Trying to sneak in here before thread ends. Lots of snow and a good hunt two days ago. I admit the hammer gun is a prop, as some of you will know its condition.
My mixed breed pup "Charlie" is becoming a good gun dog. I have taken her a few times to work with a great dog, "Rio". When with "Rio", she works hard and well. When we are alone, she still occasionally breaks and runs if the rooster runs. A flush at 200 yards is not too helpful but I live with it. The third bird in the bag was one of those memorable moments between man and dog. Our day was coming to a close and we were just the two of us and had just experienced a 200 yard flush (first break of the day). When I got up there, I told "Charlie" that we should stay a little closer to each other as I'm getting too old to try to keep up, especially since the snow was getting deeper and deeper as our day progressed. We had picked up two birds with "Rio" and "Charlie" doing tag team work, so the day would end well regardless. We were about a mile from the car and had to walk along a fence line between two fields to get there. The fence is page wire with two strands of barbed wire on top. As "Charlie" worked along the fence, she became birdy and wanted very much to get through the page wire. I took her to an opening about 100 yards down the line and let her work back. I stayed on the opposite side, in the event a "retrieve" was needed on the side without "Charlie". When she got back to where she wanted to be, she spent about ten seconds and flushed a very nice rooster. Folded that one and she made her version of retrieve; which is to run over, pick it up, look at me as if to say okay here it is if you want it, drop it where it fell and then carry on hunting. We will work on that. With some trepidation, I made a valiant attempt to get over the fence and have all my parts intact. Parts - okay, pants, well a needle and thread will repair or maybe a guy could get a new pair of hunting pants for Christmas. All in all a good day with good eating to come - Christmas eve lemon pheasant being one meal about to start.
Merry Christmas one and all
Jack
