I made another post about my recent pheasant hunt with Tim Ballinger in Dumas, Texas.

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/ubbthre...SID=#Post638734

When I hunted with Tim last year I shot one really large rooster that had 24” tail feathers. Here are a few shots of that bird.







That got Tim started watching the tail feathers on the birds that his groups shot this year. The longest he had seen this year was also 24”, one that he had shot before I arrived. Then, as luck would have it, Tim got a shot on a monster bird while walking along a fence row on the first day we hunted last Friday. I could see the bird from the distance and it looked big even from there. Here is a shot of Tim with his bird. It’s tail measured about 24-1/4”.



Here it is alongside the tail of the one he shot earlier this year.



Then on the last day I got a shot on a rooster that had managed to “run the gauntlet” while being shot at by several other hunters along our line. He was about 40 yards up and going full speed by the time he got to the end of the line and I managed to drop him. His tail looked long and I measured it using my 26” barrel shotgun. When we got back to Tim’s truck we did a field measurement of 24”. I measured it more carefully today though and it looks like it’s a little longer.





Here it is alongside the tail of the one I took last year.





Tim, does Boone and Crockett have a scoring method for Pheasant tails? Ha!

Merry Christmas!!

Cass

That was a nice shot you made on the rooster this year..... Congrats on the nice tail !

Never heard of a competion but I would think there would be some kind of recod on it.

Nice tail feathers.

What dates did you go hunting with Tim this year?

Nice feathers. I am not aware of any organized records.
Growing up in Idaho, my fondest memories are of hoping to win the "longest tail feather" contest at the local drug store/sporting goods store. I do remember that you needed to be get some in the 30 inch range to have a chance of winning.