The Passing of Three Seasons

[Harold Pickens]

I can supply the English, you and Garry , the Gordon's, maybe get my Fox friend Tom Tutwiler to supply the Irish.
That would be a memorable hunt..

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens

I can supply the English, you and Garry , the Gordon's, maybe get my Fox friend Tom Tutwiler to supply the Irish.
That would be a memorable hunt..

Harold, Ken has both the Black & Tan (Gordon) Setter AND the Red Version.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Ken Hill

Garry,

I didn’t look at this thread until now. Looks like a nice end to the year for you. It would have been great to see a picture of the English, Irish, and Gordon setters hunting together.

I always have this cross-stitch in my mind when people talk about hunting with the 3 types of setters.



Ken

Great art piece, Ken. We have a small collection of prints that include Gordons, but generally only with English Setters and Pointers.

[mobirdhunter]

We made a last desperate dash to Oklahoma to try to find good weather and a few birds. We had trouble finding either. Still, it beats sitting at home in dismal weather with no bird season.

Our hunt was characterized by missed forecasts by the weather folks, resulting in heavy mist and fog, instead of sun and warmth, but was punctuated by a few clear afternoons. Oklahoma has jumped their out-of-state fees, and limited the land that non-residents can hunt February quail on, but we were glad to have places to go, even if the Conservation Dept. had plowed under bean stubble and grazed heavily their public land prairies.

Here a few photos from our last gasp hunt:

1. We hunted for good weather and did not find it. Heavy mist and cold was uncharacteristic of late season Oklahoma. Aspen made a gallant effort on a large river bottom bean field, one of the few un-disked fields left on the Conservation Areas we hunted. The result was caked mud and cockleburs -- and a good hour's worth of clean-up.

2.-6. But on a couple of days the fog cleared late and gave us nice weather, if not birds. We found the remnants of old homesteads and a private graveyard. (See Chris Pope's great post on a similar find of his in SC). When coveys are few and far between, "tourist attractions" are even more welcome. It's hard not to wonder about the families that toiled on these grounds and left their marks for us to find so many years later.

7.&8. Our last hunt started late after the fog dissipated. Just being out in the sun on a late afternoon was a pleasure -- even if windy and cold -- especially after enduring cold drizzle. After finally finding a covey nearby, we moved to a place that "smelled" like birds to me. We found none...but I felt vindicated, discovering an old roost, and it was a sign to me of birds remaining at the tail end of this season. What more could a hunter ask?

[Ken Hill]

Looks like very tough OK hunting. I hunted the panhandle area in the early-mid nineties. Usually found quail and pheasant on private land. The public areas back then were tough going.

Ken

[Ken Hill]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

Harold, Ken has both the Black & Tan (Gordon) Setter AND the Red Version.

Harold,

This is the Black/tan and red duo from a KS trip 2 years ago. The Gordon is starting too get old for long hunts and trips. She hunted 5 days in SD this year and it was too much as she was limping after the first day



Ken

[Chris Pope]

The second batch of photos as great as the first (that photographer has a terrific eye) except for the first one of those muddy fur-tangled setter feet/legs! Can you say Horse Mane and Tail Shampoo and Conditioner?! Phew! We deserved both a before AND after picture of that...of course, better than a porcupine or skunk clean up.
Down here we specialize in red Georgia/So.Carolina clay and Beggar Ticks.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Ken Hill

Harold,

This is the Black/tan and red duo from a KS trip 2 years ago. The Gordon is starting too get old for long hunts and trips. She hunted 5 days in SD this year and it was too much as she was limping after the first day



Ken

Ken, it’s hard not to love the graying face of an old friend, and our younger dogs have learned much from our “semi-retired” dogs. Elaine and I send you and your pups our best.

We hunted western OK for several years. The bird numbers were better, but the sand burrs (and porcupines) were not to our liking. Now non-resident hunters are banned from public lands in the west in February. The “passport” required for non-hunters to enter OK lands went from $26 to over $200. Still, if we can find a reprieve from our harsh winter weather and the chance to walk in little bluestem after a few birds, we’ll take it.

And, Chris, it took us an hour at the tailgate to clean and de-burr poor Aspen. If you’ve never encountered mud encrusted cockleburs, count yourself lucky.

I hope we all have the optimism of a “next year” to get us there — and all in good health.