This past weekend the Thommes family came up to Montello, WI for their holiday. While there they go to Lone Oak Shooting Preserve to do a little pheasant hunting. They try to make it out a couple times a year one time being over the Thanksgiving holiday. Their dogs have gotten older so they are unable to go on the hunt with them. Gambler and Glory were called in by the owner of the preserve Craig to guide the gentleman.

John handled Gambler and I handled Glory.

Gambler as you know can be a bit of a one man team, he likes to do things for himself so John decided he wanted to handle Gambler for this hunt. There were 8 gentleman that got divided into two groups of 4. I got one group in one field with Glory and John got the other four in another field. We were near each other with one field separating us. I can’t report much on Gamblers hunt since he was with John but from what John told me in the beginning Gambler wanted to run long but John reined him in and then he stuck by the hunters and did a great job. The hunters in that group got 13 birds. Each hunter pays for a minimum of three birds whether you get them or not. They are allowed to shoot extra birds if they want to shoot more than their three. Those birds cost extra but it will bring your average price per bird down the more birds you shoot. Plus that means extra birds for the dog and more meat in the freezer for the hunters.

 Once I got Glory out of the truck she went from hunter to hunter saying hello. She was so excited to be out. She has been to Lone Oak before when she was younger. She knows what the pheasant game is all about. The pheasant pen is near the club house and the hunting fields so there was scent in the air and she went nuts. She wanted to go go go.  We started out near the club house in a big open field, the cover was knee to hip deep with paths mowed in it for easier walking for those that needed it. Glory took to the field like a machine, she got on the birds right away and flushed some up for the hunters, they got to shoot and then Glory got to retrieve. She brought the birds at first to me then went back out quartering and flushing up more birds. This group of guys were a lot of fun. There was a bird that the other hunting group shot at and missed and it came sailing into our field and right out our field. They of course had to heckle the other hunters as how come they let that one go, I then had to heckle my group as how come they didn’t step in and shoot it. We were all stunned that they missed it we just watched it go on by.

Watching the bird from the other group fly into la la land.

  When we first started off I talked to the hunters about hunting with Glory and some safety that if the bird gets up make sure it is well above Glory and I asked them since I am so short to let me know where Glory was and if she was getting too far out in front. They were all so safe with their guns and courteous of Glory and really helped me out keeping tract of her. Glory is whistle trained so I would tell her to “hunt’em up” and away she went doing her thing. When she got a bit far in front of us I would toot toot the whistle and she would turn around and come back to us and stick closer. That way the birds were getting up in range and not a mile away from the hunters. When the hunters got a bird Glory first would bring it to me then she got comfortable with the hunters and would deliver the birds to whom ever she was near. It happened to be the hunter that shot the bird. The hunter would then have his hunting party help him out by putting the bird in his back pouch.   Safety was always the first priority which makes this a nice hunt. Glory did such a great job retrieving. The hunters picked up on my command that I gave Glory to get her to go out and hunt and she started listening to them. There are a lot of Chesapeakes that only hunt for one person but not Glory she was just so happy to be out there hunting she wasn’t messing it up. She was listening to the whole group and she divided her time between them all. She would hunt between two guys then she would move over and hunt between the other two guys so they all got some shooting in.

Glory taking a break but not taking her eye of the birds.

When we made it to the end of the field we took a break to count the birds and give Glory a water break. At this point they had 12 birds. They decided since it was early in the hunt that they would try for more birds. A pheasant hunt at Lone Oak is from 8-12pm or 1-5pm. We were on the morning hunt and only one hour into it.

Glory excited to hunt some more.

The hunters ended up getting two more birds for a total of 14 birds for their group.  Once back to the club house a group photo of course had to be taken with Gambler and Glory included. 27 birds were taken this morning. John and I both had fun on our first guided hunt with our dogs. I was happy to be out in the fields with my dog and camera. The hunters told me what a great job Glory and I did. The had never hunted with a Chesapeake before and they had a blast with her and we had a blast with them. Something we will do again.

A picture video I made with the pictures I took during the hunt.

A bit about Lone Oak Shooting Preserve: Lone Oak Shooting Preserve is a Family Owned Operation Established in 1993.  A hobby transformed into the passion to share the experience of a heritage hunt. Settled on two adjoining properties, the preserve consists of a total of 560 acres.  This provides the landscape to offer a diversity of sturdy grasses and natural cover.

Hunts:

Each hunt begins with the release of six birds; three hens and three roosters per hunter.

We offer a morning session from 8 AM to Noon and an afternoon hunt from 1 Pm to 5 PM.

A pheasant stamp or hunting license is not required.

We do suggest plenty of ammunition and wearing blaze orange for better visibility on your hunt.

Our Season runs from September 1 until Late February to Early March or stock is depleted.

Pricing: 

Three Bird Hunt, Hens or Roosters ……. $90 per hunter.

Each Additional Bird ……………………….. $10.

Cleaning Available at Additional Cost.

All Prices Include Tax

Gift Certificates Available

Location: 

LONE OAK SHOOTING PRESERVE

N 3976 Hwy C.

Montello, WI 53949

Call 608-297-7104