The Retrieve

[Pheasant Slayer]

A wrap up of the week. Was able to hunt Tuesday and today (Friday). Tomorrow is suppose to be a washout. Nor'easter heading up the coast. Tuesday's hunt was another after work hunt. About a hour and a half before sunset. Tuesday produced a nice rooster. It also produced my first miss of the season. I find this "miss" very interesting though. So far this season I have been using Polywad Spread-R's. On Tuesday I took the rooster with a Spread-R. I reached in my vest for another one to re-load and I was out. (forgot to refill my vest). So, I dropped a RST #6 shot both barrels... On our way out Benny decided to put up a hen which kinda caught me off guard, but no excuse. I raised and fired!... And yes I missed. Another one of those shots were you say, no way could I have missed, but I did. Friday I was out of work early and I had some time, so I hit the woods in the early afternoon. Benny's first bird of the day was a another nice rooster. Took him down with a PolyWad. Once retrieved we headed into a think area were he put up a hen.. So thick I just caught a glimpse of her but, I did see the direction she went in so, I circled around to see if Benny could pick up the scent. Which he did. I watched him go though his routine, (zig-zag pattern, "stub wag"). She was running on the ground. (A Runner) We tracked that hen for a good ten minutes. We were finally on the edge of the thickets when she finally flushed... Straight towards me at point blank range, then up over my head into the field. I turn and let her put on some distance, then I let loose a Polywad which sent her to the ground. I have enclosed a series of photos of Benny's retrieve. The first photo is of Benny's rooster from Tuesday. (Taken with a cell phone)This is his third season and he has become the "Pheasant Machine". It was a beautiful thing watching him retrieve that hen in a open field. The last photos are of Friday's catch.