Quick Thursday Night Pheasant

In another crazy sequence of events, while test driving Dan's truck after the repairs were completed, Keith identified a particular sound it has made for the last several years that no mechanic or Ford dealer that Dan's had it to in the last five years could diagnose or repair. It was the middle U-joint in the driveshaft. He said he had time to do the repair so we figured it would be smart to let him do it; since he obviously knew what he's doing with this truck. That however, necessitated another two hour stay at the repair shop.

With the $1,000+ repair bill paid, we tested out how well the truck would drive getting back to the house to change clothes and out into the fields as fast as possible. All is well! 

We had 45 minutes to hunt and made the best of it, heading to 2 separate WPA's within 10 minutes of the house. Both Jackson and Winnie were birdy a couple times at the first spot, but produced no pheasants. With 15 minutes remaining, we drove 2 miles and hit the other spot that was a field and dried up pond. With one minute to go before shooting time ended, Jackson flushed a hen, followed immediately by a rooster. It offered me a challenging but makeable shot. It took me both barrels, but I was able to put it down. He was not steady, but my desire for hunting overrode my desire for training so I let him make the retrieve without correction - not wanting to take a chance of losing the bird if it was not dead on the ground. It provided him with a challenging, 75 yard mark in high grass that he handled perfectly. 

All in all, it was a crazy day but a productive one, with Dan feeling better about the status of his truck then he has in the last five years. Also, making me happy was Jackson having the opportunity to put the whole scenario together of pursuit, flush, & retrieve. A dozen more of those and he will be on his way to being a seasoned pheasant dog.