The Season Continues!

bauerline said:
Now I remember seeing it. I was surprised to see quail on the cover.

I had about 45 minutes to hunt after work today. Nittany tracked a bird a couple hundred yards before pointing on the edge of the woods. It took my second shot to bring it down. Nittany finished with the retrieve. We were able to have one more point on a hen and then we were done. It was good work for 45 minutes.

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It's looking like another good year for PA pheasant hunters. I could do without the ticks, though. Cooler weather would be nice, too.
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:coolpics:
 
I took the dogs out after work to hit the gamelands. I had 7 shells in my vest and said that should be enough. If I can't get my birds on 7 shots, then too bad. It was a warm day with temps in the low to mid 70's so I decided to stay close to the ponds and wetlands. The first point came beside a food plot and produced two hens. Shortly after this we pushed out a little 4 point deer. We worked the fields without finding anything and then turned to the pond area. I was slopping through the water when I saw a bird fly. It was a woodcock which surprised me. A second one flew and I shot and missed it. We kept working the area and another woodcock flew and I missed it, too. After this I hear and see two rooster flying by that flushed wild. The dogs kept working and Nittany had a point in a clump of trees and brush. A rooster flew out the other side and I took two shots. I missed with both. After this we worked the edge of the woods by the pond and the dogs had another point. The rooster flushed and I knocked him down on the second shot. He fell into the pond and I could hear the dogs splashing around. Nittany made the retrieve from the pond. I was petting him and praising him when I saw a bear run through the woods where we just were. After this I went to reload my gun and I only had one shell left. We worked our way back to the truck without finding anything. With only one shell left that was probably a good thing. It was a good day full of surprises and one bird on 6 shots. I hope to do better tomorrow.

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Holy Moly!! What an afternoon! How did the dogs react to the bear?

One bird with six shots...have you been taking lessons from Mr. A ? :eek:
 
The dogs never noticed the bear. They had the bird at that point and the bear was running through the woods. I don't know what I would have done if it came towards us.

The shots on the WC were tough in the cover and unfortunately the wind was not in the dogs favor. I plan to check out the area tomorrow.
 
My shooting was better today. I got two birds on 5 shots. I got the first bird beside a pond and hit it on the 2nd shot and dropped it in the pond and Blitz made the retrieve.
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He did finish the retrieve.


I missed a bird out of a food plot but got the next one off a point and retrieve from Nittany. I started to head to the area that may hold some woodcock but there were too many people. I heard lots of shooting followed by lots of cursing from a few hunters. That is when I decided to head home. It was a nice day and now the dogs can rest.

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Way to go Brian! You and the boys are having a great season.

I went up north today for grouse and had a good day. Dugan worked well and put up a couple but I missed, boy them suckers can move! He continues to do his job.

Then I went back to camp and changed my clothes and left my gun there so I could work on my deer stand. As I stood at the bottom of the stand 22 turkeys strolled by...today was the turkey opener:(
 
FLDBRED said:
Holy Moly!! What an afternoon! How did the dogs react to the bear?

One bird with six shots...have you been taking lessons from Mr. A ? :eek:
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Alright FLDBRED, I missed this slam the first time I read this. I'll have you know I was on a nine shot streak going into ND. Three ducks and six pheasants without a miss. OK, I'll admit I was shooting over my head a little but I was feeling pretty cocky. This past week in PA some of old shooting skill started to creep back in and I missed a few but still at 50% at least :)
 
Roosterslammer- I thought you would say something about that comment.

Today was another good day. Took the day off work and went to the gamelands in the morning. The dogs worked well and we got our two birds. My father-in-law met me at home and I took him out to the gamlands around lunch time. I was able to leave the gun at home and watch the dogs. He was able to get his 2 birds in 40 minutes. I saw 14 birds today and had almost the entire gamelands to myself. I only saw 3 hunters in the AM and two more in the PM.
 
Hey Slammer, if you had been reading the posts you would have seen that I praised your ND shooting...but it looks like your back to your ole self.:D


Brian, I think this year is even better than last year! Way to go.:thumbsup:
 
Got out after work for the first time since Tuesday. The word of the day is run and that's just what the birds did. Nittany and Blitz each had 3 or 4 points without producing anything. They worked the ground scent after the points but we couldn't produce anything. They kept working the same general area and I just stood back and watched. This went on for over an hour without finding anything. The dogs would go up one edge of the field and down the other. Through warm season grass and cool season grass with an occasional point and relocation. The dogs went through food plots, ditches and woods. After over an hour of this Blitz had a strong point. I kicked around the brush and a rooster finally flushed and I was able to knock him down. Nittany made the retrieve on this well earned bird. After the bird was brought back a hen flushed from the same area. It was only one bird in the game bag but I was very satisfied with it.

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Tomorrow the dogs will get plenty of work at our PF youth hunt and again the following weekend with our vet hunt.
 
Sounds like a really sharp hunt,it doesn't take long for these birds to understand that running is there best option sometimes.

Went out this morning "Sat." and had another early day. This is shaping up to be a season to remember. We could have taken two weeks in a row and had action most of the days. Not sure you could go to many places and be able to say that. It sounds like your doing the same.
 
Sounds like some great storys and great hunts. I took my dad out Friday Drake flushed eight birds but just couldn't get dad a good shot. Being 79 he's just not as fast as he use to be. But had a great time they also were running more then I've ever seen. Then on Saturday I hunted alone Drake flushed 12 birds five of them flushed at one time cought me buy suprise should of doubled I did get one out of them we ended up with a hen and cockbird. Now Drakes back under the table with his cone on again tore his legs up again I'll be dealing with this all year a just not enought time to heal.
 
Hey I'm not 79 but I'm not as fast as I was either. Drake is having one of those special seasons, just like an all pro football pro he's banged up after giving it his all. You gotta love his drive!
 
I didn't get out much this week but I was able to get out today. The dogs worked well and we found a good number of birds. I think the dogs put up 10 roosters and one hen. Some of the birds we were able to find again that gave us at least 14 flushes. Too bad most were flushing on the wrong side of hedge rows or behind trees. I did get one rooster off a point in field. Three roosters flushed and I winged one on my second shot and Nittany made the retrieve. Only a couple more weeks left in the early season. Better get out when you can.
 
We must of had the same "bird flu", I took off yesterday as well. I went to a Co-Op and had a great hunt. This is an either sex area but we only shoot Roosters there. Dugan and I flushed 7 pheasants and three woodcock. Two were Roosters and I took one. The owner of the property has a thing for woodcocks so I didn't shoot at any of them.

I am heading out this afternoon after finishing up around here. I then have next Friday and all of the following week off, so I plan on getting a lot of bird hunting in before the Deer season shuts it down.

This has been an OUTSTANDING year so far!
 
Today belonged to the birds. I went out after work for a little over an hour at the local club and the first thing we saw were two deer. I had the dogs work a ditch that connects some woody areas. Now that the beans have been picked, it is the only cover connecting the two. Nittany must have been on point when a bird flushed at the end of the ditch. I was at least 75 yards away when it flushed. We walked across the cut bean field and worked a tree line with weeds growing on the edges. It didn't take long for the dogs to find some birds. A covey of about 20 quail flushed out from the weedy cover. The dogs were working some singles (so I thought) and I got my phone out to take some pictures. This is when a rooster flushed. I dropped my phone and tried to shoot the rooster but I rushed my shot and missed. I saw him land and we kept working in that direction. Blitz had a point under the trees and I was able to flush the rooster. It was close so I waited for it to get further out but then it was behind the trees. I then took the dogs to a woody area and they worked hard on a running bird. A rooster finally flushed wild but it was good work for the dogs. It was a very good day even though I didn't put any birds in the game bag. I'll never complain about finding a covey of quail and a few pheasants in an hour of hunting. I was happy to find the quail because it has been about a month since I last saw them. I hope to bring some birds home Friday and Saturday when I have more time to stay out.
 
That's a real good hunt, let's face it, the actual killing is a small part of it. Good to hear that those quail you released are still around . Any sign of the ones from last year? How about the pheasant broods you saw this year?

I have tomorrow off and all of next week, then a week for deer season. It's been a fantastic year so far and we haven't even hit some of our favorite spots yet, there's been no need to.
 
The last I heard of the previous year's quail was over the summer. I heard one calling and the local farmer said he saw one or two behind his barn. They tend to spread out once spring arrives.

The farmer saw the hatched pheasants each time he cut the alfalfa. He did see some birds in the same area when he picked the corn a few weeks ago but it is hard to say if they are recently released birds or not.

I hope to get out a good bit starting tomorrow. Next week should be the week I have the most time to get out. I should be able to get into some birds for the last week of the season. I think I may try a little harder for some grouse in the late season this year.

Good luck tomorrow and next week!
 
Quick Friday 11/22 Hunt

We went to a local Game Lands today. It didn't take Dugan long to make birds. But the weather was not in our favor today. He put up this hen after working the first area we hunted. We then hunted a grain field and he put up another hen that I missed. Then the rains came! We only hunted about an hour.







 
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