Youth Weekend

2 weeks out from opener. Everything I’ve heard so far leading up to now has been pretty doom and gloom. Anyone venture out this weekend with some youth? Any positive reports or stories?
 
I just got home from 2 days hunting with my 12 year old daughter, my 18 month old shorthair and my dad. We hunted walk in only while we were out there. Had a great time outdoors and I enjoyed watching her hunt more than I enjoy actually hunting. We walked a long ways today and she never quit or asked to go to the truck. I was very proud of her for that. The wiha in our area was heavily grazed or baled and luckily we did most of our scouting during dove season. As far as the pheasants go, I'd say there's more for sure this year. She had several opportunities at a rooster but she erred on the side of caution and didn't shoot, which I was very happy with. She was worried about our dog while she was shooting and I told her that's great thinking. She's just starting to figure it out. The quail numbers are strong and there's no shortage. I had a blast and count my blessings that I was able to spend two days in the field with my daughter and my dad. Great times that I will never forget. Good luck to all out there next weekend.
 
We missed the opener due to a sick dog recovering but went out on Sunday. We went to Glen Elder and saw one other group hunting but didn't hear them shoot. We only saw one pheasant, a rooster, which flushed wild out ahead of the dogs. The cover was decent, but it was very dry and windy, which didn't help.
 
I "begged" 3 boys to go out and hunt so I could work my young dog before this weekend. We didn't go out until 10:30 because they had some youth sport commitments. It was pretty warm by the time we started, upper 50's. We walked ~1.5 miles of WIHA CRP along some harvested irrigated crop land. Flushed 6 roosters and 2 hens. They knocked down 2 that were both runners, which was a perfect scenario for my dog and she found and partial retriever them both, still very much alive.
Surprisingly, good bird numbers if you find the right "pocket" that didn't get hit hard with hail this summer.
 
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