John McIntosh brought out his young setter, Binks to get some work on quail singles in the Clubhouse Field. Binks did a good job finding, pointing and holding the birds until John flushed them. I got out one of Binks littermates, Flip, to find a few quail for John also.
John Cavaletto and his pointer, Burl came out for a quail hunt. John likes to hunt singles, but sometimes set quail don’t preform as well as they can. So, I took his quail and scattered them into the field by releasing them from the Continental Shoot tower. The birds worked great and gave John and Burl a lot of good bird work.
Bob Dasenbrock invited his friend Derek Atchison our for a quail hunt along with his setter, Libby. Libby did a nice job finding the quail in the Clubhouse Field. They broke up some coveys, found the singles, but ended up trading in one of their quail for a found chukar.
The Central Prairie Field Trial Club will hold its spring field trial at Sandy Run on Saturday, March 25th. The Jim McNutt Memorial Shooting Dog Trial will start at 8 am. Followed by lunch and then the amateur derby, gun dog and puppy trials. If you are interested in joining in the fun, call Butch Spelbring, 217 343 2871 for more information or to enter your dog. Drawing for braces will done Wedneday evening March 22. This is also a good time to come out and watch some nice dog work, bring your horse or ATV and join the gallery following the action.
Joe Lawson came out for an upland bird hunt with his friends, Doug Forbes and Zach Townsend. Jeff Powell came out to find the pheasant, chukar and quail in the Clubhouse Field. They picked a nice day and had a lot of shooting and came back with more than enough for dinner.
Mike Mottice set up a hunt for his friends, Phil Deters and Rick Crouch. Steve Sanders came out with his pointers and lab to find the birds in the Cabin Field. They had a good time finding the pheasant, chukar and quail coveys in the prairie and milo strips, even a few that flew into the timber.
Brad Bickhaus had his annual fish fry/upland bird hunt on a beautiful February Saturday. I spread his groups around the Cabin and Tinkerfarm Fields. They started early to avoid the heat of th day with Steve Sanders guiding Brad’s group. Trevor brought out is young springer, Paisley, to guide his own group, while Gary Marco brought his dogs to guide the third group. Tom Lavelle even brought his shorthair, Jager, to get in on the fun and give Gary a few laughs. Always a fun day in the field and clubhouse.
Larry Jones came out with son, Nathan and buddy, Jimmy Robinson to hunt some quail. I set out three nice coveys around the Clubhouse Field and they sent Ike and King out to find them. Larry was shooting early and often and nailed a double on two of the rises. The birds spread out into the west fencerow and pasture, leading to some decent timber shooting.
Karolyn Eilers and Bob Fullar came out to hunt some pheasant and chukar. Paul Willms was on the injured reserve but walked along for moral support. Steve Sanders brought out his pointers and lab to do the finding, pointing, flushing and retrieving. Fun hunt as the dogs found all the birds and a couple of stray quail.
Dan Crunk and Cletus Roy came out to work their pointers on some quail. Dan and I stashed quail all around the Cabin Field. I got a bit of video from round 1 with Cletus’s young pointers.