Greg came out with his buddies, Troy Patillo and Mike Yociss to hunt some quail and pheasant. Greg’s dog, Daisy, came along to find the birds I set out in the Clubhouse Field. They found all the birds and came back with most, giving Mike a chance to try some more upland bird recipes.
Mark and Chris Perkowski came out with their two labs, Roy and Di along with their friends, Richard Perez and Connor Hasenmueller for an upland bird hunt. They hunted mostly quail in the Cabin Field with a couple chukar and pheasant thrown in to keep it interesting. Connor was fairly new to upland bird hunting but he nailed the big rooster after everyone else failed to knock it down.
Bob Dasenbrock brought out his young setter, Libby, to hunt for some chukar. Libby found the birds and Bob knocked down most with his new 28ga. The duo missed one chukar, but traded it for leftover pheasant.
John Cavaletto came out with his friends, Michael Long and Terry Schierholz for an upland bird hunt. John brought along his English Pointer, Burl, to find and point the birds spread around the Clubhouse Field. Burl did a nice job on a pleasant day when the birds were on the move.
John McIntosh came out with his young setter pup, Binx, to get him in front of some quail. Binx did a fine job finding the birds I set around the Clubhouse Field and is coming along nicely.
Ray Takmajian and Rich Viera brought out their flushing dogs for a little pheasant work. I set out a couple of pheasant for each dog and they worked on their flushing, steadiness and retrieving. Not only did they get all of their birds they came up with two bonus pheasant.
Terry Knebel brought out his shorthair, Sadie and his buddy Roger Well brought his lab, Camo out for a quail hunt. First we did a little pigeon and quail work with Camo trying to get her a little bird crazy. Then I put some quail coveys around the Clubhouse Field. Sadie did a great job finding and pointing the birds and Camo helped finding the singles and retrieving.
Phil Hocher came out with his grandson, Ben, and young Boykin Spaniel, Jake to get him in front of some more quail. We let the first quail fly in hopes for Jake to chase the bird, getting him a little more excited about birds. If you watch closely you can see this quail fly all the way to treeline and then get plucked out of the air by a Coopers hawk. Things got better after that Phil and Jake got all of the remaining birds and picked up a bonus pheasant.
Brad Diecker set up a hunt with his buddies, Soap Chan and Chad Welch. Brad brought along his pointer, Lincoln, to help Jeff Powell and his pups find the pheasant and chukar I stashed around the Clubhouse Field. Lincoln joined the group for the first round of birds, but took a nap for the rest of the hunt. They still did fine leaving only a single chukar and pheasant left in the field.
The Cumberland Chapter of the Quail and Upland Game Alliance held their annual youth pheasant hunt at Sandy Run Hunt Co. on January 28th. Almost forty kids participated in the hunt, shooting at nearly 700 clay targets and more than 80 pheasant. Except for a fairly strong wind the weather was picture perfect. This year the QUGA chapter bought all the birds for the hunt, getting the price per hunter down to just $10. The hunters ate all the chili I made and a pile of hotdogs. Most of the hunters were able to knock down at least one bird and if not they all went home with a door prize, full stomach and few less shells.