Dwayne Ritchey came out for a late afternoon pheasant hunt. I set out some birds in the unburnt half of the Clubhouse Field and got out Curly and Doo to find the birds. We found them all plus a couple extras running around the field. Only let one get away flying off into the warm, spring evening.
Gary McMillin came out with his buddy Joe Smith and his two shorthairs, Gabby and Gizmo for a pheasant hunt. I put out some pheasants in the Clubhouse Field on a cold, but gorgeous April morning. The pair of dogs did a nice job finding and pointing the birds , while Joe and Gary did their part, teaming up on the birds to down them. Awesome April pheasant hunt.
Mushroom Fest 2016 will be held on Saturday, April 23rd at 6 pm at the Sonnemann Cabin, one mile south of the Sandy Run Clubhouse. Come and enjoy some mushrooms, crawfish, corn, tators, chicken, fish and more. Bring and chair, what ever you like to drink, a couple of shrooms and a dish if you want. Always a great party, chance to meet other hunters and enjoy some awesome food.
Brad Wood brought out his wirehair, Cooper, for his last pheasant and chukar hunt of the season. The rooster pheasants were tough, using their magical powers of disappearance only to show up later to run and fly. The chukar stayed home as well as a hen pheasant to give Brad some nice shots.
Kevin Diekroeger took a break from turkey hunting to do a little quail hunting. I set a big covey down in the West Bottom Field and got out my three setters, Mac, Doo and Ava to point the birds. We ran into a couple of pheasant on the way to the covey as well as a stray quail. On the covey rise, Kevin knocked down two, just missing his third bird and I missed my chance at a double, barely hitting my first bird and missing the second. Fun, quick hunt with some nice points and a few good shots.
Larry Jones brought out his new pointer, Ike, for some work on some quail singles, while his young Brittany, King, got some backing practice. After a bit of dog training, Kenny Arnold got out his two pointers, Dottie and Susie, to help out finding some quail coveys in the Clubhouse Field. Jimmy Robinson came along and helped out with the dog work. They had a nice long hunt, worked the field and timber edges hard and came back with all but two of their birds.
Brien and Hanley Guy crawled out of the turkey woods to the upland fields to do a little quail hunting. Brien brought his pointer Rex along to find the the coveys I set in the Clubhouse Field. The weather warmed up and the wind got going, which got the quail up and moving around. Rex still did a nice job on the coveys, singles and running birds all around the field.
Tod Benninghoff set up an overnight pheasant hunt for all his boys, Dalton, Austin, Darin, Brian, Brice and Kurtis. The first day, were some of the worst conditions for pheasant hunting, spring cover, warm weather and high winds. Despite the weather the guides and hunters still had a nice afternoon hunt and lots of success with the birds. We had a relaxing evening with a nice meal. The following morning started with a bit of frost, biscuits and gravy and another round of pheasants. They found almost all the new birds and some of the leftovers and heading in their different directions with pounds and pounds of pheasant.
Justin Myers set up an upland bird hunt for his buddy, Ron Braddy. Ron brought along his pair of older shorthairs and a young pointer to find the pheasant and quail coveys, I spread around the southern half of the Tinkerfarm Field and around the old pond bed. Warm weather and 30 mph winds made the hunt interesting, but they found all of the birds plus some extra and got some good work out of their young dog.