A Flashy Rooster

Thanks to the generosity of @Sharon and her husband Billy, I was able join them with some friends and P2 expert @rootski for a pheasant hunt on a crisp but beautiful Sunday. The dogs worked hard, and we had a great time, though a few more birds would have been welcomed.

The dogs found a lot of hens and a handful of roosters. The birds were holding tight. At one point, we were taking a break, standing around jawing for about 5 minutes before one of the dogs flushed a rooster that had been sitting about 10 feet from us the entire time.

Anyhow, I wanted to share a picture of a “melanistic mutant” that I dropped. I was blown away when Dash brought him over to me. This bird was gorgeous! A normal rooster is a pretty bird, but this one was awesome!

Thanks again, Sharon!

Attachments:

1. 

   DSC_0770.jpg
   

2. 

   DSC_0768.jpg
   

I’d have to have that one mounted along with a “standard” color bird for sure…. very cool.

What a fun day! It was a bit chillier than I’d like though. It was really cool seeing the dark pheasant! He almost looked totally black out in the field and it wasn’t until we were taking photos that I began to notice all the beautiful colors in his feathers. I had heard of these pheasants, but didn’t expect to actually see one!

We had a neighbor release some of those a few years back around our hunting property. Very neat birds. The hens were a dark chocolate brown with the roosters per your photo. It was too far north and east so the birds did not survive the winter. At least nice to see them.

Was this wild bird hunting or hunting on a game farm? I’ve seen those black birds as several Game farms but never one in the wild. My guess is if you were hunting wild birds there is a Game Farm not far away. They are a real cool looking Bird. There was a Game farm up near Cold Spring that had them a few years back. They were really Big as well.

fishthumper wrote:

Was this wild bird hunting or hunting on a game farm?

Wild. It’s a genetic mutation, much like albinism. It’s certainly possible that it was released at some point, but it could very well be naturally-occurring, too. It was a pretty good-sized bird.

Super cool.

Straight stock! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfff

suzuki wrote:

Straight stock! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfff

Don’t give Grouse a reason to bring up your belt drive. Correct terminology is “English Stock”.

tegg wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
Straight stock! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFfff

Don’t give Grouse a reason to bring up your belt drive. Correct terminology is “English Stock”.

Don’t worry. @rootski was balancing my machine gun out with a double-barreled muzzle-loader!

tegg wrote:

Don’t give Grouse a reason to bring up your belt drive. Correct terminology is “English Stock”.

Also, I bought that gun from Grouse!!!

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tegg wrote:</div>
Don’t give Grouse a reason to bring up your belt drive. Correct terminology is “English Stock”.

Also, I bought that gun from Grouse!!!

When Ralph bought that shotgun from me, he promised to never load more than two shells in at once. So, essentially, it morally counts as a double gun.

Nice doublegun Rootski. Doing it in true old school style.

I was glad to sell it to him as well. It’s a beautiful shotgun with that straight English stock and I just wasn’t using it enough do it justice.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

When Ralph bought that shotgun from me, he promised to never load more than two shells in at once.

I’ve got the 10-round mag extension on order!

And finally, our group pic!

Attachments:

1. 

   DSC_0771.jpg
   

Not sure we needed those sticky posts in our quiet forum..

I saw one of those fancy birds a few years ago outside Cherokee IA, I pull up to shoot, then stopped short of pulling the trigger because I thought it might be the farmers rooster (chicken) but it cackled and flew like a pheasant. I sat there and scratched my head, dog looked over his shoulder like “WTF dude!” Really cool bird.

chomps wrote:

I pull up to shoot, then stopped short of pulling the trigger because I thought it might be the farmers rooster (chicken) but it cackled and flew like a pheasant. I sat there and scratched my head, dog looked over his shoulder like “WTF dude!” Really cool bird.

I can easily see this happening…

Same here. If it aint right I would tend not to shoot. But I sure would like one like that!

Beauty of a bird.

suzuki wrote:

If it aint right I would tend not to shoot.

To be honest, till the dog brought it to me, I didn’t know it was a strange bird. I was facing into the sun, so when it got up, I could tell that it was a rooster, but it was a dark silhouette of a rooster because of the sun.

Sell it to Scheels or Cabelas and make some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$