The calendar may say December, but it felt more like April for our pheasant hunt last Friday. When we booked the hunt, we thought it would be cold and perhaps there would be some snow on the ground.
Nope.
The temperatures were in the high 30’s, the ground was soft, it was muddy, and there was little wind. Not ideal pheasant hunting conditions.
We hunted the same 75 acre field that we hunted the previous three times we hunted this preserve. It was overcast and so warm that I only wore a light fleece jacket.
We like this field because each time we have hunted it, it has been a different hunt. Thus time a lot of the cover in the middle of the field was knocked down due to all of the rain. There were areas of standing water and some ice.
Because the cover was so sparse there were not many birds in the middle of the field which Thunder confirmed as the first dog out. He is an experienced hunting dog and was moving quick trying to find some scent. He had a couple of nice flushes, but I was not really in position to get great pictures for his part of the hunt. I tried to get some video, but that did not work out.
Here are a few pictures of Thunder:
I was able to get some better pictures of Storm. She worked the left side of the field where there was some taller cover and some thickets. It was neat to watch her “quarter” or zigzag with her nose to the ground looking for the scent of the birds. She flushed birds out of both the taller cover and the thickets.
Our dogs normally signal they are on a bird when their tails start to quiver. This hunt was a bit different because some of the birds flushed really fast. There was not much time between the dogs signaling a bird and the flush.
It seemed to us like the birds were running based on the way the dogs were working and the way the birds were flushing. Sometimes with warmer wet conditions the birds will run rather than sit in one spot. This can make for a more challenging hunt.
Storm was up to the challenge.
This bird flushed too low for a safe shot so it got away.
We went around the other side of those thickets and Storm flushed a bird out of them. We are not sure if it was the same bird or a different bird. Because the thickets made a wall, the bird flushed straight up in the air which made for an easy shot and a nice retrieve for Storm.
For the day the dogs had 11 flushes and 10 in the bag. We spoke to the guy who runs the preserve and he was impressed that our dogs flushed 11 birds. He said that he guided a hunt on Christmas Eve and his pointers had a tough time finding the birds. The party (with multiple hunters), who were hunting the field next to us the same day that we were there only got 8 of the 12 birds put out for them. We felt fortunate that we broke even and got all 10 birds put out for us with a bonus flush.
All the mud and matted cover made for a hard walk for us humans. The dogs didn’t mind, but we were getting tired as the morning wore on. We hunted Thunder, then Storm, then Freighter, then Thunder and Storm together. Lots of back and forth through the field.
I got some nice pictures of Freighter’s hunt which I will have tomorrow.
I guessed it that they are the best and found more birds than other dogs. Well done Freighter, Storm&Thunder… and well done humans, of course :o)
Well done. It’s a good thing they wear those orange collars – the blend right in with the brush.
Wow! Some excellent flushes and retrieves. It sounds like it was a great day…even though it was a bit muddy.
Weather man, first year since the 1880’s, no measurable snow in Maumee in December. Only third time in recorded records! Last year eight inches were on the ground. The trio is well-trained and adaptable! Chessies never give up! Sorry for the mud, nice line-up of birds, and feathers.
Wow!! Very impressive!! I bet you all slept well that night!!
Good job sweet Brown Dawgs!! Fantastic pictures you are super with that camera. We came by to wish you all a Very Happy New Year and that 2015 be filled with love, happiness, good health, all you need to live comfortably and lots of hugs and nose kisses!
I love your flush-aim-fire series of photos with Storm. Fantastic! Seeing the photo of Storm almost catching the bird that flushed low made me wonder whether or not your birds have ever caught a bird while hunting and, if so, how that ended up. Nice hunt, despite the unseasonably warm weather. 🙂
We are happy that awful warm weather is gone, it was not nice in December. Good job on the hunting you all!
I am glad they got a lot of exercise and fun flushing the birds. They did a great job so I know it was a rewarding day. Sounds like Mom and Dad got good exercise too 🙂
What a great hunt! The dogs were in their glory I bet. Beautiful photos.
The weather has been crazy so far this winter to say the least. We are finally getting the cold, but the warm and rain left behind a big mess of ice so we can’t play in the yard. We’re hoping for snow soon to cover it up so we can get back out there playing fetch.
So glad you had a successful hunt in spite of the messy conditions!
Good job brown dawgs! Would Storm ever ‘catch’ the bird if it was low enough? I’m just curious what would happen if she did. LOL I still remember that goose. 🙂
Her “job” is to flush the upland birds and she usually gets them up, one way or another. Freighter did retrieve one that did not flush once, but with more experience, he has been doing a good job of getting the birds to flush too. I think Thunder always gets his birds to flush. That is assuming the bird can fly. Now with waterfowl her job is usually just to retrieve so normally it would just be fetching shot birds.
Nice action photos, really enjoyed them.