Spring Bank Plantation Pheasant Hunt - Photos

A Four Rooster Pheasant Flush for this humble hunter with Caesar Guerini shotgun

Manager Lyle McClure uses a 4X4 to pick up birds

The Continental Pheasant Hunt at Spring Bank Plantation in Adairsville, Georgia went off without a hitch thanks to property manager Lyle McClure. Fortunate to be on the plantation for a quail hunt a day earlier, I could see that preparations were already underway. McClure was lining up retrieving dogs to fetch the birds downed by wingshooters, since they must stay at their shooting stations during the hunt for the sake of safety. Spring Bank has an affiliation with Ceasar Guerini Italian shotguns and McClure was kind to loan me a 12-gauge over and under CG to utilize during the hunt. A storm front had passed by that morning, and the hunt conditions by 2 p.m. were excellent. A brisk breeze seemed to have an effect on the pheasants as they took flight and my first three shooting stations were upwind and thus not very productive. However, my shooting partner Willis Willey from Memphis, Tennessee was an accomplished waterfowler and we enjoyed visiting about our shared passion for ducks, and my sweetie Elizabeth Holland was right behind me to make photos or offer support after a missed shot. We witnessed a lot of pheasants flying high and some of those flew out of the hunt zone and into safety. On the second station I cut down a pheasant that was inbetween our station and the next, and the other station had been shooting as well. It appeared that my pheasant load had hit the target and after the safety horn I visited with the gunners next door, and I appreciated their candor saying that they had already spent their four shots before I fired that fateful shot. Two stations later a hen pheasant overflew the ring of hunters but made a mistake when it set wings and came back towards the hunting ground in order to set down, resulting in my one good clean shot of the day. Again, the downwind stations were seeing most of the shooting and that is why the rotation rule is in effect, but that does not guarantee that everyone will see equal shooting. All around the shooting stations we witnessed excellent retriever work and expressed gratitude for the dog handlers that gave of their time so that we could enjoy the shoot, and of course their dogs looked awfully pleased to be in on the action as well. Their rolling hills terrain is well suited to this style of hunt, but it can take a toll on ankles, knees and even equipment, since we had an ATV and a Suburban break down once in the field. Again, McClure did not bat an eye, and we were all back at the barn before sundown and the guides cleaned the pheasants for us to take home.

A pheasant I downed that was retrieved nearby

To learn more about the Continental Pheasant hunt visit the Internet at Spring Bank.

Click to view past blog entries about hunting pheasant and hungarian partridge.

This happy couple worked two dogs to retrieve birds