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Member Info
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 223
Thanks: 375
Thanked 157 Times in 57 Posts
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Hens From Hell!
I am sure all of us have a bad hunting experience from time to time. For me it was this past Saturday. Friday night I went to bed with plans of getting up for a nice pheasant hunt. So, I woke up early and for some reason I just never fully felt awake. I pushed myself and thought after a hot cup of coffee I would come around. I loaded all the gear in the truck and Benny and I headed for the woods. On my way I stopped at the nearest coffee mill for that much needed coffee, which I eagerly sipped on the way. Everything seemed to go smoothly while gearing up. It felt a little cooler then the past mornings which I embraced and added a sweatshirt to compensate. The sun was just high enough now so, Benny and I headed in. While walking into the woods I noticed some other hunters on the right side of the field so I thought I would work the left side. There is an old stone wall which separates the field from the thick woods. Within about ten minutes of listening and watching Benny work, he is on the scent. I think to myself, this is great! I get ready and I see him tightening his search pattern right up against the stone wall which is somewhat thick with undergrowth. I get ready for the flush which happened rather quickly. A hen screams out of the brush straight up and which I fire and miss. She immediately goes to the left and out towards the other side of the wall which I calmly put a bead on her and squeeze the rear trigger and she folds and falls to the ground. Great! First bird of the morning? Not so fast! With my Parker now unloaded, I climb on top of the wall and look over and I notice the elevation is lower on the other side and it is thick with thorn bushes that extend about thirty feet out from the wall and they run all along it. I can barely see the ground. Great! Well, I always make it a point to retrieve any game that I harvest. So, I put my shotgun against a tree with my hat on it so I can easily retrieve it. Keep in mind this pheasant fell within feet of where I am standing. We climb the wall and head in, thorns tearing at my clothing and skin we search for a good half hour. No luck, even Benny with his keen since of smell has no luck. I head back towards the wall to get out of this nightmare. As I head up the wall which is built with good size stones I see there is a old log about six inches thick leaning on it which I think will aid in my escape so, I step on it and it breaks, down I go, up against the wall waist deep in thorns. Thinking something is going to hurt later, I continue to climb out with my trusty dog behind me. Once out, I assess the damage to my sweatshirt and gloves and also feel numerous cuts inflicted by the thorns. I reach down by my front pocket and notice my cell phone is gone. The clip is still on my front pocket but, the case is ripped off of it. I look back over the stone wall and decide I will absorb the loss. I now have worked up a pretty good sweat and take the sweatshirt off. I put my hat on, grab the Parker and off we go feeling battered and bruised. Within about 15 minutes Benny is on the scent again. We are in waist high growth which is thick in this area. He tightens his pattern and I see him rushing the weeds within feet of me. This goes on for what felt like minutes. This bird is running and holding tight. Finally he rushes and I see the weeds part and a cock pheasant flies up just about hitting the barrel of the gun. I take a shot, miss. I fired the rear barrel. Miss! I cannot believe it. What a morning I am having! Up to this day, I have had all one shot kills. I get, "the look” from Benny, who has done all the work. I tell him I “screwed up”, what can I say. I think for a moment, for some reason, I just cannot seem to, "get with it" this morning. I try to compose myself and we press on to search the rest of the field. No luck. I start to assess the morning so far, I have one kill, without the bird? One miss, and no cell phone. Not a good morning. I decide to head back to the wall side of the field and have another look. As I approach the area I see Benny is on the scent. OK, this is the area were he put the hen up earlier and brush it off as a old scent. While I scan the wall I see Benny about twenty feet from me trying to push his way into the brush, could he be on to another bird? I walk over with gun at the ready and another hen flies out straight at me, up and over the wall and I fire. Please don’t ask, Yes, I missed. I quickly compose myself and bead the bird and fire the rear barrel folding up the bird. Guess where it falls? Yes! On the other side in the thorns! In a repeat, I put the Parker down, put my hat on it and head in. As I step onto the wall in the area were I crawled out the first time, I look down and see the first bird that I shot and three feet from it is my cell phone still inside the case. How could I have overlooked it? Benny is already on the thorn side of the wall and I hear his bell in rapid succession so, I know that is from his tail wag and he must have the other bird. On my hands and knees I make my way toward him. He meets me about have way with the bird in his mouth. Now, with new wounds we make our way back to the field side. Once out, I look at Benny and tell him, we are done for the day! I put the, "Hens From Hell" in my vest and gather my Parker. Looking like I was attacked by a Pitt Bull, threads hanging and tears in my clothing, we head for the truck. While driving home, I think to myself, "Ever have one of those days"?
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11-04-2012, 07:25 PM
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