As Kathy earlier related we were on the farm for the deer season opener which almost coincided with pheasant opening (a day later) in Idaho. Even though I was pessimistic about the pheasants I figured it couldn’t be much worse than the deer hunting. Pheasant counts are way down and Ken had hunted hard for 6 hours Saturday to bag only one bird. So we came to town Saturday afternoon and I went pheasant hunting Sunday morning. Ken had a commitment so it was just Nellie and me.
As Ken and I were planning a Monday hunt I picked a spot in Lapwai that would not take long to cover. No sooner had I parked on a side road than I saw a rooster in the road ahead take to the cover on the roadside. Figuring that he would cross the small gulley between the road and field I took to the field in that direction. Meanwhile Nellie blasted up the field and went right past where I thought the rooster would be. That should have been a clue. When I reached the spot I stopped and whistled Nellie back. At that same moment a hen got up on the other side immediately followed by a rooster (about where I had originally seen him). I made a long shot which dropped the rooster at the far side of the road but he took off running up the bank into the field on the other side of the road. In desperation I shot again as he was clearing the bank but he just shook it off and kept going. Fortunately about that time Nellie arrived on the scene. She quickly picked up the scent and in a flash had run down the rooster. Just as she was bringing it back another rooster got up very near where the first one had. There I stood with an empty gun. That’s why this is titled “ALMOST” perfect.
To make a long story short, we hunted on up the draw and Nellie made three nice points and three more retrieves for my three shots. I glanced at my watch after bagging the last bird and we had been hunting for just 2 hours and 15 minutes. A pheasant hunt like this doesn’t come around often.
As Ken and I were planning a Monday hunt I picked a spot in Lapwai that would not take long to cover. No sooner had I parked on a side road than I saw a rooster in the road ahead take to the cover on the roadside. Figuring that he would cross the small gulley between the road and field I took to the field in that direction. Meanwhile Nellie blasted up the field and went right past where I thought the rooster would be. That should have been a clue. When I reached the spot I stopped and whistled Nellie back. At that same moment a hen got up on the other side immediately followed by a rooster (about where I had originally seen him). I made a long shot which dropped the rooster at the far side of the road but he took off running up the bank into the field on the other side of the road. In desperation I shot again as he was clearing the bank but he just shook it off and kept going. Fortunately about that time Nellie arrived on the scene. She quickly picked up the scent and in a flash had run down the rooster. Just as she was bringing it back another rooster got up very near where the first one had. There I stood with an empty gun. That’s why this is titled “ALMOST” perfect.
To make a long story short, we hunted on up the draw and Nellie made three nice points and three more retrieves for my three shots. I glanced at my watch after bagging the last bird and we had been hunting for just 2 hours and 15 minutes. A pheasant hunt like this doesn’t come around often.
2 comments:
Oh my goodness! It looks like Nellie-dog is smiling! ha ha
Glad you had some luck!
Congratulations, Dad. And that is a great picture of you, Nellie and the pheasants!
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