Quick preserve hunt

[ness]

My son Matt has been after me to get out and do some bird hunting, so we headed out to Eckman Hunting Preserve near Baldwin City, KS on Saturday morning. I've known Mike Eckman for many years. He used to be a regular in our western Kansas hunting group before he started the business about 16-18 years ago. Good guy and runs a good operation.

We took our two Brittanys Max and Ruby with us. Max is 11 years old and has hunted a quite a bit, but not so much the last few years. Ruby is 6 and just doesn't have as much time in the field, plus I really didn't put as much effort into training her to begin with. But they've both got good pedigrees and great instincts. After the dogs got settled down a little things started to click with them. We had several nice points including a picture-perfect one from Ruby which was really fun to see. The birds held pretty tight and they flew well. Matt got a lot of action and had a blast. We ended up with 9 birds in about 3 hours.

It's a pretty compact and efficient hunting experience. Sure, it's not the 'real thing' but I'll take it over the alternative. It's only a little more than a half hour out there. The area we hunted was only about 15 acres. We knew there were birds and they weren't too hard to find. It beats the heck out of a 4-5 hour drive each way, staying in a crappy motel, miles and miles of walking with a real chance of zero birds these days. And, it's much easier on the bum knee.

Poor old Max could barely walk the rest of the day. And neither could I  

[Ryan Miloshewski]

20 minutes ago, ness said:

My son Matt has been after me to get out and do some bird hunting, so we headed out to Eckman Hunting Preserve near Baldwin City, KS on Saturday morning. I've known Mike Eckman for many years. He used to be a regular in our western Kansas hunting group before he started the business about 16-18 years ago. Good guy and runs a good operation.

We took our two Brittanys Max and Ruby with us. Max is 11 years old and has hunted a quite a bit, but not so much the last few years. Ruby is 6 and just doesn't have as much time in the field, plus I really didn't put as much effort into training her to begin with. But they've both got good pedigrees and great instincts. After the dogs got settled down a little things started to click with them. We had several nice points including a picture-perfect one from Ruby which was really fun to see. The birds held pretty tight and they flew well. Matt got a lot of action and had a blast. We ended up with 9 birds in about 3 hours.

It's a pretty compact and efficient hunting experience. Sure, it's not the 'real thing' but I'll take it over the alternative. It's only a little more than a half hour out there. The area we hunted was only about 15 acres. We knew there were birds and they weren't too hard to find. It beats the heck out of a 4-5 hour drive each way, staying in a crappy motel, miles and miles of walking with a real chance of zero birds these days. And, it's much easier on the bum knee.

Poor old Max could barely walk the rest of the day. And neither could I  

Good ol Baldwin City. Go through there all the time on the way to my buddy's place in Pomona. Might have to give Eckman's a try! Looks like a blast.

[ness]

2 minutes ago, Ryan Miloshewski said:

Good ol Baldwin City. Go through there all the time on the way to my buddy's place in Pomona. Might have to give Eckman's a try! Looks like a blast.

It's a good time, for sure. We upgraded and did all pheasants. They fly better than quail and if you get one it's a pheasant not a quail  

I went to Baker, and I love Baldwin and the surrounding area. It's full of great memories for me.

[Ryan Miloshewski]

27 minutes ago, ness said:

It's a good time, for sure. We upgraded and did all pheasants. They fly better than quail and if you get one it's a pheasant not a quail  

I went to Baker, and I love Baldwin and the surrounding area. It's full of great memories for me.

I hear ya there. Now that duck season is about over I am coming back down to earth and realizing I enjoy other aspects lol. Baldwin is a nice area. Unlike the meth/quadruple-homicidal tendencies of Pomona..

[slothman]

I’ve never done a preserve hunt, but I’m thinking about trying one out in a couple of weeks. We may do a mixed quail and pheasant hunt. There is one in Lockwood and another one down by West Plains. We are thinking of going to one of those. 

[Terrierman]

There is nothing wrong with a put and take bird operation.  I know the dogs enjoyed it the most of anyone there.  For that alone, well worth it. 

Get your knee fixed, you'll not be sorry.  At least I'm not x2.

[Johnsfolly]

Looks like a great way to spend a Sat morning Ness. Good for your son to get dad and the dogs out in the field. Hopefully a good pheasant dinner followed the hunt 👍.

[ness]

46 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

Hopefully a good pheasant dinner followed the hunt 👍

Not yet. Gave a couple away and froze the rest. Stay tuned!

[ness]

10 hours ago, Terrierman said:

There is nothing wrong with a put and take bird operation.  I know the dogs enjoyed it the most of anyone there.  For that alone, well worth it. 

Get your knee fixed, you'll not be sorry.  At least I'm not x2.

I've got an appointment coming up to see what can be done. If it's gonna eventually get replaced I want to get on it sooner rather than later. Ideally it'd happen during these winter months so I can get rehab done and get back to doing what I love this summer and fall.

[Gumboot]

Good looking bird dogs, and nothing better than gettin out with your son.  Eckman does a good job.  As far as wild birds this year, I don't think you're missing a whole lot.  Walked just over 15 miles this weekend and moved two small covey.  Shot one bird so the dogs could get one in their mouth, but even felt guilty about that one.