[JJHACK]

I'm working with Stillwater on the upland bird outing for the forum. We need to know a few things to strike the proper deal with the outfit we choose.

I need this feedback as soon as possible.

Who is interested in going?

How much money do you think you can spend on the trip?

Upland birds usually run 21-25 bucks each, and some places have a fee to hunt on top of that. If we have at least 6-8 people I'm sure I can get this to 125-150 for a days hunting and a whole lot of birds released. Before we can really do this though I need a firm commitment on who is going if the trip is 125-150 per person? It will not be more then that, and may be as little as 90-110 per person based on how many will go, and how many birds each person wants. So if you want to do this in the next three weeks, make a post here. If you're wishing to go but not serious then don't post that you're interested. This is for the minimum of certain guys that want to do it. We can easily add more if you decide later, but I need a minimum head count that will be doing it for sure right now. The location will be just outside Ellensburg .............. that is if we can get enough interest.

I can do this very affordable much nearer my home. However for the benifit of the Gamfishin group a more central location is a better more fair situation. I have almost 3 hours drive to go there, it is however closer for the majority from Western Wa. that want to come. I drove over the Pass today on my way to Bellevue, and it was bare and wet, no problems at all. I think this would be a lot of fun to visit with and meet in person a lot of the members here.

Come on guys, get your dogs one last great outing with plenty of birds. Bring your newly licensed family member for a great Gamefishing outing. I need to have this settled by the end of the week to book the time.

 

[stillwater]

Thanks for posting this I was going to till I seen that you did--count me in

 

[Echo Mules]

Schedule is the critical issue, what dates are you considering?

 

[stillwater]

Schedule is the critical issue, what dates are you considering?

I believe he's looking at a Saturday in March-- what dates works for you?

 

[Echo Mules]

March is open for me at the time being, other than needing to get some turkey scouting in.

 

[RiverTraveler]

I'm in. Only weekend i can NOT do is March 1st...

Also, i'll have room in the truck if anyone wants a ride from the west side.

~ j

 

[JJHACK]

Well with this we should have enough, I have a buddy that will go, myself, stillwater and a friend of his, Echo and his killer good dogs, and Rivertraveler. We should end up with 6 at a minimum now. Each of us must suggest a primary date and a secondary date, then if we all choose the same I'll book it.

 

[stillwater]

JJHACK my buddy would like to join us-- count me as 2 for sure! Remember after the 9th will have an extra hour of daylight in the evening. I'd say 22nd remember that is Easter weekend and the 29th.

 

[Echo Mules]

1. Before we all start throwing dates around, did anyone call the facility and check what dates are available in March? Especially for a good group.

2. Anyone else planning to bring youngsters? My son doesn't have to come, but will want to if others are there.

 

[stillwater]

My impression was he's the new guy trying to build his business so he's not quite busy yet. JJHACK is over there today hunting Cooke Canyon and will stop by and check out the place today and see if he can firm up on the prices.

My son will be coming with me, I don't know if he'll shoot yet but wants to come along.

 

[JJHACK]

Okay, here is the news good and bad.

The general information: The business is a few years old but not well established. The owner is building it in preparation for his retirement from a west side job. He works this business on a reservation basis only. I have never in all my life seen roosters as big as these. They are like some genetic altered monster pheasants. I'm thinking I may need a bigger gun! They are at least 50% bigger then any released hunt club bird I have ever seen, and 25% bigger then most wild birds. He said these birds really fly, and are not what people expect from a game farm. I'm not joking, when you see these things you will be stunned!

The Good news; The birds are huge,
I made a deal for 100 bucks for 5 roosters, he plants them the morning before we go out. The standard deal was 25 bucks per bird, I think I made a good plan for us.
There is so much room that the guys with dogs can hunt seperately without any possible dog interaction. He has over 1000 acres in one large property
The location is easy to find and close to I-90. It's much easier then most locations to access. It's a very wide open area. If one group of guys misses a bird it's likely to fly to an area other folks are hunting. There are a lot of birds already loose, any birds above and beyond the amount we want planted are free. If we have 6 hunters and 5 birds per hunter, but the group shoots 38 birds the additional 8 are no charge, they have been paid for by a previous group. There was a group on a business trip this past weekend, they planted 50 birds...........one guy shot 3 and then they quit, the rest are just loose out there now.

The bad news;
There is a $40 membership annual fee on top of the 100 dollar 5 bird deal.
There is tax
The best option for the membership fee is to have one of the hunters that feels he will return become a member, then somebody hunting with him only has a 5.00 "guest" fee.

I'm going to become a memeber for certain, with birds this big I will be coming here several times a year.

-----------------------------------------------------------

My trip to Cooke Canyon was nice, but the distance to the property from the highway, and the costs are a bit more. I shot 2 roosters and 5 chuckers, my partner shot 1 rooster and 2 chuckers. Bushman pointed and retrieved every bird and caught a previously wounded bird running. He had another excellent day.

We put Bushman in the kennel and took my partners lab out. That dog jumped a few roosters when she was about 300 yards away running like a crazy dog, She was closing in on seeing elvis before the end of the day! My buddy spent about an hour and a mile of walking and yelling to get her to come to him. It's a safe bet that dog will never see another day in the field. He is going to spay her and leave her as a "house dog" after the misadventure today.

He's also put money down with the breeder I got my dog from to buy one from the next litter. The Breeders evaluation of my dog after hunting with me today was they he needs a little more work on Whoa, and heel. Otherwise just keep hunting him, he's doing what a professionally trained dog would manage at 12-18 months. You know a lot of unlucky things happen in life, flat tires, loss of investments, misbehaving children, etc. etc. But when you have this kind of pure Luck it seems to make all the other bad luck events easier to accept!

Towards the end of the day we had gone about 2 hours without any action, my buddy says "you think he's tired and board now after 6 hours" I said.......... well I don't know......I think if he gets a nose full of scent he will get with the program. Just one moment later a feel this yank on my shoulder and He says look he's on point. He shot another chucker from that point, then before we got to the truck he ran down and grabbed somebody elses wounded bird.

Anyway The date is open in March, we can book this and I'm going with or without anyone else. I would sure like to see a great GF group on this outing!

 

[stillwater]

So a member can only bring one guest is that correct?

 

[JJHACK]

That was my understanding, I can call and confirm, but I beleive that to be so. If there are any people that want to hunt with the owner, he has a GSP that he will take you out with. There is an extra fee for a guided hunt though.

 

[stillwater]

I'd still like to do it but my buddy just called and wonder if there are only a few guys wanting to go if the price is still the same, 20 bucks a bird?

 

[RiverTraveler]

I'm still in. I'm not to worried about the $40 membership fee if someone wants to hunt on the guest pass. If it's a good place i'd probably use it a few times a year. I want to see these super roosters! Tup:


Dates that work for me.

Feb 23rd
Mar 8th or 9th
Mar 15th or 16th

 

[Icystraits]

The comment about closing in on Elvis has had me chuckling all morning. A buddy of mine came out a couple of years ago with his new lab pup and as the dog was busting through the second barb wire fence about a 1/2 mile away (needed about 40 stitches before it was done) he turned to me and said"I wonder what lab tastes like". Thought I was gonna choke.

 

[JJHACK]

Well, this is quite the dillema! The other two folks besides myself have chosen opposite dates. Any chance you guys can arrange this to choose either the 15th or the 22nd? I can prioritize any saturday I want for this, so it's up to you both to figure this out.

 

[JJHACK]

Okay folks I had another conversation with the owner to clarify a few things.

If 6 hunters pay for the 5 bird 100.00 hunt we will have 30 birds released. That is the full price, if we shoot 40 birds there is no more money due him. Every bird on the property has been paid for once already.

As far as memberships. He does not limit one guest per member, but the advantage to being a member is worthwhile. As a member he will allow several 1/2 price hunts a year to manage his overstocked bird population. He told me that quite often he has way too many hens, and they do a hen hunt for 1/2 price as well.

This may be a better deal for a guy with a dog, as the tune-up potential is awsome at a place like this. For me, with a pup it's a no brainer to pay the 40 bucks for the membership. During the conversation I said " I agree that a guy hunting with a wife and two young boys would be silly to require 2 memberships, just as it would be to have a guy as a member bring over 8 of his buddies at 5 bucks each.

So if we have a few guys pick up the membership cost, the others that choose not to join can hunt as non-members. I suppose at this point we will have 6 people so with two members, one of them being me that would be fair.

 

[RiverTraveler]

The 15th works for me. Not sure if can make the 22nd work... (my boy's Birthday)

Can we get everyone that's want's to go to post the days that work for them?

 

[stillwater]

Either date will work for me, 22nd would be my 1st preference.
JJHACK do you know if the membership includes family members or do they count as guest?
Oh like you answered that as I'm typing this. I have know problem with the membership as I'll be back with my new pup.