My worst day hunting

 The weekend past Thanksgiving is the start of the pheasant clean up on the public properties. This year was extra special because we had fresh snow and that makes my job alot easier. All I have to do is cut a track and follow it, because at the end there's a pheasant. Then all I have to do is catch it before it flies for a quick ground pound shot. Some people may frown on this tactic but I have found that not having a dog, if I wing a pheasant I never find it. 

That being said this is how my day went.

I started out at sunrise along with an army of orange ready to go with dogs and guns looking to fill their bag limit of 2 pheasant. I went to the same area I had luck last year, parked on the far East side of the section and started walking. I went for about 3 hours without even cutting a track. I even scared the crap out of a deer hunter that was sitting on the ground and didn't hear me walk up. After I chatted with him for a couple minutes I headed South down a trail that he said led to a couple fields. As I was walking I was keeping a keen eye out for pheasant tracks. Finally I cut one and started to follow it, the pheasant got off the trail and headed into a thick blow down with new saplings. So as per my game plan I was up around and over blow-downs looking 10-20 yards ahead for an escaping pheasant. Beyond that I saw a trail that was in front of me 35-40 yards and a lab was running left to right down it then turned around and ran back around the point where I thought I had heard voices. Just then I saw something crossing the path a little to my right going away from me. I pulled up and shot..... and instantly heard the sound of a dog yelping and crying, followed by the screams of a young lady trying to have the dog come to her...

I had just shot a dog.... I scrambled through the crap that was between me and the path, when I finally made it she had the dog (I think a Shiba Inu) in her arms. In total there was what looked like brother and sister (old enough to drive) the dad and the grampa along with their 5 labs and the little dog. 

She wasn't hysterical but understandably shaken, the grampa was concerned, as were the boy and the dad. She finally said,"what did you think you were shooting at?" to which I replied, "a hen pheasant". They took off the little dogs vest which was orange... I never saw orange, and started checking for shot holes. The dogs ears were bleeding a little which could've been briars, which is what the older gentleman had said. He also said not to worry, there won't be a lawsuit, which I never even thought of. I was in shock and only concerned about the welfare of the dog. The dog had a some swelling on the cheek but no blood, there was some blood on the other side of the face. She wasn't whining as she was held by the girl but she was shaken. I asked them to check the dogs eyes which were ok, and stayed with them until the dog was looked over for shot. I gave them a deer tag that has my address and name on it, and asked them to let me know how the dog is after they take her to the vet.

 Then we parted ways, they went to their truck and I... well I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was also shaken by what had transpired, I still cannot put into words the darkness I felt after hearing that dog yelp. It absolutely tore my heart out, I almost just packed it in for the day. But going home and worrying wouldn't help anything, so I decided to keep hunting. It wasn't until 2 fields later that I noticed I hadn't ejected the spent shell. Well, after another hour of walking I finally cut another track and started following it. It was maybe 15 minutes and I shot my first pheasant, and only 5 minutes after that to get me limit. 

I walked out to the road and started the long trek back to the car. I had actually walked through the entire section, and took the road back... bout a 5 mile hike round trip.

Normally I'm in my pics all smiles and happy... that just wasn't the case on this day.

As soon as I hear from the family I will let you know how this turns out.

 

Tuesday I left the house around 10:30 which I thought would put me right where I wanted to be, with the birds pushed into the thick cover. Well, the turnout on the second day was dramatically less than day one. With no one pushing the birds out of the fields I found myself trying to walk 'em up. I just got done pushing some thick saw grass and cattails when I got to a path and started walking back the way I just came and cut a track. So I started following it, after the fresh snow in the morning it was pretty easy. I caught a glimpse of the pheasant running into the same stuff I shot my limit in the day before. So off I went, after a couple minutes I had my first pheasant. Try as I may, I spent the next 4 hours walking and tracking, only to miss on 3 separate pheasants and only managed to wear myself out. 

Even not getting a bird and wearing myself out would've been worlds better than what happened the day before....

I'm not going to stop hunting, and in a sport where decisions are made in milliseconds good or bad things can happen. I absolutely feel terrible about what happened but I don't feel I did anything wrong. It looked like a hen pheasant running away. They had an orange vest on the dog but no bell or beeper, I had my lab wear a bell, just another good tool to not have something like this happen. 

Not that I'm trying to justify my actions, belittle the accident or blame anyone.... I'm just saying.