This weekend marks the halfway point of the 2021 pheasant hunting season, so that means the really good hunting is about to begin.
So far, however, pheasant hunting in Rock County is about as good as this year as it has been in many years, if not better.
My 5-year-old English setter, Otis, and Hazel, my 12-year-old German Wirehair, have hunted three of the four new Rock County walk-in parcels and one WMA spot in Nobles County.
We have had success every time out. In the spirit of full disclosure, my idea of success may be different from that of other hunters.
If we see birds, that is a successful hunt in my book. A really successful hunt is when my dogs point a bird, and if it’s a rooster and when it flushes, I do my part to shoot the rooster, and the dogs find it and retrieve it.
A couple of weeks ago the dogs and I were hunting one of the new walk-in lands south of Magnolia. We had been hunting about an hour or so and had kicked up a few hens along the way.
Once the hens took flight, they landed a ways away on the other side of a waterway. I figured if they’re landing over there, there might be a rooster or two on that side of the water.
To get to the other side of the water, we would have to make about a quarter mile walk back to the road to cross the water that way.
Keep in mind, Hazel is 12 and at this point in the hunt she was done and pretty much just following behind me through the tall grass.
About a quarter mile in on the other side of the water, now walking along some bean stubble next to the water, Otis looked up with a rock-solid point.
I approached Otis from the downwind side, and once I was standing next to him, I gave him the release command. He lunged forward and a big rooster took flight.
Now it was time for me to do my part, and as luck would have it, with one pull of the trigger the rooster’s getaway flight ended.
As bad luck would have it, the downed rooster landed about 20 yards on the other side of the waterway. I was pretty sure the bird came down dead, but in heavy cover. The waterway banks on both sides were steep and the current was moving along at a nice clip.
A quick conference with the dogs and the three of us decided it would be best if we made the quarter mile hike back to the road to cross back over to the other side of the waterway, hike back in about a quarter mile, and try to find the rooster.
Even though Hazel was out of gas, she wasn’t about to sit this one out. By the time we made it back to where I thought the bird might be, maybe 45 minutes had passed.
Hazel has always been my strongest find and retrieve dog, but at her advanced age I wasn’t really counting on her help. We searched for maybe 20 minutes to a half hour for that bird to no avail.
It was starting to get dark and we still had to make the quarter mile hike back to the truck.
We had given it our best effort, but the bird was lost. I was going to give the dogs a drink of water before we headed back.
I looked down at Hazel and she was lying on the grass and really shaking. I thought she was having a seizure or a stroke. I called her name but she didn’t look up at me. It was like she was in a daze.
Then she stuck her head in a patch of grass right in front of her and brought the rooster out. I can’t begin to tell you how awesome that was.
I put the bird in the game pouch in the back of my hunting jacket and we all started back to the truck.
Otis took the lead, still hunting until the end, and I followed him while bursting with pride and Hazel followed behind me.
As we neared the truck, I reach back to pull the bird out of my jacket only to find out it was gone. It must have fallen out somewhere along the way.
I turned around to go back and look for the bird, and again I noticed Hazel wasn’t behind me. A couple of minutes later, about 15 yards away, Hazel appeared with the bird in her mouth. She looked up at me as if to say, “How many times do I have to find the bird?”
At her age that may well be the last bird Hazel retrieves, but it will be one I’ll never forget.