Redemption Pheasant Shoot

Last Friday I took all three dogs out for a hunt at lunch time as I had guests for dinner and couldn’t do a proper POETS day hunt.

They didn’t hit any scents until we nearly got to the turn around point and I thought I heard a rooster squawk. It was not a full blown crow, just a squawk. We worked our way around towards it and I spotted a rabbit that the dogs had disturbed as it ran back into some cover. I forgot about the rooster and sent the dogs in to get the rabbit. I got the rabbit, and as I shot the rooster crowed again.

Mabo, Bruce & Dave telling me to hang my head in shame after missing both birds of a double rise.

I persuaded Dave to leave the rabbit and walked in towards where the bird had crowed. It was in an old river bed about four metres below a vegetation covered lip I was standing on. Before the dogs even hit the scent it flushed a fair way out, rocketing as pheasants are supposed to, and I hit it first shot but only just ruffled its feathers. I was about to go for a follow up shot when another rooster flushed closer to me and headed away through some trees. I missed that too. Only the second double rise I have ever shot at I missed both birds.

Today I took Dave back down to find the roosters. Yesterday I had taken Mabo, and he had flushed three hens but no roosters. Dave got onto a scent in a likely spot without really chasing it, and the rooster jumped a fair way out from both me and Dave. He went down hard as he flew across, and the video came up pretty well.

We went back around to where I had missed the double rise, and I forgot to turn the GoPro back on as Dave actually hunted beautifully. He worked along the edge of the lip and kept turning to look at me to make sure I was keeping up and in position to get a shot. I finally turned the video on late, and had to run to catch up because I had got in the wrong spot. The rooster flushed and went down first shot.

I nearly completely stuffed up the second rooster by not paying attention to Dave. He stopped several times to see if I was watching, and if he was close enough and I was not onto it. By the time I switched on I had to run briefly to catch up. Luckily I got the bird or Dave would have been fully within his rights to boot me and tell me I was dead set useless.