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jonesface

Pup's first pheasant hunt

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I went to Utah last week to hunt some upland game with my 11 month old Brittany(Ellie). post-2799-0-89871500-1415837070_thumb.jpg

She did pretty good for her age but she didn't get to point much because these wild birds would run on her.post-2799-0-39592900-1415837191_thumb.jpg

We started off hunting pheasant, which was a blast because we had over 800 acres of private land to ourselves.post-2799-0-42594100-1415837359_thumb.jpg post-2799-0-00875300-1415837901_thumb.jpg

After the pheasant hunting we went after some Valley quail and were able to connect on a few of those beautiful birds.post-2799-0-02909000-1415837441_thumb.jpg

We had a snow storm hit in the middle of the week and I was trying to decide whether to chase some chukars or grouse.post-2799-0-29071600-1415837636_thumb.jpg

We ended up going after the grouse. We cut tracks in the snow and Ellie would find them pretty close to the cut tracks and flush them into a pine, from there it was pretty easy.post-2799-0-85901600-1415837750_thumb.jpgpost-2799-0-01927700-1415837835_thumb.jpg post-2799-0-31923200-1415837993_thumb.jpgpost-2799-0-84038800-1415838092_thumb.jpg

All in all it was a lot of fun.post-2799-0-85456400-1415838196_thumb.jpg

Now heading back out to chase our desert birds.post-2799-0-63337300-1415838329_thumb.jpgpost-2799-0-93023100-1415838454_thumb.jpg

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Looks like a blast Josh. Glad you had fun with your dad.

Thanks! The best part was not pulling cactus out of the Lewis Dog boots every trip out.

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It looks like you were able to get a mixed bag of birds. It always extremely rewarding taking a pup out for the first time.

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A few months ago the question was asked:

 

 

How many of you use a dog and how many don't? Always curious how the non hunting dog owners do.....

 

For over 20 years I've hunted quail without a dog. I would get birds without a dog but I never limited in one day.

I've found having a dog you will be more successful than without.(Especially when it comes to Mearns) For one, I find all of my cripples. ^_^ In the past I would go to a new area and walk around and not see a thing. I would think there wasn't any quail in this new area. I'm not saying the quail are always there but I also think I was walking past a lot of birds that were holding tight in cover. I have found going out on this last trip, if I didn't have a dog I would have walked past a lot of birds that were holding in cover.

For instance, today after one of the coveys busted I stood there and watched exactly where they landed. There was dirt all around the thorny brush they landed in so I kept my eye on that area as Ellie and I walked to it. I had Ellie check it out and she just walked away from the brush. I knew the birds were in there so I had her come back and smell it again. Again she gave it a courtesy sniff but walked away. I then started kicking the brush to see if I could flush anything out. Nothing.. All of a sudden Ellie locks up on point about 20 yards from the brush. I walk towards her and just before I get to her the covey flushes. I never saw the birds escape from the brush. I could have easily walked past these birds if it wasn't for her.

Here are some pics of today's success.

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Man, I wish I knew about this earlier. I've spent way too many years glassing for quail! :)

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Congats brother! I am glad you were able to get out and get after it. Looking forward to seeing some Mearns here shortly.

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