11-12-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 33
High point of the day –
Murphy getting down on
all fours, on his belly, totally
stopped and looking at
something in the brush. Me
being a beginner I started
walking toward Murphy
telling him to keep moving
when suddenly a rooster
flushed up right in front of
me! How I missed that bird
I’ll never know. Oh, that’s
right, I’m a beginner, only
my second trip hunting
pheasants.
The next day, the morning
and early afternoon
was spent watching the
Seahawks football game.
After that we drove to a
nearby public land and
hunted a very nice-looking
stretch of land that Matt
had success at earlier
in the year, including a
not so good flushing of
a porcupine which poor
Murphy had ended up at
the vet to deal with quill
removal. No porcupine this
afternoon, nor pheasants.
We were down to one last
day to get our birds…
Monday morning. Rain
during the night and the
field roads were a bit
muddier than we expected.
Driving early and in the
dark, we headed down a
dirt road that was in reality
a mud road. Much to our
dismay we were stuck.
Fortunately, there is always
AAA, even in the Montana
fields. In no time at all the
tow truck came and pulled
us out. The driver was
amused and I’m sure he
spotted us for non-natives.
He did earn a nice tip for
his efforts and off we went
to check out another (nonmuddy) location.
The farm we got to hunt
had the best pheasant
holding terrain I had ever
seen with my neophyte
eyes. A berm, 30 feet wide,
15 feet to the bottom,
with marshy center and
cattails providing thick
cover looked to be ideal.
Matt and I walked on
opposite sides looking
down as Murphy got right
into the cover. We’d see
him jump occasionally,
cattails rustling. Then
he’d be on the edges with
that “birdy” look and sure
enough, a hen or rooster
would flush. We repeated
this at least five times
walking the quarter mile
of this berm and missed
five roosters. Now I could
blame Murphy’s youth as
several of those roosters
got flushed far from us. I
know Murphy will become
more disciplined and not
range so far ahead of us.
I also know we will shoot
better next time. I’ll admit,
we were frustrated after
missing all those flushed
birds. We decided to
explore some other spots
and give the location a rest,
and return later. We drove
around, avoiding muddy
roads and a repeat of the
morning’s folly. One last
effort at Freezeout Lake
with no success and it was
back to our private farm
location to try the marshy
berms again.
This time Murph was
noticeably more tired and
moving slower and steady.
Or maybe he was just
gaining experience as were
Matt and me. Before we
even had a chance to start
a rooster flushed in front of
us. Darn!
