Sandy Run held it’s first continental pheasant shoot of the new season. Great weather for the event and the shooters had a good time knocking the high flying pheasant from the sky. They enjoyed the pulled pork BBQ and fixin’s before most of us headed back out to try to hunt up the “ones that got away”. The warm, dry weather was not to our benefit in the clean up hunt, but we still managed to get a bunch of rises out of the leftovers.

Jerry Fortuna brought out his son, Tripp for his first upland bird hunt. Tripp’s grandfather, Scott Sandstrom came along with Jerry’s vizsla, Cooper and German Shorthair, Jackson to find the pheasant, chukar and quail I set out in the prairie strips in the South Tinkerfarm Field. The pair of dogs found and pointed the birds and Tripp finally got a good chance at his first bird on a chukar double and nailed one while his grandfather got the second. Nice start to the upland season for Jerry and his pups.

Toby Hoekstra set up a pheasant hunt for his family, Ryan, Mike, Jason, Roy and Terry. Travis Devall came out with his setters and pointer to chase pheasant around the Clubhouse Field on a warm dry October morning. Patches, Zip and Sadie did a nice job finding and pointing the pheasants. The whole group had a great hunt despite the heat.

Brett Schwalb brought out his young lab, Abby for her first hunting experience and his buddy Gary Marco to help knock down some chukar. Abby figured out the game fast finding the birds in the milo strips in the Clubhouse Field. She found them all and the guys knocked down almost all. Great first trip.

Michael Galvin set up an upland bird hunt for his buddy Brian Miller, in honor of Brian’s upcoming wedding, where Michael will be the best man. It was another hot dry afternoon when I set out some pheasant, quail and chukar in the Clubhouse Field. Sol and Mac got to come out first finding most of the birds. This was the first upland hunt for both of them and after the surprise of the first pheasant rise, they started knocking some out of the air. Curly and Ava came out next to get into a few more chukar and picking up the quail singles. They hit some birds hard that kept going, including a chukar that they drew feathers with 3 shots and still ended up across Sandy Run into the timber.

Joe Mitterer brought out his shorthair, Grace and his long-time friend, Dave Collins to hunt some quail and chukar. I filled the south Tinkerfarm Field prairie strips with single and double sets of birds for Grace to find and point. She did a good job finding them all, plus a wild covey quail. Nice start of the season for Grace.

I spent some time the summer of 2017 doing some renovations to the cabin that sits on the south side of our main property.  I updated the aircondtioner, added some heating, replumbed the bath, ect.  A lot of general cleanup also.

It is now ready for guests.

The cabin has a full bath on porch, refrigerator, stove, grill, microwave, air conditioning, heat and a queen size bed.  That is about it, no TV no WIFI.  If you are looking to get away to a relaxing setting and unplug, this is one of the peaceful spots I have encountered.  (There is good celluar service).

The cabin was built by my grandfather, Floyd Sonnemann in 1931.  Floyd was an attorney, but his passion was horticulture.  He planted acres of flowers and trees on the property.  Many of the flowers still flourish, especially the daffodils that seem to have naturalized everywhere.  You can still find many of the nut trees he grafted as well as a large variety of persimmon trees.   He called this area “Experimental Gardens”.  Floyd passed away young at 57 from a heart condition mowing his nut tree orchard east of the cabin.

Bob Dasenbrock brought out his setter, Libby to get some early season action on quail. Bob started out hunting some singles in some of the thinner milo in the Clubhouse Field. Then on to the Pasture Field, with some quail stashed around the edge of the alfalfa. Libby found more than I set out and Bob knocked down most. Nice warm-up on a warm afternoon.

Brian Lewis set up an upland bird hunt for his buddy Nick Holstein. I set out a couple pheasant and some mini-coveys of quail in the Clubhouse Field. Sol and Mac started the hunt and Nick was able to knock down his first bird, a pheasant rooster that Sol pointed. Mac and Sol found the quail coveys and the other pheasant, before being replaced by Curly and Ava. The setter and wirehair got the job of finding the quail singles scattered around the field and pasture fencerows. Good early season hunt.

Joe and Josh Lawson came out with Doug Forbes for a family upland bird hunt. Saturday afternoon was hot, sunny and dry, not ideal conditions. I set out some pheasant, quail and chukar in the Clubhouse Field and got Sol out to start the hunt. Sol found a couple of pheasant, a quail covey and a pair chukar before tiring out. Ava and Curly found the remaining pheasant and chukar, but got overheated quickly, so back to the pen for Hildy and Mac to clean up some quail singles. Not ideal condtions, but still a nice early season hunt.