Pappi’s First Rooster

If you read last week’s column (hope you did!) then you know that I spent my Thanksgiving week in North Dakota…searching for Ring Neck Pheasants. It was a journey that I won’t soon forget and one that I will especially remember as I was able to shoot the very first rooster ever taken over my now…4 ½ month old German Wirehaired Pointer. (Check out my story when I first got Pappi.)

My goal was to get Pappi an hour or so each day while out and about. The first day I let him have an hour with both Macy and Royale and in true puppy fashion…well, he was a pain, literally. He simply ran and obnoxiously chased both the older girls. When he caught them he bashed into them and eventually both gave him an older sister butt chewing…I’d like to say he learned his lesson and was actively hunting birds but in fact exactly the opposite was true.

Our second day out once again allowed for a solid hour walk with Cedar (who is almost 14 years old). I have to admit that Cedar was very patient but on several occasions he gave me a look that said, “Please get this child away from me”! What I noticed was less messing around and a bit more searching, smelling…in fact, one could almost say that he was starting to get the concept of actively looking for a pheasant.

Day three brought the most success to date. I was hunting Pappi with Royale and we were walking an old farmstead when out of nowhere a rooster exploded about 25 yards out. It gave me a quartering left to right shot; I threw my Weatherby to my shoulder and swung through the bird, pulled the trigger and that big bird folded directly in front of both dogs. It was a great sight…Royale beat the pup to the bird and made a nice retrieve to hand. I took some time to toss the bird around for him and marveled at how excited he was…looked like my puppy was growing up!

The afternoon of our last day would prove to be the transition for Pappi. As usual I was navigating from one PLOTS acreage to another and arrived at the southwest corner of a half section (320 acres). I was disappointed as there was standing corn from where we were to the horizon. One thing I have learned through 30 years of doing this is to drive and look at each corner…therefore I slowly  eased along the western edge of this property and as I topped the hill, there before me was the other half of the farm. The corn had been harvested and there was a nice 20 acre section of grass that would surely hold a bird or two. I eased beside the big bluestem and stopped the Suburban. Charlie Warthan and I discussed it and decided he would take Quincy and hunt the grass…that would give me a chance to take Pappi by himself and walk the fence line to the northwest corner.

Halfway to the next road there was a grassy slough, maybe about 5 acres in total size; 20 cows or so were mulling around and as we neared they decided to head east…giving me and Pappi the run of the place. I kind of thought to myself…how nice it would be to find a big rooster out here in the open where the pup could see it as it flew off. I would love to say that Pappi was actively looking for a bird but he wasn’t under my feet either; I had just looked to my right at the cattle, who were now way off in the distance, when I saw the pup’s demeanor change, he nosed into a thick clump that wasn’t yet trampled by the cows and there erupted one of the most glorious sites of the trip…a rooster, clad in full winter attire, iridescence at its finest! For a second I honestly couldn’t believe it…then I snapped to life, turned, swung on the bird and folded it right where the cattle had been just a few minutes earlier.

Pappi was off to the races; he exploded out of the cover and down the corn row, pouncing on top of his very first solo rooster. The next 30 seconds was truly fun to watch as the pup picked up and carried the bird back and forth before finally bringing to hand his prize. It was a great moment that won’t soon be forgotten…and I couldn’t have appreciated it more if the Queen herself had handed it to me! I took several photos and even a minute or so of video, pocketed the bird and proudly moved back to the fencerow…we had another 100 yards to the corner.

The last piece of cover was a small dab that the corn planter couldn’t reach, maybe a piece of grass about the size of half a volleyball court. I kneeled down and went under the electric fence, stood up and jokingly said, “OK Pappi…find me another rooster”! No joke…it was at that exact moment that yet another beauty ripped out of the cover, hit the 20 mile an hour wind and was heading to the next county. My first shot shook the bird…the follow up also found its mark; the bird faltered and almost went down. It looked like a wounded fighter plane trying to stay airborne; unfortunately the bird made it over the hill without going down. I and the pup walked a line that I thought might give me a chance to find the trophy…but 30 minutes later we finally gave up on our search. It was a bittersweet end to our afternoon…as I walked the half mile back to our starting point I thought to myself-next year my bet would be on Pappi finding our trophy.

We are but halfway through the 2013 bird season and my young pup has made great strides; I can’t wait to see what takes place over the next 7 months of his first year. If you have ever looked for a new best friend…look no further than a hunting pup; the two of you can explore and conquer as you Enjoy the Great Outdoors.