carptom1
Well-known member
Well back to work today after a few days in SD. Thought I would share a few pictures of the hunt.
Day 1
Kansas brittany, his father and two sons, quailhound and his brother, PTM, jonnyb, dthilges (dan) and my buddy george all met up for a day of hunting in jones county. As we were coming up with a game plan, we watched several birds fly into a shelter belt. Well if you see birds you may as well hunt them, so we hit that first. We ended up with a couple, but it should have been more. We continued up around a cattail pond, and up towards a draw that works through a cut cornfield, my favorite. I took a few with me up to the top, and we worked down towards the other half. There were quite a few in that draw, and we ended up with a couple more. I even had an epic miss to share with the group
. It was starting to get hot, and the birds were not sitting at all. The dogs seemed to be working hard, but the conditions were pretty tough on them. We then headed over to a food plot were we harvested a couple of birds. We then headed across to work a grass field, along with a good cattail patch around a pond. As we started on the other end, I knew I had put the others in a good spot, as there was quite a bit of shooting going on. At this point we decided to hit one of the " honey holes" so maybe the boy's could see one of those SD flushes we all hear about. I didn't expect a great deal of birds to be in there, as it was probably 60 degrees and they were spread out pretty good. As we approached, I was a little discouraged as there were no early birds flying out. I thought it might be a waste of effort. Man was I wrong. As soon as we got to the edge, a few birds started flying out. With every few steps, or ring of a shotgun, the sky would fill with birds going in every direction. I don't know how many shots were fired, but it was a bunch. I always have trouble estimating birds in a patch, but five hundred would be a good starting point. I talked to the farmers dad who happened to be watching us, and he said at least five hundred maybe more, so who knows but it was cool. We walked a few more patches, then said our goodbyes as they headed off to a u-guide camp. We ended up with 28 birds for the day, 2 short of a ten man limit. But we had plenty of shooting. Highlight for me was kansasbrittany's son nearly shooting a limit. He ended with two, but tried hard for that third one, just couldn't quite connect.
Day 2
Some other friends came up to hunt the next two days with me. We decided to start in the same tree belt as the day before. As I came around the west side, two roosters quickly flushed screaming by me. I was able to dump them both in short succession. We headed down to the cattails around the pond. I was able to shoot another bird, that my dog got a good mark on in some heavy cattails. He tore off after it, and came back in a couple minutes with the bird. Man that was a nice retrieve. 10:30 and I was limited. We headed over to hunt a pond that always held some birds. As we drove in, the birds started screaming out. There were a hundred or so in there, and I would say at least 50-60 cocks. What a show. We then headed over to a huge grass field surrounded by corn stubble. Man were they in there. We watched several hundred fly out well ahead of us. There were a ton of birds in there, bit it was 70 degrees and they were making us work. Best part of the day was when we were walking out of that field and down the road. Jonnyb and I were a long way from the truck, so we decided to hunt some short grass along the road. The dogs were working good, flushing hens and a couple roosters. All of a sudden my dog jumped from the left side of the road to the right side where there was little cover. He jumped two hens then went back to working on the left. Amazing how these dogs can smell that far. He ended up making a nice retrieve on a runner that was shot in the grass. Great prey drive, That is the key to strong retrieves. You can't teach that. The day ended with us having 20 birds between the eight of us. Great hunt.
Day 3
Started out slow as birds were getting stirred up a little. At 2 we were at about 6 birds. Hit the pond area again and it was loaded with birds. As I stepped out of the truck, my dog wanted to go left instead of right were we were blocking. Always trust the dog, Always trust the dog, Always trust the dog. I need that written on my hand. He proceeded to flush a dozen birds out of that small culvert, I did manage one, but could have had a limit if I would have trusted the dog. Several birds were taken and we headed on to work some ground we hadn't hit yet. We started in on a big draw with a food plot on the north side. Several birds flushed wild. As we neared the end, there is a patch of cattails. A rooster rocketed out, and I dumped him into the heavy stuff. In tore the dog, and after a couple minutes out he came rooster in mouth. Nothing is better than seeing him crashing out with his prize. Highlight of the day, is watching him flush all those birds out of that ditch.
Well I better get to work as I have a heavy week. Hope everybody gets home safely. Good luck hunting and have a Merry Christmas.
buddy with a sd limit
buddy winding birds. He is the only lab I have had that will do that
SD
Day 1
Kansas brittany, his father and two sons, quailhound and his brother, PTM, jonnyb, dthilges (dan) and my buddy george all met up for a day of hunting in jones county. As we were coming up with a game plan, we watched several birds fly into a shelter belt. Well if you see birds you may as well hunt them, so we hit that first. We ended up with a couple, but it should have been more. We continued up around a cattail pond, and up towards a draw that works through a cut cornfield, my favorite. I took a few with me up to the top, and we worked down towards the other half. There were quite a few in that draw, and we ended up with a couple more. I even had an epic miss to share with the group
. It was starting to get hot, and the birds were not sitting at all. The dogs seemed to be working hard, but the conditions were pretty tough on them. We then headed over to a food plot were we harvested a couple of birds. We then headed across to work a grass field, along with a good cattail patch around a pond. As we started on the other end, I knew I had put the others in a good spot, as there was quite a bit of shooting going on. At this point we decided to hit one of the " honey holes" so maybe the boy's could see one of those SD flushes we all hear about. I didn't expect a great deal of birds to be in there, as it was probably 60 degrees and they were spread out pretty good. As we approached, I was a little discouraged as there were no early birds flying out. I thought it might be a waste of effort. Man was I wrong. As soon as we got to the edge, a few birds started flying out. With every few steps, or ring of a shotgun, the sky would fill with birds going in every direction. I don't know how many shots were fired, but it was a bunch. I always have trouble estimating birds in a patch, but five hundred would be a good starting point. I talked to the farmers dad who happened to be watching us, and he said at least five hundred maybe more, so who knows but it was cool. We walked a few more patches, then said our goodbyes as they headed off to a u-guide camp. We ended up with 28 birds for the day, 2 short of a ten man limit. But we had plenty of shooting. Highlight for me was kansasbrittany's son nearly shooting a limit. He ended with two, but tried hard for that third one, just couldn't quite connect.Day 2
Some other friends came up to hunt the next two days with me. We decided to start in the same tree belt as the day before. As I came around the west side, two roosters quickly flushed screaming by me. I was able to dump them both in short succession. We headed down to the cattails around the pond. I was able to shoot another bird, that my dog got a good mark on in some heavy cattails. He tore off after it, and came back in a couple minutes with the bird. Man that was a nice retrieve. 10:30 and I was limited. We headed over to hunt a pond that always held some birds. As we drove in, the birds started screaming out. There were a hundred or so in there, and I would say at least 50-60 cocks. What a show. We then headed over to a huge grass field surrounded by corn stubble. Man were they in there. We watched several hundred fly out well ahead of us. There were a ton of birds in there, bit it was 70 degrees and they were making us work. Best part of the day was when we were walking out of that field and down the road. Jonnyb and I were a long way from the truck, so we decided to hunt some short grass along the road. The dogs were working good, flushing hens and a couple roosters. All of a sudden my dog jumped from the left side of the road to the right side where there was little cover. He jumped two hens then went back to working on the left. Amazing how these dogs can smell that far. He ended up making a nice retrieve on a runner that was shot in the grass. Great prey drive, That is the key to strong retrieves. You can't teach that. The day ended with us having 20 birds between the eight of us. Great hunt.
Day 3
Started out slow as birds were getting stirred up a little. At 2 we were at about 6 birds. Hit the pond area again and it was loaded with birds. As I stepped out of the truck, my dog wanted to go left instead of right were we were blocking. Always trust the dog, Always trust the dog, Always trust the dog. I need that written on my hand. He proceeded to flush a dozen birds out of that small culvert, I did manage one, but could have had a limit if I would have trusted the dog
. Several birds were taken and we headed on to work some ground we hadn't hit yet. We started in on a big draw with a food plot on the north side. Several birds flushed wild. As we neared the end, there is a patch of cattails. A rooster rocketed out, and I dumped him into the heavy stuff. In tore the dog, and after a couple minutes out he came rooster in mouth. Nothing is better than seeing him crashing out with his prize. Highlight of the day, is watching him flush all those birds out of that ditch.Well I better get to work as I have a heavy week. Hope everybody gets home safely. Good luck hunting and have a Merry Christmas.
buddy with a sd limit
buddy winding birds. He is the only lab I have had that will do that
SD
