the smell of autumn - leaves and paper hulls

[OH Osthaus]

better late than never- missed the first few days of season due to a combination of a house project that had to be completed before the weather sets in and high winds on the days I could have gone.

But today I decided to get the old fella out for a run. Osthaus will be eleven in a few weeks, he is still going pretty strong for his age, but does have a few signs that old man time is beginning to catch up. So I wanted to get him out on his own to have some time with him and to see how he will hold up to hunting this year.

It was warmer than I would have preferred at 60 degrees and sunny with little wind. But we went to a favorite spot for a short run. He did slip once making a turn on a wet slope, but other than that, he still has a lot of the same "I found your bird and he is right there" skill he has shown from his first wild bird at 10 months old.

his first point was out of sight (not that far in this cover), the bell stopped in the thickest stuff and due to my own failure to check, the battery in the beeper was dead. After several minutes of searching since he is difficult to call off a point with a bird, he came to meet me. We changed directions and shortly he was locked up again, the woodcock gave me a straight away shot and I saw it go down at the shot hitting a small green bush in its fall. Osthaus was there in a second. He sniffed at the bush, circled the bush and took off up a small eroded cut and quickly had the winged woodcock, who obviously didn't know that wounded woodcock don't run.

Osthaus gave me six more points on woodcock in the thickest part of the cover over the next hour (that is pretty good around here). I tried a shot at two, but they were safe before the old DH came up.

I didn't want to push him in the heat so we headed back to the truck, he still covered the sides of the utility cut over we use as access

When I called him in for water at the creek on the way out my voice put up a grouse somewhere behind us.

all in all, a good day with an old friend


here is your bird boss


looking good for an old man


old 55801 still in the woods


still plenty of green out there

[charlie cleveland]

very beautiful country and hunting with a old friend is just tops..charlie

[Harold Pickens]

Rick, a great post and pictures. We are so lucky to have such companions. Your Osthaus and my Betty would have made some beautiful puppies. Betty carries OH blood on both sides of her pedigree. I will never forgive myself for not having a litter of puppies with her. I leave in the morning for the UP . The truck is packed and Betty and Shiner know what is about to to happen, the puppy is clueless. The VHE 20 and GH 16 are packed. No internet for 2 weeks, so this is my last post. I have a smart phone , but I am a dumb a**. Ralph
says the birds are good.

[Dean Romig]

Rick, the days you can even take an hour or two are as good as the others... just shorter. We are truly blessed to have the autumn woods and fields, the birds - wherever the are found (by the way, where is that woodcock cover?) and our wonderful dogs - be they clueless pups or their older experienced mentors. It's great to be alive and outdoors in the autumn.