When it all comes together
Today was one of those hunts to remember. The weather was great, a crisp November day with sunshine. An earlier snowfall had melted away and the land was dry. Charlie and Kyra were eager to go (understatement). I chose a nice damascus GHE to deliver payloads of my last #6 CIL Imperials. I picked up a relation of a friend. He had not been chasing the birds for over a decade and was eager to go. We made it to the creeks about 0845. Charlie put up some hens early on (not legal here). After about two hours, we left that area having only seen hens. The next spot was a defined piece of cover through a hillside ravine with wheat stubble surrounding it. As I was explaining how we would work this area, a nice rooster decided it was time to disappear but he dropped into the area we would be going through. We spent about 30 minutes working the ravine, slowly pushing our way to a narrow end. Charlie got birdy and moved into the thick bottom brush and weeds. It was obvious she was on a bird and when the rooster blasted skyward, it crossed from right to left in front of me. My first shot disturbed the tail feathers but the second dropped him into the stubble. Charlie was on it quickly and wanted to just pick it up, show me where to come and then drop it. I explained in my best dog speak that I am now tired of that procedure and that she had shown me last week that she could retrieve and that I wanted her to do that again. After a bit of coaxing, she brought me the bird. Lots of praise and ear rubs followed. We worked the next ravine with no birds found. The next spot involved another two hours of working weeds, old rail line, creek, abandoned farm yard and windbreak and two converging fence lines. I was starting to realize I'm not a youngster any more. The GHE was getting heavy and my legs were complaining. I caught a glimpse of a rooster that had double backed on us into some cattails along the creek. Charlie's nose was called upon to examine the area. Both shooters watched as Charlie worked the cover and then came to an abrupt halt, staring intently into deep grass. The rooster rocketed out of cover, a straight away shot for my partner and a right to left shot for me. The bird was in range for both of us and both of us shot and both connected. That was one very dead rooster. We next crested an abandoned rail line and Charlie became birdy right away. She worked cover for several minutes and then froze momentarily and then flushed another rooster. It rose fast and high presenting a left to right crossing shot. The #6 pattern covered the bird and he was dead 20 yards above ground level and 30 yards down range. Charlie liked the ear rubs, so she decided of her own accord to bring me the bird. Lots of praise again. We continued to work to the end of the converging fence lines. We were almost at the end, when Charlie began her bird dance trying to zero in on the scent tunnel. There was a thick patch of entangled tumble weeds and she locked up there. Both shooters at the ready, Charlie jumped in and flushed four or five birds. I zeroed in on a straight away rooster and dropped him in thick weeds behind a page wire fence. I knew where there was an opening and showed Charlie how to get in. She spent a couple minutes and found the bird. We had four birds and were feeling good. As we were getting close to the vehicle, little Kyra (16 pounds) came to a stop and was sniffing around a cluster of low trees and brush. Then she stood on her hind legs bouncing up and down like a circus dog. When she finally jumped in, out came another rooster and down it went. We did look around at a couple other spots and decided we may as well call it a day and drive home before it got dark. The GHE seems to fit me well, it has a nice heft, swings nicely and just seems to place the shot where it needs to go. Choked full/full+ it does a good job for me out at my preferred range - 35 to 40 yards. This GHE was proofed at Birmingham for 3 1/4 Tons per square inch. Good solid damascus barrels, shiny bores and not a pit to be seen. I might just exercise that gun again in a couple days.
Cheers,
Jack
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Hunt ethically. Eat heartily.
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11-07-2012, 12:47 PM
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