Comments on A Bird Hunter's Thoughts: Typical fall day on North Dakota prairieNorth Dako...

I was there that day as well. And like Randy said ...

2011-12-15T14:18:04.917-05:00

I was there that day as well. And like Randy said we didn't fire a gun. We had a blue truck crowd us a few times. One party saw our trucks parked insight and shot two coveys from underneath us. We relocated and heard shooting 200 yards away so we loaded up dogs and went to the other end of WMA. Randy is correct there was not one shot fired in our party. It was frustrating to drive 5 hours and have this behavior happen. We did pass some trucks and hunters close to the end of the day but we eventually went back to get out of the way.

I understand the frustration because I felt it too and Randy was soured for a few hours. I think one thing is Di Lane could expand the season but limit the parties on a given day.

I hope you understand that we relocated a few times to accommodate other hunters. And that is probably the reason you saw his truck.

I have known Randy going on 10 years and he practices what he preaches.

Once again, at no time did we crowd anyone. Please...

2011-12-15T13:51:48.450-05:00

Once again, at no time did we crowd anyone. Please see previous post of mine. If for some reason you think we crowded you intentionally, please accept my apology, although I'm mystified as to what you are talking about. It would have been nice to have had some shots, but we never popped a cap.

This comment was copied and pasted from your own b...

2011-12-15T11:45:36.826-05:00

This comment was copied and pasted from your own blog...
"We need to show them the effort that goes in to harvesting game
birds- the respect shown to the birds, the land and the dogs. The traditions of hunting with bird dogs, the unwritten rules, the courtesies. I'm convinced once they are introduced properly, many will become lifelong proponents of our great sport and, who knows, maybe they will grow up to be a hobo-hunter, too."
I hope that your future son-in-law had a great time, but did not come away thinking that crowding other parties on 8,000 is one of the "unwritten rules" of bird hunting. You should practice what you preach.

WE had a wonderful time! Unfortunately, we never ...

2011-12-15T11:40:02.406-05:00

WE had a wonderful time! Unfortunately, we never fired a shot! Our first put out was on Bin Road in the NW corner. As we parked and got out, a truck came up, turned around and pulled off. 30 minutes later we heard shooting very close to us, 30 minutes later, more shooting in our area. We managed to find one covey, but it flew over our heads and my new hunting friend wisely chose to not shoot as the covey departed on to private land. We finished up our first cast and moved about a quarter mile down the road and put out our pups for a short and uneventful cast down a dead end road to the west (DiLane Plantation Rd., I think). As we came back to the truck, we heard shooting again, about 200 yds in front of our parked truck and heard some follow up shooting on singles, I think. Needless to say, it was frustrating. So, by 1030 we heard 4 coveys of birds shot over (or let go in our case). At least someone was doing some shooting. We never intentionally parked close to you or anyone, and in fact, other than the initial part I described, we put down by Piccolo Pete on the very south of the church. Saw no one. We did drive up north and put out on East side for short non-eventful cast where we heard a shot off to our east. We assumed it was a group by a white(?) truck parked on far east side of that land. Was that you? I did not think we were too close, but at any rate, we didn't fire at all and were much farther from you than that shot. In fact, common courtesy is common practice with me, whether my website is prominently diplayed or not. I appreciate you taking the time to look it up. My day was a success, even though we never fired a shot and only saw that one covey at 0930. Like I told my new friend- "That's why they call it hunting! I've never had a bad day in the field, yet." I hope your attitude is similar. Good hunting to you, also.

I also had the rare opportunity to enjoy the day o...

2011-12-15T10:58:18.275-05:00

I also had the rare opportunity to enjoy the day on a pristine quail hunting plantation in GA. If you are going to teach someone about the rights and wrongs of hunting, lesson one should be common courtesy. If you have 8,000 acres to hunt no need to crowd someone waiting on the heat of the day to cool and begin hunting less than 300 yards from their vehicle. This is after you passed right by their vehicle with ample opportunity to ask their intentions. Hope your day was a success and hope the shots that identified your location brought joy to your trainee. Furthermore, common courtesy should be common practice if you prominently display your web-site on your vehicle and are being sponsored by someone. Happy hunting.