Just Let Me Out

                                     After a week of Sharptail hunting filled with many great moment shared by all of us we returned to our other lives once again. We were now getting into a rhythm traveling and hunting together with the exception of when it came to the days we wanted to use one vehicle. This meant multiple dog's and gear moved from one vehicle to the next and back again as the week progressed. Getting dog's in and out as well as gear every time we'd stop to do a run was cumbersome at best. At the end of the day the truck would be a mess. It didn't take Tom long to figure out a dog trailer with storage space and room for 6 dog's was the answer as he had picked up another dog as well. So on the way back to North Dakota the 3rd week of October for the Pheasant season we rendezvoused with a guy that had one for sale and Tom decided that upon inspection it was a go. Now we were set to travel in an organized manner! And travel we did.
                                    Most day's we'd run separately but on those day's we'd go any distance to save fuel we'd travel together. The trailer was a huge improvement on those days and I enjoyed the company as we made our way through the country. I was impressed with the eye Tom had developed for spotting good cover.  But even though we now had an area we knew pretty well the terrain could change with the cutting of hay from a field or harvesting of crops. This would all be considered as we drove around looking for suitable runs for all of us to do on our own. However our hunting styles varied in that I would let my dog's always hunt big so I liked open space and long runs whereas Tom and Phil kept their dog's closer sometimes hunting together around sloughs and tree rows. No problem it's just that I was always anxious to just get going. Gotta keep moving was my motto. Boots on the ground! I took it as a challenge then to find either Sharptail,Huns or Pheasants no matter how marginal the cover was. So after the deliberation went on for a while I'd just say "Let me out here !" Knowing regardless of the run The Setter's and I would find birds eventually. Besides I was just in love with watching these dog's work.
                                     I remember one such run that week in Shelle Butte Township. When asked where I was going to go I outlined a run with a pickup point two miles west. God knows how many actual miles I'd eventually walk as well as the dog's by the time I got there but the run included terrain all species would possibly use. I remember Tom saying then " Now where are you going?"
                                      We started out walking some pasture with sloughs running through the bottom and the Setter's started working what I believed were Pheasants as we worked our way west. I eventually had a couple points on hens as we kept working the bottom but no Roosters.The closest corn was a half mile away so I wasn't surprised but I hadn't made this particular walk before so we kept at it. At the point where the pasture started to rise to a large hill I had the dog's become birdy going up the hill. It wasn't long before Mick had gone rigid in the short grass looking up the hill. I moved ahead and a pair of sharptail took flight on the edge of shooting range but I took one bird. Great! We then regrouped and headed west again up and down the hill still in pasture that had been grazed pretty short but we walked along the ridge above the waterway. It was just fun to see the dog's work the big open cover. Always moving moving moving that's the name of this game! Knowing how Pheasant act and the notorious runners they are covering big areas like this is what I call "corralling". In a way it is like a round up I guess. This particular day I just wasn't quite prepared for the results.
                                        Another mile down and we crossed the road now going west by northwest headed for a hay field with a waterway and a small pothole a quarter mile ahead. Shortly after we crossed the road I had Molly on point in very short grass. I couldn't possibly see where a bird could be hiding here but she was serious. The other two dog's had stopped and were looking on with interest as I approached and a covey of Huns took flight. I was mesmerized by the surprise and watched a little to long before trying to focus on a bird and of course registered a total failure. A miss! Trust the nose I said to myself. You gotta be a believer always!
                                       Well we moved on and got into the hay field. The dog's were working nicely and picked up scent along the waterway and followed it out into the open again. This tracking expedition wound around back north again when Beau finally froze but in really sparse cover. Molly was close behind him and honoring but Mick being farther away started running towards the two of them instead of honoring. I tried to get him to whoa but he was hell bent on getting his nose in on this. Damn it! I knew especially if it was a Rooster in such light cover it probably wasn't going to sit still with a dog running right at it. I was hurrying as much as I could but Mick wasn't going to stop and continued right up to Molly about 6 feet behind Beau and the Rooster would take no more and bolted out of range. Disappointed there was nothing to be done but I did make Mick whoa and stand for a couple minutes before we continued. Great job by Molly and Beau we'd just have to find more birds!
                                         A couple hundred yards ahead we picked up scent again. This time along the waterway with all 3 dog's holding looking at a clump of cattails around a culvert. I moved in cautiously and a group of 4 Rooster's burst out of the cover. I quickly took my shot and brought down a bird dead in the grass ahead. The rest of the birds flew in the direction of the pothole but I couldn't see over the small rise ahead of us exactly where. We collected our first Rooster of the day and took our usual moment to settle the pup's. The waterway we had just come to headed to the pothole eventually so we continued on this track. Eventually we worked our way there with Mick picking up scent along the edge. A cat and mouse stalk ensued in and out of the cattails on the edge of the pothole. Mick for some reason gets really excited in this type of cover. Must be the Grouse dog in him.  Liking the close cover I mean. When we get to within 100 feet of the dry dam on the west end he freezes on the edge of the water in the cattails. I move ahead and a single Rooster rises straight away across the water! I fire and the bird falls 20 feet out into the water dead. It was a great job by Mick but I wasn't sure who was going into the water him or me? Tails were wagging all around as they all looked on at the edge of the water so I said fetch it up Mick and I was surprised what happened next. He kind of took a slight step forward then just moved into the water right for the bird grabbed it and proudly brought it back! I had the camera out of course as this was really fun to watch. I let him follow me up the bank a ways where we stopped and he laid down with the bird. He had redeemed himself!

Mick barely visible center behind the cattails with his first water retrieve.

                                         We took a few pictures and added our second Rooster to our mixed bag for the day not quite as mixed as it should be but we were having fun. This was getting to be a long run for everybody but I was glad we were around water so the dog's could cool off.Then no sooner did we get to the dry dam to our right when Molly got really interested in scent again that took her and Beau over the top of the bank. Mick was still giving the cattails one more going over but I followed Molly's lead and when I got to the top of the dike Molly was on point right on the slope edge with Beau right behind. I took one more step and again all hell broke loose! 4 Roosters bolted to the right at the same time. I missed again with my first shot but connected with the second on a really nice bird. Then with an empty gun I watched 3 more Roosters take flight ahead of us one at a time in quick succession. This was our limit on Roosters anyway but it was a nice moment.

Mick as he came out of the water showing off!

                                          By this time Mick had joined us on the other side of the pothole as we took our celebratory moment. It's interesting to note how many birds we had "corralled" on the walk down to this point.  You can't be sure we moved all of them in this way but knowing how fast and how far they will run having done this many times I can say I believe it was worth putting out a wide net and casting as we did over a large area especially with multiple dog's. Seeing all those Roosters wasn't a coincidence.

Molly getting in the photo. It's a team effort!

                                          We had kept moving at a pretty good pace the whole time but Tom and Phil had beat us to the pick up point a little ahead of time and called me to see where I was at. I gave my position and caught up with them a few hundred yards ahead. When I relayed my story they were surprised at the number of birds we had moved and the fact that we had seen Sharptail as well as Huns but again when you cover that much ground with multiple dog's something is bound to happen!
                                            There was one more experience I had made a note on in my journal about this trip. We had headed over to the neighboring town ten miles west to have dinner and a couple drinks. At this time of year the bar which was also a restaurant would be pretty busy with duck hunters as well as upland hunters with people from all over the country. We were enjoying ourselves talking with the people we knew when these two guys walked in decked out in fancy cowboy attire from head to toe. We were all curious about these guys as nobody else was dressed like this. Phil was especially interested in who these guys were and having a few beers couldn't help but crack jokes about what their story might be. So it was a mystery. These guys had the fancy boots, leather vest's,big hats with feathered bands and the big fancy belt buckles. Were they famous? Big time ranchers from Texas? Country Western star's? One guy even kinda looked like Conway Twitty. The suspense was to much for Phil so he finally said" I'm gonna just go ask those guys where they're from". After a couple minutes he comes back and say's" They're from Michigan!" They had bought 160 acres out here which is a drop in a bucket in this country and come out in the fall to hunt. We all had a good laugh about that as things are not always as they seem! Just playing cowboy I guess.