Pheasant 2018
 

The rain stopped and the dog was anxious to go, so we headed out to Daysland for a trip. I was amazed to see no vehicles on the East side, and only one on the South. As I put my boots on I heard a few shots, which was a good sign, so we headed off way to the north to give the dog some exercise, and not limit out too soon. After about a half hour, we headed back towards the release area, and in about fifteen minutes, the dog pointed four roosters, two of which flushed in heavy cover, allowing no shot, but the other two presented easy shots at around twenty yards. I did hear seven or eight other shots, and saw at least one other bird killed, but I was actually surprised that there weren't more hunters on a holiday.

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I was out Sunday at south plains. I don't have a dog but spent 2 hours just walking trying to flush something. Couple other hunters were there with dogs but I did not hear any shots except when a flock of geese flew over head. Was a nice walk even though did not get anything. Maybe when I get back for my 7 days of work I'll have better luck.

While you can find pheasants without a dog, your odds are not great. All of the birds we found today, were in the brush, without a dog, I would have walked by, and likely had no idea that they were there.

I was out last year and was able to flush 4 by myself. Mind you I'd love to have a dog and go but current work life does not allow for that. Unless I can meat up and go with someone who has a dog I guess it's take a walk and hope for the best for now lol

If you hit a fresh release, when the birds are still in the open fields, your odds increase dramatically of flushing birds without a dog. I have seen them running in the fields and on the trails, right after a release.

Great photo. Nothing happier than a dog with a job!

Looking for a puppy hunt mentor
 

Well, she’s not technically a puppy anymore, but my Brittany has some basic field training and needs to hunt live birds now. Not having a bunch of dog training experience, I think it would be good for her to hunt with another experienced pointer. Is that a good idea? If so, might there be someone who is planning a hunt and who would be willing to arrange a “training day”?

You might want to list your location and your schedule, so someone in the area may be able to help out.

Whoops! I’m a dummy in Edmonton!

That's a real nice photo right there!

I am probably the worst person there is for forgetting to take photos in the field.:)

My dog enjoys hunting more than anything, so he is always happy in hunting pictures.

I am at Daysland three times per week on average, but I try to avoid weekends, as we hunt waterfowl Saturdays, and I run the local skeet field Sunday.

Pheasants are a lot of fun for man and beast. A great way to spend a fall afternoon.

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And the happy hounds. It is easy to see who actually does all the work.

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I'd love to get into pheasant hunting. What a beautiful (and tasty) creature!

Man these pictures make me so jealous. I want to take my pup out, but deep down I know he isnt ready for the fields just yet. Going to be a long wait till next year haha

It's great to have a pup born in late fall, or early winter, so the pup is old enough to handle at least short hunting trips by next fall. My pup was exposed to shooting at around five months, and then we started shooting birds over him. Whatever you do, expose the dog to shooting carefully, once a dog is gun shy, it can be difficult to get them comfortable around shooting. And limit the time in the field for younger dogs, my dog was 8 months when the season opened, so his first trips were short, with a day of rest in between.

Looks great. Some fine pups you have there

Would of been nice. Lloyd just turned 5 months old. I know the right thing to do is just listen to what the pro's say and take it slow, but damn it would be fun to let him loose haha. At least keeping the course, slow and steady, i can think about how unreal his first year next year will be with a rock solid foundation

The season for Hungarian partridges is open into January, so he will be old enough for some short , late season hunts. And you could visit wwbirds facility in late winter or spring for some pheasants.

Just about to leave Daysland, after a hunt with Sam Steele. The dog could only find one bird, and we saw one flush off in the distance, and heard one shot. I am thinking there hasn't been a release since the weekend. A warm day for the dog.

We found a limit today at buffalo lake. Dog put three up in short order, the last flush was a double. It’s good it was a quick hunt because he was getting pretty warm.

Just at the gate when the release truck rolled up. Myself and another fellow headed to the extreme boundary to run our dogs, two people in the field went straight to the truck. We joked that they were either from PETA or hired by ACA to scatter the birds, as they must have put up a dozen birds, and fired twenty shots.lol Finally they left and the other hunters and myself worked towards the release area and harvested our birds. Met some nice people, everyone had a nice visit, and took home a limit. I actually got to shoot a double for a change. :) I leashed my dog, and had roosters running in the field beside us as we left.

Took the little 28 gauge out for a spin today. Had a couple within an hour and flushed a couple more on the way in. A little too warm for the hounds but a good time was had by all.

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The little SXS is deadly on Ruffies as well, might be a keeper.

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Went out for the first outing of the season with the pup today at Hopewell.

Got completely skunked, never saw any sign of birds and we stayed for a few hours. I'm assuming that the release truck was there a few days ago...

It was a beautiful day for a walk though!

Missed it by THAT much! [emoji23]

Ugh, got up at 6am, headed to Hopewell only to not even get a sniff at a bird.
The dog worked the field like crazy for 3 hours and had some points, but the birds must have been there earlier and were gone by the time we got there.
She found a handful of kill sites but no birds.
We left by 9:30am and a guy that was just pulling up was figuring that the release truck was going to be there around that time. Good luck buddy!

I'm 0/2 now. I guess I have to pay someone off :thinking-006: to figure out when these damned trucks are releasing birds so that I know if I'll even have a chance at a bird since Hopewell gets hunted out within 12 hours.

This is the only Calgary-area release site (unless you want to drive almost 2 hours) and it's kind of frustrating when it's all hunted out same day most of the time. Even when I get there mid-week there are lots of trucks out, which on one hand is fantastic, but also a bit frustrating.

Sorry all. Vent session over...

Sometimes when we go out hunting we return home empty handed. That's the nature of hunting.
If you are willing to spend some money in order to improve your chances of success, I would suggest you contact WW Birds. You'll get more for your money there than you will by attempting to bribe someone to do something they are not supposed to do and you won't run the risk of insulting anyone in the process.

Thanks, and I definitely did consider WW Birds and Sussex for training purposes.

Yes, I get that it's hunting not "killing", and I'm all for that.

And I was joking about bribing, of course.

I'm just frustrated that for a city of this size we only have one release site for the early season within 1 hour of the city. That's all...

Got it.:) Sometimes the high hunting pressure we encounter on occasion gets to me too. I'm old enough to remember when the population of our province was less than a third of what it is now.

While it isn't a lot of fun to hunt for hours and not see a single bird, I don't find it much more enjoyable to arrive during a release or very shortly after. I go on weekdays, and I enjoy hunting at least a few hours after a release or the next day, so the dog gets a good run, and we spend at least an hour to kill our limits. The releases are more random now , so you can't predict them as easily in the past, and I enjoy that, as it keeps people from sitting around waiting for the truck, and then shooting as the driver releases the birds.