Qual hunt in Lincoln, IL

[HSharief]

Hi everyone,

Amit put together a first class hunt outside the town of Lincoln, IL at the Big Oak Hunting Paradise (http://www.big-oak.com/). Let me start by telling you it was hotter and windier than ideal for hunting birds (excuses, excuses). Well, it was 79F both days and WINDY. The dogs got tired soon and was difficult for them to grab the scent and track.

Anyway, the fact is, the worst day hunting is better than the best day at work . We arrived at Big Oak's guest house at lunch on Saturday, after a hearty lunch and some trap practice we headed out to their own farm accross the street. Must've been about 40 odd acres. They had about 10 corn strips and a ditch with good brush alongside that they used to plant the birds. We ordered 28 Quail and 6 pheasant split equally for two sessions. The Saturday afternoon session was tough, it was hot and windy but the dogs flushed a lot of birds (I think). We harvested a whopping 7 quail and 1 pheasant that session, I could only get 1 quail. So much for all that trap shooting. Quail are FAST and SMALL, add the wind and that is my story.

Then we headed back to the guest house for cleaning up and dinner and called it a night.

Next morning was even windier but was not as hot, but the dogs still got tired easily because of the wind and the sun. The hunting was much better though, we managed a total of 18 quail, one chukar and one pheasant. The increse in the harvest made this a much better day.

When the quail flushed, most of them flushed/exploded more than one at a time and the three of us would get lost in all that commotion and could only get a couple of shots off. Some times none at all as we were too confused. The second day we got a better hang at it I think.

Amit was great with his newly acquired SxS. Oh, I had one more problem, I was using light 1s that I use for trap and that made my auto cycle unreliably, more excuses.

But it was all great fun, really really missed Mehul and Inder. Maybe next time. Amit will post pics and videos soon.

[conty1]

No execuses Sharief I think we were just 'warming up' on day one. We did make up for the slack on day 2 eh?

But all in all, What a weekend it was....Mind Blowing! A weekend filled with once in a lifetime events like my dad shooting at a quail on the way to its landing and completely missing it. But when we walk up, we realize he has shot a rabbit, still twitching. Not to mention the awesome setting, complete with a private trap range, quads and ATV's at your disposal and a tractor ride that'll be memorable for a long time. Also a grill that cooked our chicken and deer meat like no other. And the owner's wife Lisa cooking some very good american dishes. The cheesy potatoes could well be lived off of.

A total of 25 Quails, 2 Pheasants, 1 Chukar and a Rabbit... not a bad hunt by any standards

Here's the videos:

Walking in the corn field trails with the dog doing the searching for us:


Sharief gets one:


Amit's Shot:


Amit and Sharief go after the same bird... not sure who hit:


Dad's shot:



Sharief 'blasts' one


Jenny taking a 'shot' at trap... lol, unfortunately she gets a 'dud' shell on the first try. She did fire 3 after that before calling it quits:


Finding a dead bird:


Day 2 Cleaning the kill with the family:


And the Pictures:

The hunters... Amit, Sharief and dad:


The hunters with 'Paige':


The hunters doing their thing:



The hunters with Greg(the owner) and 'Princess':



The hunters with Michael and 'Princess':





The second day kill:



The hunters...with the kill and'Jill':





Little Norah gets an early start:




Cheers,
Amit

[Risala]

You lucky fellas,you had a blast keep on doin it.

Great pics and videos,thanks for sharing.

Pity Babaji couldnt join you.

Cheers

Sanjay

[Sakobav]

Looks like you guys had fun, nice photos
Cheers

[shooter]

how did u cook the quail?

[mundaire]

Sounds (and looks) like y'all had a real blast! Sharief & Amit thanks for sharing...

BTW, how does a chukar flush? Is the flight similar to that of a partridge?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Sakobav]

Abhijeet

per my friend in Idaho, Chukar's normally are found / nest on steep slopes next to reservoirs. When flushed they tend to fly close to the slope, his lab once jumped or tumbled down quite few feet into the reservoir. Hopefully one of these days will make it down to Idaho.

Best

[conty1]

Sounds (and looks) like y'all had a real blast! Sharief & Amit thanks for sharing...

BTW, how does a chukar flush? Is the flight similar to that of a partridge?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

I will take 'full' credit for the chukar ... Sharief hope you won't mind The bird was walking in front of me on the trail I was on. The dog was a few feet ahead of him and must've missed him. When I saw it, I thought it was just a 'giant' quail. I kicked him up with my feet and took him out. The little that he flew was much like a partridge.

Umm, how did it taste Sharief?

-- Amit

[conty1]

how did u cook the quail?

Haven't cooked the quail yet, but I've had em before... most likely we'll just make curry.

Although if the weather permits, I am tempted to grill some.... in Tandoori Masala.

-- Amit

[HSharief]

how did u cook the quail?

My wife just used usual spices that she uses for Chicken. I'm too dense to tell a difference in taste but I "knew" that it was quail. Tasted good too.

The chukar is next for this weekend, hopefully. It flushed really "quietly" if you will, just sailed across in front of me and I think Amit and I both shot at it. Amit is still learning not to shoot at birds in other shooter's "zones".

[shooter]

do you cook chukar the same way too?