Now that it has wound down I like to look back and see what actually happened. Sometimes during the season we are so caught up we don't have time to really appreciate our privileges.
For me this was the best season I can remember. I have had seasons where I walked less, bagged more birds, shot better, etc but that is not the true value. This year on this site I learned more about pheasant hunting than I thought possible. Thanks to sharing techniques I broke the ice on hunting stubble. Until this year we always passed it up since we only had a small group and didn't think we could handle it. WE WERE WRONG. Small groups can be very productive in the stubble and I am now a believer. Another thing that I was ecstatic to discover was my dog could be controlled with a tone collar and become an excellent pheasant dog. He is a small French Brittany and I broke him to hunt quail, especially a covey dog. I have never been around a dog that could find more birds. Not my doing, just the way it is. But chasing a dog in west Texas through broomweed pointing quail doesn't compare with CRP and running pheasants. But, he was just too small to see and ranged too wide. After reading the comments a light came on in my senile head. Train him to respond, quickly, to a tone and keep him close. We worked on it a few times and he picked it up. When we hit the stubble last week he never quit working scent. He had 7-8 points in about 45 minutes and it was pure delight to watch him work. Now all I need to do is latch on to his tail and go with him. What a pleasure!
But hunting to me is not how many I put in the bag. It is enjoying the fresh air, the companionship, packing my gear, looking through the catalogs, checking the Net, cleaning the gun, watching the sun come up in its entirety, the pancake breakfast and all the other things that go along with hunting. Now, I could take a cruise with the same dollars but I challenge anyone to compare the coastal waters with the brilliance of a Kansas rooster or the excitement of a flush or tracking a bird in the snow. A good friend of mine raised horses for a hobby and it was not exactly a cash flow venture. His favorite reply was it is still cheaper than a nervous breakdown.
So now we have our memories. We remember the birds we missed, the ones that flushed under our feet, the lucky shot, nearly getting stuck, the long unproductive walks, the posted place that we know was just loaded, and the tired, cold, feeling when the sun went down and we still need to clean the birds, feed the dogs, eat, take a shower and pass out.
It sure was fun. Stay in touch.
For me this was the best season I can remember. I have had seasons where I walked less, bagged more birds, shot better, etc but that is not the true value. This year on this site I learned more about pheasant hunting than I thought possible. Thanks to sharing techniques I broke the ice on hunting stubble. Until this year we always passed it up since we only had a small group and didn't think we could handle it. WE WERE WRONG. Small groups can be very productive in the stubble and I am now a believer. Another thing that I was ecstatic to discover was my dog could be controlled with a tone collar and become an excellent pheasant dog. He is a small French Brittany and I broke him to hunt quail, especially a covey dog. I have never been around a dog that could find more birds. Not my doing, just the way it is. But chasing a dog in west Texas through broomweed pointing quail doesn't compare with CRP and running pheasants. But, he was just too small to see and ranged too wide. After reading the comments a light came on in my senile head. Train him to respond, quickly, to a tone and keep him close. We worked on it a few times and he picked it up. When we hit the stubble last week he never quit working scent. He had 7-8 points in about 45 minutes and it was pure delight to watch him work. Now all I need to do is latch on to his tail and go with him. What a pleasure!
But hunting to me is not how many I put in the bag. It is enjoying the fresh air, the companionship, packing my gear, looking through the catalogs, checking the Net, cleaning the gun, watching the sun come up in its entirety, the pancake breakfast and all the other things that go along with hunting. Now, I could take a cruise with the same dollars but I challenge anyone to compare the coastal waters with the brilliance of a Kansas rooster or the excitement of a flush or tracking a bird in the snow. A good friend of mine raised horses for a hobby and it was not exactly a cash flow venture. His favorite reply was it is still cheaper than a nervous breakdown.
So now we have our memories. We remember the birds we missed, the ones that flushed under our feet, the lucky shot, nearly getting stuck, the long unproductive walks, the posted place that we know was just loaded, and the tired, cold, feeling when the sun went down and we still need to clean the birds, feed the dogs, eat, take a shower and pass out.
It sure was fun. Stay in touch.
