Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game 2018 Upland Hunts

The more I bird hunt, the more I wonder why I elk hunt. Few more for Bane.

Banner day and banner picture!! Well done by the both of you!

Thanks Pointer. No quail were harmed during the course of the day and I have to remedy my wing shooting ills. Watching youtube films of quail hunts and looking for weaknesses in their flight paths. Its time to get serious as Bane is getting miffed at me.

Damnfine work 30338! I've got to admit our Remi is not thrilled with my quail shooting ability either... Telling a retrieve crazy Lab " no bird" sucks.

The hunting hasn't been the best this year and the fine weather this month hasn't helped any. Very hard to do much damage in conditions such as these. After quite a bit of deer hunting, we are refocusing on what is important and going pheasant hunting three days in a row this weekend. Saturday a group of about a dozen up to Sully County. Sunday a different group about the same size over north of Highmore.

Monday is one of my favorite hunts of the year. The same very small group of 3-4 each year depending on whether adult kids are home for Christmas and able to wake up and go along. We are refugees from our own homes that day and we have a great friend with a world famous lodge who lets us come up in the morning and wreak havoc for a few hours.

Gonna be a good weekend.

I was going to do some grouse hunting in the north woods this weekend, but was reminded I had to guide for the Elder members of the family at a Pheasant preserve.
While I'd love to be chasing grouse, I have to pay homage to the ones who guided me in more ways than hunting when I was a youngster.
Looks like the Grouse and my 12yr old Gordon will be getting a break this weekend too.
One day, I hope I'm able to go out into the field when I'm their age.


SJC

Oldest boy, Remi and I investigated a new area today and found a covey of Quail between rain storms. Knocked one down, Remi promptly put up a single after the retrieve ( which I swung on and never got a shot off, pesky safeties...) then put up a single out of range on the road headed back to the truck ( I learned my lesson about letting her get too far ahead in areas I don't think there are birds).



After watching me clean birds several times my oldest boy wanted to give it a shot...



All in all a pretty good training afternoon for myself, the pup and the boy.

Merlot had a breakout day....Bud and I put in 6 hours and Merlot must have put in the equivalent of 10. Something changed and he started going to his Birds head high and minimally fooling around with ground scent. It was a joy to watch. Birds were running strong and some flushed out of range, but a couple of these got up early or came back.

He is beat, tired, muddy and lost some of his hide for the effort. Great day....

Hit up Clark county SD, where my baby sister and her gang live, the first week of December. All wild birds and pretty tough conditions, no snow and no wind make it easy for birds to run and flush wild. I went ahead and shot a limit every day like I always do. I’m always amazed when I go hunt SD at the sheer numbers of birds. And that the locals always tell me how much better it used to be. I’ve hunted up there for 4 seasons and never hunted a day that I didn’t kill a limit. SD has an incredible upland bird population and I’m thankful to be able to go spend some time hunting up there.

I shot my AL48 20ga most of the time this year with 1oz loads of 71/2s. Also shot two roosters with 2 shells with my old reliable Browning Double Auto, one with a 11/4oz of 6s and one with 11/4oz of 2s. Both with fixed MOD chokes.

30338, what kind of dog is that. Good looking dog for sure.

Nice work Battue and Merlot! We spent the morning picking briar thorns and a tick or two out of Remi after a couple days chasing quail in NC. She seems to be really getting the hang of wild birds also putting up three covey's in two days along with a few stragglers that tried to hide out at the scene of the crime. Wish I had some Pheasant to chase down here!

Tex, he is a Drahthaar. And thank you.

Merlot is going to be sleeping hard tonight. So fun watching them work.

No ticks out anymore here, its feeling like winter. Nice work on the quail. Sounds like Remi is coming on nicely too. The more they hunt, the better they get for sure.

30338,
If my shooting ever gets on par with the dog work the birds will be in trouble! These were the first ticks I've found on her this season, heading home to Florida for a week now I'm sure that'll change....

Nice pic Harry! Give Merlot a treat from me.. You need to run a vest on that little guy!

Vest? You should see his nuts!!!! They were glowing like two hot coals. Last trip to the Vets after a hunt, the Vet said WTH is going on with his balls? The skin was hanging in shreds. I said you run naked thru the jaggers and greenbrier and you will know. He just said damn and gave me a free tube of bactroban.

We enjoyed great hunting in South Dakota this year. I think bird numbers were double from last. I was there all November.

Looks awesome. See any grouse?

A month should just be about right.