This thread will suck without pics, and I apologize, but I don't have any.
On Saturday, the San Diego Sporting Dog Club, along with a few volunteers from other clubs and friends in the area, had the privilege to provide dogs, handlers, and bird planters for the latest DFG(w) Heritage junior and family pheasant hunts out at the old Daley ranch in Rancho Jamul. They like to use pointers in order to slow the action down for these young/inexperienced hunters, and my dog's a lab, so I went along to plant birds.
So why isn't this thread in the upland section, or dog training section?
When I arrived shortly after 6:30 AM, there was frost on the ground, and the puddles were frozen over. It's a beautiful property, and I wish the DFG would give it to me! Soon, a big pack of coyotes started going nuts on the hillside. I wished I could have pulled the AR out of the truck and gone after them. One of the guys said that years ago, the coyotes had boldly come right down and picked up the pheasants that they had just planted!
We planted a bunch of birds, and then the family hunt commenced. It went pretty well. At around 11:00, we went out and planted the fields again for the junior hunters. As we passed the first field, one of the guys spotted to coyotes in it. We continued on, planted the fields, then went back to the meeting area. After a safety briefing, some of us went out with the teams of hunters, supervisors, dogs, and handlers. Our hunters and their fathers reached the field before we did, and they reported that they had just seen a coyote flush 1 pheasant out of the field, and ran off with another! In fact, we got to watch it and another coyote run to the tree line with it! The hunters were bummed, but we figured there were plenty of birds left. As it turns out, of the four birds that were planted in that field, we only put up one, and the situation didn't offer the boys a shot. But they and the dog and the handler worked hard, going into some adjacent fields, and managed to put up 3 more, taking 1 of them. Throughout the afternoon, we watched those coyotes flush or capture several more pheasants.
It would have be so rewarding to have put the hurt on those things, and I joked with one of the boys' dads, "now son, that's why we shoot coyotes: they're bird killers!".
So is it legal to use pheasants to bait coyotes?
After the hunt ended, they let volunteers and hunters who had not shot their limit go out and clean up the fields. My dog and I worked a field hard, not finding anything. As we drove out, I spotted one by the road, so I parked, grabbed the gun and the dog, and headed after it. As I did so, I heard a crashing sound in the tree behind me. I turned, and saw a 2nd jump to the ground out of the tree! We continued after the first, and quickly shot and retrieved it. As we turned back to get the 2nd, I saw that the group that had hunted with us earlier had also seen it, and they were hurrying toward it. I could have taken it, but hey, it's about the kids, right? It ran into a ditch, and when I sent the dog in after it, it flushed. The boy shot twice, then I shot twice (long shots). We saw where it landed and went after it again. We only had a few minutes left before we had to vacate the property. I released the dog, and he quickly located the bird in a bush, and we heard a squawk. I told the boy to be ready, because either the bird was going to come busting out, or my dog was going to come out with it in his mouth. Well, the dog came out with it, and then we hurried back to the trucks and raced back to the meeting area, just in time to get checked out.
Man, I wish they would let hunters into that preserve. I don't see any reason not to, and there's definitely a coyote infestation in there that needs abatement. I bet if you went out there right now with an e-caller with rooster pheasant sounds, you would have dogs coming in within minutes!
Sorry for the post that's all over the place. It was a fun day.
On Saturday, the San Diego Sporting Dog Club, along with a few volunteers from other clubs and friends in the area, had the privilege to provide dogs, handlers, and bird planters for the latest DFG(w) Heritage junior and family pheasant hunts out at the old Daley ranch in Rancho Jamul. They like to use pointers in order to slow the action down for these young/inexperienced hunters, and my dog's a lab, so I went along to plant birds.
So why isn't this thread in the upland section, or dog training section?
When I arrived shortly after 6:30 AM, there was frost on the ground, and the puddles were frozen over. It's a beautiful property, and I wish the DFG would give it to me! Soon, a big pack of coyotes started going nuts on the hillside. I wished I could have pulled the AR out of the truck and gone after them. One of the guys said that years ago, the coyotes had boldly come right down and picked up the pheasants that they had just planted!
We planted a bunch of birds, and then the family hunt commenced. It went pretty well. At around 11:00, we went out and planted the fields again for the junior hunters. As we passed the first field, one of the guys spotted to coyotes in it. We continued on, planted the fields, then went back to the meeting area. After a safety briefing, some of us went out with the teams of hunters, supervisors, dogs, and handlers. Our hunters and their fathers reached the field before we did, and they reported that they had just seen a coyote flush 1 pheasant out of the field, and ran off with another! In fact, we got to watch it and another coyote run to the tree line with it! The hunters were bummed, but we figured there were plenty of birds left. As it turns out, of the four birds that were planted in that field, we only put up one, and the situation didn't offer the boys a shot. But they and the dog and the handler worked hard, going into some adjacent fields, and managed to put up 3 more, taking 1 of them. Throughout the afternoon, we watched those coyotes flush or capture several more pheasants.
It would have be so rewarding to have put the hurt on those things, and I joked with one of the boys' dads, "now son, that's why we shoot coyotes: they're bird killers!".
So is it legal to use pheasants to bait coyotes?
After the hunt ended, they let volunteers and hunters who had not shot their limit go out and clean up the fields. My dog and I worked a field hard, not finding anything. As we drove out, I spotted one by the road, so I parked, grabbed the gun and the dog, and headed after it. As I did so, I heard a crashing sound in the tree behind me. I turned, and saw a 2nd jump to the ground out of the tree! We continued after the first, and quickly shot and retrieved it. As we turned back to get the 2nd, I saw that the group that had hunted with us earlier had also seen it, and they were hurrying toward it. I could have taken it, but hey, it's about the kids, right? It ran into a ditch, and when I sent the dog in after it, it flushed. The boy shot twice, then I shot twice (long shots). We saw where it landed and went after it again. We only had a few minutes left before we had to vacate the property. I released the dog, and he quickly located the bird in a bush, and we heard a squawk. I told the boy to be ready, because either the bird was going to come busting out, or my dog was going to come out with it in his mouth. Well, the dog came out with it, and then we hurried back to the trucks and raced back to the meeting area, just in time to get checked out.
Man, I wish they would let hunters into that preserve. I don't see any reason not to, and there's definitely a coyote infestation in there that needs abatement. I bet if you went out there right now with an e-caller with rooster pheasant sounds, you would have dogs coming in within minutes!
Sorry for the post that's all over the place. It was a fun day.
