Last Trip of 2020 produced a Unique Bird

marn said:
Amazing bird and impressed you could make the shot and not be distracted by the white tail. Fairly certain I would have been looking at the tail and shot behind him.
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Ha! You're not kidding. It flew in the direction which is my most missed shot "straight away from me", but I saw those white feathers and locked into it and nailed it. Or I got lucky and hit the darn thing..... Either way I'll take it. :)
 
Very cool bird! Way to trust your gut and walk it out. Exactly what you have to do this time of year. I will be watching for that picture of your mount!;)
 
chriswhite22 said:
We just got done pushing a field and ended up on the road. Guys were talking and I looked at my watch and noticed I had 5 minutes left and there was a 100 yard section that we could have pushed birds into. Well 50 yards in I learned that I was right!
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Thought of your story in my hunt yesterday. Two of us finished walking draw of cattails with a third posting on the road. The poster started walking back south on the road, my other buddy was in the ditch in the middle of cattails. To the north of me was about 30 yards of grass butted up against a stubble field. My puppy swung out and I said to myself "a lot of walking so far not to finish this out".

I followed the pup who immediately got birdy and then locked up. She quickly relocated a few yards and sure enough a rooster exploded and the deal closed with a true shot. The point by the puppy was great but what came next was icing on the cake. She beat Ellie to the bird and I had time to call Ellie off and she responded. My buddies GSP arrived but Willow put her head over the bird and reading her mind I am certain she was saying to the Maya "Not your bird, not today". My buddy called Maya back and Willow immediately picked it up and made a clean and direct retrieve to my feet. It was only the second retrieve she has made this season. At 8 1/2 months, she has far exceeded my expectations with hunt drive, pointing and hopefully the praise at the end of the retrieve fuels that fire even stronger.
 
NDPheasant said:
Thought of your story in my hunt yesterday. Two of us finished walking draw of cattails with a third posting on the road. The poster started walking back south on the road, my other buddy was in the ditch in the middle of cattails. To the north of me was about 30 yards of grass butted up against a stubble field. My puppy swung out and I said to myself "a lot of walking so far not to finish this out".

I followed the pup who immediately got birdy and then locked up. She quickly relocated a few yards and sure enough a rooster exploded and the deal closed with a true shot. The point by the puppy was great but what came next was icing on the cake. She beat Ellie to the bird and I had time to call Ellie off and she responded. My buddies GSP arrived but Willow put her head over the bird and reading her mind I am certain she was saying to the Maya "Not your bird, not today". My buddy called Maya back and Willow immediately picked it up and made a clean and direct retrieve to my feet. It was only the second retrieve she has made this season. At 8 1/2 months, she has far exceeded my expectations with hunt drive, pointing and hopefully the praise at the end of the retrieve fuels that fire even stronger.
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My friends give me trouble all the time for being "lucky" for finding birds. Honestly, I am always willing to walk that extra distance whether it is finishing a push like you did or I just see something that looks like it could hold a bird. Honestly, it doesn't pan out most of the time, but when it does I shoot a bird and they get mad, lol. Getting that bird on the final SD hunt of the year (with 5 minutes left) really was awesome, but that's why I do it. Good luck the rest of the season and thanks for sharing the story!
 
chriswhite22 said:
That bird was shot maybe 30 miles from De Smet. I saw him in October when we were scouting, but I honestly didn't think I would see that bird again. Nor, was I thinking about him when I decided to do that last push of the day, but when I saw the feathers it was game on, lol. Thanks!
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Was in that area this last season also , bird mount should be beautiful, My grandson shot his first bird and have that one at the taxidermist getting mounted for him. Good news is the taxidermist is my niece and I traded a dead coyote that she wanted to mount for a free bird mount.
 
I have a guy I trust doing the work, but he's in South Dakota and I'm in Missouri. I hope to have it in hand in September when I'm up there chicken hunting if not sooner. I'll be sure to post it on here once I get it. I'm pretty excited to see that thing! Thanks for checking.
 
Hey Chris, any luck on getting the mount back?? I bookmarked the thread as to not lose it! If your guy is as booked as mine, maybe it isn't finished.
 
Noooo, I was so bummed when I arrive and it wasn't done. The guy who's doing it had a baby this summer and just fell behind. I won't be back to SD until next October or maybe September. So another year of waiting. Thanks for checking.
 
Well, adding to the family is a good excuse I guess, better than my guy, he just takes too many deer. I will start pressing my guy in March I have decided. Still love those white tailfeathers!!!
 
Well….. I got the mount back while I was up in SD. I think it turned out great and does a great job showing the color of the bird.

On a side note. Opening weekend went alright. Birds were really bunched up which I feel is odd this time of year. They were flushing wide in those groups too. High winds and tough scenting conditions for the pups, but awesome time nonetheless. Hunting Miner County.9E4FF073-49B5-4477-AB34-E318850D3CAF.jpeg
 
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