Another Hot Pheasant Opener in Utah

Hazel, Chief and the mother-daughter duo of Sage & Oakley cooling off during the hunt. 60+ degrees on Nov. 2

The first Saturday in November has pretty much become the Christmas morning of my adult life.
Pheasant hunting in Utah can't stack up to other states but it's what we got and we make the most of it.

This year the state released a grundle of birds (11,000 spread out over the hunt throughout the state is what I heard) so the hunters were out in force. More hunters this year than I've seen in a long time. I would like to say the more the merrier but it was a little disappointing to see so many hunters in spots we usually have all to ourselves.

My nephew Parker packing out his limit.

I elected to stay home the morning of the opener. I don't like hunting around that many people. My dogs run big and it causes me anxiety to have people I don't know shooting every direction. My brother doesn't have that problem and went out first thing a cleaned up with 2 limits by 8:00 am for himself and my nephew.

End of day Rooster

I didn't get out until after noon and it took me a few hours to get my two birds for the day. 

We had a good time and saw some decent dog work. It was around 60 degrees so the dogs were hot and not working as well as I would of liked but they did their job and we took home some birds. One was definitely a planted bird but the last bird of the day was a beautiful wild rooster. Chief was working the bird and my brother saw it running about 30 yards ahead of us in the grass. I was able to rush around it and it eventually flew and went down. Made the day for me.

We went out again Monday and Shawn was able to get one. I had my chance but completely whiffed an easy shot off a sweet find and point by Shawn's dog Sage. Still enjoyed myself despite my poor shooting.