Got out for the weekend with GuNR to find some exotics. Cold hunting, but fun times. GuNR did a great job finding a couple birds deep in the cattails.


Back at the pick-up.


Picked up another limit this morning. Temps in the teens, but the wind was a killer.

Great pics and hunt.

In that last pic Gunner looks like he is thinking: "Get this picture taking over with and lets find someplace a litter warmer!!!!"

That was a couple seconds later. Apparently "the boys" were getting a little nippy. He did get to ride in the front seat home.

Did the same thing on the Musselshell, but instead of a dog, I had a friend and his son hunt the cover and I got up on a ditch bank and hoped something would come my way. If you were in England, they would have called it "driven pheasants". I call it a better day than watching football...

Yesterday was slow and we only picked up one bird. Hopefully this weekend will be better.

Wish I had natural pheasants here in my neck of the woods.

Nice birds guys !!! I just bought a AKC English Yellow lab pup. I pick her up next week. They are awesome dogs and great bird dogs. I trained a 13 inch AKC beagle once for Pheasant and Grouse. She was awesome !!!!! Ive seen her over the years put thousand dollar short hairs to shame !!!Awesome dog. I miss her. But with the new addition coming to the family next week, my mind is racing with anticipation about next seasons Pheasant and Grouse hunting with her.Im all excited like a kid just before Christmas.Being retired now affords me alot more time to train her and have her ready before the season starts next year. And to sharpen my shooting skills....god knows I need that with the eyes the first thing to go ...then the hair.....and then the dreaded ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION !!! Thank god for Viagra !!! My wife says...... "is that all you think about ???? " No I think of you too sweety and good food and good bourbon !!! LMAO

Are your birds native there ??? Or are they stockies ??? Here in NY there use to be alot of native birds but between the foxes and the hawks and lack of good crops for the birds..we only have stockies here now. Most of the natives are long gone now....though some stockies do hold over a year or two. Ive killed a few that were turned over to native. It takes a year before that happens....and their beaks harden like a wild bird.

Dang, I just wish the season was still open here!

My dog doesn't touch released birds. When we start shooting planted birds it is time to hang up the gun. Man I love this state. Headed out the door to find some more today.

Gorgeous pictures all; vivid colors. I have to remember to take more myself.

Picked up a couple mature birds in the first hour. GuNR locked up on the first one and made a great retrieve on the second in some thick CRP.


Took some time to pick up our last bird, but when it is 55F and no wind this time of year in northern MT, it was a pleasure to hunt all day.

you guys are makeing me sick, grew up in S.W.Ks. and my favorite time of the yr. wish I could still do, oh the golden yrs.

My blue heelers have been enjoying Western Kansas.



That is Peyton in my avatar.
Heidi is the light colored - she is getting a bit old for this. In her day she was a heck of a waterfowl retriever.



I had one of those perfect flushes last weekend.
About 40 birds erupted out of a piece of overgrown farm machinery.
First about 20, then after about a second or 2 maybe dozen more, then singles and pairs continued to fly for a bit.
I managed 3 roosters with three shots.
The dogs loved it.

Those are the ones you keep coming back for. A couple years ago we needed one more bird to limit out. We'd stopped the truck by the field we were going to hunt. Got out, drank a coke, ate a candy bar, talked about how we were going to push the field, then finally loaded the guns and dropped the dogs. One step over the ditch into the field and all hell broke loose. If 1 bird got up, I bet close to 100 did. So much chaos it took me 4 shots before I finally anchored the one bird I was shooting at.

Lucky you - hunting the other 9-months would be a poor way to spend time.

Jog, I could careless what you feel is "hunting". If you get off hunting preserves, enjoy.

I was just kidding about the hunting of planted birds. If I lived in MN I might have to try it. Luckily, I am in MT and don't have to lower my standards. To each their own.

We do fine on wild birds around here, as well as North and South Dakota. The point is preserves make for year round hunting. When the pheasant season closes at the end of December I'll still have another five months. I generally don't hunt June-August due to the heat and nesting season, but the dogs still get plenty of evening work outs.

Fair enough. Out of curiousity, how much do you have to pay per bird?

Pheasants are in the $12-$16 range depending on the preserve.