When we hunt a pheasant preserve we usually hunt one dog at a time. The idea is to get the dogs out for some work and hopefully some birds. Sometimes we hunt two of the dogs together, but for our hunt last weekend we started with Thunder.
Thunder will be 9 this coming March. He has been pheasant hunting since he was a pup.
He is an experienced hunting dog so when he goes out in the field, he knows what to do.
We had the preserve put out 10 birds. When you hunt a preserve you buy the number of birds you want and they are put into the field shortly before you start hunting. If you end up with more birds than you had them put out, you pay for the extra birds.
Thunder had no problem finding the first bird. Unfortunately the next birds were not so easy. Thunder found the birds, but for some reason they were flushing low which made for an unsafe shot and there were a couple of misses.
We usually hunt the dogs until they get three birds. Thunder had 7 flushes before he got his three birds. He really worked hard and was not ready to quit when we put him up. He would have gladly hunted the entire 75 acres.
Here are some of his pictures. I wasn’t really happy with them. I used my 50mm lens because I wanted more “big picture” shots, but that lens apparently is too slow to focus so I got a lot of blur. I changed some settings for Freighter’s pictures and Storm’s pictures (later in this post), and they were better but not great. Guess next time I will go back to tried and true 18-200mm lens. (Or might be time for a new lens? 🙂 )
Storm was the last dog to work the field, but she was up to the task. At 7 1/2 she is also an experienced hunter. She had a total of 5 flushes (add Freighter’s three-he was done with his three birds in a flash!), that makes 15 flushes. Not bad at all.
Unfortunately the wind had picked up quite a bit by the time Storm started hunting. It didn’t hinder her ability to find the birds, but it did make it more challenging for the hunter.
A couple of Storm’s birds flushed over a pond that was not frozen enough to send her to retrieve them so hubby passed and there was a missed shot so she only ended up with two birds in the bag. She didn’t care, she was having a blast and did not want to quit so after she finished going over the field, we ran her and Thunder together over the field again. They did not find any birds the second time through so I guess they got them all.
Storm’s pictures.
I wanted to take the Kurgo vest we recently reviewed and try it in the field. I had it all ready and darn if I didn’t forget it at home. Next time.
We really enjoy this preserve. The fields are nicely marked and sectioned so you can keep track of where you have hunted. It is close to the cabin so it doesn’t take a couple of hours to get there and then a couple of hours to get back. The owner is a nice guy and does a lot to help disabled vets and even puts on special hunts for them with a handicapped accessible field. Plus it is a great way to get a bit of exercise. The pedometer on my phone said we walked 2.8 miles that morning.
Many thanks too SlimDoggy, MyGBGV Life, and To Dog with Love for the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!
Isn’t it great to watch them do what they were meant to do. We love our nose work and tracking and can never get enough. We hate it when we hear finished…rats, that means we are done.
We agree and it is great to see them in action doing as Emma said what they are supposed to do and enjoying it. The dogs at their happiest we think. Lovely pix. Have a fabulous Friday.
Best wishes Molly
I was going to say what Emma and Molly said – dogs doing what they were meant to do is what makes them them happy. So many times people get dogs that are meant to be active – whether hunting or herding – and keep them cooped up in apartments, then the dogs become destructive and are blamed for acting out. Your three are very lucky to have such purpose-driven lives! Great pics.
And the dogs probably ran 10…
Looks like a great place – the dogs look so happy and in their element don’t they.
They look so happy in these pictures! I’m glad they still get a chance to go out and do what they love!
Congrats Thunder and Storm, it’s great to watch you while working. That’s the evidence that work can be a pleasure too…. humans can learn so much from dogs :o)
There’s such joy in their faces!
These are great! I know you’re not satisfied with the camera settings/ image quality, but the photos tell the same great story! I really like seeing the action of you guys out game hunting! *wags*
Love their happy faces, and I really liked reading about the preserve and the owner at the end of your post. That’s so nice. Have a wonderful weekend!
How great to see those senior dogs out there doing what they love! Wagsahoy is right….even if the photo quality isn’t all you wanted, they still tell the story.
The dogs look like they’re having so much fun! Pheasant for Christmas?
Hi Y’all!
Whoopee! What a great hunt!
As for forgettin’ the vest, you remembered the important stuff! Keepin’ the people warm and everybody watered and fed, guns, ammunition, first aid, and, most important for us vicarious pups, the camera!
Y’all come back,
Hawk aka BrownDog
What a great day, so nice to see the senior dogs out hunting. The pictures look like paintings. It bugs me when I snap a whole lot of pictures to find out they didn’t turn out very good. It’s hard to know if they turned out when looking in a little view finder.
Looks like a great day! And sometimes a little blur in the picture can actually help tell the story!
I’m glad you all had a good day out in the field. Our friends did a few weekends ago too, and enjoyed their dinner that night because of the good work from their pups.
I very much enjoyed your photos. Have a lovely Sunday.
Nice photos, and with low flying birds you have to be particularly aware of where your dogs are at all times. When your dogs flush, do the whoa or sit for the shot, or do they go after the bird when it flushes?
We do not make them sit. We allow them to go for the bird once it is flushed.
It’s been raining here almost everyday. We’re lucky there is a small field in the park that Donna gets to run around and play with her new buddy Winter. But other then that nothing as exciting as what the Brown Dogs do. heehee 😛
Do you ever take a video of the whole process? Like from a flush to a retrieve? I bet that the whole thing is awesome to watch.
Yes I have, but it is tough because it is a lot of walking and if you have the video running you burn a lot of memory. Then they flush super fast and no time to get the video going. But I did get some of Thunder at a hunt last December. 🙂