Dan Crunk and Cletus Roy brought out their pointers to get some work on quail in the Clubhouse Field. Millie, Flirt and Grace were just some of the dogs finding and pointing the birds scattered around. Some really nice points and good dog work all morning long.
Adam Ledbetter set up an upland bird hunt with his friends, Logan Hamilton, Matthew Piescher, and Landon Owens. I stocked the Clubhouse Field with a bunch of pheasant, quail and chukar and got Mac and Sol out to find them. A great round of wing shooting and after a bit of a snack and break, I placed another pile of birds and got Curly and Doo to do the honors of pointing. Tons of action in this video, even a pheasant that takes down a hunter before meeting it’s ultimate demise.
John McIntosh came down with Jeff Marshall and four of his pups for their first quail hunt. First I set out some quail doubles for his pair of pointers and then some more for Jack and Jill, a pair of English Setters. Nothing more fun than watching pups having a blast finding, pointing and retrieving.
Alan Harris and Butch Spelbring came out to run their dogs on some quail and chukar. I set a couple mini-coveys of quail and some chukar in the Clubhouse Field and they brazed the heavy frozen dew to find them. Apart from me getting in the way on a nice covey rise, they had a nice morning in the field.
Bob Dasenbrock brought out his english setter pup, Libby for some more work on quail and chukar. Libby did a nice job finding the birds in the prairie and foxtail in the Cabin Field.
Brad Diecker set up a pheasant and chukar hunt for his friends Chad Welch and James Bequette. I filled up the Clubhouse field with birds and got Sol and Mac to start the hunt. The pair did a good job finding the birds, although the pheasant were on the move. For our second trip I got Curly, Doo and Moe and we cleaned up many of the pheasants we didn’t get on the first. They ended up a pile of birds for a post-Thanksgiving feast.
Jim Self set up a pheasant hunt with his son, Jim and friends Marc Gaines and Bob Kagans. They have joined me for the Continental Pheasant shoots we have held, but this was their first hunt. After a couple rainy days I picked the sloping Clubhouse Field hoping to avoid soft ground and high water. Steve Sanders brought out his two pointers, Rose and Vince, to find the large amount of birds and they did a good job. Jim and his party harvested nearly all the birds and had a nice morning in the field.
Brad and Blake Bickhaus came out to hunt with their buddies, Tom Lavelle and Tom Hartman. I set out some pheasant, chukar and a couple coveys of quail at the north side of the Cabin Field. Jeff Powell guided the hunt with a couple briattanys and german shorthair. The bit of mist in the air didn’t hurt the hunt as they had some nice rises and had chances at more birds than released.
A steady rain the day after Thanksgiving didn’t keep Joe Lawson and Doug Forbes away from a pheasant hunt. I donned some rain gear, stocked the Clubhouse Field with birds and we all headed out with Curly leading the way. The pheasants didn’t have any difficulty flying through the drops, although a few preferred to escape by foot. After one trip through the field, I got Mac, Doo and Sol to find the escapees. On our cleanup trip we found a small covey a quail and a couple pheasants. Bad weather and all, enjoyable afternoon in the field.
C.J. Spener has made a tradition of getting his family together for an upland bird hunt at Sandy Run each Thanksgiving. This year, Dave and Logan Holder along with Jim, Chris, Brian and Ben Favier joined him. They moved their hunt up a few days to avoid the incoming rain and picked a warm, windy afternoon for the hunt. I got Sol and Mac out first to find the birds scattered around the Clubhouse Field. They did a nice job, until Sol ran me over chasing an escaping chukar. So I finished the hunt up with Curly, Doo and Moe, combing the field for the few remaining quail, chukar and wounded pheasants. Great day in the field, we came back shy only two quail.