Thread: Game bird diary for all

Started with crossing a river which looked innocent enough until I got to ball height, and got swept off my feet. Like a wet rat I clambered ashore, wrung my clothes out, and checked my ammo.

the gun pointer, how was the gun
great read thanks

Days like this are a great demonstration on how a good dog is an asset to a hunter in the recovery of wounded game. Both of these birds would have been lost otherwise.

a truer word etc............

Originally Posted by Petros_mk

Good stuff Jim,
Sounds like the spaniel is coming to his senses...

Wouldn't go that far The Irish mud spaniel still has his moments. Does everything right, just not all in one sitting!

Originally Posted by gsp follower

the gun pointer, how was the gun

The only thing that I managed to keep dry was the gun. The Mrs. reckons it was all she could see above the water, like a periscope That said, it takes more than that to stop a miroku!

Great read mate, why no little Baz in the pic?

Too busy destroying a cow pat just out of the photo

Had a sneaky look at "Gibos field" last weekend, saw seven roosters in 20 mins Might have to come help me tip a few of them over

Originally Posted by Pointer

Too busy destroying a cow pat just out of the photo

Had a sneaky look at "Gibos field" last weekend, saw seven roosters in 20 mins Might have to come help me tip a few of them over

Oh yeah, keen as. Do I have a field?

You mentioned a certain maize paddock behind TP once, saying it was lousy with birds. You weren't lying Trick is getting them. Need two shooters

Originally Posted by Pointer

You mentioned a certain maize paddock behind TP once, saying it was lousy with birds. You weren't lying Trick is getting them. Need two shooters

Ah my field yip yip its a tricky one. When youre ready

Or take the mrs

Have you been down Pap beach road lately? Shit they must be near plague proportions. See groups of cocks hanging out like its a sausage festival! They know they are safe the buggers

Originally Posted by Gibo

Or take the mrs

Nah I can't take her to that spot, she'll pillage it with the mud spaniel!

Yeah its rotten with birds down Papamosis (yep its a spreading disease) Great training ground, shame its too close to civilisation for a bomb up

Originally Posted by Pointer

Nah I can't take her to that spot, she'll pillage it with the mud spaniel!

Yeah its rotten with birds down Papamosis (yep its a spreading disease) Great training ground, shame its too close to civilisation for a bomb up

Live capture and release?

Been meaning to post an update on my hunting for few weeks now but while dog works seems to be going great, my shooting is too embarrassing to comment on, so I've been keeping it on the down low... Anyways, whats the harm. Might as well post something.

After a long week of work and booze, Saturday woke up early in the dark, grabbed the gun, vest and the dog, did my usual few hours drive to the hunting ground and off we went for a 4 hour hunt...
First 30 minutes yielded us nothing apart from few bruises and pokes from blackberry. Light break to rethink were to go next and give the dog a break.
Of we went on the next 30 minutes mission which required me to cross a very small creek covered by fallen trees, the dog crossed with no issues while I took my 10 minutes, once I am out I could not see or hear the dog. This season I haven't hunted with a bell, I tend to keep track of my dog by just hearing his running, plus he keeps in touch so bell doesn't really do me any good anyways. Eventually I find him locked on point, staring at a rubble of branches, his stickiness tells me its most likely brown quail... 4 fly out like fire works 2 shots both misses.... I mark where they land and turn back to work untouched area before I hit the same covey again, plus 10 or so minutes gives the quail some time to release scent.

2 minutes in, dog slams on point again. 4 more up, 1 shot - missed... Took 10 minutes break to get my thoughts together, so I made a decision to leave them behind and maybe hit them again on the way back to the truck. 20 more minutes of hunting, few indications but no productions, the rain came on us briefly so a 20 minute break/snack was justified.

Next on the menu was a naked cut-over heavy with ink-weed, facing the sunny side, it must hold something. From the first cast, Aki slowed down, roading for a long time , until he stops and 4 more brownies fly out prematurely (no shots). Aki confused looks back at me, he deserved a cuddle but I told him to get on and find the bastards... After few more obstacles to tackle where I almost broke a leg, I find the dog on point in a clearing... a foot forward and a brownie flies to my left pulling away my concentration while 3 more fly off down the line... F%CKKKKkkkkkk!!!!! Enough was enough, I couldn't be more pleased of Aki's work, and couldn't be any more disappointed of my shooting so I turned back towards the car...

Day wasn't over yet.
Aki finds an hen. A point followed by a produce and a couple of meters jump to give it a chase that quickly came to a halt after I blew the whistle for the first time in the day. Funnily enough, he is steady to quail but pheasant wings especially a rooster calling on the flush still give him the inclination to chase. But his work on the hen was beautiful, took me 5 mins to soak in the joy.
Not long after a rooster was pointed well away from me, a late season experienced rooster that is. Flushed as soon as I locked the gun, solid 70+ meters away, I had #7.5 in the chambers with wide-open chokes so I didn't even contemplate pulling the trigger... Tried to find him again, but the forest was too think so we went home empty handed with beaten feet....
It was a roller-coaster ride to cry and laugh at the same time...

Nice write up Pete.

And don't worry about the brownies, I'll get them for you

A pic from this morning:

Originally Posted by Pointer

Nice write up Pete.

And don't worry about the brownies, I'll get them for you

A pic from this morning:

Hahaha, just rub it in mate...

Good effort tho... Betty sounds like she's becoming a machine...

Knew you'd be good for a wind up, haven't got the opportunity to take the piss out of you this season since we haven't caught up

Should throw that nice pic of Aki setting in the young pines that was on FB, show the forumites the sort of country you're talking about?