September bowhunting

I've never been one for early season bowhunting, especially as early as it comes in now in September.  For me, it just doesn't feel right until, there is a chill in the air.  Truth be told, I fully believe bowhunting should be a test of endurance and misery for that one opportunity.  It's twisted logic, I know.  

So with a chaotic house of toddlers and busy demands of a job, an hour sitting over the pumpkin patch in 78 degree weather is more meditative than hunting.  Expectations of actually getting anything are extremely low, which is why I spent a good 15 minutes playing around with picture settings on my phone taking various pictures of my bow hanging over the field.  

Then I became pretty mindful to the fact I am always on my phone all day long, so I put it away for the last 45 minutes of the evening and just enjoyed my surroundings and watch the sunset.  I saw a couple doe right at dusk, but then again I hate having to dress and skin a deer in hot weather.  

English Pointer puppy at work

Cooper and I went out with my buddy and his new English Pointer, Bo.  We alternated dogs and put some birds out to get them some winter exercise.  Bo is only about 4-5 months old so everything he does is pretty much on instinct.  It was pretty awesome to watch this dog in action and the highlight of the hunt was him locking steady on this (obviously confused) chuckar that sat on the field path.  Bo-dog locked up hard and stared at that bird, but never budged.  What great instincts!  He's going to be a really good dog.

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.   

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.

Cooper and Molly's pheasant hunt

I went pheasant hunting with a buddy who used his parents red-lab, Molly, to work pheasants.  This was the first time the dogs met and after a short conversation, we realized both dogs were bred by the same Sire.  Really, I see no similarities????

Molly on left and Cooper on right in both pics

We had a really nice morning hunt and the dogs worked well.  It was really cool to even see some of the similarities in the hunting style.  Pretty neat they were able to hunt together.

JP's 1st Upland Hunt

One of my best friends from JMU that lives in Boston came into town for the Steelers v. Ravens game.  We had some time to kill on the weekend and we decided to get out to a local hunting preserve (where he didn't need a license.)  He had never hunted before and only shot a gun once in his life.  It was a beautiful day and he wanted to see Cooper in his element and try his hand at wing shooting.

 We started out with some clay pigeons and Johnny hit a couple - probably batting around .200. But when we moved onto the birds, it was a whole new game and he was dead nuts.  One after another, he didn't miss a single bird.  The first few birds Cooper flushed were chukar and he smoked them. 

There were pheasants all throughout the property, but man were they running.  These birds were really wily and rarely held.  It was also warm with little wind, which made it tough for Cooper.  But he stuck with them and tracked them really well. 

                                                                                                           Wait, Labs can point????

Towards the end of the hunt, we finally put a couple ringnecks up for Johnny and he was lights out on them too. There were some pretty difficult crossing shots and I was super impressed with how he swung on these birds very naturally.  Cooper did his work and fetched them quickly up. 

All in all it was a great hunt and I think we have a new wing shooter whenever he is in town.  We finished up with a couple cold Two Hearted Ales on the tailgate of the truck and then headed home.

                                        Johnny was absolutely lights out shooting.  First time out.  Literally didn't miss a bird!  I never seen that.  

                                                                                          Helltown Brewing from Mt. Pleasant, PA

Earlier in the day, we were down in the Stript District and picked up a growler of Helltown Reserve Stout.  I'd never heard of this brew, but we come to find out that it was a new local brewery in my old hometown of Mt. Pleasant, PA!  I had no clue.   I had to laugh at the name of the brewery given some of my youthful experiences.  But, I later learned Mt. Pleasant was nick named 'Helltown' due to the omnipresent red glow of the coke ovens and the hazy smog that created a very eerie rendition of Hell on Earth.   

So with a few Stouts under our belt, we decided to get a little exotic and plucked the pheasants (which is a pain in the ass) to keep the skin on and then spatchcock them so they could be grilled whole.  I'd had never prepared a bird of any kind like this and Johnny showed me how to cut the breast bone out so it could be grilled flat.  I would never have grilled pheasant breasts because they would typically be too dry, but the secret was that you grill it with the bones in and it keeps the bird MOIST and flavorable.  You really get the taste of pheasant and they were delicious.  Birds, beer, grilling...good day.

Wood Crest Point Upland Hunt

Brad and Christine turned Spencer and I on to this Living Social deal in the summer for a combo pheasant / chuckar hunt at Wood Crest Point. It's a little bit of a hike, but we love checking out new places and knew the dogs would love a late season hunt. We split the day up and ran Brad's GSP, Roxie, in the morning and then Cooper in the afternoon. 

Cooper on point and ready to be released for his flush

Roxie locked up on point

We used to hunt the two dogs together, but Cooper was causing Roxie to break and we found it best to just work them separately.  This works out well cause then Brad and I can just work our dogs and the girls just get to shoot away!  Both dogs did great this day and the shooting was pretty good from our end too.  In fact, after we picked up a few bonus birds, we ended up with more than we planted, which doesn't happen very often.  Cooper did a fantastic job, quartering within range and pointing almost every bird.  Without a doubt though, the best part of the point is the flush that follows.  If he knows exactly where the bird is, he'll dart right in.  But if he's not quite sure, he calculates his approach and then jumps into the air trying to land on the bird.  If he doesn't land on it, he continues to jump around like he's on 4-legged pogo stick until the bird comes up. It's pretty hilarious. 

Here's a few action shots that Spencer took on this really beautiful golden pheasant.  The flushing picture is one of my all-time favorites.

The point

The flush

And the retrieve

Cooper with a fine finished retrieve

Wood Crest Point was a really nice property with plenty of room to hunt and great cover for the birds. Its definitely a nice hunt and we plan to be back.

Picture of the crew with a few of the birds from the afternoon hunt