Kyle's Jr. Pheasant hunt

[Big Browns]

When the fall draw results came out I was excited to find out that my son (Kyle) drew his first ever tag. He was drawn for the Jr. Yuma Pheasant hunt. I started making phone calls immediately to get as much information as possible. Several people told me to contact the local G&F officer Scott Fischer. I have to say Scott was Amazing! Several weeks before the hunt Scott offered to show me around the unit so he could point out several of the prime areas. After a little scouting & a lot of help from CW member Heat (Nick) I felt ready for the hunt. [/
Unfortunately my sons grades were not good enough to miss school for opening day, plus he had a baseball game on Friday night. We left town late on Friday night & arrived in Yuma at 11:30. Thankfully CW Member Heat (Nick) was planning on hunting with us on the first morning. The 5am alarm was not a welcome sound! With a little less than 4 hours of sleep I was exhausted! We all piled into the truck and headed to the fields to go hunting.

We arrived as the sun was just creeping up. Nick was showing us several areas when I saw something odd in the field. After closer inspection we realized it was a large group of Pheasants. In total it was 5-6 Hens and 3 large Roosters. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the canal and had to drive away to get to them. We marked the area and drove around. When we got back to the general area we couldnt find them. I was amazed how quick they disappeared. We continued looking and realized we had walked past them. All the birds had sat down to hide themselves from us. We quickly made a plan to set my son & I up in the direction they started walking. After about 30 minutes my wife & Nick started walking our direction to gently push the birds toward us. Well, that didnt work. The birds VANISHED!!!!! Ive never seen 7-8 huge birds completely disappear in the middle of a field. That was very frustrating!

We checked a few other areas, but didnt see anything else. Over the past couple of years my son has become a great Dove hunter. While we were driving around my son would spot Dove on the ground. In order to keep him interested we would let him chase them. He did a great job! On his first stalk he was able to get 2 birds with 1 shot! We were all cheering!!!! After a few more hours Nick had to go home and we were on our own. I was having a few issues with my sons gun so Nick suggested I take it to a local gun smith at Spragues. Awesome store! While I was there Nick introduced me to Chase Stewart. This young man was Amazing! He told me about a bunch of places he has killed Pheasant at over the years. He wasnt able to go out with us that evening, but he offered to help us on Sunday morning. I very graciously acceptedJ After finding out my gun was screwed up. I headed back to the hotel to get my back up gun and head out for the afternoon hunt.

The afternoon hunt was crazy! We had decided to go back to the general area we saw the birds at in the morning. We were stopping at each field to glass for birds. My son & I walked a few fields with no Pheasants, but he slaughtered the DoveJ. While we were driving down a small ranch road we saw another father & son walking the road ahead of us. As I drove toward them they walked into the field to our right about 30 yards. As we got parallel to them a Rooster jumped up at their feet and flew directly behind us. We were all excited to see the bird, but completely SHOCKED! After meeting the father (Tim) & Son (David) we all decided to work together to walk the field. After walking the field with no success we decided to go walk another grass field that I thought the birds from earlier today might have gone into. As we drove closer I saw there was already another guy walking from the field to his truck. I drove to his truck to see if he had seen anything. After talking for a few minutes I saw 3-4 birds run across the road about 200 yards ahead of us. We all made a mad dash to get to the birds. I parked the truck about 50 yards from where I saw them go into the wash. As soon as I stepped out of the truck a Rooster flushed 3 feet in front of me, CRAP! I gave my son the gun and told him to walk to the edge of the wash to see if any birds held up while I glass the field for the other birds. Well it worked! A huge Rooster flushed in front of my son. I started yelling SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT! Then I hear click! O crap! My son says "its jammed". My son was shooting my Beretta Silver Pigeon 28 gauge so I knew it wasnt jammed. When he gave me the gun I opened the chamber to find it emptyL I was so EXCITED I forgot to load the gun. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!! I was furious at myself! My son & wife were not very happy with me either!!! We were still in the game. A few minutes later I glassed up the rest of the birds 2 fields over. Tim, David & my wife drove around to try and get around them. My son & I went straight to them. We were able to get about 60 yards from the Rooster before he flushed. Unfortunately he was too far from us to shoot, but thankfully the bird flew straight to Tim & David. David was able to get a shot, but missed. In all fairness the bird was really too high, but it was worth a try. By that time it was dark. We all enjoyed a nice dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and some much needed sleep.

The next morning we started in the same area, while Chase was checking out another area for us. As we were driving to our starting spot I spotted a hen 10 feet off the road. At that point it was like a Chinese fire drill! Stuff was going everywhere!!! Needless to say the bird vanishedL None of us handled that very well. I have to say sorry to my wife and son for how I handled that situation. I wasnt as graceful as I should have beenJ As we were walking back to the truck; Chase called to inform us he had a huge group of birds spotted in a PERFECT spot! We hauled butt to the other side of town to meet Chase. When we got there the birds had moved a little, but they were still in a good spot. Chase took my son to make the stock while my wife and I watched the birds. Unfortunate they got caught in the middle of the field as the birds worked over a small levy. My wife & I slowly angled toward them to hopefully get the birds to walk toward them. The birds knew something wasnt right and would not come any closer. They flushed before getting close enough. My son shot, but the birds were too far. We watched the birds go into another field. Chase thought they could still get it done. After anther stock my wife & I watched as they were getting very close. I was able to see my son & a few Hens in the binoculars. I saw my son raise the gun. My heart was pounding so hard. Just then I saw dirt fly all around the Hen, the hen fall and I hear the BOOM!!! Bird down! I instantly start screaming in excitement! Just then 3-4 more birds flush about 20 yards in front of them. My son shoots, but again the birds were a little too far out of range by the time my son gets a shot off and misses. I really didnt care about the miss, because my son had just shot his first Pheasant! We were all very excited!

In the end this was a very interesting hunt! Its a totally different way or type of hunting than anything Im used to. These birds are very difficult to get close to. My son said on the ride home this was the best hunt he has ever been on. I learned a lot on this hunt! The main thing I learned is I really need to be a lot more patient with my son! I need to remember to make the hunt fun for him and to not let the pressure get to me or him. Hunting is not just about getting the animal; its supposed to be about the whole experience! I tend to forget that!!!!!!!!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this a very successful hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adam

[rossislider]

Nice job team Adam!

[Coues assassin]

Great write up and nice bird! Congrats

[Heat]

It was great meeting you guys and getting out in the field with you. Sorry we didn't have more action that first morning. Kyle has a bright hunting future ahead. He's a darn good shot for a 9 year old!

 

Chase Stewart is an awesome young man! Look for him in the Olympics someday. He is one of the very best international skeet shooters in the country and a very hardworking and generous person. Glad you guys got a bird!

 

Nick

[cramerhunts]

Very cool write up of your son's hunt. Nice job on the recap and pictures. Congratulations to him!

[6ANut]

Way to get it done Adam, that hunt is unlike any hunt I have ever been on and can be a tuff hunt. Glad your son had a great time and so did the wife.

[PRDATR]

Great that your son got a bird and that your wife was there too. I have to admit it that I have gotten over excited too when hunting with my son when he was younger.