A quick limit on the first day of a free lance hunt can be a confidence booster but not until a followup hunt reveals that it was due to your knowledge and abilities and not just luck. I would find out the next day if it was luck or something more.
I found a farmer out kicking dirt around his new pole building just a few minutes before the 9:00 am shooting hour. He was a friendly sort once he finished venting about trespassers crossing over from bordering state land. He gave me permission to hunt his small slough in the middle of a picked and disked corn field.
I had never hunted within 80 miles of this location and picked the area based on it's proximity to North Dakota. It was my goal to scout the area to determine if a double limit of 3-pheasants in North Dakota & 2-pheasants in Minnesota in the same day, could be possible. I had driven all night and only had three days to hunt, but I did have 10 vacation days to burn in another week if I thought the double limit doable.
I followed Bo into the sun, down a narrow strip of grass leading to the slough and Bo got birdy right way. A bird flushed a little wild and I couldn't tell if it was a hen or rooster when Bo rousted a pair of birds. I had to wait them out hoping they would turn enough to the side so I could see color and finally the left bird banked a little and crumpled at my shot. He was out there a ways and I was a little apprehensive about Bo's marking ability. She started her search a little short but with a light breeze she soon picked him up. Three more birds flushed out of range during her retrieve but again I couldn't see color.
I hadn't hunted pheasants in Minnesota for many years and in just a few minutes I was glad to be back. Bo flushed a few hens from the small slough and it was time to reverse trespass and hop the fence into the back side of the public. I emptied all of the lead out of my coat and piled the loose shells on the private side of the fence before crossing. I always carry a few steel loads in the field just for this situation and loaded the Superposed after helping Bo through the fence. I always try to help my dog's through or lift them over fences because I like to hunt. No slices, no Vet visits no lost hunting. If they aren't trailing a bird they always stop for me to help them through. My dogs don't trespass and it gives me a chance to cross the fence first and reload prior to the dog flushing a bird.
There was a large, nasty plum thicket in the fence line and as Bo was circling downwind I saw a rooster running just a few feet in front of her. Had the stem density been a little less, I think Bo would have caught him on the ground as he had a hard time finding a canopy opening big enough for him to fly through. This gave me enough time to kill him and miss him several times in my mind before he got out to a decent range. I was already pretty confident that Bo would retrieve the 2-bird Minnesota limit of pheasants today even if I missed a bird or two, so I let him sail to about 25 yards before my shot. The rooster fell hard in more open grass and Bo had him slobbered up good by the time I unloaded, crossed the fence and then helped her through.
We were back at the truck at 9:45 and were met by the neighbor who suggested that I hunt behind his house if I needed a bird or two when returning from North Dakota. I was feeling pretty good about the next 2-1/2 days when I stopped to tell the landowner thank you and he also said I was welcome to return.