Training

Pawnee FSC got new training grounds and Matt, Kevin, and I trained there on Wednesday evening.

Everyone had a great time and our dogs did well. Zoe’s steady training is advancing. She is steady on whistle and thrown birds / bumpers. Next step is steady to shot and planted birds.

Here is Zoe steady to a fly away bird.

Matt took all the photos and here is a great one of Abby!

Till next time!

2011-2012 Opener

Here are a few pictures from our pheasant opener.

Moonlight

Getting Ready

12 guys & 5 dogs ready to go

First rooster of the season

Amel's first bird of the season

at the end of the first field

Scenary

Taking a break with my spaniels

Hunting truck ?

Oreo and I

Amel ready to shoot some birds

Winsconsin Boys

Training pictures

Zoe Looking for Birds

Here is One

Look what I found

YAYYYY

Intensity!! She can smell the bird

There you are Mr. Pigeon

You are MINE

Clean cary

Mr. pigeon Going for a ride

Delivery

Flying Birds are FUN !!

Play Time

Lets Run

Clips

The upland bird hunting season is over and we are moving into the training mode. Despite the bad weather in Denver, I decided to take an 80 mile trip up north and train with my friends of the Pawnee Flushing Spaniel Club. The skies were blue, and there was no snow on the training ground.

Oreo Feb-2011

I have not been training since the bird season started back in mid November, and was a little nervous how well or bad Oreo will do after a long time off. Matt planted all the birds today, and Tim and I ran the first brace. Oreo did very well, and as usual, I got a few new pointers on how to handle a dog and what not to do.

Oreo’s second run was even better than the first.  He found both birds and had a nice long retrieve to wrap the session up.

Between the braces, I took the time to train Zoe. I decided that today was the day to expose her to some live birds. She has been on frozen and freshly shot birds for some time now and it was time to move on to the next stage of training.

Oct-2010 Zoe

I planted a dead bird  followed by two clip-wings.  As I casted her down wind, she was on the first bird within seconds.  The find was followed by a nice clean delivery to hand.  Next was the live bird. She smelled it from 15-20 yards away and took a straight line upwind to the source. Initially she was thrown off by the live bird.  As the bird took off , Zoe’s hunting instincts kicked in, and the chase was on!  It didn’t take long before Zoe got a hold of the pigeon and was on her way back.

As expected, Zoe is showing a lot of potential and I am looking forward to the future training sessions.

Zoe Feb-2011

2010 Pheasant Hunting Season

Well, first of all I want to apologize to all of my blog readers for not posting anything in a very long time.  Hunting and this thing called “work” have taken up the majority of my time and as a result my blog activity was brought to a minimum.

The 2010 pheasant season has come to an end yesterday, and after two and a half months of chasing birds I am ready for a little break.

Here is a quick summary of our 2010 Pheasant season.

Colorado- Burlington

It all started back on November 13th in Burlington CO. Once again a few of us decided to join the rooster round up and secure additional bird hunting grounds for the season.

First Field of the season

It didn’t take long before birds took flight and shots were fired. Oreo worked very well considering that this was only his 4th time hunting wild birds. He worked hard throughout the entire season and the hard training has paid off.

First rooster of the 2010 season

My Pooch and I

Zach and Pete

Day one ended well for 6 of us, but not so good for the roosters. The next morning ice covered the ground and the temperatures dropped dramatically.

Cold Morning

Zach has never hunted pheasants before, and our goal was to get him a bird over the opening weekend. He didn’t have much luck on Saturday, but Sunday proved to be an all around better day  for my Wisconsin friend.

Zach and Oreo

Cover

End of the day

Kansas -Norton

The last three years Mark and I have been going to KS the second weekend of the season, but this year it was my brother Amel and I. Mark had work obligations and couldn’t join us. Amel flew all the way from Missouri to hunt with me, and since he has never hunted wild pheasants before, I worked really hard to get him onto some birds. The trip didn’t pane out as as good as I planed. We saw birds, but no where near the numbers I have seen in the previous years. The cover was thick and my springer could only cover a small portion of it, but we had a good time never the less.

 

Amel getting ready to hunt

His first wild rooster

All of us worked very hard all day long but were putting birds up out of gun range. Amel got his first chance to shoot a KS  rooster at the end of the first day. He took a long shot at this fast  flying bird, and did a great job at knocking it down 45-50 yards away.

 

Kansas Sunset

 

Day two

On day two, Amel managed to get a few more birds. I think my job of getting him hooked onto bird hunting is done. The adrenaline rush and fast shooting action took a positive effect on him.

Birds

Amel the Hunter

The Crew-Amel, Zoe, Oreo and I

We had a great time and it was nice to spend a few days with my brother out in the field. I really hope this will become an annual tradition and not be limited to one hunt a year. I am thinking about some woodcock hunting in Missouri in the fall.

After going back home to Missouri, Amel decided that he wants to take a trip back to Kansas and took his pooch Sparky out with him.

Sparky the Quail Hunting Golden Doodle

Missouri Cover

Sparky the Rabbit Hunter

Well deserved swim

Colorado – Holyoke

Holyoke was my next pheasant hunting destination. First weekend I hunted  with my friend Dzemo and his son. I have never hunted Holyoke area before and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of birds and cover type.

First Bird of the day

Rabbit Hunt

On the next trip Saba decided to join us on a two day hunt and bring his Deutscher jagdterrier’s Dzoni and Morla with him.

Saba Morla and his first rooster

Dzemo

Oreo and I

Pheasants and smoked beef

End of the day

Colorado-Burlington The End of the 2010 season

Matt, Brian and I decided to hunt last Sunday and bring this pheasant season to an end. First was the “Field of Dreams” and after walking 5 miles trough dense fog and missing a few birds Oreo and I managed to get one at the end of the field 20 yards from the truck.

Foggy Morning

Oreo with his hard earned bird

Last Rooster of the season

The Crew

Another successful pheasant season comes to an end, and it is time to gear up for a spring training session.

Hard hunted boots

Training Day

A few pictures from today’s training session.

Oreo flushing a rooster.

Mia

Mia Steady to flush and shot

Zoe’s training is advancing. We started quartering drills wit some dead birds. She did very well for her first time out. Her range was perfect and she responded nicely to turn and recall whistle. Delivery was spot on. Little girl is moving along.

Abby flushing a hen pheasant

Abby - Nice clean delivery

Planting birds for Oreo

Here is Oreo smoking out another rooster.

Delivery

 

Trail Riding

Saturday Morning Ride

Since my foot injury a few weeks back,  mountain biking for Aida and I was put on the back burner. Since I am not wearing a foot brace any longer, we managed to take our bikes out  twice this week. Both times rode the Flat Irons Vista trail.

Trail map

This is a much easier trail then Betasso, but challenging enough to keep you coming back for more. The whole  area is a maze of mountain bike / hiking trails, and one could  explore more if time allows or the confidence level requires.

Tuesday Night Ride

This area is great for dogs as well. I might use it do some training with my spaniels one of these days.

Foliage and Springers

A few pictures of foliage west of Boulder.

HDR Photo

Aida and the doggies

Zoe in the woods

Oreo

First snow

New Hunting Gear

Ever since the end of the  last season I have been in the market for a new upland vest. Looked at different models, manufacturers, styles and lastly settled on the  Filson brand. Shortly after that,  found out that only a few stores around Denver carry the brand and their upland vests. One of the stores is the M.W. Reynolds gun shop.  Aida and I took a ride down to Denver in search of the gun shop and my new vest. You know it is a good shop when you are welcomed by a hunting dog. After trying a few different models, I settled on the Filson Tin Cloth Strap Vest with Blaze Orange.

The new vest went on its maiden voyage last Sunday. It was tested up in the grouse woods, and so far I don’t have any complaints. This is one very well made piece of equipment.

This is what Filson said about the vest:

The open design of our Game Bag allows for maximum freedom of movement when hunting or shooting. We make this garment from our extra tough Oil Finish Tin Cloth for the greatest strength and durability. Made in USA of imported cotton. Clean by wiping or brushing only — gains character with use.

Features include:
– Snapped expandable pockets hold shells and other equipment.
– Back is a full-width game bag.
– Extra rugged Oil Finish Tin Cloth provides a lifetime of use.
– Adjustable heavy cotton webbing straps allow it to be worn over a shirt in the warm weather, or to slide over a coat when conditions are cold.

Style #34B – Tin Cloth Strap Vest with Blaze Orange
100% Cotton Tin Cloth, Oil Finish – 12.5 oz.

Grouse woods, blue grouse that is

To open the 2010-2011 hunting season, Zach, Saba, and I headed to the mountains west of Kremmling in search of the mighty blue grouse.  We left Boulder at 4:15 a.m. to meet with Zach at a park and ride in Morrison. After a quick chat, we loaded our dogs and the gear into Zach’s Xterra, and around 5 a.m. were on our way down I-70. We managed to get into our hunting grounds right at dawn.

Grouse woods

Up at around 9200 ft of elevation the air was crisp.  The slight breeze and great cover was pointing to a good hunt. A friend and a springer enthusiast, Matt Ortiz, tried his best to increase our odds. He went trough all the trouble to make me a detail map of the good grouse cover locations. He has been hunting these parts for a few years now and know is like the back of his hand.

With the map in hand, we headed toward the springer ridge. To our surprise the spot was taken. Husband and wife with two English setters were getting ready to hit that cover.  Next stop, the grouse camp.

Grouse Camp

Quick plan was made, and three of us headed up the road. Oreo has never hunted the woods, but the sight of my shotgun got him very excited. He knew it was time to have some fun! We spread throughout the woods and started hunting towards the car. Somehow we managed to separate and Oreo and I hunted mostly by our-self.

Oreo entered the cover hard, little too hard for my liking, jumping over downed trees and bushes. His pattern closed in some, and that was just fine by me. He had a great time. O-man was one happy Spaniel in his element.

We worked a lot of great cover, but couldn’t produce any birds.  After finishing one patch, and having lost my friends, we continued onto another section.  Once again , no birds. Between the different covers, we bumped into Gary and John. They saw a few birds cross the road and enter the sage brush. According to them , they tried to go after them, but couldn’t make them flush. Since they didn’t have a dog, I invited them to hunt the cover with Oreo and I, they gladly accepted my offer. We worked that cover over hard. Oreo got birdy a few times, but nothing flew. The two gentleman thanked me for letting them hunt with my dog, and continued up the road as I made my way down hill.

As the temperature rose, the frequency of water breaks increased. Lately Oreo has been biting his thong while hunting, and today was no different.  The blood on the picture above is his own, oh I so wish it was from a grouse.

After a few hours, the crew regrouped. No one has seen any birds.

Taking a break

Winsconsin Grouse Hunter

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring some more woods, hoping a bird or two will be found. Oreo worked hard all day and I tried my best to put him on some birds. He did great for his first time in the woods. Hopefully next time we will have better luck.

All of us had a great time in the Colorado woods.

Zach and Saba having a beer

Till the next time, CHEERS !!!!!