Erienna Hunt Club

Today's story takes us to the Erienna Hunt Club in Morris IL.  I was finally able to get out and try my new Mossberg Maverick 88 out.  I was also able to go hunting with my Dad, Joe Spizzirri, which was the first time we've really been able to do that, and a client of his, Don.  This would be my second time hunting pheasant and from what I was told, this location was a little different then hunting wild pheasant.  The Erienna Hunt Club manages the birds and actually places them out in the field about 15-20 minutes before you are ready to go out.  You tell them how many you want, we took 9, and you pay per bird.  It was just our luck that the day we picked to go was the first snow of the year, and a pretty heavy one at that.

I woke up around 6:30am and started the coffee.  The first time they had to hunt was 9am so I was excited and ready to head out long before then.  When we arrived I snapped a pretty nice picture to the left there and realized it was going to be a cold wet one.  I dressed as best as I could for the weather and it actually wasn't that cold out.  When we got inside the club it was filled with all sorts of different mounts, deer, pheasant, duck, you name it and it was probably up there.  The people working the club were very nice and accommodating.  They were more then happy to answer any questions that I had as well as give me some deer hunting tips on different property in the area to try out.

Map is from the Erienna Hunt Club website at http://www.eriennahuntclub.com

We had 9 pheasant thrown out for us and we were on our way.  We drove to our area Cackles End and parked.  We loaded up and made the plan to work our way over from the second field in, down to the end.  We made note of the tracks were from where ATV had dropped the birds.  We were unable to flush out any birds our first run through so we made our way to the far left area, if you are looking at the map, and were able to kick up the first bird, which was a rooster.  He took off to Don's side and I heard the two shots ring out from his over under, I attempted a long shot but it was too far out by then.  We walked the rest of that field and headed back over where the rooster took off to.  We were able to track it into some tree's along a creek where my Dad scared it up and took a solid shot.  That was the first bird we took.  We made our way through the rest of the fields slowly, stopping to listen for the cackle and to look for tracks.  I quickly was able to figure out the track patterns and follow them.  The snow was still coming down and pretty good I would say.  We were walking into the snow which made it difficult to take a shot when the store hit your eye.

The third field in we made our way up and down the rows.  We flushed out another rooster, this time it came up near me and made it's way over to my Dad's side.  The first shot I took feathers kicked up but the bird didn't go down, I then heard a shot from Don and my Dad; each time more feathers flew off.  The bird struggled in the air, went down, then out of nowhere went right back up in the air, over a fence and some train tracks and out of reach.  All three of us hit that bird and it still made it, it was very impressive to see.  As we continued to make our way through the rows of the field a rooster came up in my area.  Don took a shot which missed, I took aim and pulled the trigger and the bird dropped.  That was my first bird of the day and second pheasant of my hunting career; it was very exciting.  We kept working the rows and another bird came up, a hen, I was told that hens were legal here and I did not hesitate.  I raised my Mossberg almost as fast as the bird left the ground and instantly put it down.  I should have waited a second or two because the feathers were everywhere and a good part of the rear was M.I.A.  We made our way down the rows once again and a hen came up on Don's side which he was able to take down.  It didn't sound like the shot killed it so my Dad attempted to spin the neck, and now I understand why they say to press on the chest, because that head came off about as quick as he spun it.

We kept on going to the farthest part of the field.  We took a detour into some tree areas, following some deer tracks, and was able to find about 4 fresh beds, too bad they didn't allow deer hunting here, it was shotgun weekend and everything.  We made our way back to the fields and flushed out a rooster, this time everyone missed.  As we continued to walk I could feel my thighs burning and the snow from the brush was starting to seep through my pants.  We made another pass back to where our cars were and continued to follow the tracks.  This was getting a little harder to remember where we had already been and if we had followed the pheasant tracks already.  The snow made it easy at first because we were the first ones out there.  As we made our way down I found what looked like some more tracks and approached it slowly.  Not knowing for sure if they were tracks or fallen snow I kept approaching the brush and out came a rooster.  It took flight in front of my but caught me by surprise pretty good.  I took two shots at it, I heard Don's two shots and I heard at least two from my Dad, all missed.  Then out comes a hen to my right back and behind my Dad.  I took my last shot but missed.  I explained that another one had flown up behind us and they had no clue.  I suppose I should have said something but everyone had taken their shots and it wouldn't have done much good.

We went back with 4 birds; two roosters and two hens.  Afterwords we sat at the table near the fire they had and warmed up and dried off while enjoying some peanuts and a cold beverage, while they cleaned our kill.  Overall it was a great time, I got to get out there and hunt with my Dad, which I hear and now know is always a great thing to do.  We missed a few but went home with something for dinner.

Below is the information for the hunting club if you are interested I recommend checking it out, it was a lot of fun.  Thanks for checking in!

Erienna Hunt Club
This hunt club requires no annual fees and offers a wide range of fields.  The hours are great and they also offer guided hunts with dogs.  This was my first trip out here and won't be my last.