John Cavaletto picked a cold, windy day to bring his pointer Burl out to hunt some quail in the Clubhouse Field.  I did my best to keep the quail sets out of the wind and Burl overcame the elements and found all the quail.

John McIntosh brought out his new English setter pup, Binks to find some quail.  I set a few singles out in light cover for Jinks to point.  She had a blast finding, pointing and chasing them around the field and into the thicker cover.  

Tom Lloyd came up with his hunting buddy, Dr. Angel Reyes from Florida, picking up their friend Butch Phipps in Kentucky on the way.  We started out the hunts with an afternoon quail hunt at the Tinkerfarm Field with Dr. Reyes’s German Shorthair, Lady.  Lady wasn’t sure what to do with the heavy and tall milo, prairie and fencerow cover, but she found all the coveys and they knocked down enough quail for a nice mess.  Pork steaks for dinner, omelets for breakfast and then out to hunt some pheasant and chukar in the Clubhouse Field.  Lady got some help from my kennel in the big, thick cover and we came back with a pile of birds.  That afternoon we were back at the Tinkerfarm Field for some more quail hunting, even picked up some of the birds from the previous afternoon’s hunt.  T-bones and fried tators for dinner, a nip of Buffalo Trace and biscuits and gravy in the morning.  It was all Dr. Reyes, Lady and me in the next morning, hunting pheasant in the milo strips of the East Bottom Field.  Lady got the hang of Illinois cover and we nailed all of the birds I set out.  I am glad they made the journey from the South, great hunt and fun times in the field and the lodge.

Alan Harris brought out his English setter, Roxy to hunt with Ted Ellis and his two pointers, Jack and Rip.  I set some pheasant and quail coveys in the Cabin Field for them to hunt.  Some nice dog work and shooting brought down most of the birds.  After the big dogs, Ted brought out two setter pups to work on some quail.  They both had a blast and are going to be some nice hunting dogs.

Brian Lohman set up a hunt with his buddies, Kenneth Wagner and Bill Segelhorst.  Bill brought out his young German shorthair, Jedi, for some work on the birds.  Jedi did a nice job finding the birds in the milo strips in the East Bottom Field.  The birds were flying well and they worked hard in some light rain to get all the chukar that flushed to the wooded field edges.

Kevin Diekroeger came down with just his wirehair, Ina to do some deer hunting and get in a quail hunt.  I set some nice sized coveys around the Tinkerfarm Field, Kevin’s favorite.  We wanted to get back in the deer woods for an afternoon hunt, so I came along to help with the harvest.  The last rise was the best, a single got up and Kevin emptied his over and under on that bird, then six more got up and he was empty and I nailed a double.  Good thing we got quail, no deer that evening.

Stan Soldner brought out his young setter, Pearl and Brien Guy, his pointer Rex for a quail hunt.  I set some coveys around the Cabin Field so they could watch their dogs work the birds.  The coveys held fairly well and the dogs had some nice points.  They knocked down some birds and got the dogs some needed bird work for a fun day in the field.

Flip is a female English Setter, about 5 months old and is the granddaughter of my setter, Ava.  She has had a little bit of work on birds and is doing great.  Running full blast she turns around on a dime to point a quail hidden in the weeds by the post.  Be the first one to call and she can be yours for $500.  618 292 8680

Travis and Dean Devall brought out their new pointers for a little quail work.  I set out some single quail to warm up Cy and then a few more for Sadie.  Then we got out all the dogs to hunt a few small coveys in the pasture.  Great fun and some nice work, making  some new bird dogs.

Jason Blakemore and Andy Royer came out for a pheasant hunt.  Steve Sanders brought out his English Pointers to find the birds I set out in the Clubhouse Field.   I guess the pheasants put on their track shoes, because they said they were running.  I showed up just in time to film the downing of a stray chukar.  They hunted the field and pasture hard, wore out some dogs and came back with most of their birds.