Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post Reply
User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:29 pm

Well the annual pilgramage to my home in Montana finally has come and gone. This year there was renewed friendship from fellas I have hunted with in the past and some new hunting partners that had been friends for awhile but had never had the chance to hunt together as of yet so that was equally as much fun to dive into the sharptail cover with each. One such friend was Rick Hopkins of Walnut Hill Kennels in GA. He had an impressive load of dogs with him including Fritz the champion of champions! Rick I enjoyed it! The other was a longtime friend Darin Gardner from UT. We had not hunted together for a number of years now and we enjoyed a couple of days together and few others that rounded out the trip. My personal highlight of the trip was finally getting to put my youung Zip dog down in front of those horses and try her luck at the Sharptails that call that area home. Some of you may have known but since I have owned Zip there have been some ups and down with this magnificent little dog, I trained her myself last winter and spring and pretty much had her finished when I stopped by Rick and Brenda's one afternoon while having vehicle problems and they seen her go and they made me feel real good about her when I left there, then tradegy happened a few days later when a horse kicked her in the head and broke her neck, she was paralyzed for a couple of days and we did not know what the outcome would be, but four and a half months later she got a ok from the vet and off we headed for Montana. To say the least I could not have been happier with the way she rounded out the week she ran bigger and bigger each time out and was a real bird producer and standing them all thru WSF it made my heart feel good that the little gal survive all the adversity and still come out on top! One partucular hunt She was on the ground for around and Hour and 45 minutes to two hours she had thirteen covey finds, we shot two limits over her and the Garmin said she had covered 16 miles how could I not be pleased with that performance it is amazing how much ground those dogs cover according to those gps's if it was correct. But all in all I saw alot of good work from a number of dogs including JW's dogs and Rick's dogs is was a really enjoyable time if someone would have told me a few years ago that I would be blank pistoling as many birds as I killed I would laughed at them but that is exactly what happened we did alot of training/working dogs and it was as much fun as killing them! But we did manage our limits everyday as well I still enjoy eating them as well!

Zip standing a covey:
Image

Doug and Dave dismounted and heading to Zip standing:

Image

Image

Image

Tim and Myself with Zip

Image

AP not to be outdone:

Image

Stormy and Jackie (Rick's)

Image

AP with Mikah backing:

Image

AP pointed:

Image

Mikah pointed:

Image

Mikah pointed with AP backing:

Image

Mikah:

Image

Sharptails in stubble: (now known as Rick's SPOT)

Image

Image

Sage Goruse feeding:

Image

Jason Brook's Dixie dog:

Image

Local wildlife:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Scenery:

Image

Image

Heading out for the last day, Chad Mike and Myself

Image

Gettin' back with full game bag's and tired dog and horses:

Image

Tim on Chief:

Image

After we found the old car covey we opted for a quick photog:

Image


DGFavor all you can do is smile because you and Alex created this horseback mounted sharptail hunting monster now stay out of all my spots next summer them birds were a little twitchy, from them GSP's sneaking around there for the last month it was a good thing I had some bird finding GWP's! :wink: :mrgreen:


To everyone involved in this hunt I truly enjoyed it I could not have had a more enjoyable time than sharing it with my brother and good friends!
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

User avatar
snips
GDF Junkie
Posts: 5542
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:26 am
Location: n.ga.

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by snips » Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:53 pm

Beautiful shots to remember a good time, We both enjoyed looking at them. Rick said he was still hearing Sharptail flushes! (I personally am pretty sick of hearing about it!!!) :cry:
brenda

coryf

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by coryf » Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:02 pm

Wow, what beautiful scenery. Looks like a nice piece of God's country and full of God's creatures. I gotta do that some day.

User avatar
DGFavor
GDF Junkie
Posts: 1949
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:55 am
Location: Pocatello, ID

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by DGFavor » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:09 pm

Great stuff AP!! No doubt a great time!! Thanks for the pics and report! Pretty sure it wasn't my dogs makin' them birds twitchy standin' 'em from so far back like they do - birds never even knew my dogs were there!! ;)

djswizz
Rank: Champion
Posts: 385
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 4:11 pm
Location: Wauwatosa, WI

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by djswizz » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:26 am

Gorgeous country! Looks like a great time to be had by all. It's why I love America - nothing better! I'll be hitting up that type of scenery very soon in western ND in a few weeks! So pumped!

randyschultz

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by randyschultz » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:19 am

Incredible pictures and what a great hunting experience.. horseback hunting...it's a dying art form! Wonderful pictures!!!

User avatar
Sonny Hawkins
Rank: 2X Champion
Posts: 415
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 2:20 pm
Location: Chickamauga, GA

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Sonny Hawkins » Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:21 pm

Hey AP, Whats this about Ricks Spot? Is that the spot where Rick fell from the horse? :lol: :lol: :lol: ----Sonny PS.---Looks like you guys had a great time, Great pics.
SON/STARR KENNELS
Son/Starr's Slick---1st Amateur Champion of NSTRA.

Thor
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:06 pm
Location: Montana

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Thor » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:11 pm

Good times for sure .... to bad they had to come to an end. Looking forward to the next trip. I really enjoyed everyone in "camp". Thanks for the pics bro. JW
Nothing beats and early morning rise, be it a trout or a covey.
www.sandstonegundogs.netkennel.com

wfkgsps
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:01 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by wfkgsps » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:48 pm

Great pictures! Is hunting from horseback controlled by individual state wildlife departments? If so, how many states allow it?
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

Thor
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:06 pm
Location: Montana

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Thor » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:40 pm

wf-
I think all you have to do is have permission from the land owner/operator. It is allowed on BLM lands, National Forests etc.. The pics posted by my brother where all taken on our family ranch. Have a good 1. JW
Nothing beats and early morning rise, be it a trout or a covey.
www.sandstonegundogs.netkennel.com

User avatar
RuttCrazed
Rank: Champion
Posts: 389
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:31 pm

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by RuttCrazed » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:43 am

Great pics AP! I don't expect heaven can be too much different than that.

I stood on the shoulder of I-70 for 3 days with the dogs and the shotgun waiting for you to pick me up???? 8)

Rut

Birddog 307
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:09 am
Location: Torrington, Wyoming

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Birddog 307 » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:25 pm

Great pictures.
Birddog 307

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:57 pm

Hey Sonny, Rick and I and my brother were taking a drive to get Rick familiar with the area and we seen this awesome looking spot with sharptails everywhere feeding in the stubble so jumped out some dogs to have a quick look around and he moved a couple of coveys and I moved like four coveys and a covey of huns so a couple of days later we were all trying to decide where to hunt and Rick was quick to call that spot! :lol: :lol: So since then JW and I have been referring it to Rick's spot, just like the old car covey after thirty some years of hunting that country everything gets a name and the usual hunting partners are quick to associate them spots! You should have been there Sonny those pointers can run for ever and never hit a edge :evil: :mrgreen: you would be wishing for a horse just so you could find them later that night! :lol:
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

Thor
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:06 pm
Location: Montana

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Thor » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:47 pm

The "Burning Bush" was outstanding today. And "Plum Creek" proved ripe this afternoon. :lol: :wink: Have a good 1. JW
Nothing beats and early morning rise, be it a trout or a covey.
www.sandstonegundogs.netkennel.com

penny dog
Rank: Just A Pup
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:32 pm

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by penny dog » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:54 pm

wish I could stay stay in montana. save some for me jw for next year. mike

Thor
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:06 pm
Location: Montana

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Thor » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:19 pm

Wellllllll sommmbeeech, good to see you finally quit lurking and joined in on the fun. I will try my hardest to leave a few for seed. Here is a couple of pics for everyone to get better aquainted with ya. Have a good 1. JW

Penny Dog
Image
Nothing beats and early morning rise, be it a trout or a covey.
www.sandstonegundogs.netkennel.com

penny dog
Rank: Just A Pup
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:32 pm

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by penny dog » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:26 pm

I still love that pic.

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:33 pm

Well if it is not Ol' Penny Dog!
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:38 pm

Hey Penny Dog post a pic of the speed goat you whacked with your bow the day it was to hot to hunt birds!
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

penny dog
Rank: Just A Pup
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:32 pm

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by penny dog » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:02 pm

this is what you do when it's to hot to bird hunt.[img]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk28 ... CF0073.jpg
[/img]
I love montana.

User avatar
Brushbustin Sporting Dogs
Rank: 5X Champion
Posts: 839
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:38 pm
Location: Central Nebraska

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Brushbustin Sporting Dogs » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:04 pm

here you go penny dog
Image
Robert Myers

Rajin Kennel

308-870-3448

Brittanys are Best enough said...

Image

BBD's Ca-Ching
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=1061

Brushbustin's Ebbie SH
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=678

BNJ's Dirty Dozen Dixie
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=869

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:12 pm

Yeah Yeah Penny Dog go ahead and tell everyone how hard the hunt was! You know how you had to sit in that hot swelterin blind near that water tank for all of about an hour before he came strolling by! You lucky bugger you, nice shot though buddy he did not make it far huh? :lol: :mrgreen:
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:16 pm

RuttCrazed wrote:Great pics AP! I don't expect heaven can be too much different than that.

I stood on the shoulder of I-70 for 3 days with the dogs and the shotgun waiting for you to pick me up???? 8)

Rut

Rutt three days? Heck you have been invited for better part of a year man! Let's see three days x 4 sharpies a day well now that is a mess of sharpies you missed out on huh? Good luck on the PC hunt this weekend they are a blast to hunt as well!
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

User avatar
RuttCrazed
Rank: Champion
Posts: 389
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:31 pm

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by RuttCrazed » Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:29 am

Anaconda Pintler wrote:
RuttCrazed wrote:Great pics AP! I don't expect heaven can be too much different than that.

I stood on the shoulder of I-70 for 3 days with the dogs and the shotgun waiting for you to pick me up???? 8)

Rut

Rutt three days? Heck you have been invited for better part of a year man! Let's see three days x 4 sharpies a day well now that is a mess of sharpies you missed out on huh? Good luck on the PC hunt this weekend they are a blast to hunt as well!
I know those 3 days chasing sharpies would have been much better on me than chasing and hauling elk out of the mountains! I'm getting soft now that I'm a flatlander! :lol:
I appreciate the offer and hope to take you up on it sooner than later.

Rut

User avatar
mudhunter
Rank: 2X Champion
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:37 am
Location: PA

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by mudhunter » Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:54 pm

I can't tell you how thankful I am when people post pictures of a hunt like this. I haven't got out to Montana yet but I will someday soon!!

User avatar
Anaconda Pintler
Rank: Champion
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:36 am

Re: Horseback for Sharptails in MT. 2008

Post by Anaconda Pintler » Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:31 am

You know mudhunter all you have to do is know the right people that know the right people and if those people know us you are always welcome to join us! In other words when you get ready to make the trip get ahold of either Myself or my brother Thor here on the board and it can be arranged! :lol:
Has nothing to do with luck just boot leather and a fine GWP...

Post Reply