We had beautiful weather for our pheasant hunt at the Rooster Ranch. We hunted with Cindy who is Thunder and Freighter’s breeder. Cindy brought Freighter’s sister Sunny along for the hunt.
We booked an afternoon hunt. After a yummy lunch, which was included with the hunt, we headed out to our field. The field was gigantic with areas of corn, sorghum, and switch grasses. Fantastic habitat for the birds. There were also a couple of water holes for the dogs. Some of the corn was cut and some was standing. The really nice thing was that they had cut strips throughout the field which made walking fairly easy since I could walk down one of the cut lanes, rather than always walking through the cover.
As the dogs and hunters worked the cover, I walked along side taking pictures. Often we could hear the roosters cackling which gave us a hint as to where to work the dogs. Once the birds flushed they really moved. They were not an easy target. Some got super high, but some flushed too low to make a safe shot. Freighter flushed one bird, but the shot was missed so Freighter followed it and flushed it again. This time the shot was true and that one made it in the bag.
I think we started hunting shortly after noon and quit about 5pm. We hunted Freighter and Sunny as a brace, then brought Storm out to go over the areas they had hunted to clean up any birds they missed. We alternated the dogs because it was a big field with a lot of area to cover.
Freighter and Sunny did a very nice job. This was Sunny’s first hunt and once she got the hang of it, she was having a great time. She even had to follow a bird on the ground for a bit to get it to flush. Freighter was having a blast too and flushed quite a few birds. We were really happy to see Freighter honor Sunny and let her retrieve a bird that she had flushed.
Storm was Storm. She is an awesome upland dog. She found a couple of hens that the youngsters had missed first time around because they were sitting so tight. She would hunt until she dropped, she loves it so much.
Unfortunately I was only able to get a few pictures of the dogs retrieving birds because usually they were in the thick cover.
It was an action packed hunt. I think all together the dogs had 15 flushes in every part of that field. Hubby was kicking himself because he missed a couple of easy shots, but we were all pretty pooped toward the end of the day. It was starting to get dark, so we took our birds back to the clubhouse for cleaning and called it a day…but not before pictures.
The Rooster Ranch is a first class place to hunt. Nice people and very nice grounds.
What a wonderful afternoon. Great pictures and the dogs looked great! I really enjoy going to pheasant farms. Have you ever hunted?
No I am not a hunter. I will happily go along and take pictures, but have no desire to hunt.
Wow!! Now that looked like a lot of fun!!
Wow those dogs sure do make a good team! I love the photo of Freighter, he looks so happy and has such an expression of anticipation. Great photos.
Those first few rooster shots were awesome and we love the ones of the dogs with the catch in their mouth sounds like a good hunt.
Those are brilliant and we love the views, the action and the catches. Nice one. Man and beast in nature at its best. Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly
I would be the picture taker too. 🙂
That sounds like a fabulous day! I would love to see your dogs in action one day!
You do such a fantastic job with the photos, I almost feel like I’m there with you. Terrific!
That sounds like a great place, and I’m glad you all had a successful and enjoyable day. The pictures are great….I’m glad you at least got a few of the dogs with their birds too!
Oh, *that’s* the point of using honor dogs at the trials, huh? Looks like everyone had a blast!
Sounds like a really nice place to go hunting, and great that your breeder came along. Stupid question, but do you all hunt at the same time or take turns? If you hunt at the same time, are there any safety concerns you have to worry about, or problems with scaring each others birds off?
Love seeing the pups doing what they’ve been trained to do. Happy,happy,happy pups!!!
I’ve only seen a Pheasant in person once. It was a weird thing. I found it in the woods behind my house and accidentally flushed it out. It seriously sounded like a helicopter and scared the crap out of me.
Sounds like they all did a great job and it’s really nice to have Freighter give Sunny some help. Good day and time to relax:-)
It looks like you had a great day! I’m jealous.
Great job, all. Those photos are amazing! I’m not into hunting, but this day looks like something I would have enjoyed if had been there with you.
Terrific photos! It sounds like Sunny had a great hunting debut, and I’m sure you’re happy with the way that Freighter kept on the Pheasant to flush it a second time. Storm’s experience showed with the birds she flushed, too.
Loved the group picture. Brings back fond memories. Looks like everyone had a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.
This was a great blog. I myself am trying to get better at pheasant hunting, but I don’t have a dog to go with me. So I’ve been looking for some help on how to hunt pheasant without dog. Do you have any articles talking about that or would you be willing to share some of your knowledge with me? I found this article. Does it sound accurate to you? http://www.listinglists.com/blog/2013/11/25/10-tips-pheasant-hunting-without-dog/
Thanks for stopping by. I would say that article has great tips. My husband hunted pheasant for many years before he got the Chessies. He usually hunted with a couple other guys and they would spread out and walk the fields…back and forth. They usually did pretty well. But it is so much easier with a good dog. 🙂
Another blog you may find helpful is: http://murphydogs.wordpress.com/
Robert hunts wild birds out west. He hunts with pointers and retrievers and has a lot of great pictures of his hunts. He may be able to give you some tips. He is an experienced upland hunter.