Scott Joyner and Lonnie Melvin came up for a quail hunt. They wanted a mix of open shooting and timber edeges, so I set out some coveys around the edges of the Clubhouse Field. Scott and Lonnie were sporting, bringing only a couple of double barrel .410 into the field. They had taken a few years off wing shooting, but by the third covey were knocking down more than a couple of birds on the rise. Perfect weather and a more than pleasant day chasing quail behind some nice dogs.
Larry and Nathan Jones along with Jim Robinson and Brian Lewis decided they wanted to try the new Southern Illinois Grouse Hunt. They were up for some fun shooting in the woods, so I set some chukar in a big loop in the Cabin timber. Bill and Julie, Larry’s English Pointers, had never hunted chukars before but they did well finding and pointing the birds hunkered down in the brush. The guys did well too, nailing every chukar they got a shot at.
Luke Holthaus put together a hunt for his dad, Mike and friends, Larry and Andrew Beyers and Jason Koons. Luke brought his young German Shorthair, Judd to find the pheasant and chukar I stocked in the Clubhouse Field. The chukar stuck around for Judd to point, but some of the pheasant were on the run. It all ended nicely with a nice rooster double on some leftovers that didn’t get away.
Terry Knebel came out for a quail hunt with his buddies, Lou and John Stamm. Terry brought his German shorthair, Sadie, fresh off the disabled list to find the birds. Terry wanted some open shooting for the hunt, so I put out some mini-coveys of quail in the milo strips at the north end of the Tinkerfarm Field. They did pretty good, coming back with all but one bird and chasing a wily pheasant that they couldn’t get in range.
John McIntosh came out with his friend Brad Wood for a quail hunt. Brad brought his new buddy, Cooper, a German Wirehaired Pointer. I put out a couple of quail for Cooper to chase and he got his first taste of live birds. I placed a big covey of quail in the Clubhouse Field and John got his setter, Mickey and I got Mac and we set out to find them. The big covey got up with only a couple of quail going down. The remainder spread out over the field and in the west fencerow. There was a lot of action in the woods before we got back to finding birds in the open. Fun hunt with lots of dog work and a bunch of points.
Karolynn Eilers came out to hunt with her friend Jim Jacobs and best friend, Chipper, her Springer Spaniel. They picked a cloudy, cool, blustery day so I tucked the chukar in some tight spots in the Clubhouse Field to give the trio some good shot opportunities. Chipper is 14 years old, but did a great job finding and flushing the chukar out of the milo strips. Chukars can be tricky fliers and add a 20 mph wind and they can really escape quickly, but the hunters had some good shots, even knocking down a bird deep in the timber with a long shot.
Butch Spelbring brought out his pointer, Bree and friend Wayne McMorris for a quail and chukar hunt. They picked a warm, winter day with a nice breeze, that got the birds moving around the Clubhouse Field. Bree did a great job, finding and pointing the birds and the hunters weren’t letting any get away. The wind finally carried some quail and a chukar to the west fencerow. Butch and Wayne ended the hunt knocking down the quail and chukar out of the timber, coming back with all their birds.
Larry Kleiner, Dave Schumacher and Doug Hayes came out for a quail hunt with all their pups, Trigger, Holly, Dan and Daisy. I set out 5 mini-coveys of quail in the Clubhouse Field on a nice, warm winter morning. The dogs and the hunters were flawless, knocking down a bunch birds on the rise and nailing the singles, until the last covey, which got up wild. The hunt was on for spread out singles and most of those were rounded up.
Charlie, Brad and Dave Deicker came out for a pheasant and chukar hunt with their Brittany, Reagan and pointer, Lincoln. They wanted to see if they could find some leftovers from the youth pheasant hunt so I stocked their birds in the Clubhouse Field. Rain, ice and snow was in the forecast so got around the field finding all the chukars and some pheasant before everything got too wet. After the first round and finding most the birds, I got out Mac and Doo to see if we could find the scattered and some spares. We got the hunt in before the rain came and got nearly all the birds.
Josh Jenkins set up a hunt for his Dad, Tom Hartman and friend Doug and Gage Hartmann. Steve Sanders brought his two pointers, Sue and Rose to do the guiding on Gage’s first upland bird hunt. They had a nice hunt on a day that threatened ice and rain, catching a couple of dry hours. I set out some pheasant, chukar and quail around the Cabin Field and they came back with almost all of them. They also came back with multiple stories, but I am sure Gage was able to bag at least one of each on his first trip out.
