I booked a morning hunt at a nearby game preserve about a week ago. It was cold, and snowing lightly when I arrived just after seven in the morning. Never having been there before, I was given a quick tour of the field I had booked via ATV, and then dropped off at the office while my birds were released - two chukar and three pheasants.
About 20 minutes later, I was given the go ahead to start my hunt. The birds were free released, not dizzied and planted like is done for training purposes. We hunted the upper hedgerow along a swath of millet that was planted for the birds all the way to the back of the field. Nothing! Not a single point.
There was about four inches of snow on the ground, capped with a thin layer of ice from recent freezing rain. We worked the back end of the field, and then back the way we came. Another 20 minutes, and my GSP locked up on point. She held her point perfectly while I went in to flush the bird, which exploded out of the switchgrass about 30 feet from my dog. Nothing wrong with that nose! One shot of #6's out of my Citori 16 gauge dropped it, and off she went to get the bird, which she retrieved. Eventually, anyway.
Hmmm... Do I work on getting her steady to wing and shot first, or just start the force fetch training now? Decisions, decisions...
Anyway, one chukar in the vest. I heel her away, then stop her with a "whoa". Waaaaait for it... Then a light tap on the head and "Hunt!" to release her and off she goes to look for another one.
A few minutes later, another point. I had let her run out a good ways, she way maybe 70 yards out. I took my time walking over, waiting to see if she broke point. Nope! Rock solid the whole time - and the bird (the other chukar) was walking away from her too. She didn't budge, so I went in and flushed the bird. This time, she waited until I shot to go after it. She actually retrieved it to hand too. Good dog!
Again she is released to hunt, I let her range out again. I just stand there, and watch her plow through the cover like a tank. She comes to s screeching, sliding halt while barreling down a hill and locked up in a picture-perfect point. Then she repositioned herself, and locked up again. I walked down the hill, and saw a hen pheasant hunkered down on the snow 20 feet into a patch of briars. Sigh... I plowed into the briars, and almost have to step on the bird to get it to flush. I miss, and have to blame the camera on this one - I was trying to get a shot of the bird flushing, and as a result didn't get the gun up in time.
A short time later I noticed a blood trail, and realize it's my dog - she's got an ear bleed from a rose bush, and it's a bad one. So I grab a handful of snow, put in on her ear, and squeeze. After a minute or two, the bleeding stops. I let her go off, and I notice blood on the snow in one of her hind foot prints - she's cut herself, maybe from some ice, maybe from some thorns. Time to pack it in, I think.
So I heel her in, and we head back down the tractor path through the woods to the office. I put her in the truck, she shakes her head, and starts her ear bleeding again. Rats! At least we're back at the truck, so I dig out the canine first aid kit, clean her ear, and apply some pressure with a gauze pad until it stops bleeding again. I check her feet, and find she's got some cut spots on her legs, about 2-3 inches up from her feet. Probably from the ice on top of the snow.
She gets a bowl of fresh water, and a handful of liver treats. Mmmmm! She loves those liver treats. I go inside to settle up, I've got plenty of time left, but my dog is ouchy and she's had enough. I know she'd be ready and willing to go it again if I let her, but I decide that the crust on the snow is no good for her, and I don't want that ear to start up again. So we pack it in.
This was no "gimmee" or canned hunt. The terrain and cover was tough. We hunted hard, and birds were there, but we only found three of five. The two roosters must have run or flown out of the field shortly after being released.
I've hunted on state land for stocked pheasants for years. I've hunted wild grouse in Maine. How does it compare? Well, the odd of finding birds is better, because there are more birds there to begin with. The rest is still up to you, your dog, and your ability to hit what you shoot at.
All for a fee, of course. But that is the way things are here in NJ. You can either join a club, pay for a Pheasant & Quail stamp to hunt state land, or hunt on a preserve. NO matter what, you have to pay somebody to hunt birds in NJ!
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