On The Third Day of Christmas....

[Harold Pickens]

Ok, so my math is off. 24 degrees and snowy, was itching to get out after WV quail. 2 weeks of buck season, followed by doe season, and muzzle loader starts Monday.
Carried the GH 16 O frame Damascus, shooting 3/4 oz 8s and the spreader X insert for the tight covers.

[Harold Pickens]

Pics

[Stan Hoover]

Very nice Harold,

Wish we had some quail close to home, thanks for the pics!

Stan

[Joe D.]

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing! That's one happy looking pair of dogs

[Dean Romig]

I am pretty daggone jealous Harold!





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[Kentucky Bird Hunter]

Dean, I suspect you are speaking for many of us……. !!

Dave

[Harold Pickens]

WV started an aggressive stocking of quail on their WMAs 3 years ago after Governor Big Jim Justice decided he missed hearing the quail of his youth. These are pen raised birds, not wild trapped birds. Don't know if these birds will be able to reproduce and repopulate. The cover is thick and nasty stands of brushy autumn olive, briars etc , with areas of switch grass interspersed. Great cover for the birds. The big problem is getting the birds to flush. Almost impossible to get to the birds and flush them, you can often hear and see them running under the autom olive. My setters won't break even though they can obviously see the birds also. There were several coveys yesterday that I heeled the dogs away from because I couldn't get them in the air, at times on my knees trying to get thru the cover.. A little cocker spaniel flush dog at heel would be just the ticket for this. Still, a lot better than nothing. I ran my dogs late last March and was still finding birds then, so maybe getting better carry over than expected, more birds were released in late summer and hopefully will get decent survival. Headed back out there today.

[Dean Romig]

Yup Harold - you need a flushing dog. A good English blockhead lab would be just the ticket. They tend to be a bit shorter in stature but are powerhouses for flushing stubborn birds.

And as a bonus - they are great waterfowl dogs.



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[Big D]

Field-Bred Springers. Not the clumsy show dogs

[Keavin Nelson]

That sounds great Harold, my Lab would have busted those birds out, wouldn't stop for anything, had the scares to prove it!!