Rough couple of days

J

Jet

Active member
I made the 4 hr drive with the dogs early Friday morning and started hunting by 830. Within a couple of hundred yards into the 1st field the dogs blew thru a couple of hens. We walked to the end of the field and the youngest locks up tight in some shin high grass. I walk in and up comes a rooster. Two shots later he is gliding along about a 1/4 mile away unharmed.:eek: We finish up that field seeing a few more birds but none in gun range. Next field we see a few more but they are flushing out of range and the wind is really starting to blow. 3rd field we're walking downwind along a fence row when the pup goes behind me a locks up again. Once again I walk in and a rooster comes up and once again I miss.:mad: We saw birds in every field we walked after that but none that got up in gun range. With the wind howling out of the south and temps in the mid 50's it made for a rough couple of days. I was definitely ready for bed last night after driving back home and the dogs were both exhausted after logging 36(skipped a walk due to cattle close by) and 41 miles over the 2 days according to the garmin. I would say that bird numbers are decent in the area I hunted just needed some better weather conditions and better dog work. Both of the dogs are still very young, with one only being 16 months and on his second pheasant trip and the other being a year older but also only on his second season. Overall not bad, we had a good time, only one small cut so no major injurys and hopefully some lessons learned by the dogs.
 


This was a covey of quail that was kind enough to hold long enough for me to snap this pic and unload my gun and reload with quail loads. Wish the pheasant would act as gentlemanly.
 
We hunted Saturday too. The wind was an issue, but it often is. My shooting was just atrocious. We hunted till about 145 with just a few of us and ended up with 3. If we could have shot, we would have ended up with 6 or 7. Dogs did reasonably well considering the wind. The moisture last weekend certainly helps.
 
bobman said:
when you switched loads how did you know the dog was pointing quail?
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I'm not the OP but when my dogs point they wag their tails twice for phez and three times for quail. But, they are English pointers. Other dogs may have some other way of alerting owners what type of game they have came in contact with.

:D:D
 
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Duck
That would be quite a sight if true but I've got to call bs on that one!

Bob,

I had seen the covey fly into that field. I wish I the dogs could tell me but I haven't figured that trick out yet.
 
dogs

years ago I hunted with a guy who had a yellow lab(in Neb) when he pointed phesants the owner would tell you before you flushed it wether it was a hen or Rooster ,I thought he was just lucky till I asked him how he knew , he said the dog knew .When the dog pointed hens his ears would lay flat on his head ,but on a Rooster the dog would raise his ears up on his head , it was the craziest thing I ever saw , if I had not seen it myself I would have never belived it , I run English pointers and my female will almost lay down when she points a phesant but quail or even chuckers she stands up tall. not sure how they know but some Dogs know the difference . I believe !!
 
My older EP will almost drop down and lay on his chest with a phez. Not sure on the younger one because he hasn't had a phez contact.

Wonder how that lab knew a rooster from a hen? Smell or what??
 
Based on the cover and area where my ES goes on point , I can make a pretty good guess if its a pheasant or quail. I have found quail in areas where we pheasant hunt a few times. Almost if never find pheasants where we target quail.
 
duckn66 said:
I'm not the OP but when my dogs point they wag their tails twice for phez and three times for quail. But, they are English pointers. Other dogs may have some other way of alerting owners what type of game they have came in contact with.

:D:D
Click to expand...

Duck my "Labs" just say pheasant or quail.
 
If I've learned anything following dogs it's that they never lie. People, on the other hand, are often full of :eek::eek::eek:.
 
Jet, I just use the excuse. "I am holding out for a trophy" , that rooster had small spurs.

See , I never knew my dog was giving me signals. She lets me know what birds are there. Hens she always points and holds tight. But roosters she points and sends behind me or some other very hard shot that I can easily miss.
 
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