Phesant Hunt 12-04-10

[Buffalo Six]

Went hunting with dad on Saturday. Hes doing very poorly at this point as the cancer has now spread up to his skull and jaw. His legs are about done and he needs a walker to shuffle around, but he wanted to go bird hunting so we put a seat on the front of a 4 wheeler and off he went. He lasted longer than I thought he would and got 2 or 3 birds so all in all I think he had a good time and some fun. But it took a lot out of him and he basically slept all Sunday. I am hoping we can one or 2 more hunts in but not sure its going happen. We were hunting with a guide we have used for years who just started his own operation on 500ish acres of land. Because its a "Controlled Shooting Area" we can have 6 birds in hand (shot) each. Actually it can be what ever the operator says is the limit per day, and 6 in hand is enough. The ground was pretty much all Milo feeder strips wide enough for the 5 of us to have good coverage and the rest was "tame" CRP, which is a fallow field planted with a natural prairie grass. Tame is good, un-tame is up to your chest (or higher) and pushing thru it is like hell. Your legs feel like you have been learning to ski by using the snowplow tech. for a week. Ugg!. good thing there was not a lot of it.

Here is a end of the hunt "Look what we did" photo. From right to left...........

Me and my 1 year old (on that day BTW) GSP Fenway, who did real well for his 1st full time hunt. He chased a bird behind us and got lost for over an hour. Good thing I had a beeper on him because I heard it from the truck. I hit the whistle and gave him a small pop on the collar and he came to me. We were about a 1/2 mile away from where I "Lost" him. After that he was better and was getting into it but over all he was totally in sensory overload. He slept well that night.

Continuing to the left is Tylor Higgs and his dog Rose, a female GSP who is about 3 and a hell of a hunter. In thick cover she tends to leap up like a dolphin to see where we all are in relation to her.....it is funny to watch.

Next is Yuta "Diego" Nakata of the Japanese Air Force, who is here to work on the Japanese tanker program with Boeing (yes he looks like a teenager) and was a really cool guy. He got a few and a couple of shared birds.

Next is John Higgs, a old friend of my dads from Boeing, who now consults for the Japanese on the tanker program.

My dad at this point was asleep in my truck, but 3 of those birds are his.

Anyway......30 birds later.............



Also, if any of yall are upland hunters, I was trying out Federal's new "Prairie Storm" 12 Ga 2-3/4" #5's at 1500 fps. They are very hot loads and will reach out and tag birds. Its not cheap at 20$ a box but I give it my stamp of approval, as I didnt miss more than 2 in high speed (with a 15-30 mph wind behind them) right to left crossing shots. Now if I could get my Browning 525 to not smack my middle finger with the back of the trigger guard I'd be really happy, 2 days later my knuckle still has a blueish tint to it and is swollen. lol

[Softball]

Wow, that's a lot of birds!! Sounds like you had a good time.

[Tach Deneva]

Way cool shades, dude!

Fenway looks like he's thinking, "Are they gonna jump up again? Cuz, ya know... wow."

[Buffalo Six]

Fenway just about got stomped on by a "deers". 3 of us are on the north side of this shelter belt (tree line) in a Milo feeder strip and 2 are on the south side. I'm watching Fenway work, he is on his nose starting to figure out how to cross back and forth, hes kinda following the other 2 dogs that are out. One, Randy, is Fenway's Sire and a hell of a good bird dog. So, I'm watching Fenway, I look to my right at my Dad sitting in a makeshift seat on the front rack of a 4 wheeler. Someone on the other side of the trees calls out "Deer!" and when i get my head around, here comes this BIG ASS doe (Kansas deer are huge!) bounding out of the trees, making not a damn sound I might add, and lands her 2 front feet/hoves/whatever about 6" on the other side of Fenway (who's ducking and probably wondering what the hell that big thing is) and then she's off like a flash across the field and into the CRP. When she went past me she was about 4 feet away, I could have almost reached out and smacked her with the barrels of my gun.....but I was really watching Fenway because he just about got stepped on lol.....it was pretty funny

[Buffalo Six]

Way cool shades, dude!

Fenway looks like he's thinking, "Are they gonna jump up again? Cuz, ya know... wow."

well if I dont have them on I'm just about blind. Those are Oakley's and they do a great job of keeps most of the damn wind out of my eyes and are ANSI rated for impact in case someone decides to pull a Dick Cheney, which if your blocking the end of a field, the rest of the guys are shooting AT you, so getting pelted is not unheard of.