Parker Repro and a Dogs First

[Gary Laudermilch]

I am a repro enthusiast and regularly read this column and enjoy the photos as much as the text. So, I thought I would share a few photos of my 8 mo old puppy, Jake, with his first grouse. It was taken today with my favorite grouse gun, a Parker repro, 20 ga., 26 inch barrels choked .004 & .008. Yes, it has double triggers, as it should.

I hope they put a smile on someone's face.

[Rick Losey]

yes is does - love puppy firsts

was it his first retrieve as well?

[Dean Romig]

Very nice!!

I want to hear the story about the tail... isn't it a bit late for pa'tridge to be moultin'?

[Rick Losey]

Very nice!!

I want to hear the story about the tail... isn't it a bit late for pa'tridge to be moultin'?

which is why I wondered about the first retrieve :rotf:

[ron belanger]

Beautiful dog...beautiful shotgun and a somewhat disheveled (:p) grouse...

[Gerry Addison]

Making of a great grouse dog. Congratulations!!!! I'll have my 8 month old setter up in Wisconsin starting this Saturday. And, I'll have my 28GA Repro with straight grip, double triggers, beavertail, and Q1 & Q2 chokes. Both dog and gun will be trying to take their first grouse. If they don't get it done, I have 4 more setters that I'm pretty sure will, assuming I do my part. Can't wait!

[Gary Laudermilch]

Yes, it was his first retrieve, well, sort of. You see, the bird only had a broken wing and a few other non-lethal hits. The last time I saw the bird dissappearing into a pile of downed logs it had an in tact tail fan with Jake in hot pursuit. When I finally got to Jake he was pointing under an uprooted stump with a mouth full of feathers. At first I thought he ate the bird but when I reached under the stump, there was the bird.

So, the pup had a good solid point, I shot poorly, and pup saved the day by finding a bird that easily could have been lost. You'll have to ask Jake where the tail feathers went. I'm sure he is telling my other two setters the story over and over and would be happy to fill you in.

[Rick Losey]

:rotf:

That is about what I thought, I shot a large grouse over a 7 month old pup once.

I had miss marked the fall and the pup kept going to one side while I kept calling him back to hunt dead, after a couple times I followed him and was led to a tailess nearly plucked grouse after his muliple attempts to pick it up

Hang on to that one remaining tail feather, it will bring back smiles for years to come.

[Rich Anderson]

There is no dust on the repo Parkers and I doubt there is a better gun for the money. The pup has a good start, it takes birds to make a bird dog.

[Chris Travinski]

Great piece of wood on your repro. When you get right down to it, having an intact bird is probably secondary to the rest of the day anyway.

[Kenny Graft]

Gary....I would say you have a bright future there with great dog and gun! I have a 20 month old Gordon setter that goes to P.A. on wensday to start our fall grouse hunting. My good friend in potter county tells me there are good number of birds this year...(-: Ruby was just a pup last season and will be mutch better this year...less puppy play. Im will be shooting a light 1903 Dh 16 with open chokes...(-: SXS ohio

[tom tutwiler]

Young dogs and first grouse, what a great combo for sure. My first dog could pick up a uncooked egg and carry it around without cracking it.:) My second dog can put bite marks in rolled steel. :(

Never seen a setter with a hard mouth. I'm guessing that one was in a position where the pup couldn't get a good grip on the body and thus the tail was the only area she could reach. PS. Nice wood on that repro.

[Bill Murphy]

My seven year old Wirehair puppy's first retrieve seems like yesterday. A friend and I were training on McKee- Beshers, a public hunting and training area in Poolesville, MD. We got a good point on a couple of quail and I killed one with my little 28 VH. I sent Eva out to pick up. She went about twenty five yards, coming past my hunting partner on her way back. When she came to me, she didn't have any sign of a bird. I asked my friend if she had a bird in her mouth when she went past him. He said she had a good looking whole quail when he saw her last. Every good bird dog deserves to eat the first quail of a long career. We never did see any sign of that bird. Sorry I couldn't get my 28 Repro into this story. (After thinking about it, I have to edit this post. I did not shoot Eva's first bird. I was handling and I believe my friend was shooting.)

[Dean Romig]

You've gotta be kidding Bill... She's seven already?? Seems like just yesterday...

[Rick Losey]

some first retrieves are more work than others :)

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg195/setterw/IMGP0217-1.jpg

And Tom - love the egg trick - I had a friend many years ago that raised a hunting line of Golden Retrievers. He used to give one dog a raw egg, and Trieve would jump up on the kitchen counter and go out the window, then run around to the back door up a few steps and give the egg back. I had one of that dog's double grandaughters, my kids would give her glass Christmas ornament with the hook on it and she would take it across the livingroom and deliver it to another kid to hang on the tree. She never cracked one.

with my current pair of setters - the older one is a very reliable retriever but he doesn't want the younger one to steal his retrieve so he can somehow get a very firm grip on a bird with out leaving a tooth mark.

[Rich Anderson]

I remember Gunner's first retrieve. It was at the Haymarsh Hunt Club and it was his first season, he was 7 months old. I killed a Quail that fell into a pond. gunner looked at it, tested the water and with some encouragement dove right in and brought the bird back. I should have had it mounted.

[Rick Losey]

I should have had it mounted.

from the sound of it you did - just in your head instead of on a wall.

[Rich Anderson]

I have a lot of those "memory mounts" of Gunner.

[Fred Preston]

It wasn't Ringo's first, but it was the first I got a pic of.

[Gary Laudermilch]

First, thanks to all the interest and comment on the original post. Glad to see so many enjoyed it. It seems that many of you place a good deal of importance on retrieving. I, on the other hand, prefer to train hard on bird finding and handling. So, here is a shot of today's training exercise on my homing pigeons.

Jake, the originator of this thread is on the left, Willie(6 yrs old) and Jake's uncle is on the right, and Trapper(12 yrs old) is in the center.

The caption: Trapper says, "see Jake this is how you do it. You squeeze the birds between you and Willie until the old fart with the gun can get here. That way they won't run into the next county before he manages to find us."

Cannot wait to see the comments on my choice of training cover, etc. Enjoy!