Some nasty, rainy weather didn’t stop the shooters from coming out for the first Continental Pheasant Shoot of the season at Sandy Run. They got treated to over 200 pheasants flying over the field. The rain must have been distracting, because they knocked down 99 in the shoot. After drying out as much as possible in front of the fireplace we shared a nice lunch of pulled pork and all the fixin’s.
Steve Bowen set up a pheasant hunt for his buddies, Joe Reck, Marvin Forbes and David Jones. I filled up the Clubhouse Field with pheasants and got Curly and Doo out to hunt them up. The birds behaved well, giving the group lots of opportunities and they took advantage of most of them. The day was warm and damp, so swapped dogs and got Sol and Mac out to finish up. They did a nice job covering the field and we cleared the field of pheasants and only lost one on the day.
Chuck Gurkin and Gene Hodge came out with Gene’s German Shorthair, Abby for a chukar and quail hunt. I set out some doubles in the South Cabin Field, spread out in the foxtaill and the hidden prairie field south of the pines. Gene and Chuck were on knocking down all the birds that Abby pointed.
Brandon and Mike Dudley came out with their two Brittanys, Cy and Sam for a pheasant and chukar hunt. Brandon had not hunted the Clubhouse Field yet so I put out some birds and the quartet set out to find them. The pheasants were a little jumpy, but they got chances at all of them and harvested all the chukar.
Robb Frost set up a hunt for his friends, Brad and Clayton Ruckman. Robb and his German Shorthair, Suzie, like to hunt the milo strips at the north end of the Tinkerfarm, so I filled them pheasant, quail and chukar for the hunt. Suzie did a nice job and the birds cooperated giving the group some nice rises and coming back with pile of game.
Steve Henna set up a quail and chukar hunt for his son, Nathan, son in law Mitch Ashbaugh and his buddy Steve Knebel. I filled the Clubhouse field with birds, grabbed Sol and Mac and we all headed out to hunt. We got more than we expected finding some extra chukar and a bunch of pheasant in the field. After getting Curly and Doo some action, they had left a few quail but came back with more chukar and some bonus pheasants.
Dean Devall set up a pheasant and chukar hunt for his son, Travis and granddaughter, Chelsi. Travis brought along his two setters, Patches and Zip while Dean brought his two labs, Peaches and Gunner. I set out some pheasant and chukar in the Clubhouse Field and they all set out to find them. It took longer than usual for the Devalls but they came back with nearly all their birds.
Dale Timmermann and his son in law Greg Triphahn got together for an upland bird hunt to start the new year off right. I put some quail, chukar and pheasant in the Clubhouse Field and got Mac and Sol out to find and point them. They had a nice hunt getting most of the birds on the first round, but I still got Curly and Doo out for another round. We ran into a pile of quail right away and then continued to find a pheasant from earlier, fun day in the field.
Chuck Johnson picks New Years day every year to bring out a bunch of kids along with Jason Arnold for an upland bird hunt. Chuck brought out Shed, his German Shorthair pointer, to find all the birds I spread out in the Clubhouse Field. They had a lot of fun hunting the pheasant, quail and chukar and Shed covered the big field with just a little bit of help from Doo toward the end.
Eric and Jordan Ogden came out with their friends, Keith and Chris Morehead for an upland bird hunt. I filled the Clubhouse field and some more with pheasant, chukar and quail and got Mac and Sol to find them. They found most of the birds and after a bit, I refilled the field with more targets and got Curly and Doo out to find and point them. Another trip through the field with plenty of points and opportunities for more birds. Really enjoyable morning in the field.