We Finally Get it Done

This is a hunt that has been a long time in the making. A good friend of mine and I have been trying to put one together for a few years. However as we all know sometimes life gets in the way of what you would rather be doing.

  This year we were able to pull it off and we had a great day behind the dogs and chasing our feathered foes.

   We decided to meet at Anderson Creek Hunting Preserve. The reason that we chose this place is that it is almost the exact same travel time for both of us. I think there is about a ten minute difference between the drive times.

  When we arrived we were met by a friendly and courteous staff member. She took care of the paperwork, gave a quick safety brief and handled the financial part of the visit. This didn’t take that long and we were told to follow the bird planter to the field where we were going to hunt on this cool Carolina morning.

  After a short drive we arrived at the field where the days activities were going to take place.

 The bird planter asked if I wanted to let the dogs out for a quick run to take the edge off before we started our hunt. I for one appreciated that because sometimes my older dog can be a handful after a long car ride. 

  So while my buddy got ready I let the older dog air out a little and get the edge off. After about ten minutes  I put him back in the truck and so I could get myself and the puppy ready to hunt.

We are all ready so I let the dogs out of the truck and they are off to the races. It doesn’t take long before we get the first point. My older dog Cash locates the bird and the young dog backs him beautifully.

 This being the first point and it has been a while since my friend has gotten a shot I let him take the flush.

He moves in and up goes a bobwhite and there is no shot. This bird was not a strong one and my old dog grabbed it as it left the ground. Not ideal but it was a bird in the bag. 

  We continue on and the young dog Max goes on point. Again I let my friend take the flush as I handle the dog. This time a rooster goes up. I don’t think my friend was ready for a large bird like that. Two rushed shots and the bird is making for the hills. I take a shot and bring the bird down. It was not dead only winged. It hit the ground running. 

  This is where the experience of my older dog comes in handy. He came up to where we were when he heard the shots and was on the bird. He was able to get in front of the running pheasant and stop the escape. He pointed it and held it in place until I was able to walk up on it and dispatch it. 

  This bird ran about forty yards and was just inside the edge of the trees by the time I caught up to it. Definitely a testament to the hustle and hard running of Cash.

  We admire the bird and send the dogs on ahead. We make our way back to the field and watch the dogs work the cover. As they do we get a few more points, shots and retrieves. One that will stick out for a long time in my memory is Max goes on point. My friend flushes the bird, takes the shot and the bird drops maybe 60 yards out by the time it is on the ground. Max stays in pursuit the whole time. He picks up the bird and brings it all the way back to me. This is the second time he has done this. Once in training and now in a hunt. He is really starting to figure it out.

  After this it is getting about time to water the dogs and give them a break as it is starting to warm up. We water the dogs and get them in the crates to give them a break. We count the mess of success and discover that we have gotten all our pheasants and that there were still four quail on the field. So we devise a plan for after the break.

  We head out after the break and walk to the end of the field in a part that we did not thoroughly cover. We didn’t find anything until we started to make our way back toward the truck. Cash gives us one more point. We flush another quail which resulted in another bird in the bag. This was the last bird of the day for us.

  We get back to the truck and hang out for a while and just catch up and start to plan our next hunt. This time it won’t take as long for us to get out again.

Thanks for coming along on this hunt with us. Follow me and the dogs on instagram at wingshotandfall. Leave a comment below and share this with other upland enthusiasts that you may know.