opening morning stories

cubbyleader · 31-10-2012 8:44am #1

Well lads only one more day now until the pheasants that we've seen for the last 9 months all start to play hide and seek. So I wanted to start this thread so we could all share our stories tomorrow about how we were sure we'd hit that cock pheasant with both barrels and he stlill didn't drop. So I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable opening morning.

dev110 · 31-10-2012 8:51am

Best of luck to everybody and safe shooting.
I look forward to reading the stories tomorrow and I hope I'll have some to tell as well.

djflawless · 31-10-2012 11:43am

well may st hubert watch over us all and give us a good safe day tomorrow.best of luck all

SeaFields · 31-10-2012 3:08pm

I had to pack in the shooting a few years back because of college and work commitments. My father is going to be bouncing around the house later with excitement about the morning tho

Good hunting and safe shooting lads

gregers85 · 31-10-2012 3:28pm

I'm stuck in work tomorrow - My first day of pheasant will have to wait until Saturday!! looking forward to it!! Best of luck to everyone heading out tomorrow!!!

nowwerehurlin · 31-10-2012 4:09pm

Heading out tomorrow with two old dogs and two young pups in my arsenal .. Theyll surely give me something to write about !! Safe shooting to all !

owelfisherman · 31-10-2012 4:59pm

i saw 6 cocks today...just hope there still there tomarrow!!!!

dev110 · 31-10-2012 5:01pm

I only know of two cocks and in one area it will be pure luck to hunt the right spot with the amount of cover they have.

owelfisherman · 31-10-2012 5:07pm

il bring the camera and take some pics.has any1 seen any hens?ive seen none so far

dev110 · 31-10-2012 6:05pm

No hens around me. First year in a long time I haven't seen any.

charlie10 · 31-10-2012 6:09pm

myself and brazzil are heading out in morning with his 10 month old springer bitch and my five year old cocker (who thinks he is 10 months)and hopefully bag a cock or two somewhere!! best of luck lads and especially to lads who have dogs who are in there first season ! remember grit the teeth and put a lead on them if things are getting out of hand:D:D

martin s · 31-10-2012 6:43pm

owelfisherman wrote: »

il bring the camera and take some pics.has any1 seen any hens?ive seen none so far

Starting my 13 month old GSP tomorrow, she,s done well so far in training, hope it all comes together:D if not, i,ll eat my f;;;in hat:mad:

midnightfalcon · 31-10-2012 7:59pm

Well lads been looking at the hunting forum on boards for a good while now first time to post have very much enjoyed all the stories,videos,photos,information and banter all in all a good bunch off likeminded lads . I very much enjoy my shooting and dogs and with the start off a new season ahead I’m making the big step into boards hope I can keep up and shear some of the season events.
Hope all goes to plan for you’s all tomorrow and have a safe and enjoyable days sport.

It wasn't me! · 31-10-2012 8:18pm

College graduation in the morning.

No chance of getting out for a shot. Will try see about some bird shooting on friday though perhaps.

hiram · 31-10-2012 9:48pm

Hi,
I am wondering should I put up no shooting signs in my fields beside my house for tomorrow. I'm a hunter myself, but I preserve the lands near my house but I am constantly seeing shooters on it every year. Should hunters legally abide by signs, or am I wasting my time?

gregers85 · 31-10-2012 9:52pm

If its your land then legally the hunters need your permission to hunt it and have to obey no hunting or no entry signs

dev110 · 01-11-2012 7:10am

Lovely day for it. Nothing like a bit of frost.
Just waiting for the sausages to be cooked and I'll be off.
Best of luck to everyone.

cubbyleader · 01-11-2012 11:45am

No luck for me this morning seen two not sure wether they were hens or cocks so didn't fire

EPointer=Birdss · 01-11-2012 12:13pm

Decent start with a nice mature bird.
Some sharpness not there yet but plenty of practice to be had ahead.
Could do with some more wind for the dogs.
Met one woodcock but no shot was presented.

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gregers85 · 01-11-2012 12:17pm

My cousin just text me, there on the way home with 3 nice cock birds! Im ragin Im stuck in work!!

dev110 · 01-11-2012 12:56pm

Had a very good first half of the day.
Went to my spot with heavy cover and worked every ditch.
Working up along a stream, that used to be a river but dried up now, the springer came on a scent. He worked it for 20-30 yards and then darted down into the drain and up comes a cock pheasant.

There was a foot of space between a tree on the right and bushes on the left. The pheasant rose in the middle and was flying left. I managed to get the gun up, swing and pulled the trigger. I didn't know if I got him until I ran 10 yards further to a gap in the bushes. Sure enough there was the pheasant panned out in the field. Sent to springer to collect and he dropped him at my feet.

I have no idea how I managed to get a shot off as another second and he was gone.

Moved onto another area and worked plenty of ditches for 2 hours and stumbled on a tiny bit of wooded area. It was full of pheasants. 2 hens rose at the beginning of it and then saw a cock run into it. I followed but it got to overgrown to get a shot. I found it funny that I flushed 3 hens out of a tree at 10.30 but then out of another tree I heard another take off and sure enough the crowing of a cock started as if he was teasing me. Couldn't see him at all and had no idea where he had flew and didn't have the heart to go through all the ditches again. He will be there for another day.

Had another shot a cock on a cleared barley field but only half caught him. He landed and took off for the ditch. The dog tore the ditch out of it but sheep wire the far side stopped any chance of catching him. Hunted the field the far side of the ditch after lifting the dog over and sure enough picked up the scent again only to follow it to another ditch with more sheep wire. I lost all hope of getting him. Sheep wire has to be hunters worst nightmare.

Dog is panned out in his house and I'm panned out waiting for some food. Hope to get out in an hour or that.

owelfisherman · 01-11-2012 1:14pm

had a great morning shot 1 cock and 2 rabbits.saw another cock but wasent sure if it was a hen or a cock so i dident fire.saw 3 hens too.going for a duck later..il put up some pics tonight!my cheap carts worked well got a magpie that was way up.overall good morning im noticing small bags so far..the lad i got was quite small if i knew what he was like i wouldent have shot him..but still a bit of nice pheasant for tomarro;)

sikahuntejack · 01-11-2012 1:23pm

Just back shot 1 missed 5 put up 11 cock pheasants no hens to be seen when i fired my over and under 2 barrels went off ruined me morning only got the gun back off the gunshop tuesday after they said they fixed it for me heading for some doe shooting now

djflawless · 01-11-2012 3:14pm

rain cut things short for me.had an absolute cracker of a day.3 cocks for me.1 for a mate.springer put up 14 birds altogether.2 of them were hens.couldnt believe it!also shot me first bird over the lab.she was a bit shakey but when she realised what it was for, the tail wagged

great to hear all the good storys.nice to know the birds are there anyways

nowwerehurlin · 01-11-2012 3:50pm

Met one cock and two woodcock this morning. No shot at the woodcock and missed the sitter of a cock ! .. Changed dogs and went to another spot in the afternoon. Dog got a textbook flush on a hen and another hundred yards up the ditch a beauty of a cock broke wild and i took him with the second barrell .. Met two more cocks and a woodcock in wooded areas but no shots were presented. All in all i met 4 cocks 3 woodcock and a hen . Boards wont let me attach the photo to my comment from my phone ?

charlie10 · 01-11-2012 4:02pm

two birds for me and brazzil met another 5 or 6 but all hens dogs worked well but soft ground and a cocker with 2 inch legs is tough going for him
i had to cut day very short over a hangover what a twat i am:o

ronn · 01-11-2012 4:37pm

not a great day had around my land, Got one cock and a rat, The rats tail was bigger,:mad:

marknjb · 01-11-2012 4:52pm

just did a few hours this morning got one missed one aswell

EPointer=Birdss · 01-11-2012 5:59pm

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One more this evening. Had a very similar shot to you Dev.
The bird was in a big briar covered bank, dog on point at opposite side. Had to coax him to come through it. Poor fckr 'twas 10th of thorns! After that turns out the bird had moved down the ditch. Broke, I shot at a glimpse,topped the leaves of the cover, hadn't a clue if got him or not. Was not optimistic. Climbed bank & dog had him. Well chuffed. Will check later if on video.

thekevin4540 · 01-11-2012 6:03pm

we had a good day today we got 2 cocks 4 mallard 3 partridge and 2 crows between us we didnt meet that many birds it will be a bad season for pheasant because of the wet summer id say

steyrman2 · 01-11-2012 6:08pm

shot 5 cocks and picked up wounded cock broken wing pic early in the morning

lb1981 · 01-11-2012 6:12pm

Just back ,was very foggy up here this morning my da was in work so i was on my own .Started off with a cock with in 5 minutes, it was a lovely flush and a great retrieve for the cocker ,it was this years bird so nothing special size wise ,then walked for nearly an hour and a half and put up noting just tore the bollox out of myself on the soggy plough ,then she went into a fairly big dirty corner and birds broke from every were bar across me so didnt get a shot at any , thats the worst about the 1st, birds are all bunched together takes a few weeks before they spread out and being on your own because with the dog on your side everything breaks out the back.
Went over across to the bordering stubble fields and i seen a cock on the far ditch so i worked around so the wind was blowing in to her just as i got up to the ditch in trots this gee bag on a horse so that was the end of that the cocker bust in and put out 3 cocks and a few hens but i couldnt fire ,after all that walking i would have had a few handy shots but i was left walking down the field with gun broke cursing her.
I then moved on to another spot which was all stubble , done all of that but no luck all i could hear was the cocks crowing out the back of the ditch every time the dog went in but all the poxy hens broke out lovely my side.
At the end of that the cocker was getting a bit tired, it was a tuff morning for her having to run through all the slop and ****e in the ditches .
I went home and gave her a feed so i decided to bring the springer out with her after i had the tea, he is not really ready yet but i thought having him there would drive her on a bit.
It worked a treat the two of them worked very well together,he has a lovely style to him and is fearless going into the ditches.
I went up and worked a large bit of woodland with them hoping to push anything in there out on to the surrounding ditches ,so bet it out and walked out to the opening at the back of the wood and just as i stepped out a ****ing rake of birds that had run out got up from the far ditch and ****ed off over in to the sanctuary (clever bastards already).
so i headed off around the bordering ditches and picked up another 2 cocks ,again nothing special just this years birds ,the springer got 2 retrieves from them as-well.Put up a few more but they broke out the back of the ditch so 3 was my lot for the day, but i done some amount walking for them . I put the dogs back in the jeep and drove back up to the wood to bang a few pigeons coming into roost ,got a few and a couple of grey crows, it was my first time using my new shotgun a Berreta silver hawk and i was using rc 6's with it, delighted with how i was hitting with it , i missed noting today which is unusual on the first for me:o
SO the positives for today New gun ..delighted with it ..the dogs were super and plenty of birds around which i didnt think would be the case with the poxy summer we had .
Negatives ...walking around all day tmrw like i have something shoved up my hole.:D

lb1981 · 01-11-2012 6:16pm

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charlie10 · 01-11-2012 6:43pm

cant see the pic but would love too

lb1981 · 01-11-2012 7:00pm

charlie10 wrote: »

cant see the pic but would love too

Cant get photo bucket working here is the attachment

ruger1894c · 01-11-2012 7:31pm

Had a decent day here to..had two nice cocks in the bag...first was a straight kill the second was half caught and after a 40 yard run the dog eventully found it...place is full of hens doe..seen about 8-9 today...now for tomorrow..

J.R. · 01-11-2012 7:33pm

Lovely day to be out & about.

Headed out about 10 o'clock. Not a hint of a trail or scent in first three fields which I thought would be good.

The cocker then put up a cock who flew into the sun....missed with both barrels......wasn't a difficult shot.

Put up three birds in a heavy corner of cover but couldn't get a shot.

Dog put up another cock which was a testing shot but I missed.

Eventually started rising birds again .....got three overall.......some nice testing shots and dog got good retrieves........one was a runner which she did very well at catching & retrieving.

Headed home about 3.30 after a great day.....dog was beginning to tire (so was I....the land is heavy going....all stubble)

Really enjoyed the day & a great start to a new season.

EPointer=Birdss · 01-11-2012 8:13pm

I thought they were partridge for a min JR.
They young cocks or did they lose tails in the chase?

Or am I raving & it's the pic angle

TriggerPL · 01-11-2012 8:21pm

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

I thought they were partridge for a min JR.
They young cocks or did they lose tails in the chase?

Or am I raving & it's the pic angle

just when you mention tails i seen two birds today from the road with no or very little tails , and were cocks , didnt get out for a shot hopelully saturday and sunday

patdahat · 01-11-2012 9:25pm

Had an enjoyable day met:
6 cock's with 2 serious misses,
2 hen's,
a woodcock got away without a shot,
10 /11 snipe manager to knock 1
2 mallard rose wild, land is heavy and so are the eye lid's now.

snipe02 · 01-11-2012 10:35pm

great day met 7 cocks got five i shot four and the buddy got one also got 3 foxes i took one and he took 2 more met more foxes than pheasents but a great day. the uncles pheasent was a strong runner and his 7 year old spaniel made a good job of it, the bird got a good head start on the dog but his experience shined through only missed one cock and also took 3 crows the dogs were broke up and cut to sh#t will give em a short hunt in the mornin and then rest em up all in all a first to remember not as many birds as other years but all the foxes unreal and the rain held off aswell

J.R. · 02-11-2012 1:25am

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

I thought they were partridge for a min JR.
They young cocks or did they lose tails in the chase?

Or am I raving & it's the pic angle

All the birds have tails alright - the two on the right had tails, not visible in photo as hanging upside down......tails have flopped down behind them.....weren't very long tails anyways......farthest right one lost most of his tail in the retrieve (a runner) ......all this years released fully grown birds.

The one in the centre is a melanistic bird .....this years bird.......the club didn't release any of these......must have strayed in from nearby clubs...........not complaining if he did.........hope his buddies do the same!!!!

lb1981 · 02-11-2012 9:36am

J.R. wrote: »

All the birds have tails alright - the two on the right had tails, not visible in photo as hanging upside down......tails have flopped down behind them.....weren't very long tails anyways......farthest right one lost most of his tail in the retrieve (a runner) ......all this years released fully grown birds.

The one in the centre is a melanistic bird .....this years bird.......the club didn't release any of these......must have strayed in from nearby clubs...........not complaining if he did.........hope his buddies do the same!!!!

What part of Dublin were you shooting , we let out a few of them be just interested to see how far they roamed if it is the same one

lb1981 · 02-11-2012 9:39am

Tell you what lads i go the gym a few times a week , but im only fooling myself yesterday really ****ed me over ,walked for about 6 hrs the land was heavy and the plough was savage to walk through.

I feel like Steven Hawkins today

Dalken · 02-11-2012 10:15am

We had a decent morning, weather was perfect and the dogs worked well but alas pheasants were scarce enough but ya cant have everything. I only rose the one cock in the morning and my mate bagged one after lunch. We bagged a few snipe and should have had a couple of ducks but some target practice I think is required..we walked in on a splash and about 20 duck lifted from it, four bangs and not so much as a feather dropped.

.17hmr · 02-11-2012 12:36pm

Dalken wrote: »

We had a decent morning, weather was perfect and the dogs worked well but alas pheasants were scarce enough but ya cant have everything. I only rose the one cock in the morning and my mate bagged one after lunch. We bagged a few snipe and should have had a couple of ducks but some target practice I think is required..we walked in on a splash and about 20 duck lifted from it, four bangs and not so much as a feather dropped.

Very nice looking dog there Dalken and a nice bag as well .

steyrman2 · 02-11-2012 1:02pm

shot 5 cocks and picked up one wounded cock broken wing total bag pic added

garyc007 · 02-11-2012 1:13pm

i had a great day. seen a good few birds, a few wild ones and hens in it, also seen 2 woodcock and a few snipe.ended up with 4 cocks and 2 ducks (hen and drake) could of had more but was happy with that. think il take a break today and give the springer a rest, she worked well all day yesterday

meathstevie · 02-11-2012 3:29pm

Haven't seen a feather, spent about 7 hours going through a fair few likely spots but did not see one pheasant...

Dalken · 02-11-2012 4:20pm

meathstevie wrote: »

Haven't seen a feather, spent about 7 hours going through a fair few likely spots but did not see one pheasant...

Very bad year for wild birds imo. We hit a few likely spots yesterday and they were a complete blank.

cubbyleader · 02-11-2012 5:35pm

We had no luck again today all we seen was one hen it's all wild birds around my way so we weren't expecting heaps of birds but one bird in the bag would have been nice. But on the plus side it looks like all the hard work has paid off and my Springer bitch is turning out to be a great little bitch to hunt

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opening morning stories

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