Went out to Norfolk county to hunt pheasants last week on the public land they release birds on, got skunked but had a great time.
This was actually my first solo hunt, I only began hunting in 2020, and have previously only hunted with my Dad and brother (Dad has hunted for 40 years; brother ~10 years), so I've been lucky to have some mentorship.
The purpose of the hunt was twofold - (1) gain more experience both hunting and being solo in the woods; (2) scout out the release sites for a future trip with my Dad and his gun dog (golden retriever).
Left the house at 9:30am, Norfolk is about an hour drive, so by the time I got to Eli's Gun Shop to grab my municipal pheasant license and got to the first property it was about 11am. First property was a county woodlot with a trail the size of an ATV cutting through it. As I was without a dog, I walked along the side of the trail, through the bushes and high grass stopping and starting every 25 yards or so in the hope of flushing a bird. To my surprise about 10 mins into my walk BOOM a hen flushes all of 5 yards in front of my face. I swing the gun up onto my shoulder and rush the shot missing the bird. Which after talking to my Dad, I understand is a common mistake.
After the miss, I realize how much time it truly takes the bird to get up and get going. So I promise myself that next time I will slow down my motion, track the bird with my barrel, then fire (with appropriate lead), as opposed to shouldering and looking to fire as soon as possible.
Welp, this hunt turned into a few fishing trips I've had before, where you have action immediately, think its going to be easy pickings, only to find out how tough it really is. I spent the next seven hours, walking six of the nine properties, to not see another bird (though I could hear plenty in the thick bush).
Overall, I still had a great time. I definitely learned why its called "hunting" and not "shooting". Got to gain more experience walking in the bush, looking for sign, and listening to the forest for my target.
I understand why I was advised by a few against going after pheasant without a dog, as it definitely not as productive and there is a lot of land you can't cover. But will likely go back out on my own after the leaves drop
Most importantly though, I feel accomplished as I finally got to "put my boots on the ground", and scout out potential sites to visit with my Dad and his dog. When parked in the car between sites, I would journal details of the location, whether I heard birds, whether it was possible to hunt solo, whether it would be a good spot to run the dog, etc.
I feel that a lot of new and young hunters expect a lot out of their mentors (i.e., asking for honey holes or permission to hunt stands or sites already scouted or baited by mentors). Here I was able to put in the heavy lifting which hopefully allows us to have a few new spots to hunt and make memories on.
Cheers,
Ryeguy
