Dr. Jerry Fortuna brought out his father, Jerry for an upland bird hunt and to get his two dogs on some birds. Jackson, German Shorthair and Cooper, Vizsla, found the pheasant, chukar and quail I set out in the Cabin Field. The dogs did a nice job finding the birds in the thick milo and foxtail and the hunters only left a few for the next hunters.
Randy Perkins came out with his wife, Jody and English Setter, Jesse, for quail and chukar hunt. I set some quail doubles and triples and some chukar double sets for Jesse to find. Randy got the rare opportunity to get a pheasant triple as three flushed, missed on the first shot, but knocked down two to follow up. Jesse did a nice job finding the birds I set around the edge of the thick Clubhouse Field, and they only left a few to look for the next day.
Mike Johnson treated his son Greg to an overnight pheasant and chukar hunt. The first day was gusty, so we decided to hunt chukars on their first hunt. I filled the Clubhouse Field with chukar and got Curly and Doo to start the hunt. Doo bumped the first couple, just to make the hunt a little more interesting, but after some better dog work and some good shooting we came back with almost all the chukar. A slightly delayed dinner (cook’s mistake) and some college football on TV led us to bed and then biscuits, gravy and eggs to wake up. Jeff Powell brought out his dogs to guide a pheasant hunt at the Tinkerfarm after breakfast. They must have done ok, because we filled their cooler with pheasant, chukar and maybe a stray quail.
Tommy Diekroeger drove up from Atlanta to see some family and go out for a quail hunt with his cousin Kevin and Brittany, Abby. I set out some quail coveys around the Tinkerfarm Field and Abby found them all. Some extreme wind hindered the covey rises, but the single hunting kept Abby and the boys on their toes in the thick fencerows.
Rich and Peggy Humphreys brought out Mason, their Brittany Spaniel puppy to get on some more quail. I set out a couple of quail singles and little Mason worked through the edges of the cover to find and flush them. Then on to a covey in some light cover. Mason found them and Rich added the .410 to the excitement. Mason had a great time learning this new game.
Matt, Jon and Brad Dietz along with Logan Fahlgren came out to hunt some pheasant and chukar. I stocked the Clubhouse Field while Greg Ireland got the amazing pound puppy, Daisy, ready to hunt. Daisy did a great job with a little help from Doo finding and pointing the birds. I think only one pheasant got away so they had a fun, successful day in the field.
Ray Rudy and his son-in-law, Willie Bone, came out for an upland bird hunt. I stocked the East Bottom Field with some pheasant, chukar and quail and Mark Pottorff brought out his Golden Retriever, Star, to find and flush the birds. The warm, sunny afternoon had the pheasants on the run and gave the hunters just a few quick chances. The quail and chukar hung tight in the milo strips giving them plenty of opportunites, of which they took advantage.
Don Schymick brought out his young English Setter, Abby, to get her on some quail. Don and Abby were unable to find any wild quail on opening weekend, so he brought her out to get her on some birds. Abby covered the south end of the Tinkerfarm Field nicely, always hunting and hunting through all the prairie strips and fencerows. She found many of the quail and got a taste of what to find in the wild next hunt.
Bill and Billy Greenwald came out Billy’s setter, Justice to hunt some quail and chukar. I set out some chukar doubles and quail mini-coveys in the prairie and milo strips around the south end of the Tinkerfarm Field. The warm morning got the small quail coveys up and moving, giving them mostly some scattered singles to shoot at. The chukar held tight and Justice did a nice job finding a pointing the doubles.
Shaun and Dustin Lance and Brian Clark brought out their german shorthair, Remmington and pointer, Skeeter for a pheasant hunt. I filled the milo strips at the north end of the Tinkerfarm Field with birds and the dogs did their job. They got all but one pheasant that escaped into the thick cover on the west edge.