Gracie the Lab leads the way while working an edge of thick sage.
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Snow leaves the Kessler Canyon lodge in a winter wonderland. Read Day 4 HERE!Read DAY 3 HERE!Read DAY 2 HERE!Read DAY 1 HERE!After fishing in the morning, we grabbed the Zoli’s and headed to the field for an afternoon of bird hunting.John fills both barrels. While pheasants seemed to flush in one’s and two’s, we lucked into several groups of chukars.John’s poor hands about froze off, but he stuck with it.Most of the pheasants we found were in the grass while the chukars seemed to stick to these thick patches of sage brush.Gracie makes another retrieve. At Kessler, pointers point the birds while Labs are then sent in to flush the birds.Colorado Grand Slam winner, John Stanley, is ready for action. On this afternoon John took 16 birds and hardly missed a shot.Fresh snow made seeing which way the birds had moved pretty easy. Birds really held tight in the cold weather making for close flushes right under your feet.John draws down on a rapidly climbing bird after a perfect point by C.C.Kessler’s house guns are stylish Zoli 20-gauges perfect for fast-breaking pheasants and chukars.C.C. the pointer leaps after Gracie as pheasants run ahead. At times we had to sprint to catch up to the birds, which preferred to run in the snowy weather conditions.The heart from John’s elk (served on French baguette with a duck pate) was the highlight of this lovely appetizer created by Leonard McNab, Kessler Canyon Ranches 5-star chef.In addition to winning an elk hunt, a bird hunt, shooting lessons from an Olympic medalist, John was able to enjoy a full massage in Kessler Canyon’s lovely spa. He was so relaxed when he came out, we practically had to pour him into his dinner chair.The fireplace in the main lodge at Kessler Canyon is a lovely place to relax any time of the day.John takes a few minutes to relax by the fire after a long day of fishing and bird hunting all part of his Colorado Grand Slam Adventure. To see how you can enter to win our next Grand Slam Adventure go to: www.outdoorlife.com/grandslam/
Join Outdoor Life Grand Slam Adventure winner John Stanley and Editor-In-Chief Todd Smith on their Kessler Canyon Ranch adventure.
