December 2020, Montana (below center, Hungarian Partridge): Elohim (God the strong Creator) owns everything under the “Big Sky.” As I’ve personally encountered, it is possible that a hunter or dog can flush each sub-group of birds several times after the initial flush. Seemingly nonsensical, Huns tend to hold longer on their second or third flush, which gives you some confidence after witnessing this behavior. For this reason, hunters often take their partridge later in the chase…but never in a pear tree!
Wild chukar (below right) are primarily found in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, with inhabited pockets stretching into Montana, California, and Oregon. Look for them in higher, often barren elevations with rocky slopes and sagebrush or shrubland. Many describe it as mule deer and sheep hunting land. It is also home to bird predators like coyotes, bobcats, hawks, falcons, and owls, so search in cliffs and crags.
(Above left) In his book, A Sand County Almanac, conservationist Aldo Leopold wrote of the Ruffed Grouse, “The autumn landscape in the north woods is the land, plus a red maple, plus a Ruffed Grouse. In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre yet subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead.”
I remember a busted bird in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania that refused to flush from a hollowed log covered in the brush along a steep hillside. If I went left, he went right. If I went right, he went left. We watched each other dance for minutes before I laughed and decided to honor his determination with another day of freedom.
“What friends I have, what days I treasure most, what places that I think about and smile…they are because shotguns are. Without them, I would have been empty. They have made my life full.” If your hobby time is spent around beautiful guns or handling them in a golden field over covey rise, you may appreciate author Gene Hill’s sentiments. My fullness comes in Christ, but this gentleman’s sport of wingshooting sure brings joy. What makes for the finer shotguns to date? Is it design excellence, aesthetic quality, reliability, decorative detail, integrity of materials, or value for the money? Along with shooting performance, they might all be considered.
October 2020, South Dakota: If you’ve never experienced the strategy of a driven pheasant hunt, as in a line of dogs and their handlers carefully pushing a field upwind, one parcel at a time, until it empties both coveys and single runners, you need to. The draw back is screwing up everything you’ve trained your pointing dog(s) to do in the Midwest. There’s very little standing still and a whole lot of action. You’ll be calling, whistling, or buzzing dogs to stay close as you hustle to keep up, not wasting flushes too far ahead.
February 2021, Kentucky: Once your dogs find bird scent, they go “on point” several feet away. A good pointer will freeze stiff, nose and front shoulders lowered, one leg drawn upward, rear-end lifted, and tail pointing straight out or north. Antsy to pounce, you might have to remind them to, “Whoa, whoooa!” Some hunters will employ flushing Spaniels to take over and dig up birds. Other hunters will step in front of their dog on point, rummaging through the grasses and kicking the birds up for you or themselves. The proud retrieve gets me every time.
October 2019, Quitman, Georgia: Outdoor writer Gene Hill once described hunting for quail as “a series of lovely paintings that we walk into and out of all day long.” Many fine plantations dot the South to immerse you in a masterpiece experience you’ll call your own. A southern quail hunt by horseback will surely make your “Top Ten Memories” for outdoor pursuits. Remember, God provides the backdrop, developers cultivate something they love for best usage, guides happily navigate you through the artwork, and skilled dogs can’t wait to please you. Afterward, you all sit down to eat and toast everyone’s labors. What a beautiful thing.
Terra Chula: “Building out the plantation,” educates the owner, “we started with a pine forest so dense that few natural grasses were seen. Thinning the trees to sixty to seventy stems per acre supported optimal canopy and undergrowth. That left us fallow land comprised of weeds and briar to tackle. Excavating stumps and filling holes for safety, spraying for broadleaf plants, and prescribed burning each year have allowed the sedge grasses to take hold. As fall approaches, this green grass will turn hay color, providing food and cover for the quail. It’s about a three-year process, and it is painstaking,” informs the entrepreneur.
December 2019, Iowa: As for Bobwhite quail, the sequence is similar, yet altogether faster than pheasant. A fanciful twenty-gauge pointed north, safety off. The pointers’ tangled rummage is now at a standstill. A step past Zoe’s panting presence, and there’s an eruption of chaotic drumming as the rocketing bobs take flight. Buttstock to shoulder, it was point and POW. Regain focus, point, lead the spare bird, and POW. If all goes as planned, you bite your lip and hold back a grin.
Courtesy: Dorchester Shooting Preserve
Pointers were bred to locate and indicate the presence of big game and game birds. Their extraordinary sense of smell and ability to freeze in a “pointing” position when they detect scents are inherent attributes. Working far ahead, an exceptional pointer should remain motionless until hunters approach and position themselves for a close shot upon the bird’s flush. They are equally great at retrieving birds in speedy fashion. Distinguished pointing breeds include the English pointers, the English setter, and German shorthaired pointers.
Spaniels are the smallest of bird dog breeds but won’t disappoint in energy or enthusiasm. Unlike pointers, flushers stick close to their masters to find birds in dense cover and expel them within shotgun range. Quickly covering large parcels of ground is not their strength, but they retrieve well. While popular spaniel breeds have traditionally included the cocker and the springer Spaniels, South Carolina’s Boyken spaniels are now highly sought after.
Retrievers are ideal companions for waterfowl hunting. Due to a “soft mouth” and strong swimming skills, retrievers can salvage downed birds from water or land without causing damage. Some common retrieving breeds include the labrador retriever, golden retriever, and Chesapeake Bay retriever.
I once hunted with a black labrador who could locate pheasant and quail and then sat patiently until we arrived. When his owner Ricky commanded, “Git 'em, G!” Gunner would patiently uncover tangled pheasants with his paw—like a human—until the birds flushed themselves! I doubt I'll ever witness that oddity again.