a "just in case"
My 14 month old Britt Woody on His first real hunt, Early Sept in the grasslands.
Woody is froze looking into the bush. I'm thinking a mouse, snake, skunk?
I get closer and a single Sharptail flushes, I concentrate on the shot and drop it.
OHHH do I ever give hugs and praise, throw the bird a few times for Woody to retrieve, more praise.
Woody "the Woodster" is hooked. :cheers:

 
My wife and my 8yo daughter both tagged along on a little hunt back in November. My daughter likes it, but my wife,,, not so much...:(

Still, I was just about giddy the whole time, having both of them along with me. I tried really hard to convince my wife that she had a good time, but I don't think she believed me. :laugh: Oh well, it was my highlight of the year anyway, and a good memory.:cheers:
 
My first hunt in SD on private land.
 
Seeing my 11yo take his first wild quail on the opener. He decided to take the dogs back after we'd already exited the field. I sat with dad and watched him as he walked and talked to the dogs, then they locked up. He chose his approach and moved in. He took his time on the shot and made the kill. "His" dog Duke retrived it to his hand.

The next morning he shot the first rooster that busted. If I would've had to forfeit the rest of the season after that moment, these memories would've got me through till next season.

My low-light of the season was this weekend. A wrestling tourney kept me from getting out Saturday. I woke up early Sunday to go bird hunting, but the wife got up while I was getting dressed and was sick:mad: She needed me to finish up some Christmas shopping for her.....that's the first time I've missed the first snow of a season without being at work:( The good news is, the wife is happy and I did her a "favor" right before taking 11 days of vacation. I'll be making up for the missed days. With any luck, I'll get to see one or both of the boys take a doe after the first of the year:cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top