Post by: anthropisces on November 25, 2020, 12:51:32 PM
So I'm interested in going out to a pheasant/chukkar farm on the eastern side so that my dog and I can have an experience that is more enjoyable.
How do those farms work? If you sign up for six pheasants, do they release six pheasants and then you go out and find them? Or are there lots of pheasants already released and we get to shoot up to six of them?
If you have any experience with hunting on a game farm, please tell about it.
Post by: Woodchuck on November 25, 2020, 01:01:14 PM
Post by: tank21 on November 25, 2020, 01:15:16 PM
Post by: huntnfmly on November 25, 2020, 02:02:26 PM
Good prices and looks like a fun hunt
As stated in other post goes for here they release the birds before you head out and there are some carry over birds as well
Post by: birddogdad on November 25, 2020, 03:08:08 PM
tosses them out, you go hunt, either you get or you don't the released birds...
Post by: BD1 on November 25, 2020, 05:08:25 PM
Best of luck,
Mike BD1
Post by: NorseNW on November 26, 2020, 05:29:51 AM
One thing I don't think was mentioned - probably the number one thing for me is there is no one else in sight or competing for the area. They set up the birds in an area and you hunt them. I can usually hear distant shots from other hunters but no where near me. Well worth the 2-3 trips I'll make a year. I wish it was different but it is what it is.
Post by: gasman on November 26, 2020, 04:14:13 PM
Alice and Doug are great people, Alice always has a meal for hunters after their hunt, the pheasant stew she makes is awesome.
Post by: follow maggie on December 05, 2020, 09:20:41 AM
Post by: kselkhunter on December 05, 2020, 09:27:58 AM
Post by: anthropisces on December 06, 2020, 08:50:01 PM
Post by: cougforester on December 06, 2020, 09:10:09 PM
Post by: BD1 on December 06, 2020, 09:47:07 PM
BD1 are you saying that a labrador is better suited to fields than to rockier terrain compared to something like a pointer?
Not nesicarly...just that my dog is primarily a duck dog but a good upland hunter. The cliffs are no issue for the pros, I watched the dogs from miller run straight down them without a second thought (pretty cool actually) but I was worried my dog was going to take a header following. Everything went fine...it is a great place...was just worried sometimes that my dog would get hurt not knowing how to traverse that intense terrain at times.
Post by: anthropisces on December 17, 2020, 10:27:00 AM
Our Lab Luna had the time of her life. She had never experienced so much positive reinforcement.
We started out from Stanwood at about 5:30am and easily arrived by 11:00. That included a 45 minute breakfast stop, gassing up, etc. it was about a bit over 4 and a half hours for us to drive out there.
We especially enjoyed Millers because of the topography. When we arrived we were given a choice of areas to hunt and we decided on area 2, which is maybe the smallest, but had more rapid topography change compared to the more rolling-hills of the adjacent areas. We were able to cover it pretty thoroughly over the course of about five hours.
Millers is a mixture of fields and basalt outcroppings, there are small groves of brush/trees interspersed with meadows. The terrain made the outing all the more fun. It is ranges from easy to just mildly strenuous. There was an inch of snow on the ground and 35- 40 degrees during our hunt.
Most of the birds gravitated toward the edges of the fields near the basalt. The day was a bit windy and the birds were maybe trying to stay close to the short basalt walls for shelter. Luna quickly learned that focusing on those sloped edges of the fields was going to provide birdies. Her confidence grew over the course of the day. She's hunted at the Western Washington release sites and with me for Grouse but none of that provided action that was anything close to this. When we were pretty worn out I let her go out further than normal to scour the field for a bird that she plainly knew was out there. Although we'd already walked that field the bird was probably "onto" us and was running around, keeping well ahead of us. Without the humans holding her back, she quickly picked up the scent and then was blazing back and forth and finally she flushed it to us for the final kill of the day.
Some of the shots were really easy. Some were challenging.
After the hunt, it was a pleasant surprise to be introduced to the clean, well-equipped room for cleaning the birds. There is a custom stainless table that drains to a huge sink, and there are several wash-down sprayers. We each selected one of the sharp knives and a pruner (for cutting off legs and wings) from the shelves and then we made short work of our harvest. Finally we bagged the meat into zip-lock bags provided by Millers at no additional charge.
The people at Miller's are super friendly and helpful. The place has the genuine upland bird vibe that is distinctly missing when hunting the western release sites. It is dry with the kind of cover that is traditionally associated with upland birds.
If you go, you'll probably get in a shot that has a fish-in-the-barrel feel. We had one and we just couldn't stop laughing over it. You'll also probably have shots where the bird flushes out of heavy brush and then is about to disappear over an outcropping and you wing it from a long way off and then it starts running and your dog has to pull out all the stops to bring it back. I had one of those as well. If you live in Western Washington then you'll have plenty of time to talk about what a great time you had on the drive home.
Post by: KFhunter on December 17, 2020, 10:37:57 AM
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Post by: Big6bull on December 20, 2020, 06:58:36 PM