Experiencing the sublime

concealed in demarcation

quarrels over birds

in the goose fields

Snippet from Minnesota

Bird numbers were good in NE Minnesota. Weather was balmy, a little on the dry side. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my dogs on the ground much -- a couple hours for Brody on Saturday 10/9 and a couple hours more later in the week during scouting; an hour w/ Spy during the RGS hunt, and finally (after the work was done) about 6 hrs w/ Brody over this past Sat eve/Sun morn. This was our first hunting of the year anywhere.

Little things can make or break a hunt. Spy made the most of his hour of hunting last Friday by pointing 3 wc and 4 grouse; all 7 birds were quite killable and were shot at, but we bagged just two: a wc by my hunter (his first!) and a grouse that I killed on Spy's last point of the day (at his age -- 13 -- you never know when it's his last. Period.).

Brody showed alot of... "variation", and alot of progress in a short time. He bumped plenty of birds early on, and made some nice points - and more consistently worked birds nicely - as his time on the ground increased. He ran w/ alot of urgency initially, probably a combination of pent-up energy and inexperience (as well as the potential to race in his breeding), and later settled into an easy handling mode, but still covering ground quickly. In the end I killed a woodcock and 3 grouse over his points, and I let go alot of killable foot-flushed and bumped birds. All those bumped birds and the few killed birds are great training. It's those pointed birds that got away that I regret not bringing down to reward the pup.

The photo is Brody last Sunday morning/noon in MN. It was dry as chips, but the birds were abundant and Brody was getting the hang of it. I had just knocked down a grouse from his 3rd or 4th point in a row, and he pointed it "dead" -- you can see it through the veg below about 6 inches to the front-right of his nose, its head is up. Pup was in a stupor, standing paralyzed, drunk on scent, eyes were just slits.

Also that morning I got to educate Brody on porcupines. For anyone who runs an e-collar, you might want to take advantage of your next porky encounter by setting the transmitter on fry-o-lator and nicking your dog when he knowingly approaches the porcupine too close. You want him to see and smell it. He'll think the porky gave him the jolt. Don't say a word, just pet him when he runs over to you, and hunt on. Try to come back around down wind later for another lesson. This could pay off some day. Hopefully you'll never know.

While holding my breath...

Double Black Opening Weekend- Cayuga Lake

Ducks

Sat- 13. 5 teal, 8 mallards
Sun- 12 1 black duck, 1 merganser, 10 mallards

Dog Retrieves

Brant- 5
Sage-1
Suzie- 3

Winds

Sat 25-30 mph S/SE
Sun 15-25 mph, S/SE

Canoe Trips

Sat- 3
Sun-2

Best opening weekend in the history of Double Black. Period.

Phoebe's first grouse

above: cancer dogge Katie
below: partridge following Phoebe

Got out with the new pup tonight to take her for a test drive. We've been around the Potomac Loop trail once or twice to stretch our legs. Tonight it was out for the real thing: grouse.

The weather was a typical 60 deg F August afternoon. (yeah right) (but we sure are enjoying our early fall this summer.) I wore my green khakis, Lacross mud boots, and a yellow t-shirt. Phoebe was sporting an attractive red puppy collar.

We were on the trail and in the woods by 7pm. She got her first taste of a muddy woods road; then we ventured into a favorite patch of thick stuff that most of you have seen at one time or another. Phoebe was seeing it for the first time.

We flushed a grouse at approximately 7:15 pm. We went over to where it had been, found a grouse feather (lucky!), and then moved on.

We flushed a second grouse about ten minutes later. This time, she started putting her nose to the ground and, although I may be imagining it, started using her nose to sniff out ground scent.

We spent a bit of time going over the area--scenting conditions were great, light breeze, damp ground, and she really seemed gradually to be hunting for scent. It was fun to watch.

We never put up another bird, but she went from being a dorky puppy to a grouse-dogge-in-training all in one evening. Pretty fun stuff.

all in a day's work

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the best bird dogge book out there. period.

fourth edition, revised (March 2008)