Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Kansas Openner tomorrow

Leaving later this afternoon for the hotel in Dodge City. We'll be hunting a bit further west in Gray county. Reports have been good, hoping for some cooler weather! Anyone else?

I'm hitting the road in about 2 hours to drive out to our "Death Fields". Can't wait to get out and shoot some tasty roosters tomorrow. Good luck to everyone going out, and to you road hunters and weekend warriors...may your luck keep you far away from me.

SS

........WELL ????

13 hunters; 38 birds on Saturday and we quit with probably 2 hours yet to hunt. 31 birds on Sunday and we quit at noon, which, because of the time change, is the same as quitting at 1:00 on Saturday. We had enough trouble convincing people to take enough birds as it was, I can't imagine if we'd actually shot limits. If my bud with the camera sends me the pics, I'll try to get them posted.

Saturday was my day. The birds were in front of me all day, and I shot pretty well. Sunday was the opposite, in one regard anyway. I never pulled the trigger.

Also hunting in Gray County, with 7 hunters we limited out by 4:30 on Saturday. Only hunted from sunup till 9:00 Sunday and had 6 more.

hope this works. At our lunch break on Saturday, 28 birds.

Pretty. Ours opens here on the 10th. Can't wait.

The three of us ended up killing 9 roosters on Sat. Sunday was another story...No birds flushed within 75 yards of us and it was rediculously hot out. Could have shot more on Sat. if the dog wasn't so wild. He flushed quite a few way out in front of us.

Went out shooting waterfowl yesterday too. I didn't expect to see many birds out yet, but we were flooded with teal and mallards. Great day out. We could have limited out, but I seemed to not want to hit anything I shot at. I chalk this up to being the only one calling and always taking the third or fourth shot out of a group of birds. Thats my excuse anyways. All in all it was a good bunch of days.

SS

Here is a photo of my lab, Heidi, and one of her birds from Saturday. She's a 9 yr. old pointing lab, and is absolutely at the top of her game. Her points hold so solid that I could have just as easily used a .410.

Tell me more about Heidi. She looks like a great dog. I'm between dogs and trying to decide on the breed of my next dog. My old dog was a non-pointing lab, and she was a good retreiver in her day, and could work pheasants decent as long as they weren't running down the rows in a cut milo field. However, I always wanted her to be a little more active in creating shots.

I've hunted over shorthairs, brittaneys, labs, vizslas, wirehairs, and even english pointers and setters (not for wild pheasants on those last dogs). Every dog is an individual, but of the pointing breeds, I'm leaning towards a vizsla. They seem to be less rangey and more methodical than the shorthairs and the English, but more so than non-pointing labs. I'm sure there's good ones, but I've never hunted over a good brittaney. I don't want to comb burrs out of a wirehair's coat either.

I've never hunted over a pointing lab, but I did once visit a breeder. I was intrigued by the concept. This was almost ten years ago, and at that time I was not impressed. Thye just didn't have the look of a bird dog. It was more like a retriever that dabbled in it. However, a lot can change in ten years.

What breeder did she come from? How many days a year do you hunt her? "How" does she hunt? (a vague question, I know) Is she a typical lab in terms of calmness, reasonably well mannered around the house, etc?

TIA

MattO,

My dog is from the Black Forest Kennels, in Larkspur, Colorado. They have been breeding champion pointing labs for years. A number of my friends have dogs from them, and seem to be happy.

What I like about a pointing lab is hard to sum up in a few words, but for upland game, the ability of a good dog to point sitting birds, flush running birds, retrieve on land or over water (helpful when you're hunting along rivers and creeks), the ability to do double duty on both upland and waterfowl, and that great lab nonstick coat when hunting briars and thick stuff is a real plus.

My dog typically hunts within 30 yards, relying on a fantastic nose to work a field or edge efficiently. As my son says, "You don't take Heidi hunting- she takes you hunting." But, you do have to keep an eye on her- she will pursue a runner, and you want to be in range when she finally puts it up.
I worked with her on an e-collar when I was training her, and while hunting for several years, to perfect distance control. Now, I leave it at home- lessons learned.

Her points are just something to see- when she catches a close scent, she slams to a stop, with that tail straight up and motionless- sometimes she even picks up one foot in a classic pointer pose. I can usually 'whoa' her into holding the point until I can walk up to her, and give the command, 'Git em'.

I try to get her out on at least one two or three-day pheasant outing every year, and fill in with released birds close to home when the both of us feel the need to get out and put up a few birds. On those occasions, the 28 ga. OU is all that's needed, as the shots are going to be close.

The sad fact of dogs in general, and great hunters in particular, is that they just don't last long enough. Mine is nine, in the prime of her hunting ability, but I'm careful not to overwork her, especially when it's warm. I will feel extremely lucky if I get another two years out of her. So far, she's healthy and able to go fairly hard.

When she's not hunting, which is all too frequently, she is content to spend her days on the couch in my office. She is absolutely insistent, however, on her twice a day ball retrieving fix. It helps keep her in hunting shape. You couldn't possibly ask for a better temperament or personality in a dog.

When it's her time, you can bet I'll be back at Black Forest, hoping against hope there is another winner like Heidi to be had.

Heidi sounds like a great dog, and pretty much what I'm looking for. I've never seen a dog of any kind that wouldn't chase a running pheasant; the difference is that some can be called-off, slowed-down, or paused, others can't.

When she locks up, how much encouragement does she need to hold it? (sounds pretty strange out-of-context)

The problem I'm trying to solve is how to hunt birds in 160 acres of crp with just a few guys. That's the most common cover around here, and the birds like it. However, if you've only got 4 guys, or even 7-8, the typical walker-blocker-ordinary lab scenario just doesn't work well.

Hope she gives you many more seasons.

FANTASTIC!!!!!!
sounds like everyone had some fun
matto..that truck bed ain't yet full?..and you stopped fer lunch? :p

...Went out near Cheyenne Wells for our opener. T'was a balmy 75 degrees both days and drier than a pop-corn fart. Birds were reeeeeeeeeeally skitish for opening weekend, AND were wearin' their Nikes.
Five of us managed to bag 7 birds by hunting 'till dark. Six inches of snow, would sure be a blessing.

Hunted KS the previous weekend. Plenty of birds but the wind blew like a hurricane. I felt bad for the dogs. They were trying really hard to use their noses and it was tough in 50mph winds.

Knocked down a rooster in 4ft tall grass and wondered if I'd ever see it again. I was real proud when my blue heeler delivered it to me.