Blue Marsh Syndrome – PE of 1st week of pheasant in Pennsylvania

Part One:

Finally, that much-awaited, magic time of year has arrived – hunting the King of all game birds right here in PA! Pheasant are my favorite quarry and hunting on the vast Blue Marsh lands is the best hunting of the year for me. Even if I was still free to travel, I would make a point of being home for this season. It is quite challenging – you need good dogs and you’d better be willing to put some serious miles down under your boots; but yet it is not impossible (or nearly so), like hunting ruffed grouse here in Berks County.

By requiring the nurse to make up time she owed me for failing to show up on numerous occasions in the past few months, I was able to get out each day this past week – and was able to be out for 8 full hours on two days. The next couple weeks should be the same thing. Here is a gateway to paradise:











Maggie is showing her age this fall - this is her 15th season. I am concerned about over-doing her by having her push heavy cover for hours on end; as well as her getting lost because she is almost completely deaf. Nonetheless, I want to get my special gal out as much as is prudent for her. Our time together is sadly running short and every moment is precious:



















End of Part One - Part Two follows

Part Two:

Here, both dogs are “birdy” – zooming about working fresh scent at the confluence of a bean field, cut corn field and impenetrable row - trying to track the bird down:



Now, they’ve found the bird and have him pinned for a double dog point nearby in a thick row!!



As an aside for those who are interested but unfamiliar with this, the dogs hunt by scent only – almost never do they see the bird. A pheasant can easily outrun a dog in heavy cover, so the dogs must use their intelligence to close on the bird without “bumping” (flushing) it. They will carefully track the bird by scent until they are just close enough so that the bird figures if he moves he will be noticed, but yet just far enough away from the bird that it doesn’t become nervous and flush. If they accidentally push too close to the bird when they are tracking it, it will instantly flush – usually 100+ yard away from the gunner (a shotgun is good for about 40 yards tops and closer is better). Bumping bird like this is a major flaw in dog performance. The fact that they can do this at all is amazing to me.

Once the bird is pointed, the dogs turn into unmoving stone statuary and the bird will usually stay put until the hunter approaches. If not, the dog will relocate and try to point it again. When the hunter approaches, the bird will flush – no matter how many times you have heard and seen that, it is always startling and thrilling. The hunter than has a second or two to shoot the bird streaking away in the air before it gets out of range. All too often, when the hunter approaches the point with his camera in hand and his gun on the ground, the bird will flush - oh well, at least we get a pic. :-D

This point was a perfect example of what I have started to call “Blue Marsh Syndrome. There are thick tree/fence rows everywhere. Mostly, you cannot get in them let alone through them. They are usually much higher than you stand. When the dogs nail a bird in a row (which is where most of them get pinned), that bird will flush out to opposite side of the row nine times out of ten. As a solo hunter, I can only be on one side of the row. Usually one cannot even see the bird that is flushing five feet from you. Now and then, there will be a hole in the thick stuff through which you can thread a shot charge; or the bird will tower above the row, but mostly all one can do is stand there frustrated by Blue Marsh Syndrome. Scenes like this with a bird in the open are very rare (we left him go, BTW):



I tried to limit Ms. Maggie to a couple hours at a time, so Chase shouldered most of the burden and was often hunting by himself. He seemed to enjoy being “top dog” as that has been rare for him in the past.





I took the trusty Famars 20 gauge O/U that I use for most of my "wild" bird hunting, east and west, out for the first two days, using some of my deceased FIL’s old paper cartridges from the 1950’s (so I can take him along hunting with me in a fashion). As usual, it worked fine. I carried the old 16 bore Model 12 I’ve owned since I was 12 for the next three days. I didn’t feel the least bit handicapped with the old pump – it carried every bit as sweetly as the slim, light 20 gauge "fine" game gun that cost 100 times as much; it also swung as nicely and killed as cleanly. Not bad for an inexpensive field grade gun that has had 55 seasons in my hands (exclusive of three years spent overseas as a prisoner of Uncle Sam in the late 1960’s) and has killed literally a boxcar load of stuff:













BTW, messing with "fine" guns makes a photography hobby look dirt cheap.

End of Part Two - Part Three follows.

Part Three:

The Chaser pointing in a switchgrass field:



A couple Chase retrieves:





This was an interesting bird. Chase pointed it in a patch of super-thick pickers and brush that jutted out into a switchgrass field. I couldn’t begin to get into the thick stuff – it was like a solid wall. So, I gave Chase the “flush it” command and he launched himself at the cover several times, only to bounce off each time. Then (he REALLY wanted that bird), he tried to dig under the stuff – also to no avail. After a while, he gave up and went back to just pointing:



I could hear the bird walking around in the thick stuff just a few feet from me and figured that eventually it would get tired of being watched by a bird dog with doom in his eyes. We waited. It seemed like forever, but was probably only a couple minutes when the bird decided to flush! It somehow managed to get airborne through that stuff and towered straight up over the patch – a lollipop shot. Knowing I had my old never-miss 16 bore with MOD choke and 1-1/8 oz. of #6, I held my fire and let it flatten out and start to get away over the tree tops in hopes of not dropping it right back into that impenetrable jungle. The old scattergun spoke and the bird fell in stuff that was still very thick but not quite as bad. After several tries, Chase managed to get in there and then somehow fight the dead bird out through the heavy brush. Here he is just emerging with his hard-won bird:



All too soon each day, it was quittin’ time and I had to head back to my responsibilities:



For some reason, the EXIF data doesn’t show – all pics were taken with am XP-1 and 18-55mm lens.

I’ve been using my high ISO method of shooting action all week with some success – namely to use a higher ISO than I normally would outdoors in good light, so that I can have BOTH a fast shutter speed to stop action and a small aperture for a very deep DOF, which helps make up for the XP-1’s slow autofocus. The Fuji is the first reasonably portable camera I’ve owned that give low noise results are fairly high ISO settings, allowing this technique. Then, if I want to de-emphasize the background, I use the Orton effect with a "normal" blending mode - a number of the above pics were done that way - for example, the retrieve pic just above.

I don’t want to give up the excellent IQ I get with the Fuji, but and still struggling with how to carry it in the field, so it is safe and out of the way, but yet instantly ready.

One day this week, it literally put me flat on my butt in a picker bush jungle. I had the camera hung around my neck on a shortened strap (to reduce it flopping around and to allow me to mount the gun with only some interference from the camera). Chase had a bird pointed in a row. I knew another case of Blue Marsh Syndrome was about to strike, so I decided to try to climb into the row (which wasn’t as thick as some) to try to change the result. While I was doing that, the bird flushed out my side of the row! I launched myself out of the row in the hope of getting into the clear where I could see the rapidly escaping bird and swing the gun, but (unknown to me) a heavy branch had become entangled in the neckstrap and it literally yanked me back in mid-air to land on my butt in a tangle of nasty thorns. I’m sure the sight would have been absolutely hilarious to anyone watching. Needless to say, I wasn’t pleased and some bad words were forthcoming. Must find a better way to carry the camera!

At any rate, thanks for taking your time to look at our pics and read our story. Maggie, Chase and I hope you enjoyed coming along with us in the first week of the pheasant season. There are three more wonderful weeks left in the season – hopefully more posts later. C&C welcome of course.

Your dog's are beautiful and of curse well trained.

The third picture of part one reminds me of an English painting of hunt dogs. Good series.

Very nice series of pics and wonderful story. I live about 3 miles from the Blue Marsh area, and have hike several of those trails in the area. Although I no longer hunt, I used to hunt Pheasant in southern Wisconsin with my father, and have many good memories. Over the years we had several 'bird dogs' - English Pointers and Britanny Spaniels. Beautiful weather in Eastern PA over the past couple of weeks - enjoy your time out on the trails and bush.

Bill

This is very close to where I grew up, although we hunted pheasant not too far from Shartlesville where my grandparents lived. My dad had a german shorthair pointer....who sometimes was a little to excited when he caught the scent. Brings back good memories.

On a side note, I had taken my family down to Susquehannock State Park in western Lancaster County yesterday. On the way out there was a field on the right that was higher than the road, which some brush on the slope that met the road. My car flushed a ringneck out if that brush, and he flew right in front of my car...just missing my windshield by a few feet. So exciting to see though as you just don't see ringnecks as much anymore.

-Tim

Thank you all for looking and for your kind thoughts. C&C are always welcome!

Also thanks to the folks who didn't post the usual anti-hunting diatribes and snarky comments. You aren't going to change my mind on the subject and I'm not going to change yours - and that's OK.

Good pictures and wonderful story telling to go along with them.

I liked your close-up pics best (the pics with bird and gun or the closer pics of your dogs). I think they had more impact and effect than the wider landscape type pics but that also might be because while the countryside is beautiful, is does not have any spectacular highlights to lock in the eye and mind.

I am not a hunter (I find my heart gets more tender about animals I get older) but I recognize the craft and skill that you obviously have developed. The fact that you clearly respect the animals you hunt makes it more acceptable for me too although I cant put into words why this is.

I hope Maggie the dog can enjoy another couple seasons with you, she looks and sounds like a great companion!

is that a benelli over/under and is that an ithaca model 37? I got my first pheasant with a model 37, brings back good memories walking through the woods of northern nj. very enjoyable series, you captured the event very well. thanks for posting them.

Very nice indeed

I do like your color rendition that strongly reminds me the film era

Your shots also IMO show a kind of complicity between man and nature and it's a kind of 3rd eye

Great shots and thx for sharing