Fun Friday

[Bwana]

The kids didn't have school on Thursday or Friday so plans were made for our annual teacher's convention pheasant hunt. This year in addition to all of us & a couple we are good friends with we were joined by my mother & father in law, one b-i-l, & another b-i-l, his wife, & two kids 5&7 years old. After our first walk we were also joined by the landowners two boys 9&12. Quite a group to say the least.

Though we didn't get a lot of birds we did get to show the folks who have never pheasant hunted before how fun it is seeing those birds flushing at your feet. My dog did awesome once again which did my heart good as most of the party had never seen her at work.

My pup was working a spot and all of a sudden was very interested in a particular patch of grass. I walked over to it and since nothing was flushing I decided to move the bird out with the toe of my boot. I bumped something during the initial sweep so kicked a little harder the second time. This kick parted the grass enough to let me see what was hiding underneath. Imagine my surprise when rather then the brown of a hen or the many colors of a rooster, I saw black & white fur instead!! I called the dog off & thankfully she didn't get sprayed but I wasn't so lucky. Peppy got me. Looks like it is time to find a new pair of brush pants.

Here are a couple of pics I took while eating lunch.

1971



1972



1973


Not many birds but hopefully some good memories.

[Captain]

That looks like a load of fun! How was the drive home with them skunk britches?
Should be able to soak them in a tub of mater juice and get the smell out.

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[jb]

Good report, love those birds.

[Chicken Dinner]

Man, I've got to try that some time.

[Arty]

What fun that looks like!!

[Bwana]

Had to take the pants & boots off for the ride home, sure was glad to be wearing longjohns.

Any ideas for getting the smell out of my boots without wrecking the leather?

[Captain]

It will naturally wear away from the boots but it takes awhile. I've always left them outside on the back porch. It helps to continue to wear them but probably gonna have to ride in the back of the truck to and from hunting for awhile.

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[jb]

Reminds me of a pheasant hunting story from a few years back.
I took Doug to Iowa when he was 12 for his first bird hunt. We went with friends who had a great English Setter.
At the end of the day we were all tired and sore and were just walking back to the truck down the gravel road with our guns empty and over our shoulders.
About 10 yards in front of us the dog went on point in a clump of grass that was about a 3' triangle. It was the little island that is made as when you have an entrance to field from the tractor coming from either direction.
Dog would not move, so we sent Doug to investigate. Non of us bothered to load our guns as we all had our limit, were tired and just wanted to get back to the motel.
Doug walks over to the lump of grass and looks in, can't see nothing, dog is still locked on point, Doug kicks the grass, still nothing, makes a complete circle of the little island and says "there is nothing here", bends over and spreads the grass with his hands, bam!, a hen pheasant explodes from the grass knocking him over with her wings.
We all laughed so hard we had tears coming down our face, Doug was in shock, but unhurt.
Man, those were some fun days.

[Thumper]

I have a VERY similar story Bubba. Years ago, I'd make an annual journey to Ohio in time to catch a bit of pheasant hunting. It was a "group" type thing and always a lot of fun. Actually, just writing that lead-in made me think of a second story, so I'll start with that one. We were lined up in the field and walking a bit of a distance behind the dogs. A pheasant flushed, flew straight up and turned toward us. I hollered that I had it, took the shot and that bird folded it's wings looking like a missile coming straight at us. It hit my buddy on my left right square in the chest!

But back to what your story reminded me of. Same type deal, we'd been walking behind the dogs for a while and got toward the end of the field. A few of the guys wanted to take a smoke break before moving to the next field, so we relaxed and started b/s'ing while standing there. The next thing I knew, the Chocolate Lab I was hunting with walked up and went on point ... looking straight at my boot! We were all standing right there and laughing our asses off at that "stupid" dog thinking my boot was a bird! We laughed and joked for a bit, but that dog held tight and didn't budge. I finally decided to move my foot to show the dog he was pointing at my boot and not a bird. About that time, a hen flushed from a small clump of grass about 6" from my toes! It startled the heck out'a all of us as NOBODY saw a thing there and afterwards, we ALL swore there was no way in hell a dang bird could have been right there the whole time we were standing there.

BUT ... to add insult to injury, the bird took a shit on the toe of my boot as she flushed! (that's how close she was!) Of course everyone laughed their asses off after being initially startled. I have a pic around here someplace of the toe of my boot with a pile of bird-shit on it! Needless to say, I gave the dog plenty of praise and at-a-boys afterwards ... she REALLY did her job, but we were a bit slacking. :)

[jb]

Ya Thump, those are some crafty birds, that's why they are so much fun to hunt.
Can't tell you the number of times the line of hunters and dogs have passed only to have a big rooster explode from 5' behind you.
Also at the end of a driven field, just like you mentioned, you stop, reorganize, take a piss, light up a smoke, shoot the bull for about 10 minutes only to have a bird take off right in the middle of the gathering.
Damn, I miss those hunts.

[hotshot]

Indiana pheasants are not as numerous as they used to be. That being said, there was one that I wanted dead for 2 years. I would be sneaking into a tree stand in the wee hours of early morning in the attempt to get the jump a deer.... On occasion, not often enough to expect it, a pheasant would bust out of the fence row at about the same place. I would go to my knees in shock. Of course every deer in the vicinity would know that something was a miss "over there"......
hope a coyote got him!

[Thumper]

I remember the worst experience I had like that was on a bear hunt in Northern Ontario. I was entering the woods late one afternoon headed for my ground blind. The woods were darker than usual ... not only a very thick canopy, but it was drizzling rain so there was very little sunlight. I had just entered the woods and was about 20 yards from my stand when I heard all sorts of racket in the woods. It turned out a bear was near my stand ripping apart a fallen log, I assume looking for ants, beetles or termites. The problem is, the woods were so thick and dark at that point, I couldn't see a thing ... but he was grunting and ripping that log apart a matter of feet away from me.

Did I mention this was my FIRST EVER bear hunt? My heart was pounding so hard I was sure that bear would hear it! I SLOWLY eased my way down the path peering through the dark woods hoping to get a glimpse of this bear and hopefully get a shot. Of course, in the back of my mind, I was also hoping he wasn't going to end up EATING me! I eased along and was so close I could hear his heavy breathing as he worked on that log. I took one slow step forward and all of a sudden a frigging grouse busted out of the brush not 3 feet beside me! I swear, in the quiet woods, those dang things sound like helicopters taking off. I stood there in one spot doing a frigging tap-dance, crapping in my pants and pissing down my leg all the while screaming like a little girl! Ok, maybe it wasn't QUITE that bad ... but that's sure how I felt. Needless to say, once I quit dancing on my tippy-toes, that bear was half way to Manitoba!

I've walked up on quite a few grouse while deer hunting ... and they NEVER fail to scare the bejeebers out'ta me ... but that first bear hunt had to be the worst I ever experienced.

[Bwana]

Those birds really do have a knack for getting your attention when you least expect it, which is one of the reasons I enjoy hunting them.