scott county vizsla
Member
Yesterday was the final hunt of the season for me and there was a unique finish to say the least. I was hunting a roadside ditch/creek that always has birds but they are very skittish and I basically have to start the hunt exactly where they are roosting or they flush whenever I get within 100yds. This time I guessed correctly and the dog got birdy immediately, a hen flushed at my feet followed be a rooster at my 8 0'clock. After a warning shot from my Winchester 24 I dropped the bird on top of the opposite creek bank. The bird goes into its death flaps and starts bouncing down towards the water just like a fish, which is fine since there is about a 20 yard stretch of ice to tumble onto. As the dog is making his way to the bird I notice something odd happening, the bird is still flapping away and it happened to land on a 2' patch of snow on the edge of the ice, the flapping acts as an auger and the pheasant digs through the snow into the water(somehow there was no ice under this snow) the dog arrived as the bird goes underwater, he starts pawing the hole and whining. I am dumbfounded as this all happened in about ten seconds, I walk downstream to open water to see if the bird floats out, no dice. After a few minutes of encouragement and no bird on my end, the pup sticks his head under the ice and pulls out the submerged rooster. Went straight to the gas station for the dogs prize, beef sticks, and called it a season. This particular creek is only about 6' wide but fairly deep(I've crossed it many times for downed birds) and I sure am glad I didn't have to wade in there this time on a windy 15 degree day!
