Fence Rows and Rabbits

Rabbits are not usually at the top of my hunt list in the fall, but come February and they are the perfect ending to a great hunting season. I grew up hunting rabbits in my youth years and learned how to swing a shotgun. Back then, I didn’t have a bird dog, so rabbits were the only predictable quarry we could find. Hunting rabbits in the snow on a sunny day, might give you some of the best hunting action all season long.

The wife and kids were out for the day and I knew the farm across the road the I hunt all year for doves, deer, and turkey had rabbits all over it. Lots of old fence rows and brush piles made this farm a perfect rabbit hunt. I just never spent the time to do this solo in the past few years. Hunting small game is always more fun with the company of friends. So, we beat the brush and were rewarded with lots of jumps and constant action. After chasing elk in high altitude country and sitting through long frozen hours in the deer stand, chasing a few rabbits seemed like the perfect way to end the 2018-2019 season.

Hunting season with the boys

It’s never too early to bring them along….I started taking Hunter with me this fall in some pheasant hunting spots with Cooper. The kids are always fascinated when I bring pheasants or deer home, so I wanted to take them to see how its done. So I took Hunter with me out bird hunting with Cooper and Jack asked to come bow hunting with me. Of course tactics and how we hunt changes slightly when you are with a 4 and 5 year old, but its the absolute best to be in the field with the kids. If this is any indication of how the years to come will be spent, then its going to be a lot of fun.

Hunter's 1st Dove Hunt

We have a great dove hunting flyway right across from the house. So, when I asked the kids who wanted to come dove hunting with me, Hunter about jumped out of his shoes. “That sounds awesome!” He kept saying, “I can’t wait to harpoon some birds right out of the sky”. His one-liners had my laughing the entire time. It was great.

We only had about an hour before soccer practice and the doves weren’t flying well at all. But, I ripped a couple shots at some high flyers just to make the gun go bang. It didn’t matter today. We just enjoyed hanging out and we will have plenty of more dove days ahead of us.

End of Season 9

We had some unseasonably warm weather to wrap up February.  And by unseasonable, I mean our young kids were out running around in the sprinkler naked,...in February.  So, we took advantage of the warm spell to get Cooper out on a few Chukar.  These were planted birds, so nothing too spectacular or awe inspiring to type about.  But, Cooper didn't know the difference and he was happy to just be hunting.  And Spencer was just happy she could sneak out of the house and I was happy to just be outside. So an overall wonderful evening.  

But, one thing became apparent was that Cooper is loosing his hearing.  I had knocked a bird down that glided to the opposite hill.  It was a bad shot and I don't even deserve partial credit.  But, a retriever with a good nose can make up for a bad shot and Cooper would make quick work of this bird.  But, when I shot he bolted off the other way.  I called and called and blew my whistle and and beeped his collar, etc, etc.  But, he lost me and even though he could hear the collar beep, he had no clue where i was over the hill.  Of course, I am pissed at this point, but he's never done this before.  So even in my fit, I know something isnt right.  And so when he made it in to me heat-exhausted and half panic-stricken, I just called this hunt.  And after a few more tests, we definitley knew his hearing was going.  

On the way home we talked about timing of getting another dog, but the whole conversation got me depressed.  We just had a great afternoon hunt and the last of the season.  I know we will have many more hunts together, but things are definitely changing with Cooper at an unfair pace.  I remind myself that those are human emotions only.  Cooper just had the best day of his 9 year life and ready to do it again tomorrow.

Last minute Ducks

This year seems to have gotten away from me when it came to the pursuits of our webbed friends.  Each year seems to be a bit different with where I spend my time and efforts, and this year I spent more time in a tree stand. Can't do it all.  

Duck season was literally almost out and we finally made our way to a really special spot that always produces ducks.  The challenge is that this shallow swamp is usually all froze up in the late season...but not this year.  We enjoyed a mildly warm weather and able to take a handful of ducks over a couple brief hunts.  I was even able to sneak the wife out for a few hours, which was a real nice treat for us both.

Pheasant Hunting with Cooper

I can't believe Cooper is 9 years old.  As much as I hate to admit it, he is on the back 9 of his wonderful doggie life.  Knowing that motivates me to try to get him out as much as possible and enjoy every last minute with him.  What a life lesson.  Thinking this way has provided some perspective and I've definitely eased up on my expectations.  If he doesn't heel perfectly and hold the bird the whole way through the retrieve, its all good.  We're really out to just have fun and that is a theme I hope to carry with me for my next dog.

He still has a good motor and I swear if there is snow on the ground, he works like he's 3 years old again.  He hasn't changed his hunting drive, but it's more on his recovery.  I notice the change getting in and out of the truck and the day after when he is stiff and doesn't rebound as quickly.  At 36, I feel the same way sometimes and can relate.  But he's 63 and does all the work on the hunt, so I will stop my whining.  

The Pumpkin Patch Buck

My buddy, Jeremy, had been down at my house all week and we'd been working non-stop prepping the concrete driveway and other various landscape projects.  We decided to have a little fun and hit my local pumpkin patch, where a 6-7 bucks had been routinely working the fields each evening.  

We hadn't hunted together in some time and decided to sit in my blind together and just enjoy the evening.  99% of bow hunting is done solo, so this was a fun change of pace and the comedy show that is Jeremy.

Who needs a face mask when you have fresh wet mud from your buddies boot.  

Like clockwork, this buck came out right at the last light of day at an angle only Jeremy could shoot out of the blind.  He was only planning to shoot a doe, but I gave him the green light and he put a deadly shot on this buck at 25 yards.  

We did the right thing and went back to the house to wait our obligatory 30 minutes.  I made a cup of coffee.  Jeremy took a shot of Jameson.  We relaxed.  When we walked back outside, it was pouring down rain.  I mean pouring.  We shot this buck in a huge field and this was a major problem.  We grabbed our lights and headed out.  Fast forward through a long 45 minutes search, but all tracks were washed out and we didn't find a single drop of blood.  All washed away.   With nothing to track and in pitch dark, we were reserved to hopefully tripping over the downed deer.  We went back to the house knowing the search was futile.  Jeremy took another shot.  I cracked a beer.   We were soaked and this totally sucked.  

As I anxiously sipped my beer, I said let's take Cooper and see what he can do. Cooper is my 9 year old lab.  He's an expert on birds and I've trained him to find antler sheds, but he's no blood hound and I've never tried him on a downed deer....but we were desperate.  

We slogged back up to the field and Jeremy headed to the back of the property to circle back through the field.  I took Cooper and went the other way......90 seconds later, and Cooper was standing over the buck.  I've never seen anything like it.  It was unreal.  I called after Jeremy who hadn't made it very far and we were soon celebrating in the downpour

Cooper was King Pup this night with an excess of treats, table scraps, tons of love and half of bowl of beer.  

The Duck Roost

I was extremely fortunate to get access at a great lake / swamp area that was a great waterfowl spot.  I set up in a swamp I have yet to hunt and was surprised there was even open water in the shallow flats.  As I set my decoys in the pitch dark, I could hear ducks ALL around me. A few nervous ducks couldn't take it anymore and decided to get the heck out.  This set off a slight chain reaction and I ended up listening to what sounds like a thousand ducks take off around me in the dark. It was nuts.  The rest of the morning, I watched ducks take off all around the swamp, but none were interested in circling back into my spread...go figure.  And I opted not to sky bust the few that flew high over me.  Needless to say I was in a roost, and I know not to shoot these up.  I plan to return for a mid-morning or early afternoon hunt where I don't spook the entire flock that is working this roost.

PA Pheasant Honey Hole...Part II

Well, I jinxed it. As soon as I wrote about the honey hole, the birds disappeared.  Or it could have something to do with the fact its December and most holdover birds were coyote appetizers.

But the story of this trip wasn't the pheasants, it was these fresh rubs.  Reminder, this is SW PA, not Ohio.  Yikes.

PA Pheasant Honey Hole

Honey holes are typically reserved to fishing spots that are known for their abundance to produce AND must be, to some magnitude, under the radar.  Of course in the hunting realm, there are hot spots and money spots that will, year after year, produce dominant gobblers and mature bucks.  But, for whatever reason, I just don't call those honey holes.  

Pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania is what it is.  The birds are not wild and its clearly not South Dakota.  But, my dog doesn't know and I like to hunt with my dog.  Plus the commute is a little closer than Aberdeen, SD.  The problem with PA pheasant hunting though is that there are typically droves of hunters around where the birds are stocked.  I loathe crowds, especially ones with guns, so I usually hike far away sacrificing # of birds for less # of hunters.  

I followed my same logic this season and hiked away from the orange army, but randomly came upon a semi-remote area that had tons of ringnecks. I'm not sure how so many bird ended up here, but I never saw another hunter all season long.  On a couple hunts, I was intentionally passing on flushed birds, because I wanted to run the dog a bit longer before limiting out.  A sort of catch and release hunt.  

Each season is different, but for now, I officially have found a nice little honey hole.

Early duck season

It's been a few years now since the glory days of this wood duck hole.  It used to pile them in at first light and usually resulted in a limit within the first 45 minutes.  The past few years have been disappointing though and the woodies seem to be elsewhere.  I don't have time to scout this spot in advance, so its literally boom or bust.  

To be fair, I always see a 'few' ducks.  This time was no different as the first set of 3 ducks buzzed my ass and I sat there dumbfounded at their speed and ability to surprise.  This shouldn't surprise me as they do this to me every year.  I never get a shot off on the first set of ducks.  Its almost as if my coffee is still working its way into my veins.  But in years past, I usually get opportunities to redeem myself and actually get ready.  

This year, I said it wouldn't happen again and sure enough they came in from behind me and scared the hell out of me.  I was ready for the next set of ducks, but they never came.  

Pennsylvania Grouse Hunting

Couple great pics of the dogs working some dense Pennsylvania grouse woods. 3 German Shorthairs and my good ol Lab Cooper.  I should have had the only bird, but had no clue where my buddy was so I passed on a 'layup' of a grouse shot.  Its tough keeping track of everyone in the dense grouse cover.  Watching all these dogs work was just awesome though.  Great fall day.   

Good Dog

Cooper turned 7 today.  I cant believe how fast the years have flown.  He's an amazing hunting dog and a best friend, but his value has spiked even more now with the kids.  We're so lucky to have him. 

Pheasants in February

Glad the game commission finally let pheasants in until February.  Makes for some fun, but tough late season hunts.  Cooper and I went out after a good snow storm hit and trudged through the foot and a half of snow.  The birds were sitting pretty tight with all the snow, so we worked pretty slow.  Here is the last rooster of the day and a nice retrieve over a fence, a creek bottom, and through some deep snow.

New Year's Eve Western PA Grouse hunt

Went up to the mountains after a fresh snow for a New Year's Eve grouse hunt.   We had three guys and three dogs - a German Shorthair pointer and two labs.  We worked for about 3 hours around this ridge and put about 8 birds up and took 2.  Not bad stats in the world of grouse.  I shot one and which was the first in a couple years.  Hopefully it wont be that long again because we had an absolute blast.

Working the thickets

Cooper retrieving my the day's first grouse.

Winter Ducks

This was most likely going to be the last hunt before Cooper's minor  eye 'surgery' and I wanted to get him out (and get me out) of the house.  Plus there was a storm rolling in and I had a good setup for an evening hunt.  I had a feeling.

Winter Storm Hercules was coming in hot and as people panicked to get home, we went duck hunting.  It turned out to be the best hunt of the year, as ducks were piling into the decoys as soon as we setup.  The first duck was memorable - I shot him on my 3rd shot and he landed a football field away.  He ended up literally crawling onto the ice and leaving us with no option to get him.  30 minutes later and a half inch of snow on him, he rose from the dead and start waddling to the far side of the lake.  Just goes to show you how tough these birds are. 

Other side of the frozen lake. Just looks cold

We circled the 1 mile lake and then I sent Cooper in on a search.  Ten minutes later, he came back with the duck that couldn't fly.  He's just an amazing retriever and this was one of his finest.

Fine retrieve

 We hunted another hour and about 30 ducks came in sets of 2-5.  It was perfect hunting and ended up with a limit of mallards. 

The drive home was insanely treacherous, but we made it back and ended the season on a high note.

Buffleheads

Setup on an unnamed location for a morning hunt for the first hunt of the year at this spot.  Saw some geese and some high flying mallards. ended up taking a male Bufflehead diving duck which was the first one I have ever shot.  By far, one of the coolest looking birds I have ever seen.  Love the cool mohawk that this bird sports.  Saw some more Buffleheads, but just wanted this one. 

December Pheasants

Pheasant hunting on public land with a few friends, a German Shorthair and some cool December weather.

2013 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

Cooper and I went on a pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota with our friends Brad and Christine and their German Shorthair Pointer, Roxie.  We leased a 1200 acre farm and rented a house in Hoven, South Dakota to hunt wild pheasants for four days.  I had been out to South Dakota a few years ago with my wife and Cooper and we had an absolute blast.  She couldn't make the trip this time, but I wanted to get Cooper out (at least) one more time while he was in his prime.

 

 We had an awesome trip, but the hunting was definitely tough.  The overall bird numbers were down in South Dakota this year and this farm gets hunted by a different group of hunters each week.  We saw a lot of hens and much fewer roosters and the birds were highly educated and wily this late in the season.  We saw many birds that just seemed to flush just outside of shotgun range and the birds that came up in range were fast and tough.  Every bird we got was earned through some long tough miles and relentless dog work. 

 

I cant wait to come back out here one day with the kids and a few more dogs!

 

 

 

 

Brad / Roxy and me / Cooper

 

Cooper making the first retrieve of the trip





Old windmill on the prairie



Roxie on a nice retrieve



First afternoon on public land.  Great start!

One proud Lab after a hard day's work

 

My wild pheasant and portabella crock pot recipe

 

Living room of the rental house



Best part of the day!

Cooper and Roxie with fine retrieves

A pointer and a retriever can work together well!

Cooper and I with a beautiful wild Ringneck using Dad's old Beretta 12 gauge

Beer of the trip = Bells Midwestern Pale Ale

Brad and Christine with a gigantic cottontail rabbit





Random old port-a-potty at the reclaimed gravel pit yard.  Strange, but convenient!

SouthDakotaWild.com



Just another breath taking SD sunset.

 

Cooper being Cooper.  Captain Nitwit!

Small game bonanza - 11/25

 

Trip Summary from Pittsburgh - South Dakota  - Lynchburg, VA.  3,230 miles!

I found the worlds BEST sunflower seeds.

 


Sunset over the old farmstead in Hoven, SD after the last day's hunt while sitting on the tail gate drinking a cold one.



 

Pheasant Season Kick Off

I've been trying to get Cooper into shape for our South Dakota hunt coming up in November.  I've probably taken him out about 6 times now to just exercise him.  We hit a lot of the game lands in Washington County which are always hit and miss.  A couple hunts we never even got a bird, but that's State Game Land hunting for you.  We did manage a few birds and more importantly got him into (better) shape.