2023/2024 Upland Hunting Thread

Dennis in MA said:
I was thinking you HUNTED the apple orchard. ROFL!!!

I had a buddy that lived in Smithfield. One time he invited us out that way to pick apples. He and his family did it every year. I don't like apples enough to bother. Someoen's gonna overcharge me to do half their work for them? Seems silly. LOL

AFA Addeville - I love Steak & Clays. Haven't been in years. But always a fun time. A vendor took me pheasant hunting there once. A VENDOR! That was cool. We didn't take many birds - they are good at knowing how to fly back to the coop. LOL. I absolutely smoked one that had everyone staring. It was a great crossing shot. My brain was on perfectly. Caught up to it, led it, held the lead, fired, maintained lead. All pellets entered head and neck. Just crumpled. :)
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Orchard is rapey priced and over hyped now compared to when we used to go when we first moved in the area. There's a Brewery now, Live music, etc...its all nice...but apples at 45 dollars a bag. Kids (not really kids anymore) picked half a bag and we had some fun. Once a year is OK.

Six or seven of us go to steak and clays once a month in the summer its a great time.
 
Choppy season so far this year. Hunting with my uncle's old AYA and the change to an English style gun hasn't been easy. Nor has learning the double triggers.

Went out Wednesday afternoon with Dale. Flushed 4 birds, came home with this rooster.

Sneaking out this afternoon to hunt Medfield. Ran by it yesterday on my way back from an errand and think I saw the magic truck leaving mid-afternoon.

Aside: I've seen so many people this year wandering the WMAs with no orange on or just, like, an orange handkerchief in their pockets. Are people that oblivious? One old limey said "You can't be hunting yet! The season doesn't start till November 1st".

Gonna start carrying extra Walmart orange caps to give to these people so they don't get smoked in the face by accident.
 

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Waited to for the orange army to thin out this AM at my local WMA then headed out to chase some Doodles and leftover phez.
Connected with one of the three WC Emmit flushed.
We won't talk about the 2 pheasants I missed... wasn't my best day of shooting.

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admcd said:
Choppy season so far this year. Hunting with my uncle's old AYA and the change to an English style gun hasn't been easy. Nor has learning the double triggers.

Went out Wednesday afternoon with Dale. Flushed 4 birds, came home with this rooster.

Sneaking out this afternoon to hunt Medfield. Ran by it yesterday on my way back from an errand and think I saw the magic truck leaving mid-afternoon.

Aside: I've seen so many people this year wandering the WMAs with no orange on or just, like, an orange handkerchief in their pockets. Are people that oblivious? One old limey said "You can't be hunting yet! The season doesn't start till November 1st".

Gonna start carrying extra Walmart orange caps to give to these people so they don't get smoked in the face by accident.
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I f***ig hate the "hunting season date experts".

A few years back I had a guy follow me into the woods in zone 9 wma Columbus day weekend and stared yelling at me that "you can't be in here the season doesn't start until next weekend". I had just shot a squirrel and 3 minutes later he walked up behind me....no orange on with his little attitude. I lost it on the old f***er......grey squirrel has been open since early September you little know it all bastard....and next time you want to question a hunter on wma property call the boys in green and don't hassle people when they are hunting.....if you had called the epo they would have just told you grey squirrel is open and they are probably hunting those but no......you have be a f***ing little know it all and follow me in here? Half of my rant was yelling at the back of his head cuz he turned a 180 and started speed walking back out of the woods.
 
I was right about the stocking truck on Thursday. Ended up going out with a friend, his son, his dog, and my dog. Flushed four birds (Rooster, Hen, Rooster, Rooster), and shot two roosters. Fun was had by all.

I switched back to my Weatherby for the hunt and was happy with it. Need to practice more with the AYA.

Will get two or three hunts in this week before I decamp to NC for a week to do a bit of deer hunting at a friend's property. He's got some monsters on camera and black bears so I'm hoping for some serious meat coming back home.
 
Looking at the WMA - is that data right?? They release 3x a week at Wilder in Norton??? 3x???? Wow. I guess there are some good bow deer in there as well as long as you want to trudge into the Snake River area far from the trail head.
 
Dennis in MA said:
Looking at the WMA - is that data right?? They release 3x a week at Wilder in Norton??? 3x???? Wow. I guess there are some good bow deer in there as well as long as you want to trudge into the Snake River area far from the trail head.
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Looks like it. Hoping to maybe hit it the week I get back from NC.
 
Westboro was slammed this afternoon. 10 cars in the Rice St lot at 4:20 when I got there. Didn't get to hunt for as long as I'd like with Sundown being at 5:40. Dale did good and listened. Didn't work too far out.

Back at 'em tomorrow at lunch.
 
Good day to end my week. Matched set of pheasant and a rabbit.

Off to NC tomorrow for some hoofed game hunting. Probably get three more hunts with Dale when I'm back before I have to go back south of the Mason-Dixon for Thanksgiving
 
Second try this season yesterday and bagged a mixed double. The new pointer is still under house arrest, so it was just me and the flusher. The first day out, she just wasn't getting into the swing of things. She was tracking EVERYTHING. She put up a few birds, but none presented a clear shot. This day she began to key on the targeted species, and she really turned on after finding a couple of birds. The little cocker might get some scoffs out there, but she puts birds in the game pouch. I've been hoping for another rabbit, but the place has been brush hogged, which has reduced their cover significantly.

Had a misfire on a rooster with the new Mossy O/U, but I'm attributing that to the ammo. The primer looks sufficiently impacted, and I've had misfires with this box of ammo (Remington Nitro Pheasant) in another gun. I'll try something else if we get another chance to get out there.

She doesn't present very well for photos. Always moving.

Elsie.png
 
Hit Southwick a little late this morning. Went out with a buddy I have seen in years. Maybe half a dozen other guys out there. Saw lots of sign of predation. Only shot we heard were from the opposite side of where we were at any given point. We just ended up taking our guns for a walk. Was great to catch up with him though. Hopefully I’ll get out again soon
 
Very crowded day at the club- take that above Westborough pic time 2! Regardless, 5 birds for 3 of us and we and the other groups were very cooperative whenever we crossed paths. Crowded but not a sh!tshow like we had last year on such a day.
 
Admin said:
We are looking forward to the posts and pics from the midwest! I too use a seresto and they work great. I am on the list for a small Munsterlander hopefully mid summer. Its been a little over a year since my lab passed, life is way too short to not have a good dog by your side. Cheers Rob. [cheers]
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My brother runs a small musterlander. She's really impressive at under 3 years old. She's a retrieving machine.
 
Dennis in MA said:
Looking at the WMA - is that data right?? They release 3x a week at Wilder in Norton??? 3x???? Wow. I guess there are some good bow deer in there as well as long as you want to trudge into the Snake River area far from the trail head.
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My experience is two at most a week on big WMA...at most....usually 1. And one every week at local covers. We have local covers near me, that arent WMA's not sure if they have them in the east.
 
Great to see you all having a great year afield and enjoying the hunt.

Been a very tough year for me and my hunting partner.
No hunting as my dog is old and lame. First time in 12 years we have not been chasing grouse & woodcock in NH and knocking down the pheasants at our local WMA.

Scout will be 13 next month. He is an old soul and totally deaf now.
I'm almost glad he's deaf as we live close to the WMA and if he could hear the shooting he'd be going crazy...
He spends his days laying out in the yard monitoring the wind and woofing at the occasional whiff of coyotes, deer or someone else's hunting dogs.

Elbows, shoulders, and hips full of arthritis. His x-rays glow...
He's on two pain meds, an anti-inflammatory and a joint supplement. He's had 2 steroid injections in his left shoulder and that worked great for awhile. I have a call into the vet about a 3rd.
Just doing what we can to keep him pain free and able to walk.

I was thinking about sneaking out to see if I could shoot a pheasant by kicking one up.
But I was afraid Scout would see me, smell my pants, see the gun and know I was a traitor.

Maybe I will get him out on a leash so he can sniff out one more bird.
Most days he had trouble walking around the house. No stairs, ramps.

He's had a great run and we've killed bushels of birds in mx states.

He goes from hobling on three legs, to limping just a bit, to not wanting to ambulate much at all.
He is obviously approaching the end zone of a life well lived and loved.

My daughter is at UNH. She recently said "If Scout dies before I graduate I don't think I can finish school and will have to drop out.." Which makes me tear up thinking how much my wife and kids will grieve for our dog and me as well of course....

It's all part of the bargain. We know that going in but it certainly does not make it any easier.

So shoot straight boys and let your pup chomp that bird one more time before it goes in the vest....

(Edit - And we would have never had the joy of owning such a great dog if not for the referral from DixiDawg to the breeder, Heart & Soul Retrievers, some 13 years ago!)
 

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ccm75 said:
Great to see you all having a great year afield and enjoying the hunt.

Been a very tough year for me and my hunting partner.
No hunting as my dog is old and lame. First time in 12 years we have not been chasing grouse & woodcock in NH and knocking down the pheasants at our local WMA.

Scout will be 13 next month. He is an old soul and totally deaf now.
I'm almost glad he's deaf as we live close to the WMA and if he could hear the shooting he'd be going crazy...
He spends his days laying out in the yard monitoring the wind and woofing at the occasional whiff of coyotes, deer or someone else's hunting dogs.

Elbows, shoulders, and hips full of arthritis. His x-rays glow...
He's on two pain meds, an anti-inflammatory and a joint supplement. He's had 2 steroid injections in his left shoulder and that worked great for awhile. I have a call into the vet about a 3rd.
Just doing what we can to keep him pain free and able to walk.

I was thinking about sneaking out to see if I could shoot a pheasant by kicking one up.
But I was afraid Scout would see me, smell my pants, see the gun and know I was a traitor.

Maybe I will get him out on a leash so he can sniff out one more bird.
Most days he had trouble walking around the house. No stairs, ramps.

He's had a great run and we've killed bushels of birds in mx states.

He goes from hobling on three legs, to limping just a bit, to not wanting to ambulate much at all.
He is obviously approaching the end zone of a life well lived and loved.

My daughter is at UNH. She recently said "If Scout dies before I graduate I don't think I can finish school and will have to drop out.." Which makes me tear up thinking how much my wife and kids will grieve for our dog and me as well of course....

It's all part of the bargain. We know that going in but it certainly does not make it any easier.

So shoot straight boys and let your pup chomp that bird one more time before it goes in the vest....

(Edit - And we would have never had the joy of owning such a great dog if not for the referral from DixDawg to the breeder, Heart & Soul Retrievers, some 13 years ago!)
Click to expand...
13 is a very good run and he looks like a fantastic dog. Man I wish they would have more years with us but you do your best to make sure those years are the fullest.
 
ccm75 said:
Great to see you all having a great year afield and enjoying the hunt.

Been a very tough year for me and my hunting partner.
No hunting as my dog is old and lame. First time in 12 years we have not been chasing grouse & woodcock in NH and knocking down the pheasants at our local WMA.

Scout will be 13 next month. He is an old soul and totally deaf now.
I'm almost glad he's deaf as we live close to the WMA and if he could hear the shooting he'd be going crazy...
He spends his days laying out in the yard monitoring the wind and woofing at the occasional whiff of coyotes, deer or someone else's hunting dogs.

Elbows, shoulders, and hips full of arthritis. His x-rays glow...
He's on two pain meds, an anti-inflammatory and a joint supplement. He's had 2 steroid injections in his left shoulder and that worked great for awhile. I have a call into the vet about a 3rd.
Just doing what we can to keep him pain free and able to walk.

I was thinking about sneaking out to see if I could shoot a pheasant by kicking one up.
But I was afraid Scout would see me, smell my pants, see the gun and know I was a traitor.

Maybe I will get him out on a leash so he can sniff out one more bird.
Most days he had trouble walking around the house. No stairs, ramps.

He's had a great run and we've killed bushels of birds in mx states.

He goes from hobling on three legs, to limping just a bit, to not wanting to ambulate much at all.
He is obviously approaching the end zone of a life well lived and loved.

My daughter is at UNH. She recently said "If Scout dies before I graduate I don't think I can finish school and will have to drop out.." Which makes me tear up thinking how much my wife and kids will grieve for our dog and me as well of course....

It's all part of the bargain. We know that going in but it certainly does not make it any easier.

So shoot straight boys and let your pup chomp that bird one more time before it goes in the vest....

(Edit - And we would have never had the joy of owning such a great dog if not for the referral from DixDawg to the breeder, Heart & Soul Retrievers, some 13 years ago!)
Click to expand...
I read somewhere (Maybe it was Rudyard Kipling?) that the price of a good gundog is a broken heart at the end.

Scout sounds like a great dog.
 
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admcd said:
I read somewhere (Maybe it was Rudyard Kipling?) that the price of a good gundog dog is a broken heart at the end.

Scout sounds like a great dog.
Click to expand...
Rings true for all good dogs.

Had a great hunt this AM with my usual hunting buddy and his bird magnet GSP. I shamelessly borrowed more or less from @ccm75 's line, "So shoot straight boys and let your pup chomp that bird one more time before it goes in the vest...."

Our favorite WMA spot that is usually quiet was a sea of orange this morning. We arrived after the initial crowd had worked the fields and our dog had to work extra hard to pull some pheasants out of his @ss, LOL. He finally went on point and the rooster quickly flushed fast and low. I swear that bird went from point to flush to bang in less than a second. I got off a nice head and neck shot on a crossing flight path. My hunting buddy was stern with his pup to drop the bird but said let him have a couple more chomps- he earned them. We got another rooster and a hen from cover that had already been picked over once or twice.
 
Back from NC with a deer in my freezer. Shot a nice doe on my last night.

I'll be honest: This was the first time I felt any mixed emotions about a harvest. Shot her a bit high, spined her. Sat until sundown so as not to mess with my buddy's hunt (he shot a nice buck the same night).

She laid there for 45 minutes or so, then I had to dispatch her with my pistol. Killing through a scope feels very different than killing with a pistol at two feet.

Back to pheasants on Wednesday afternoon, I hope.
 

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