First Hunt with Own Dog

[Jay Oliver]

Today was a great day. My whole life I had always wanted my own hunting dog, though always seem to make excuses on why I could do it. We got our Golden Retriever/Irish Setter mix in July and she is almost 11 months old now. With 3 kids I wanted a good combination of a family dog and hunting dog that would stay inside.

This fall and winter seemed like a blur with work and other obligations. I wanted to get our dog “Violet” hunting before the hunting preserves closed for the season. I honestly wasn’t even sure how to get started even though I have several books on the subject. I set up a hunt with Markover in Connecticut and had such a wonderful time this morning.

My wife came with me and we didn’t have any real expectations, my thought was just to introduce Violet to some birds and see what happens. With some patience and good advice we had an incredible morning. The dog wasn’t gun shy and took to finding birds slowly, but surely. She still needs a lot of direction/discipline, but we had a fun morning. I was shooting my Citori 410, just to start her off with as little noise as possible. On the the 3rd bird I made a long shot, she ran right after the downed hen and brought it back to me…how does it get better than that?

I missed the next few birds for a variety of reasons, but we still chased after them. She found the last 2 birds on her own and slowly got close enough so they flew. I still have so much to learn, but I am very motivated after some success today. I am going to plan one more hunt before the preserve season is over. All three of us had a little too much fun!

Anyway, I thought I would share,
Jay