Gatorface Upland Bird Guiding

After five consecutive weekends of UFTA competitions, NUCS competitions, and chukar challenges, it was nice to be able to “relax” and enjoy a pheasant hunt with my nephew yesterday. The weather was great. Blue skies, nice breeze, a little on the warm side. Lots of birds around. We bagged most of the pheasants Nitro pointed before calling it a day. These pheasants will make a nice batch of jerky.

Ran Tonka and Gator in the Warriors Mark Chukar Challenge today. My buddies Ron Guidas and Bob Zeh also ran their dogs in the challenge. We usually attend the same chukar challenges and run doubles together. Usually, one of our dogs places in the doubles division. Well today everything clicked and all our dogs placed in the doubles division. Gator took 1st place in doubles pointing with Ron as my second gun. Ron’s dog Robin took 1st place in doubles flushing with myself as Ron’s second gun. Bob’s dog Sonny took 2nd place in doubles flushing with Ron as Bob’s second gun. Ron’s dog Robin also took 1st place in singles flushing. Congratulations buddies!

Guided a hunt 3 weeks ago for a couple of guys experiencing upland bird hunting for the first time. They loved it so much that they were back today for another hunt and they brought a buddy along. Gator handled the first half of the hunt with the group bagging 9 of 11 pheasants. Nitro handled the second half of the hunt with the group bagging all 9 of the pheasants Nitro pointed.

It was a busy couple of days for the dogs. On Friday, we guided two different groups of hunters. What a sloppy day weather wise.
It was like hunting in a swamp. Gator performed the bird finding duties for the morning group and the group bagged 8 of 8 pheasants and 12 of 12 chukars. Gator was a bird finding machine that day.... he pointed those 20 birds in 50 minutes.
Nitro performed the bird finding duties for the afternoon group and that group bagged 9 of 11 pheasants and 13 of 17 chukars.

Saturday day afternoon, we guided a hunt for a father and son. Tonka handled that hunt and the group bagged 3 of 4 pheasants and 7 of 7 chukars.

Guided a hunt this morning for an uncle/nephew duo. The weather made this a very challenging hunt with high winds and a whiteout. The wind was blowing the hen pheasants sideways when they flew. It was quite something to see. But we stuck with it and the pair bagged 12 of the 15 pheasants Nitro pointed.

All three dogs ran in the Doubles Pointing Division yesterday at the Fairbank Chukar Challenge. Tonka took 1st place, Gator took 3rd place, and Nitro finished in 5th place. It was a good day!

Guided a hunt for two guys who experienced upland bird hunting for the first time this morning. They are die hard deer hunters and wanted to expand their hunting to other game. Well after today, they are hooked on upland bird hunting! They booked another hunt with me in three weeks.
They bagged 8 of 9 pheasants Gator produced for them. Also for first timers, they were excellent shots. Looking forward to guiding for them again.

Took advantage of the 50 degrees plus weather today and got Gator, Nitro, and Tonka on some chukars to nip a few things in the bud that they were trying to get away with over the past couple of months. It was a very productive day and feeling good about our chances at the Fairbank chukar challenge this Sunday.

Yesterday Gator participated in the On-Point Outfitters Chukar Challenge. Gator placed first in the doubles pointing division. Gator then followed that up by placing third in his singles pointing division field out of 16 dogs. I was the second gun for my buddy Ron in his dog's doubles flushing division run and his dog placed first in that division. Ron was the second gun for my doubles pointing division run. Congratulations Ron!

Guided a hunt on Saturday afternoon for the 7th consecutive year for this group of 5 guys. Due to the extremely cold temperatures that day, all three dogs were used so to limit their time in the field to approximately 45 minutes each. Tonka started the hunt with the group bagging 7 of 9 pheasants. Nitro followed next, with the group bagging another 9 of 9 pheasants, and Gator finished up the hunt with the group bagging an additional 8 of 8 pheasants.