Shot a whopper pheasant

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
I talked to an old timer and he let me and a buddy hunt his small cattail patch. No one had been hunting there in years. Snow was so deep and cattails so thick my buddy couldn't hack it so he went to the outside edge. 10 minutes in I looked over for my buddy and saw a big rooster flying R to L crossing/quartering away. I swiveled my torso as far as it would go and was shooting straight behind myself it felt. On the second shell he cartwheeled and crashed down far away. I was so entrenched in the swamp there was no way I could get there quickly. We decided to finish the hunt and look for him on the way back(the swamp is a circle). Half hour later we finished the circle and by God, there was this majestic old king of the slough laying on the hard packed snow 10 feet from the cattails. I'll never forget this bird or this hunt. A spot later my buddy got a crack at a rare close flushing late season bird. It took him the 3rd shell to drop that rooster. I ran headlong into the cattails from hell for 35 yards. Couldn't see my feet or the sky, and thought that rooster's gone for good. Five minutes later I hear the dog and she's snorting as she breathes! Sure enough she had that old rooster(when she has a duck or pheasant she has a little snort as she breathes). How dogs do what they do I'll forever be in awe of. Any day I bag a rooster I'm on cloud nine. I'm wondering if I should mount this pheasant? He's gotta be the biggest one I've ever got. I hadn't thought about it until I texted the picture and multiple people told me I should have him stuffed.
 

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Yep, mount him. Then every time you look at him you'll think back to the memory of the hunt and it'll put a smile on your face. I've got a bunch of deer mounts, wish I wouldn't have spent the $ on half of them but my bird mounts I love and would do it again in a heartbeat!
 
NOT!...a rookie bird. If no one had hunted that patch for years, he obviously picked just the right hideout.

His last thoughts probably were: "HEY!...WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY DOING HERE!"....bang!

Heading out right now here in SD...ironically into the cattails as well. Gawd it's an ugly thing...but with this much snow and temps it's pretty much where the birds are. Everything else is laid flat. As to that bird, I'd mount him. I have no idea how many roosters I've shot in my life but certainly more than my share...never mounted one. I once shot a bird with spurs in that 3/4" range, but unlike yours they were jet black. I got the feet somewhere. However, for all the size and spurs my bird had, he had remarkably average tailfeathers. So into the pot, not on the wall. Maybe it's the camera angle but yours look VERY LONG.

Easy to say when I'm not footing the bill...but I'd vote to mount that one as well.
 
I am a sucker for long spurs (more so than long tail feathers). It should be in good shape without the dog having retrieved it. I have hunted pheasants my entire life and it wasn't until just a few years I had the urge to get one mounted. I have that one on the wall and I have 3 more at the taxidermist...waiting. I think it was just such a common thing, that I never really appreciated it like I have for the last 14 years or so since I have had my own dog. Post a pic when you get him back! But be prepared, it might be a few months or more. Hope your guy is not as busy as mine! I found the wood to mount the first one on and sourced an old fence post on a family farm to be used for the multiple bird mount that I am waiting on now.
 
Bob Peters said:
I measured at just over 25 inches long. Obviously I'm leaving them all in as I'm having him mounted. Do they normally count the quill in measuring tail feathers?
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Bob, I don't think so. Great bird. I have had a chance at a couple like that, but missed both times. Both in KS. Congratulations again. Remy is correct quill to tip.
 
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Bob Peters said:
I measured at just over 25 inches long. Obviously I'm leaving them all in as I'm having him mounted. Do they normally count the quill in measuring tail feathers?
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I would says, yes, "tip to tip", not sure how else you would measure them. Until you pull the you are just guessing. That 25" area is a great length around here, less than 1% I would say based on what I have shot. I keep the longest tail feathers from my birds every outing to keep track of my season count, I have one tail feather at 25 and an eighth inches in the last 200+ birds. I do exclusively hunting a small area of NW Iowa. It is a sign that the dog didn't retrieve that one and the great spurs, that he was not meant for the dinner table. Congrats man!, around here, you would be pressed to find a better one! For me, the only thing that might rival that bird would be an odd colored "wild" bird.

Maybe other areas of the country grow longer tail feathers due to more of some minerals in the ground or something similar, would like others to chime-in on feather lengths in their areas.
 
those spurs could really do some cutting
 
Growing up, we used to have various "long tailfeathers" contests here in SD. Pretty much a thing of the past now. Unlike Bob's bird...a lot of those 30"+ feathers ended up being from game farm breeding cocks that were actually still alive in a pen somewhere. In my experience, from my 1st season back in the 80's until now, any wild tailfeather over 24" is stellar. 2-foot of tail is a trophy...longer is icing.
 
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BritChaser said:
those spurs could really do some cutting
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Yep...and spurs don't need to be as big as Bob's bird. Here's what a rooster did to me yesterday with spurs not in the same class. Damned thing looked dead when my springer was bringing him back...but threw a fit when I took it by the neck from the dog. Bird went bat-crap crazy...kicking and flapping...both sides of my hand. That took some effort on the bird's part.
 

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