Kevin Diekroeger along with his german wirehair, Ina and English Setter, Penny to find some quail coveys around the old Tinkerfarm Pond.  I set some in his favorite places, under the old cabin, in the pond bed and in the middle of the bamboo patch.  They still came back with all but one.

Bryan Hargrave set up an overnight hunt with his buddies Bryce Brazier and Shane Patton.  They came on a Monday around noon, got settled into their rooms and did some clay pigeon practice.   I set out some pheasant and quail coveys in the Clubhouse Field on a 70+ day with strong winds, not ideal conditions.  The first day’s hunt started out a little rough with a running and then a disappearing pheasant, but it soon got much better.  I ran through three sets of dogs on the hot day and came back with a bunch of birds and a spare chukar.  A couple racks of ribs, some cards, a good nights sleep and then some biscuits, gravy and eggs they were ready to go again for their second hunt.  Steve Sanders did the guiding this day, chasing around the birds in the Clubhouse Field again.  Another great hunt on a hot day, they headed back to Southern Illinois with a cooler full of bird meat.

Eric, Cole, Pat, Ben, Tom and John Herman came over from Indiana for a late season chukar and quail hunt.  They brought along their german wirehair, Jack along with a couple more dogs to point and retrieve the birds.  I filled the Clubhouse Field with chukar doubles and triples big coveys of quail.  The large group had a great time finding the birds all around the field and timber edges, giving a lot of fun shooting opportunities.

Clayton, Karl, Haven and Wesley Provost came down for an overnight pheasant hunt.   Clayton brought his springer spaniel, Mags and Haven, his brittany spaniel, Bliss to hunt and flush the pheasants.  They started out in the Clubhouse Field and did a great job coming back with nearly all their pheasants.  We had a nice dinner and college basketball for the evening entertainment.  A good night’s sleep and hearty breaksfast and back to the Clubhouse Field for another pheasant hunt.  The dogs did a great job, they cleaned up most of their new birds and got a second chance at their birds from the previous day.

Gary McMillin got out his two German Shorthairs, Gabby and Gizmo for a pheasant and chukar hunt.  I set out some birds in the Cabin Field and the pair of dogs did a good job finding and pointing them.  Gary did his part, except for a few gun malfuctions, knocking down the birds.  

Odran Campbell set up a pheasant and chukar hunt for his friend, Matt Kroupa.  They shot a few clay pigeons while I stocked the clubhouse field with birds.  Steve Sanders came out with his triplet of dogs to do the guiding.  The pigeon practice must have helped because both Matt and Odran did not miss much.  We got back to the lodge and they had a drink and a snack while their mess of game was cleaned.

Chris Lewis got his German shorthaired pointers, Jetta and Nitro, out for a quail hunt and invited his buddies Harvey Rhoads and Tim Cincotta along for some fun.  I put some quail coveys in the Clubhouse Field and Nitro and Jetta set off to find them.  They had a great time, especially after many  of the birds found the east and west fence rows.  Good dog work and shooting led to bunch of quail for the dinner table.  

John Cavaletto brought out Burl, his pointer for a quail hunt.  I set out some quail in the Clubhouse Field and Burl found them all plus a few.  Hot afternoon shortened the hunt a bit, but not before John got all of his birds.

Bob Dasenbrock came out with his setter puppy Libby to do some training on quail.  Super windy, but I found a corner protected by the timber and set some quail singles in the prairie edge for Libby to find.  Libby did a good job, only bumping a couple  with some nice points and retrieves.  Can’t wait to see her compete in the upcoming field trail to be held at Sandy Run on March 19 and 20th.

Nick and Al Gironda came down for their annual overnight quail hunt.  They picked an extremely windy, spring day so I set some quail coveys in the bottom fields up next to the bluff to stay out of the wind.    Steve Sanders came out with his two pointers and lab to find and flush the birds.  They had a fun hunt busting up the coveys and chasing singles all around the fields.