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First Pheasant Hunt with my Daughter
This one is about 10 days overdue, so my apologies there. I got lazy when it came time to edit the video clips together.
Anyway, ever since I took her to Teach's place to deer hunt, my daughter has been begging me to take her out with her dog to go pheasant hunting. She's not going to be up to an 8-hour day of tall grass walking back in Nebraska for a few more years. I did some homework and found a pheasant preserve here in Ohio that features some really nice habitat and put-and-take birds for a reasonable price. We made it a date and she had a blast. So did the dog. For those of you unfamiliar with the shock collars and beeper systems available today, that hawk screech sound you hear periodically in the video is actually emitted by a special function of the dog's hunting collar. When he goes on point, the collar makes that sound to 1) let you know he's got a bird pinned so you can hustle over to him and 2) trigger's the bird's natural instinct to hold tight when it hears a hawk fly over for fear of being attacked. This buys you some time to get over to the dog before the bird takes flight.
The video was shot in 1080p high definition and is best viewed in fullscreen accordingly. Start the video, click the gear icon at the bottom of the video and select 1080p. Click the outlined box to go fullscreen. It takes a second for the resolution to enhance.
She is, of course, now begging to go back. I really can't wait until she's big enough to shoulder a shotgun on her own.
Anyway, ever since I took her to Teach's place to deer hunt, my daughter has been begging me to take her out with her dog to go pheasant hunting. She's not going to be up to an 8-hour day of tall grass walking back in Nebraska for a few more years. I did some homework and found a pheasant preserve here in Ohio that features some really nice habitat and put-and-take birds for a reasonable price. We made it a date and she had a blast. So did the dog. For those of you unfamiliar with the shock collars and beeper systems available today, that hawk screech sound you hear periodically in the video is actually emitted by a special function of the dog's hunting collar. When he goes on point, the collar makes that sound to 1) let you know he's got a bird pinned so you can hustle over to him and 2) trigger's the bird's natural instinct to hold tight when it hears a hawk fly over for fear of being attacked. This buys you some time to get over to the dog before the bird takes flight.
The video was shot in 1080p high definition and is best viewed in fullscreen accordingly. Start the video, click the gear icon at the bottom of the video and select 1080p. Click the outlined box to go fullscreen. It takes a second for the resolution to enhance.
She is, of course, now begging to go back. I really can't wait until she's big enough to shoulder a shotgun on her own.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
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Replies
AKA: Former Founding Member
What is "put-and-take"?
Basically, you pay for X number of birds. They drive a UTV out to the field and release that quantity of pheasant/chukar/quail or whatever other bird they offer that you request. You have no clue where they are and the birds are free to run off to who knows where, but they are otherwise pen raised birds that are released at your quantity request. The good thing is that there are also countless holdover birds from previous hunts all over tarnation in these fields. I paid for 4 birds and the dog found WAY more than that during the 1.5 hours we spent out there. I'd conservatively guess that we found and flushed 10 birds, shooting only the 4 that we originally paid for. You are free to shoot extras above this for a per-bird fee of $15 if you so desire. That's about the average for places like this.
Having hunted Nebraska for wild birds and state released birds, I never really considered doing a preserve hunt in recent years. But, when my daughter expressed interest, I realized that a long day pounding public land in grass up to *my* eyes just isn't going to work. Now that I've hunted a preserve, I can say without hesitation that it is possibly the best way to introduce a kid to the sport without beating them to death or frustrating them with a fruitless day. The terrain is easy, the birds are as plentiful as you care to make them and the dog doesn't know a lick of difference. If you're considering it for your kids, know that it's a great way to go. It ain't exactly cheap. The cost for the hunt was $123 and that was with us owning and handling our own dog. If you need to pay one of the guides to handle a dog for you, get ready to tack on another chunk of change in gratuity. But, if your kids end up loving it, to me it's worth the price. It also a LOT cheaper than flying into a state with wild birds, especially if you are bringing a dog.
We'll have to get them both out there some time. The place I went to - Cherrybend Pheasant Farm - is about halfway between us in Wilmington, OH. The dog was totally out of his mind out there and loved every minute of it. I was extremely impressed with their habitat out there. It's very close to the public crop fields in the Midwest.
JAY
That had to be well worth the trade! I counted, what, 8 pheasants flushed in my video (?) and those weren't all of them. Again, I only paid to have 4 released, which means that a LOT of birds escape the days' hunts out there. Batting cleanup at a private place like this could easily yield double the limit of public land...and that's the beauty, there's no set limit on a preserve.
Dude, I was so flustered on that damned cottontail. Bolt was literally within range of getting that pheasant that I managed to hit with a granola bar still in my mitt and just like that, the Easter Bunny shows up out of season. The dog bit off like a heatseaker on a flare. With a beagle, that would've been money, but with these birddogs, you zap 'em with the shock collar until they stop going after anything that ain't an upland bird. Rabbits are notorious for screwing up a bird dog. That said, I would love to dedicate a hunt to some rabbit hunts over beagles. That's one form of small game hunting I have never done. If I can get stationed back to the Midwest in the next couple of years, we're going to have to exchange hunts. I'll gladly take you out over Bolt if you'll take me for rabbits with the new pup.
The last time we went, my old Springer, Skeeter, flushed and retrieved 28 birds in a half day hunt....he was a pro to the core and a tired dog at the end of the day (Clients who had hunted over him used to ask for him)...I sure do miss him....
Your little ones smile tells the story of a happy girl
Beagles & bunnies is a blast. As a kid we always had a pack of beagles, and some of my favorite hunting memories are of those hunts. One in particular involved a couple dozen beaglets. That's not the most efficient way to hunt bunnies, but it sure was fun!
Great video.
KSU Firefighter
Great experience for all three of you, yeah the dog makes three. I love it when people get women involved in hunting. My wife is totally hooked. And you've started out Elana at a good age. I hope she takes to hunting permanently. We need all the good women we can recruit.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
As for me, the beagle/bunny thing has gotta happen at some point. As a guy who missed the fun of being a youth hunter, I've only ever heard other folks, dogs bawling in the distance, and wondered how much fun it would be to try.
This is a ReplayXD 1080 mounted with a 3rd party elastic headband mount. It has some bounce to it when I run, but it sits out of the way and gives a very good perspective and the resolution is plenty good for thjis sort of thing. I'll probably get a Hero one of these days. The video quality is a little cleaner and the screen makes it much easier to figure out where you are pointing, but the Replay works well for about 2/3 the price of the Hero 4.
At the preserves I used to hunt...any birds over what you paid for were freebies...they had already been paid for by the guys who missed them...
Indeed, it was a party of three on this hunt. The dog was enjoying the experience, probably more than Elena and I. One thing I for sure: Bolt is freaking FAST (jbohio can attest to this) as you saw when he has tracked down and grabbed that running bird. He has a ton of energy to burn. It takes a full day hunt to slow him down and a day spent at home has to be so incredibly boring to him. I do everything in my power to let him harass the animals around the neighborhood on open field runs as much as possible because he needs to vent that energy. If he stays stagnant for too long, his behavior and listening skills go downhill as boredom sets in.
As for Elena, I don't think there's any taking this out of her at this point. She absolutely loves the outdoors. She's been fly fishing with me in the Utah mountains, deep sea fishing in the Pacific off the shores of the Coronado Islands, sat in a deer stand with me and now been pheasant hunting. Any time I go outdoors, as long as she isn't completely exhausted or has school work to get done, she wants to go with me. It's great to see that you've taken your wife and done the same for her.
Yeah and the four girls, my three and my wife's daughters have all had the opportunity to go with me. My three when they were younger loved it. Since they moved off the roost though two of them have lost the desire to hunt. But the oldest one still would love to if her husband will take her. I've asked her myself but she's always busy with school work and her teaching job. She has actually killed a deer and would do it again. I'll get her out deer hunting again.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Come on over. I'll set it up. Buddy of mine down the road has beagles. It's a blast.
Oh, hell yeah.expect a call soon. I'm leaving town tonight for a bit, but when I get, let's see what's what.
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
On an average summer night there are 6-10 rabbits in my yard, but where he hunts............ not so much. If the winter stays mild it will help. Lots of predators too.... crow, hawk, ****, skunk, canine and feline. Couple places we have hunted, if you see a cat , you have to shoot it if you want to come back.