KBell
New member
Set out to tackle the drainage and pipeline routes 12 miles west of Pocahontas today. While driving and noticing the "push" of the truck my expectations for the day were lessened.
Greeted by much orange in the area. Many hunters out today despite the wind. Sophie and I ran a string of five straight hen points on the first section. As we near the end of the first section and encounter a snakeweed patch another point yields rooster number one. He is a younger bird of the year and still has some brownish chest feathers. He chooses a low left to right escape plan and surrenders to the first shot. Nearing the gravel road of this first section I notice another group starting out in the next section. Crossing and heading back to the truck. That is the nice option of hunting these sections of cover alone--you can always double back on the other side.
We drive two miles to encounter the next clear section. I am now south of Marathon. I see a hen scoot across the road. Rooster two is a pointless flush as we enter. He is older and definitely surprised by our presence. He drops to the shot and is retrieved by Sophie--the second of her life. I can tell he has one year under his belt. He is the bird on the left in the photo. We continue and point flush a total of eight hens. This third guy in going to be a challenge I thought to myself. As we hit gravel for the next section I am reminded of the wear and tear these pipeline ditches put on my legs. We can do one more I thought.
Sophie is working well despite the wind. I notice her points are including a lot of adjustments as the wind is challenging her nose. Next point yields another hen. I watch her rise, catch the wind and sail to our previous walk. I am hearing quite a bit of shooting in the area. Rooster three is a point on the end of a bridge crossing the pipeline. You see these occasionally along these and they make "excellent blockers" on birds. He rises straight into the wind and stalls his escape. Another early hatch bird of this year. A check of my watch yields the time--11:35 a.m.
I decide to hit a lunch spot and continue working Sophie "gunless". We head north of Marathon and take the next series of drainage ditches back to the east. I see a good number of hunters in the field. We had numerous points and flushes with the two most memorable being an 8 hen flush and a double rooster flush--it figures doesn't it??
As I am taking the picture you are looking at a rooster cut across the road on my right into the adjoining ditch. Our total sightings for the day--19 roosters and 34 hens. My son is meeting me at the hotel as I write this for tomorrow's hunt. The corn is gone in the area and this makes the most birds I have seen on a hunt this season.
Greeted by much orange in the area. Many hunters out today despite the wind. Sophie and I ran a string of five straight hen points on the first section. As we near the end of the first section and encounter a snakeweed patch another point yields rooster number one. He is a younger bird of the year and still has some brownish chest feathers. He chooses a low left to right escape plan and surrenders to the first shot. Nearing the gravel road of this first section I notice another group starting out in the next section. Crossing and heading back to the truck. That is the nice option of hunting these sections of cover alone--you can always double back on the other side.
We drive two miles to encounter the next clear section. I am now south of Marathon. I see a hen scoot across the road. Rooster two is a pointless flush as we enter. He is older and definitely surprised by our presence. He drops to the shot and is retrieved by Sophie--the second of her life. I can tell he has one year under his belt. He is the bird on the left in the photo. We continue and point flush a total of eight hens. This third guy in going to be a challenge I thought to myself. As we hit gravel for the next section I am reminded of the wear and tear these pipeline ditches put on my legs. We can do one more I thought.
Sophie is working well despite the wind. I notice her points are including a lot of adjustments as the wind is challenging her nose. Next point yields another hen. I watch her rise, catch the wind and sail to our previous walk. I am hearing quite a bit of shooting in the area. Rooster three is a point on the end of a bridge crossing the pipeline. You see these occasionally along these and they make "excellent blockers" on birds. He rises straight into the wind and stalls his escape. Another early hatch bird of this year. A check of my watch yields the time--11:35 a.m.
I decide to hit a lunch spot and continue working Sophie "gunless". We head north of Marathon and take the next series of drainage ditches back to the east. I see a good number of hunters in the field. We had numerous points and flushes with the two most memorable being an 8 hen flush and a double rooster flush--it figures doesn't it??
As I am taking the picture you are looking at a rooster cut across the road on my right into the adjoining ditch. Our total sightings for the day--19 roosters and 34 hens. My son is meeting me at the hotel as I write this for tomorrow's hunt. The corn is gone in the area and this makes the most birds I have seen on a hunt this season.
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