Saturday, we got up early so we could pack up a few things and get in the car to head to Banin's Upland Game Farm by Clayton, just outside of Ottawa. It was a quick ~1 hr drive east along Hwy 17 before we had to turn off and head south. Once we got off of Hwy 17, we had several back-country(meaning narrow, dirt) roads to follow so driving was slowed down a bit. I think it took another ~45 min before we turned down a "one way" dirt road. Jeremy didn't have an address # so we were guessing which house along the road was it. Eventually the road got even narrower and we figured we'd better turn around. We ended up picking the right place and got out and met the owners, Ed and Vera.
We talked to Ed and Vera for a little bit before Ed went out and planted the birds. Turns out they have pheasants, chukars, quail and pigeons. They also have lots of spaniels they breed and train for hunting too. Ed then walked us up to the fields where he planted the birds and let us free to hunt.
Hayde quickly sniffed out and flushed a hen and Jeremy got a few shots off. He got a few feathers from the bird and it landed over a stone fence in a field to the side of us. Jeremy decided to continue in the direction we were going and come back for that bird. Closer to the end of the property, Hayde flushed another hen and again, Jeremy got a few shots off. He hit the bird, but it was reluctant to fall and kept flying into the trees and was out of site. Hayde ran after it, but we guessed it crossed onto the neighbor's property. We search for it, but came up empty. Next we walked back in the direction we came along the stone fence and let Hayde zig zag sniffing anything out. After some time, Hayde flushed a rooster. Jeremy got a few shots off and managed to bring it down for Hayde to retrieve. A little further along, Hayde got really birdie and found a 
wounded hen. No shots were needed as she picked it up and brought it to Jeremy. Towards the edge of the fields, Hayde flushed another rooster, but it made a funny arch around a tree and got really high in the air and flew and flew into the trees and out of sight. Jeremy didn't get a chance to get a shot in and with such a long flight, we figured it was gone and not to be found. Soon, we hit the edge of the fields and decided to make another loop around to see if we could find anything. Soon after we started re-looping, Hayde flushed another hen at the end of the treeline. Jeremy managed to bring that one down and Hayde ran after it to bring it back. We finished our loop, but didn't find anything else. A few times, Hayde got birdie, but nothing flushed. We did manage to flush a grouse at one point too. By this time, about 2-1/2 hrs had elapsed and we were getting tired, thirsty and hungry and nothing was flushing anymore so we decided to head back. Ed and Vera were curious as to how we did so we spent some more time talking to them. Ed managed to talk us into going back out with one of his spaniels. After an about an hr break we decided to take Hayde along with Sam to see what we could find. We started by going the opposite way we had gone before and soon enough, Hayde flushed a pheasant. It was at the edge of the woods and we didn't get a good view to see where it might have landed and the dogs didn't pick anything up so we headed out to anothe ajacent field. At the top edge, Sam flushed a grouse, but we didn't get to see it. We worked our way back thru the fields and before long, Hayde and Sam were birdie and managed to trap a hen and flushed it. At this point, Jeremy was thinking it was nice having two dogs instead of one to trap the bird and make it flush. A few spots earlier where Hayde had gotten birdie, she probably was just running the pheasant along the ground
rather than flushing it. This time, the bird flushed, but flew over Sam so Jeremy didn't want to shoot. We watch it to our amazement fly directly into a tree and land. We walked up and tried to find it in one of the limbs, but could not make anything out. We looked and looked and eventually started thowing rocks at the tree in hopes of flushing it out. No luck. Jerermy tried one more time and as the rock went thru the branches, he managed to see a head move very slightly. That was all he needed and took one shot and we watched it fall thru the tree limbs, but half way down it stopped. With some luck, it fluttered and little and fell the rest of the way where Hayde happily went in and retrieved it. We stayed out a little while longer and completed the loop and decided to head back. Four out of six was pretty good and we saw the other two at least and flushed a couple of grouse. By this time, Sam was pretty tired and was dragging behind Jeremy and even Hayde was slowing down. We ended up talking to Ed and Vera a while longer before taking off. He's looking for shooters to help him with some training so that's something Jeremy might be interested in at some point too. All in all, it was a successful trip and gave Hayde a great fun day running around doing what she loves doing and all the training is paying off. Jeremy now has four pheasants in the freezer so that'll give him a few meals of good 
meat he's been missing. This is definitely a place he can go back to and it's not too far away. I had to add one more photo of Hayde after we got home. She had a fun exciting day, but boy, she finally got worn out. I turned to check on her a couple of times on the way back and she'd be sitting up in her kennel in the back with her eyes closed doing the head bop.This is a video of Hayde retrieving a bird, but if you don't want to see the final end of the bird, stop the video as soon as Jeremy takes it from Hayde. I ment to stop filming, but it took me a second to push the button and for it to stop - not something enjoyable to see.
1 comment:
So Jeremy needs someone to plant the birds? I guess that's the only way he has a chance. Give him shit for me please. I hope you guys are enjoying your lives away from civilization. We'll need to make it up there early next year sometime. Later,
Dan and Emily
Post a Comment