# 2016 starting out well...



## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Pretty good way to start off 2016. 30 minute walk. 3 points. 3 roosters over Jazz. Would have rather had a pic of Jazz on the second bird than the bird. We were working downwind. Jazz caught a whiff and did one of those fast 180 turns immediately into a hard point. Silhouetted against the blue sky with steam just rolling out of her nose and mouth. Would have been a great pic.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

My 2016 started off pretty good. I was invited to hunt an 80 acre CRP that the landowner doesn't let anyone hunt. It has a shelter belt on one side and right next to that is two rows of unharvested corn. I figured the pheasants would be in the shelter belt. Nope. All of the pheasants were in the middle of the CRP in some very short grass. Lennox flushed 16 birds total. I never got a shot as there was a lot of hens and very few roosters. Though one rooster was pure stupidity on my part. She kept waiting to go to my right, but I kept going straight. She locked up on point, and by the time I realized what was she was doing the rooster flushed and it was a very awkward shot, so I didn't take it. So from now on, I will trust her nose.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Been there ... Trust the dog.

Gorgeous day in The Dak du Nord. Sunny, 34 and 10-15 mph winds. Pretty good for 2 Jan. Jazz and Scout had to work for an hour each. Only because of a horrendous shooting day by yours truly. Very good work by both of the dogs. They didn't complain about the extra time afield and each one made a retrieve of a bird I would have never gotten on my own. Three sharptails over Jazz and three roosters over Scout. I'll just call it numerous misses of both sharptails and roosters by me.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

So ends what has been an extraordinary season of rooster chasin' in the Dak du Nord. Le Grande Dame of the pack, Autumn, at almost 11 years old got out way more than I could have hoped and brought home her share of birds. She definitely showed the youngsters a trick or two. Scout...the city dog gone country...didn't start hunting until three years ago at age 6. He is now my most reliable dog and never loses a bird. Then there is Jazz. Who would have thought she could be this good in her first year? All about exposure to birds. Today, I closed out the year with a double over her. The second bird got a ways out. When I saw it fall with a broken wing, I was wishing I hadn't taken the shot. Was gonna be a hard find for Jazz. Got her over there and she locked up and then moved in to push the bird out of its buried in the weeds hiding spot. All good until she started letting it go...catching it...Letting it go...catching it...repeat several more times. It was like she knew it was the end for the year. I finally made a diving retrieve to end the shenanigans. Hope those of you who can still hunt this season have good luck.


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## brobones (Mar 10, 2004)

Sweet read and some great pictures, you sure did have a magnificent season. Thanks for all the posts and pictures. 
:beer:


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Thanks this year was a blast...but following the dogs always is...birds or not. :beer:


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## slough (Oct 12, 2003)

It was a good year. My lab just turned 6 so this season was probably his peak. Only hunted posted land 2 days all season but still shot a lot of birds. I like going to areas that I know we'll have to work for birds and parking the truck and walking for an hour or two at a time. This year, it almost always was rewarded, not always with a limit but often with the opportunity for one. Certainly had some days where we were skunked but that makes the good days all the more special.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

You sure have some pretty dogs sounds like you really had a good season.


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Good report. Excellent photos with beautiful dogs.

I was in central ND in mid-November, hunting with my 2 brothers. Younger brother is from GA, while the older brother is, well, ummm, a nomad with no fixed address. Lives out of 34' travel trailer, which suits him. I hale from WA.

We had another successful year, with loads of birds to savor well into the offseason. Opportunities to limit most days and the dogs (my 10 year old Yellow Lab, Remy, and my brother's 4 year old English Setter, Dave) performed well. I was only able to hunt for 7 days, about the limit for my dog, but am thinking I'll stay a little longer next year by giving her a rest day or 2.

Really appreciate the ND experience -- friendly people, generous landowners, great hunting, and the numerous moose we saw, which is always a treat. I've gone back at least once per year for the past 22 years and wouldn't trade this hunting trip for any other.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Thanks!


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