April Pheasant Hunt/Bar-B-Que

[Mayfly]

As it stands, I will be there with my 6 mo. pup. I will also be bringing a buddy. I will also be bringing Potato Salad for the lunch. I will mail you a check tomorrow for 6-8 birds.....not sure yet.

Mayfly + 1 + Dog + Potato Salad = April 18th

[setterguy]

I am wondering how the bird distribution is going to take place? If one guy has purchased 6 birds and is hunting with another guy that has purchased 2, there could be some conflicts. I know that some are specifically coming to do a little training with younger dogs, and I can forsee a situation where someone pays for birds in advance and then thier dog doesn't even get contact. Maybe I'm just not invisioning the setup correctly. Anyway, just thought that we should clear this up so there aren't any misunderstandings when we get to the field. I will be there with a rock and roll mother daughter combo. Should be a great day!!! I will be in for a couple of each bird. 2 pheasant, 2 chuckar.

[Wild Willie]

Setterguy - You bring up some very good points (no pun intended.) It has been my experience that, generally speaking, most upland bird hunters are the most gracious, patient and gentlemen-like of all sportsmen taking to the field. Most have invested a great deal of time and effort in their dogs and enjoy watching the pooch work the field more than actually pulling the trigger only to fill the pouches of their vest with birds.

That being said I think our number one priority is to pair the groups going out, both in the morning and afternoon, as closely as we can in terms of the numbers of birds purchased by each group member and by the skill level of their dog.

Once a group member downs the number of birds he or she has purchased their role will automatically become that of back-up shooter. They could even volunteer to kennel or put their dog on a check cord while other group members continue to try and fill their individual quota and give their pups or young dogs some quality individual time. This approach would ensure the group as a whole will bag 100% of their planted birds and that all group members will get a fair shot to find and fill their individual quotas.

Lets face the facts. I know for a fact that my pup is going to miss some birds. I get just as big a kick out of watching him honor than to hard point a single bird. It's even a greater site to see three pooches back-to-back-to-back. I also enjoy watching other dogs work so I can assess the strengths and weakness me and my dog possess. It's a learning thing I guess! I also know for a fact that I am going to miss some shots and I will be glad that one of my team members was there to back me up!

Hopefully everyone attending will adopt a team attitude and understand that there are going to be a lot of birds to be found and taken! Everyone will get their chance and hopefully all will leave the event feeling like they got more than they paid for! Just my thoughts! Does any of this rambling make any sense?

[setterguy]

Willie, that was exactly the way that I had hoped things would be set up, you know what they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Ecspecially with everyone being new to one another I thought it would be good to have some idea on how things would be set up. I can't wait for the 18th.

[BDR]

Willie- I will get a check in the mail by fri. The way you described the hunting and planting should make it fair for all. This will be a great time.

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I'd rather be skunked than follow the crowd!

Brian Rogers

[jeffyo45]

I don't want to be too bossy here so tell me to take a flying leap if need be but I was wondering if it would be possible to reserve on of the fields with the 15 pheasants I am requesting for the afternoon hunt. It will be me and 4 guests now and we can't make the morning hunt so that is the main reason I ask. I realize I wasn't one of the original people signed up for the clinic so if you aren't ok with this let me know and we will go to a different game farm. If this is ok with everyone should we still bring the venison brats since we won't be there for lunch or should I just bring some beverages for after (beer and/or pop). Let me know soon please. And thanks to you Spinach and Wild Willie for doing the leg work on this even if it doesn't work out for us to attend.

[spinach]

Could everyone responsible for their group possibly give me a current head count along with the number of birds you would like. As I see it so far we have over 20 hunters but possibly not enough birds. I would like to know exactly how many shooters in your party and any other guests who will not be shooting. If at all possible we are trying to stay away from a minimum per person shooting. I'll start it off by ordering 5 roosters for myself. Jeremy will take 4 and Willet 4. Chris's group of 3 shooters will take 12. Thanks again.

[mistermom]

I will take 4 pheasants and I will send you a check out tomorrow. I don't even know if my dog could tell a pheasant from a fence post; but I'm hopeful!

mm

[jeffyo45]

I have 4 (3 1/2) shooters at this point. I may have one more and that is why I now would like to request 15 pheasants (all roosters if possible). I also will have 2 dogs both flushers. If it is only 4 of us I would be fine having you pair someone up with us. Preferably someone who has a flusher as I would imagine people with pointers and setters don't want our dogs busting their dog's points. Let me know if you need more info.

[BDR]

I will have myself and 4 Roosters. And I will have one GSP "charlie".

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I'd rather be skunked than follow the crowd!

Brian Rogers

[This message has been edited by BDR (edited 04-07-2004).]

[Mayfly]

Myself + 1 guest.

Luci my 6 mo. old pup will also be present.

7 Roosters.

[spinach]

We really appreciate everyone re-posting their totals. This really helps us in trying to make this the best day possible. We're just trying to eliminate any snags now, rather than face them all on the 18th. So far we've covered safety, lunch, grouping of hunting parties. For those of you that have committed to sending a check Thankyou and for the rest of you please consider trying to get a check mailed out by the end of the week or so. If you just don't feel comfortable or have another reason we very much understand. This pre-pay system just helps us all out in the end. Thanks again to everyone from Wild Willie and myself. If you have any questions please post or e-mail Spinach (Pat) turnquist927 at msn dot com or feel free to call my cell 651-775-7670

[Wild Willie]

Okay guys I hate to micro-manage the heck out of stuff so I will try to keep this short and sweet.

I seriously do not believe Rick is going to give us 100% roosters. I have helped him plant birds in the past and he has a pre-established hen-to-rooster ratio. I will let him know that we would like to have the ratio adjusted slightly so we get more roosters than hens. I know roosters are bigger, prettier and better table fare but planted hens typically hold better than roosters.

I have reviewed all prior post and here is the update on how we are doing as a group to meet our goals:

Mayfly, 1 guest, flusher, 7 birds
Ice Banger, 1 guest, 4 birds
Diezel 350, 5 birds
Jeffyo45, 4 guests, 2 flushers, 15 birds
MisterMom, pointer pup, 4 birds
Setterguy, 2 pointers, 2 pheas-2 chuk
Dancing Bear, 1 guest, 4 birds
Superfish 2, flusher, 4 birds
BDR, pointer, 4 birds
Spinach, pointer, 5 birds
Jeremy, 4 birds
Willet, 4 birds
Wild Willie, Son Luke, pointer pup, 6 birds
Chris, 2 guests, flusher, 12 birds
Brian T., 2 pointers, 4 birds

I have set a four bird per person minimum due to the fact we are barely going to reach the minimum number of birds required. Here are the totals: hunter count stands at 25, dog count stands at 5 flushers & 8 pointers, bird count stands at 84 pheasants & 2 chukars.

Let's try and round-up a couple more to join the fun and let me know if I have missed anything. If you are bringing a pooch and it is not listed above it would be great if you would let us know what model it will be, flusher or pointer. I like how things are shaping up. Looks like we will be able to keep the flushers and pointing groups separated. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing...just makes sense to me!

[BDR]

Wild Willie- Rooster, Hen makes no difference to my pooch!

I wish I could get him to distinquish between the two but then I guess I would get as much of that high from the bird flushing in my face.

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I'd rather be skunked than follow the crowd!

Brian Rogers

[Wild Willie]

Jeffy - I'm confident we will be able to accomodate your request. Not everyone who goes out for the morning session will venure out for the afternoon session. We may need to add a single to your group depending on how crowded the afternoon session gets. Don't worry about food and drinks! Sounds like Spinach has that covered. Hope this helps you out.

[Diezel350]

Wow, lots of replies.
I havn't looked at this post for a couple of days.
I'm still in and so is my dog (lab). I'm pretty sure I said 5 phesants in an earlier post and I'll stick to that.

Jeffyo45 you made a good point about grouping of the flushers and pointers.

[setterguy]

I will try to drum up some interest, I think I could get at least one more guy to attend, I will post when I get a conformation.

Hey Spinach do you teach orginizational classes somewhere on the weekends? I could sure use some of your abilities for running my business. Good work with this whole set up. I know its a lot of work and just wanted to say thanks for all you and the others have done to get this ball rolling.

[jeffyo45]

Roosters or hens is fine with me I just thought I'd see if we could get all roosters. I was figuring the game farm was coming to the end of the season and could maybe make an exception to put out more roosters. Whatever the owner wants to do is fine with me. Most games farms charge more to do all roosters so either or is fine. I do love to see those long tail feathers though.

[superfish2]

I'm still in and I will take 4 pheasants and 2 chuckers if they have them. Do we need to pre pay or can we pay we when we get there? Where do I send the check if pre-paying?

[Mayfly]

Superfish.......Check page 4 for an address.

Make it 8 birds for me.....

I'll get a chaeck in the mail for half today. Roosters or Hens...I'm pretty sure they both do the same thing.

[jeffyo45]

Sorry to do this to you guys but my group would now like to come in the morning. We will leave after lunch then and not hunt in the afternoon. Hopefully this does not cause major problems. We are still in for 15 pheasants.

[Wild Willie]

Jeffy - Not a problem. This event is going to be both very informal and flexible. Spinach and I will be working on assigning/placing individuals into five separate groups. Each group will consist of 5 to 6 hunters. Each group will then be assigned to a area of the farm for the morning session. We will post your group number sometime the next several days. That way we can make sure the proper number of birds are planted in the correct corresponding area in accordance with pre-pay and on-site bird planting orders. We will also then be able to keep track of your groups success rate. Looks like your group is already set for the morning session. It only makes good sense to keep those with guest together in the same group. Looks like we will be abe to accomplish that goal. It also looks like we are going to be able to keep flushing and pointing dogs separated from one another. Things are starting to shape up and I want to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation as this whole thing pans-out.

[spinach]

Just got to thinking about the guys with pups that would like to have a designated training area. I would suggest if this is your dogs first time or so on live birds and you just do not know what to expect, we could put colored ribbon where the bird is planted that way you could sort of steer your dog to the right area and get the excitement flowing. In this scenario I would also suggest chukar or hens as they will hold tighter and longer. If you fall into this category please let us know. These birds will also be planted just minutes before your hunt compared to the other planted birds will be more of a wild hunt. I'm also A little concerned about gunfire with some of these pups, So Setterguy could you possibly take over this area so we can make sure these pups are ready.

[spinach]

I would like to learn how to post pictures, so i'm going to go back and search the files and take a crash course to learn. In the meantime is there anyone that would possibly post a pic of my dogs with some pheasants? I could e-mail the pic to you. Mayfly your pup looks just like my dog and I thought you'd like to see a pic.

[BDR]

Spinach- You can send them to me and I'll post. Send with message if you like and I will paste that also.

[email protected]

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I'd rather be skunked than follow the crowd!

Brian Rogers