Cody Kleiner set up an upland bird hunt for his buddies, Blake Bickhaus, Greg and Jeff Schweizer, and Brett Wessel.  Larry Kleiner came along with his two German Shorthairs, Holly and Trigger to do the guiding.  I set out a pile of pheasant, chukar and quail in the Clubhouse and Pasture Field and they headed out.  They requested some chukar placements in the timber, so between the early jumping pheasants, tough woods shooting at the chukar and some quail flying like little bullets they had a nice morning in the field.

Mark, Jordan and Jacob Ing came out for a pheasant hunt along with their young lab pup, Ayla.  Jeff Powell brought out his Brittany and German Shorthair to do the guiding over in the milo strips at the north end of the Tinkerfarm Field.  Most of the birds held in the snowy cover, but some ran to the end, giving a quick chance for a shot when the dogs and hunters reached the edge of the milo. 

Kevin brought his two dogs Penny and Ina for two-day quail hunt.  His buddy backed out on him at the last minute, so I helped out on the first day’s harvest.  We had a lot of fun busting quail coveys in the snow around the Pasture, Clubhouse and Bottom Fields and tracking down the singles.  The birds flew well and found good cover for their second rise.  Saturday morning Kevin was on his own hunting quail at his favorite spot at the Tinkerfarm Field. 

Gary McMillin got out his two German Shorthairs, Gabby and Gizmo for a pheasant and chukar hunt.  Gary was alone so I grabbed a gun to do a little back up.  His Franchi semi-auto turned into a single shot a couple of times, but I don’t think I helped much.  Between the nice dog work and some good shooting by Gary, they came back with almost all the birds and a great time in the field.

Brian Gray set up a hunt for his dad, Jim and brother, Jeff.  They planned on hunting quail, but the snow cover was more suited to pheasant and chukar, so that is what I set out for them in the Clubhouse Field.  Curly and Mac got the call for the first run.  The birds held close in the snowy cover and gave some nice shooting opportunities.  Only a couple of chukar slipped through on the initial hunt, so Sol, Doo and Yadi got the chance to find them, but to no avail.

Don Cooper came out with his sons, Tyler and Lucas and friends Troy Hites and Christian Dick for a pheasant and chukar hunt.  Don brought his chocolate lab, Ruby to find the pile of birds I set out in the snowy Clubhouse Field.   She did a great job finding the birds and the hunters followed suit knocking down the flushed quarry.   They even got to track a few birds that wandered off, leaving their escape path for us to follow.

Travis Devall brought out his English Setter puppy, Zip, to put him on some more birds. I set out some single quail and Zip did a great job finding the quail. Then mother Patches got to join in on the fun with more quail. Patches did a great job finding the birds for Zip to help out. Good time in the field for the trio.

Wally Good set up a pheasant and quail hunt for his dad, Wally, brother, Jarrod and friend Nick Hegel.  Ted McGee brought out his pair of dogs, Ace and Jenny, to do the bird finding.  They started off with a bang, knocking up a spare pheasant rooster at the front edge of the Clubhouse Field.  They hit all the quail coveys and found the other pheasants spread out around the field and only left a few quail singles to go after with Mac, Doo and Jenny after a warm-up break.

Kevin and Tom Diekroeger came out for two day hunt.  The first morning we started out in the woods with a Southern Illinois Grouse Hunt.  Ina and Penny found the birds and Kevin and Tom got most of them.  The chukar action ended a little early with a big covey of quail in the hidden field south of the Cabin road.  We chased them around the south side and then headed back for lunch.  That afternoon I put some quail coveys around the Cabin Field and the four of them found them and came back with most.

John McIntosh and Brad Wood came down for a bird hunt on a cold, windy day.  Brad brought along his German Wirehair puppy, Cooper, to get some new experiences and a little bird scent in his nose.  John brought two of his English Setters, Lil and Mickey, and I set out some pheasant, chukar, and quail in the Clubhouse Field.  The wind and sunny day got the pheasant up and moving, but we eventually tracked them all down.  The quail and chukar were more cooperative, giving us some nice points and rises.