The Last Wild Pheasant Hunt of 2023

As 2023 winds down and we are screaming toward the end, I am desperate to get out and hunt before seasons close. On of those seasons that is coming up fast is Pheasant. Here in Michigan, especially where I live, finding wild Pheasants isn't easy. There are pockets of them around but those pockets get a lot of pressure. The DNR has started planting birds in areas where there aren't a lot of opportunity, and that's great. Getting hunters more opportunity is something to be applauded, even if the way they are doing it isn't the "best", it's still something. The old timers tell stories of tripping over Pheasant back in "the day". Well, those times are long gone. Urban sprawl, habitat loss and some say the added predator load has made the good old days something we will never get back. That is why I make an effort at least a couple times a year to try to seek out the pockets of wild birds. Getting Boomer on wild birds is a much different experience that on planted birds. Planted birds are great for training and for when you want to know there are birds in the field. We do a fair amount of preserve hunts too. It helps keep the dogs tuned up. But, there is nothing like a wild bird flush. That bird has had to learn how to avoid prey, find its own food and survive the winter. They don't always hold and will sometimes wild flush just because they are nervous and man can they run! You have to put some miles in to find them too.

I've been hunting wild birds since we adopted our first chocolate lab, Bruno in 2017. He was a rescued pure bred lab that had trust issues. It was apparent he had been beaten and not treated well. He was not even 2 when we got him, but he had seen some things in that short time. Once he got to trust us, we discovered he had a lot of obedience training and was a fantastic retriever. He was even trained to stop on a whistle. It wasn't long before I put him on birds and he was fantastic! He had been trained as a bird dog from someone. He and I covered some miles and flushed a lot of wild birds. He was great in the Grouse woods and just as good in the Pheasant field. In the 2.5 years we had him, he flushed around 15 wild Pheasant. In that time, I was able to hit zero. Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer rather suddenly. I do have a woodcock mounted that I shot over him to remind me of the time we spent in the woods.

In the time I've hunted with Bruno and now Boomer, I have always had decent luck at least finding birds. My shooting on the other hand is questionable. We often flush hens which are not legal to shoot. We want to let them go anyway so they can make more birds. I've only hunted once where I've been skunked and not flushed a single bird. That time was the year that Boomer was too young to go and I hunted by myself with no dog help at all. Bruno was and Boomer is a bird finding machine. I tell anyone that hunts with us that if there is a bird in the field, Boomer will find it. He absolutely loves hunting. He is all business when it's time to "find birds". Last year, I was finally able to connect and got my first 2 wild Michigan Pheasants. My original plan was to get one mounted like I did with Bruno's bird, but Boomer has a tendency to try to help me by pulling some of the feathers off when he gets to the bird. It's something we are working on. He's just so very excited to get to the bird that he forgets some of his training.

We are in the last few weeks of the late Pheasant season here and the plan is to get out as much as I can. It's a pretty long drive to where we hunt, about two and a half hours, so it's a bit of a commitment to get it done. I also have yet to get a deer and the late doe season also ends at the end of December. I know, first world problems. I will do my best to put my dog in a position where he can perform his best and put his training and breeding on display. Even if it only for me to see. I have a bird dog for a reason, I like to go bird hunting. We will do our best and come home tired. A tired dog is a good dog and a tired bird dog is a happy bird dog.