# Thank you Field Hunter, Decoyer and Muskat



## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

This past weekend my dad came from Minnesota and we had originally planned on hunting ducks but the bird numbers were so low that I didn't feel we could get consistent shooting so I told him to bring his shorthair. 
Being that I am generally a waterfowl hunter I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to put us on a lot of birds.

Luckily Field Hunter sent me a PM and we discussed pheasant hunting and he volunteered to takes us out to some of the spots that he hunts. My dad and I ended up hunting with Field hunter and Decoyer Friday and Saturday and we ended up with 22 roosters, two sharptails and 2 partridge for the two days of hunting.

I had talked to Muskat while I was standing in the Union getting Taco Bell and he said that he would take us out on Sunday to some of his families land as he had to work on Saturday. So we hunted with Muskat on Sunday and we ended up with 6 roosters by 10:30 before we decided to call it a day.

I don't get to hunt very often with my dad anymore so I really appreciate you guys helping me out and taking us on some great hunts. Thanks guys I owe you one.


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## muskat (Mar 5, 2002)

It was a great time GG, too bad I had to work at 12. We will have to hit it up again after the corn comes off. :beer:


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## Shorthair (Sep 19, 2003)

Gandergrinder,
How did the shorthair handle the roosters. I am guessing this is a dog used primarily on Ruffs if from MN. I just got back from the MI Upper Penninsula and will be heading to ND this weekend with my GSP. Was wondering how your dads dog made the transition to pheasants. Never hunted ND pheasants or sharptails so it may take him a while to adjust. Any advice on dog handling would be much appreciated.


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

It suprises me that many think that there are no pheasants in Minnesota. Although my dad does hunt ruffs sometimes he mostly hunts pheasants. The southern half of the state of Minnesota does have some pheasants and my dad hunts SD for 10 days a year so pheasants are what the dog has hunted all its life.

It is really dry out there and sometimes the dog had a hard time scenting birds. The dog pointed or bumped almost all of the birds that we shot for the three days of hunting. The birds held pretty tight for the most part. Bring along a water bottle and give the dog a drink and squirt some water in the dogs nose every once in a while it will help them pick up birds better. The first day the dog did awesome but it was much cooler and he had a ton more evergy than the last two days when it was 75 out. Once your dog figures out what your hunting I'm sure you will have no problem. If you shoot one let him smell it hopefully the bell goes off and he will understand better.

Move slow throught the cover and when you get to the end of a piece of cover let the dog hunt in it for awhile. My dads dog really never stops hunting even when we do and many times while we are BSing at the end of a piece of cover he will get up more birds. They will hold really tight in cattails usually so move through them extra slow and watch the dog to see when he gets birdy.


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