LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-06 AT 03:39PM (MST)[p]Well - we're back in Texas now and I am missing the mountains already! We had a great time with the folks and Monday we finally got the chance to chase some birds. Temperatures were in the low 30's and high 20's most of the weekend with a few bright spots in the 40's. Monday afternoon was a little windy but the sun was out so it was in the 30's. The place where we went to hunt is a registered dog training facility so I didn't even need to buy a Utah Non-res. small game permit for the day. The owner is pretty hands off with the birds. He only feeds them and has a pretty good sized pen with a net over the top in real habitat so the birds are pretty wild. He let out 12 birds for us to start out with on his 20 acre spread. We first started to work a long a ditch bank using my brother's Chesapeake Bay retriever, Otter. My 8 yr old son Kayson and my nephew Karter (7) tagged along behind my dad and me. They were excited and it is a good thing that you don't have to be particularly quiet when hunting birds because they weren't. We hadn't gone 100 yards along the ditch when Otter was hot on the first bird, a hen. She ran back up the ditch though behind us and when she flushed she flushed to my side and I had to step around my son (who was following exactly 2 1/2 feet behind me) to get a shot. She flew out low and began to turn back to the north, dipping her wings like a 747 and I dusted her as she was turning. Otter was on her before we even told him "fetch" and he brought her back to me. Kayson was a little apprehensive to carry her, but Karter piped up and said "Ohh let me! Let me!" We praised Otter and sent him back in to the ditch, another 20 yards later, he was on one again, this time it was a rooster, a slow one at that, and Otter caught him before he could fly and brought him to my dad. Kayson wanted to carry this one though, apparently Karter's enthusiasm had cured his uneasiness and soon the two were carrying on like seasoned veterans, "There's just something cool about dead things, don't you think, Kayson?" said Karter. "Yeah, they sure are better to eat that way!" said Kayson.
After a few minutes the ditch played out and we made a wide swing to a sparse patch of willows with our backs to the wind. This made it difficult though because the birds were running ahead of us to thicker cover to get out of the wind. Otter could smell them but they were ahead of us across the fence in another field. We crossed the fence and sure enough, not 15 feet into the thicker cover we jumped another hen. This one flushed closer to Dad and we both missed. We worked our way through the field and back to the truck. We put the two birds in the back and decided to work another ditch bank where we thought the birds might be holed up out of the wind. Almost as soon as we reached the ditch, Otter was on a hot trail and he flushed a nice rooster out to my side. He flew straight away from me but began to turn to the north as he peaked and I hit him just as he was about to level out. Otter brought him right to me and I handed him to Kayson. We put Otter back in the ditch and after about another 50 yards he flushed another rooster, again to my side. He came up slowly right in front of me and flew straight to the north, I had a good look as he came up and was ready of the shot but I hadn't clicked the safety all the way off and my shot never came, so instead of just clicking the safety on I jacked another shell in the chamber and took another shot, missing cleanly as I turned. Now the bird was getting out there a bit and I had one last chance and I put my bead high, just above his head and touched it off. To my surprise, the bird went down, but hit the ground running. Otter was on him quickly though, he had to chase him a little, but he enthusiastically brought him right to me and jumped right back in the ditch. He knew another one was there. I quickly reloaded and made sure I was ready. Sure enough, another 50 yards produced another rooster that flushed again to my side. I had another great shot at about 10 yards and wouldn't you know it but I missed. I was ready for the second shot though as the bird passed to my right, I was leading him perfectly but as I touched off the shot I forgot to keep following though and of course, I missed. Again he was getting out there quite a ways but I felt pretty confident and again aimed just a little high as the bird flew directly away and downed him about 60 yards out. Again he took off running and Otter was after him. The chase lasted a few seconds longer this time as he was getting tired and had lost a little spring from his step as he brought it back to me. He dropped the bird right at my feet and as I praised him he looked at me with an air of indifference and his eyes seemed to say ?Dang Man! Can?t you keep them in a little closer? Can?t you see I'm running my tail off here?? Now Kayson and Karter were a little burdened with a bird each so they each put one in Pop?s pouch but Kayson wouldn't relinquish this last one and carried it like a fragile porcelain doll, when he wasn?t hiding it in the brush and pretending he was sneaking up on it. We only got one more shot at another hen. This time it was Dad though, and he knocked her down but she glided for another 50 yards or so hit some thick sagebrush and took off running. Otter did his best but we lost her as she had too big a lead and must have crossed over into another property. In the end, it was truly a great afternoon. The wind hampered our efforts a little as we only got 7 of the 12 birds up, but the outfitter has dedicated 5 acres to habitat and traps around the edges so he keeps the cats and foxes off. This is where we assume the other birds went so hopefully there will be some more wild ones around in the future. We had a great time together even though it was definitely the coldest Spring Break I have ever had. We let the boys shoot the shotguns and of course, the kick was about all they could handle at 7 and 8 and both of them declined a second shot, at least that day anyway. We all met back at Mom and Dad?s and had a good steak dinner. Otter got an extra bowl of kibble and some apple peels for a special treat. I had to leave before we could eat the pheasants but they are on the smoker today and will be gone by tomorrow. I can only hope that this will turn out to be another great tradition handed on down to a waiting generation. It will to Kayson and Karter for sure. That night they were both making plans for next year and both vowed to shoot the shotgun again ? twice this time!
Here are the pics:
Dad, Kayson, Karter, Otter and Me.
ROY
