Goose/Pheasant/Sporting clays

[Jamie]

We just got back from a VERY enjoyable weekend.
We shot Geese on Saturday morning, Pheasants Saturday afternoon and Sporting clays this AM.
I had a fantastic time. Perhaps one of the best weekends ever!
I got the chance to take Brook out on her first Pheasant hunt (with me).
She did excellent!! A few points, lots of great retreives..Including one that might have gone about 200 yards. Another one that I didn't think I hit and disappeared into the bushes and fell into the water.. I was very proud of her. I think I am the most fortunate guy in the wold right now!
Accommodation was a really nice cabin right in the shore of Lake Newell, Food was supplied by our host's, the dogs were all welcome in the house and Brook slept in my bed. It was Cuban cigars and port after dinner and a rather large bar to chose from. Outstanding hosts!!

I haven't done sporting clays in about 12 years.. WOW.. Thats a bunch of fun. I cant wait till AHEIA opens the course here south of Calgary.

Dad managed to kill his first "Solo" goose on the first flock that came in. Unfortunately we had Approx a 1,000 fly over head and only a few bothered to stop by. But still we were able to take out 14 or so. One flight in particular had us knock down 7 out of 12 shots. This flight had some really big birds in it, as the 2 we had plucked came in at 13 pounds each.

The pheasant guide (Claude) was nice enough to lend Dad a great Browning O/U. Dad was a frickin machine. He knocked down every bird but one that he shot at. I found the pheasant shooting much easier than the geese. I think I only missed 3 shots all day.
I cant seem to figure out why I only killed 2-3 geese myself.. I am sure I was in on some others. I know I can hit them, I am just having a tough time killing them. Even with the new expensive loads I did better.. But not enough to justify the expense. I have used the pattern board.. I don't know what the issue is.

We will be in Brooks for the Pheasant opener, I am interested to see the difference between "Wild" and raised Pheasants. Though I haven't hunted Pheasants on this level before, I found these birds Ran like the dickens, flew high, flew fast and were great entertainment. I was bit concerned it would be like shooting Barnyard chickens, but that was not the case. I would have no problem,s what so ever going on this type of hunt again. We released 60 pheasants and harvested 37 or so.. We left approx 20 for seed. That is about 61% and just slightly higher than the average. of 50%-60% of recovery. This program is one of the reason we all have so many pheasants to hunt here in Alberta.

Here is a pic of a successful and happy crew.
I hope we can make this a annual event. I cant imagine a better weekend

Jamie

[Rackmastr]

Looks like a good trip Jamie!! Now we gotta plan up a trip in the next few weeks and go knock down some more waterfowl buddy!!

[sheephunter]

I've done that similar trip before Jamie and loved it too. Glad you had a great time!

[Jamie]

Yeah Sheep.. It is a most memorable weekend.
Next year we are going to change it up a bit..
Clays on Friday afternoon, Spot geese Friday night, Shoot said geese Saturday morning, Shoot pheasants Saturday afternoon, Have a BBQ Sat night, come home Sunday morning... This bit of shooting clays on Sunday had a few guys dragging due to the festivity's on Sat night/Sunday Morn.:wave: :wave:
Not I, but I sure am tired.

We put our name on Winchester Classic list for next year. $2,300/Team 5 Guys + 2 Dog handlers. 40 Pheasants, 125 Sporting clays.. $32,000 in prizes and cash. Now that also sounds like a great weekend. This Bird hunting is starting to take over for my Big game addiction. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jamie

[Walleyes]

About the closest thing to a canned hunt we have to offer here in good old Alberta.. But hey each to his own...

[ABDUKNUT]

I cant seem to figure out why I only killed 2-3 geese myself.. I am sure I was in on some others. I know I can hit them, I am just having a tough time killing them. Even with the new expensive loads I did better.. But not enough to justify the expense. I have used the pattern board.. I don't know what the issue is.

We will be in Brooks for the Pheasant opener, I am interested to see the difference between "Wild" and raised Pheasants.

Wow, sounds like a great weekend, must be have been enjoyable.

Not trying to detract from your fun, but you made a points that I found interesting. As far as not hitting the geese, can I ask what load and choke you were shooting, as well as what the distance was?
I'm guessing you were shooting behind them- likely not following through on your swing. If you get into a rut with this, get somebody who knows a little about shotgunning to watch over your shoulder next time you're shooting. And, next time, concentrate on the follow through to your shot. Hard to say exactly what the issue is, but look into this and rule this out if you can. Keep your head down on the stock, too. Hope this helps-

Truthfully, expensive loads don't kill geese any better than reasonably priced ones- waterfowl hunting is at a high level of participation right now in the USA and the ammo companies are taking advantage of this market with every sort of 'new' and 'improved' gimmick. Birds don't magically fall at the mere report of a $3 shotshell, as some will lead you to believe.

Captive raised pheasants can be a challenge all to themselves, but no gamebird matches the instincts of a wild rooster, especially a hard hunted one. I've worked at and spent time at a few elite pheasant clubs in Sodak and IA, and can tell you that the average lifespan of a captive bred pheasant that survives a shoot is anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

Looks like you had an great time, my kind of hunting indeed. Buddies, family, Cigars, booze, BBQ!

[sheephunter]

I've found that Ed's birds act pretty much idenically to wild Alberta birds other than the fact that there is just a whole lot more of them on the property you are hunting. This should really come as no surprise as the majority of the wild birds can trace their roots back to his facility anyhow. Ed has big pens that allow the birds to strengthen muscles and fly well. They are definitly not your typical captive birds plus the way he releases them at the hunt site certainly stacks the odds in the birds' favour.

Last time I was down, we did geese, pheasant and then ducks all in the same day. It was a hectic one to say the least and something I'd happily do again.

[BigRackLover]

Was this a guided hunt? Can you send me info for next year?

[shorthair]

Jamie that sounds like an awesome day. I'm glad the birds made your hunt a challenge which they always do.

Another great event you should try and enter is the Brooks Kinsmen Ringneck Classic. The cost is $1500.00 per team and you can have up to 6 shooters plus 2 dog handlers. They release 40 roosters and 10 hens (hens you can't shoot). It is also a blast!!

[Jamie]

Wow, sounds like a great weekend, must be have been enjoyable.

Not trying to detract from your fun, but you made a points that I found interesting. As far as not hitting the geese, can I ask what load and choke you were shooting, as well as what the distance was?
I'm guessing you were shooting behind them- likely not following through on your swing. If you get into a rut with this, get somebody who knows a little about shotgunning to watch over your shoulder next time you're shooting. And, next time, concentrate on the follow through to your shot. Hard to say exactly what the issue is, but look into this and rule this out if you can. Keep your head down on the stock, too. Hope this helps-

Truthfully, expensive loads don't kill geese any better than reasonably priced ones- waterfowl hunting is at a high level of participation right now in the USA and the ammo companies are taking advantage of this market with every sort of 'new' and 'improved' gimmick. Birds don't magically fall at the mere report of a $3 shotshell, as some will lead you to believe.

Captive raised pheasants can be a challenge all to themselves, but no gamebird matches the instincts of a wild rooster, especially a hard hunted one. I've worked at and spent time at a few elite pheasant clubs in Sodak and IA, and can tell you that the average lifespan of a captive bred pheasant that survives a shoot is anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

Looks like you had an great time, my kind of hunting indeed. Buddies, family, Cigars, booze, BBQ!

AB.
I was useing #2's with a Full choke. They were a Winchester thing like Bizmuth or Tungston.
Distances were under 40 yards. Load patterns well. My form and swing might be a bit of a issue as we were comming out of coffin blinds and I wonder if sitting to shoot takes some getting used to. But how in the hell do you practice that??? Show up at the gun club with my blind???

As for the pheasants, arent all pheasants in Alberta "Raised"
I think it would be nice to try some birds in the states. How is Montana?

It was a great time, met some new friends, caught up with some old ones and got to see my dog in action.. (SHE DID GREAT!!)

Jamie

[Mintaka]

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[Versatile]

What do you mean by raised? I know all the birds down here are wild. There isnt a release site for 100 miles.

[Vindalbakken]

Ryan, do actually know where all the birds from Brooks are released? The number that go in the release sites is a small part of the total that are released every year.

[sheephunter]

What do you mean by raised? I know all the birds down here are wild. There isnt a release site for 100 miles.

Where is down here Ryan? There are pheasants released pretty well all over southern Alberta each year.

[packhuntr]

We have quite afew release sites around here, but there are a huge number of wild birds around, and a huge number of chicks raised every year by these wildies. For sure they are an introduced species, but i would say they are here to stay, release programs or not. For anyone questioning wether or not its near to a canned hunt experience, come on down. I bet you i can show you some river bottom birds that will make an example out of your best dogs. That is guaranteed.......

keep a strain on er.

[Donny Bear]

Looks like a good time, hunting in the footsteps of Bing Crosby. :)

Ka...Ching

Just find this interesting I was with a fellow years ago by Indiang /Sulivan lake and he was showing me his guest book of hunters over the years and Bing was in that book:huh:

As for the thread had a similar time at Brooks last year not the same level of success but lots of fun going to give it a second shot Oct 18-23. Awsome !!

[sheephunter]

We have quite afew release sites around here, but there are a huge number of wild birds around, and a huge number of chicks raised every year by these wildies. For sure they are an introduced species, but i would say they are here to stay, release programs or not. For anyone questioning wether or not its near to a canned hunt experience, come on down. I bet you i can show you some river bottom birds that will make an example out of your best dogs. That is guaranteed.......

keep a strain on er.

Actually pack, a lot of those chicks you are seeing is a result of a hen pheasant release program that has been going on for two years now. F&W supplies the birds and Fish and Game clubs throughout southern Alberta release the hens. In the past two years, 9,000 hens have been released. That, plus many of the F&G clubs also operate their own release programs of both hens and roosters. The relatively mild winters lately certainly have helped with recruitment and there are more "wild" birds than there has been for a while but the truth remains that all pheasants in Alberta are a result of captive stock.


But ya, I agree with you about giving a dog a good work out in some of those river bottoms.

[Winch101]

There is a tendency with real fast loads to pattern poorly .

Most people shoot behind the bird , with steel to much lead is usually

given . I had a lead load 11/4oz , 23/4 " , 1500 " per sec.

No lead at 40 to 50 was nessecary...

Now the other problem with male shotgunners , you may be holding
your tongue on the wrong side of your mouth and covering up your
eye teeth ...:lol:

I draw very little distinction between pen/birds and wild if the cover is good ..
I have been fortunate to hunt in the dakotas and iowa in the 70's
and early eighties . The heavier the bird concentrations the more suicidal they seem ...I have had some awesome plantedranch hunts , birds held ,ran ,flew high . Did all the things a pheasant is suppose to do ....

[sheephunter]

I draw very little distinction between pen/birds and wild if the cover is good ..
I have been fortunate to hunt in the dakotas and iowa in the 70's
and early eighties . The heavier the bird concentrations the more suicidal they seem ...I have had some awesome plantedranch hunts , birds held ,ran ,flew high . Did all the things a pheasant is suppose to do ....

Yes, my experience has been the same in Brooks. Ed does not plant his birds either but lets them fly from a release truck to cover, often several hours prior to hunting them. The cover he hunts is very thick as well and as Jamie stated, you will be lucky to shoot 60% of the birds released. The one big difference is that there are just a lot more birds in a specific area than there normally would be but the shooting is every bit as challenging as it is in South Dakots, Iowa or Nebraska and more challenging due to the cover on some of the properties.

[AbAngler]

60% is a good day in my experience. When we do it, we release about a dozen at a time. Let them fly to cover, wait maybe a half hour to an hour, then let loose the hounds.

Keeping the birds cool and undisturbed before releasing has helped alot in their performance after being flushed.

Tough hunting for sure, but so rewarding when everything comes together.

Sounds like you guys had a great day Jamie! I'm jealous!

[Jamie]

Sheep.. We hunted what they call the Horse Shoe. Interesting place. Lots of diverse cover. What made it challenging was the fact the canal had recently been flooded, leaving us with long walks to get over the water and trying to build bridges. I always thought bushes were bushes... DUHHHHHH
Man that scrub is some sort of wicked down there.. Those needle like thorns are rough on a guy. I actually was down on my hands and knees trying to look no more than 4 feet into a scrub to find both a dog and wounded bird. The only reason we knew the bird was in there was the fact the dog let out a small growl when my dog swam by. We couldn't get her out, we couldn't poke the bird, so the dogs owner jumps in the creek to poke the bird and get it to move. POOF.. Both the bird and the dog disappear. we spent 5 minutes looking for both. The owner realizes that his dogs collar has a pager on it. Turns out the dog and the bird had crossed the creek no more than 5 feet from where we were standing.. Now thats some thick bush.

As for the comments about Bing Crosby :lol: :lol: :lol:
It was kind of neat to do this hunt on a "Gentleman's scale" :lol: :lol: :lol:
I felt really spoiled. Now I know how my wife must feel after a girls "Spa" Weekend.
What I did as a thank for our host's and new/old friends was to go buy everyone a really nice 5x7 wooden picture frame and have printed off the nice group shot I posted above. I think they will like it.

Jamie
Cant wait till next year

[Versatile]

I am not sure off the top of my head where the birds are released but I have looked into it before lastyear and I distinctly remember there was no release sites around the Taber area. I THINK the closest one was Hays but I cannot remember forsure. Its pretty easy to tell a raised bird from a wild one once they are shot. The wild ones you wont be able to see clean through the nostril like the raised ones. Those raised birds wear those blinders and they punch right through the nostril making it see through. Atleast from what I was told about birds from the CPC.

I hear a lot of stories of Bing coming down and hunting here in Taber years ago.

[Versatile]

Designated Pheasant Release Sites (The operation of the pheasant hatchery at Brooks was privatized in April 2000 with a non-government partnership, the Canadian Pheasant Company. For more information about the pheasant release program, please contact the Canadian Pheasant Company (403-362-4122).)

Like I said before there is no release site within atleast and hour from us.

[sheephunter]

There were plenty of hens released around there the past couple springs so it sounds like they are doing well then and that release info doesn't include F&G Club releases of roosters but I agree that there sure seems to be a lot more pheasants around these days.

[Versatile]

Its the mild winters and wet spring like you said. Also the lack of predators around that has allowed the to flourish. The amount of corn around here helps the birds too but doesnt do any good until its about 12-18" off the ground.

Its not just the pheasants that are flourishing the partridge population is through the roof and I am also seeing more sharptails in areas I dont generally see many.

All pheasants in Alberta come from raised birds, I agree with that, but I feel pretty safe in saying that the birds around here have the raised birds so many generations back it doesn't even matter anymore.

[101sonny]

Sounds like a fun time which one are you in those two pics or are you in them just wondering.???:) :)

[M70]

The Lethbridge F&G has a pheasant release program. I would also venture to guess that they stagger their release over the course of the season. A location that seems to have no birds the week before seems to be full of them the next week. I've flushed out five roosters at the same time right out of one spot. Wild birds aren't likely to gather up in one spot like that.

Regardless, I agree that pheasant season is going to be pretty good this year!

[Mintaka]

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[Vindalbakken]

I recall going around with a fellow to hunt pheasant. We were stationed near Brooks and drove all around the country for 3 days to hunt the "wild" birds. He knew where they were. We saw lots of birds - upwards of 20+ birds a day. We bagged our limit every day (8 birds for the four of us). We were never within a township of any of the 3 official release sites in the province (only one of which is near Brooks), nor any of the common knowledge sites such as the aquaduct. All "wild" birds they were. Funny thing is the dogs never pointed a hen in three days. Strange hatch they were having that year.

[Duk Dog]

Shorthair Another great event you should try and enter is the Brooks Kinsmen Ringneck Classic. The cost is $1500.00 per team and you can have up to 6 shooters plus 2 dog handlers. They release 40 roosters and 10 hens (hens you can't shoot). It is also a blast!!

You can say that again. I had the good fortune to get to run my dog for a team last year and it was a pile of fun. Hoping to do it again this year.

[ABDUKNUT]

I've flushed out five roosters at the same time right out of one spot. Wild birds aren't likely to gather up in one spot like that.

I've flushed groups of 30-40 roosters out of weed patches in states that don't do any stocking whatsoever, so I'd say, yes, wild birds are likely to gather in one spot.

[Versatile]

I agree with AB I see this alot down here. The reason I cant see anyone seeing this is because roosters run like the wind so they would get spread out. But early in the season or if you lock them down its not uncommon.

[M70]

AB and Ryan,

I can't say that I've ever seen 40 roosters flush out of one spot. I haven't even flushed that many partridge out of one spot...... I must be hunting in the wrong places.

[Versatile]

40 roosters no I have never seen. Groups of 5-10 roosters yes we seen that. Groups of hens of 15 or more seen that too. In one area (about the size of a football field) the dogs have put up 20 or 30 cock pheasants. Opening day 2006 myself and 2 friends went out and we didnt even get 500 yards from the truck before we were all filled up.

I spent the last week chasing huns out on the huderitte colonies seeing 200+ birds in their garden and even more in the surrounding wheat fields.

[Rackmastr]

I saw an honest group of 40 roosters in a field the other day......and last year we flushed a group of over 120 birds out of a ditch line......

There are big groups out there, but nothing like spots in the US....

[101sonny]

i am going to guess your the one on the right on the second pic Yes??:wave:

[Jamie]

Yeap.. Thats me.
Middle of the first one with the orange hat as well

Jamie