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.
Greg Ireland came out with his dad, Gene and uncle, Robert Scholes for a pheasant, quail and chukar hunt. Along with Greg, came Daisy, the amazing pound puppy, to find all the birds I set out in the Clubhouse Field. Daisy did an awesome job as usual, and the hunters backed her up and they came back with all but one bird.
Michael Williamson came out with his young German Shorthair, Ranger, along with his father, Ray and son, Evan for a pheasant and chukar hunt. I stocked the Cabin Field with birds and Ranger covered the ground well finding all the pheasants and chukar, an extra pheasant and few quail. Great day in the field, hunting and working your dog while enjoying time with your family.
Gene Hodge brought out his daughter, Brittany and his shorthair pup, Addie for a pheasant and chukar hunt. They did a little clay pigeon practice and then I set out some birds around the Cabin Field. Addie found all the pheasants, nearly all the chukar and some of them twice and a few stray quail.
Steve Henna set up an upland bird hunt for his son, Nathan and dad, Dale. Steve Sanders brought out a pair of pointers to find the pheasant, quail and chukar I stocked in the Clubhouse Field. They picked a nice morning to be in the field, so nice the quail decided to move around. But they tracked them all down plus a few extra quail and came back with a nice pile of birds.
Max Fitzgerald and Chris Cotton came out for an overnight hunt. The first afternoon followed a wet front with a lot of wind, so I stocked the Clubhouse Field bottoms with pheasant and chukar. Sol got first shot and then Mac and Curly at finding the birds. Even with the poor conditions, the hunt was vastly superior to the hot, dry trip we had in October. After an enjoyable evening and bacon and eggs in the morning, Chris and Max headed out with Jeff Powell and his brittany spaniels for their second hunt. I added a few more quail to the upland mix and they a had some fun a lot of action chasing the birds around the Clubhouse Field and bottoms.
Dan Crunk brought out his two pointers, Millie and Flirt for some quail action and John Cavaletto came to run his pointer Burl. I set some quail out in the Clubhouse Field and the dogs did their job. I think the high-powered dogs found much more than I scattered and they had a blast tracking them down.
Kevin Diekroeger hung up the Ithica Deer Slayer for a morning and came out with his dad’s Browning A5 for a quail hunt. I set out some mini-coveys of quail at the South end of the Tinkerfarm Field and he, Karen, Ina and Penny searched them out. Dogs did a nice job and Kevin and Karen came back with 12 out of 13 quail, plus a wayward pheasant.