I'm a little late to the game ,but here's Benny with a grouse he pinned behind the house this past spring .

Benny must be hard to see in the snow.





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George Bird Evans had a brace of very lightly marked dogs he called "snow beltons". He ran them with flags of surveyors' tape tied to the collars on snowy days to make them stand out

Yeah he can be ,but its great on the barrens not like the DD who disappears in 20 feet!,come to think of it after a half hour Ben is usually black from going arse over end in a boghole ,so it evens out ;) ...our season starts next weekend I hope to have some more pics then .

Chris, I have hunted your lovely Island twice and have almost gone "arse over end" a few times in those boghole's of yours..................you don't want to walk around in the dark:shock:

Steve I warn everyone who aren't familiar with them ...just because its a little two foot across "puddle" do not mean you can step in it ,I have literally seen people go to their necks ,not a good way to spend the day when you still got to walk 10km to camp.

I usually get one leg in up to the satchel (crotch) on most every outing,it's just a matter of fact ...it usually happens working up to a point when I'm watching the dog and not my feet,watching a dog burn across the barrens like a champion and instantly disappear in a spray of black bog is hilarious though .

I once had a heavy set Chesapeake that I would run with the setters ,or at least try to ...this one day the setters were burning across the country and leapt what must been a 10 foot high banked boghole ,they did it with style ...the other brown puddin was giving his all to keep up he leapt the same hole and came up short digging head first in the off side like a hammer -did a complete somersault to his four paws and kept running ,I nearly pissed myself !

Pics of the chessie? I'm thinking of getting one.

Sorry Michael I wish I had some digital pics ,the old bugger is long gone must be 15 years now .

Grace today in a practice session.
Today was much cooler, it had rained last night and everything was damp and a slight breeze was blowing steadily.

I sure hope she does this well in the grouse coverts in a couple of weeks.




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I'm betting she'll do just fine Dean:)

If you're thinking of getting a Chessie, don't forget the 2 x 4 to get his attention. (But once you get his attention, he doesn't forget)

Dean, what was she pointing, planted birds or wild?

Quite frankly Steve, we don't have any wild gamebirds around here anymore and no place to plant pen-raised birds for training purposes (I'm also in a 'no discharge' zone) so we work on mourning doves (a "songbird" in MA) and field sparrows and starlings. The mourning doves don't seem to have as much scent as do the sparrows and starlings.

I can't wait to get her on grouse and woodcock!!!!!






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Abigail's Highland Sunrise, then and now. Oh how quickly they grow up! This will be her 6th season. Where did the years go?

My buddy Phantom holding a late season Chukar.
He would have been 12 this year.

Do you have one? How do you like it and what's its attitude like?

I think the 2x4 reference explains it pretty well...




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Michael - No- I don't have a Chessie. I have imported my last two Labs from Britain/Scotland. I like the calmer disposition of the British dogs. Chessies are hard-headed, tough dogs. If I had to make a living shooting and retrieving ducks, I'd have a Chessie, but for the average weekend warrior, I think they are a handful Oily coat which repels water well, but also stinks in the house if not cleaned regularly. From my experience, they are a one-man dog. Fiercely loyal to his owner, but distant, and even a bit menacing to outsiders. A man who brought his Chessie to the same Tower shoots that I worked at paid a lot of vet bills to owners whose dogs got torn up by "Pump".
I suspect I will get a bit of flack from those who have had great luck with Chessies, but for me - "No Thanks"

I had a female Chesapeake 30 years ago.
Buff was an amazing retriever. She would dive 6-10 below the surface to get a duck or dummy. Could mark 3 ducks down, and would NOT give up on a lost bird.
She would only release a duck or goose to me and would growl at anyone that attempted to take a bird from her. With me she was affectionate as any dog that I have ever owned, but if anyone else called her name, she would look in the exact opposite direction and not move.

Well, I hate to contaminate this thread on setters but cannot resist. I had a golden that was one great duck dog and would dive without hesitation. On numerous occasions I thought I'd have to go in after him for fear he'd drown trying to get a cripple. Once we were hunting a weed choked pond and crippled a black duck. Rip went after it but it repeatedly would dive when the dog was just about to grab it. This went on for so long I made my way around the pond, took my waders off and prepared to get wet. Just then the duck made a dive and Rip went under after him in heavy vegetation. Just as I started into the water he emerged snorting like a pig, but he had that damn duck in his mouth.

As good a duck dog as he was, he was an even better wild pheasant dog. In his career I only know of one cripple that escaped him and that was because it ran through a woven wire fence where he could not pursue.

When he was 7 I moved from pheasant country to grouse country. He made the transition without hesitation. The first fall we hunted grouse we were working around a swamp when I could not hear him running. I thought he must have found a porky or something so I went to investigate. I found him in heavy cover standing stock still and staring at the ground. Upon close inspection I noticed a woodcock sitting about 3 feet from his nose. He looked up as if to say - It's a bird, I have no idea what kind and it does not fly. What do we do now. I flushed it and shot it and he retrieved it. From then on he hunted them with as much vigor as grouse.

Good dogs are good dogs no matter the breed.

Forgot to mention, Rip loved everybody and everything - except cats!

Great pic and memory you have there!

Had to add this one from my recent camp trip ,it's Benny pointing a arctic hare,a small one but he's still a handful ,the dog couldn't see him ,but knew it wasn't a bird and was rolling his head side to side trying to get a look over the ghoul..it was priceless, I blew him down when the hare busted one of these can tear up your dog ...my DD would have absolutely loved the opportunity to tangle but he was home this trip

Beautiful dog Chris, and what a funny bunny! Are they really as big as that one looks?




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Actually Dean ,they're a bit bigger...when he got on his pins and ran you could really see his size ,although protected here and its a treat to even see one,my brother ate them while out on the land in Labrador ,he tried it twice and they were just too tough ,he used a 3 1/2 10 gauge for his first one ...had to shoot it 4 times ! the second they sniped it from the coast with a .223 the way the local's do it .

We had a great trip,Ben handled his birds well but the heat was brutal 27 celsius,really warm for up here this time of year .

Just curious, is your DD really gritty? If so, where'd you get him from? I've been looking for one bred in the German style (agressive on fur) I've found one guy who honestly breeds them like that, but finding more the better.

Vom willow rock kennels here in Newfoundland ,Ken is my best buddy and a top notch trainer and breeder you won't find any better PM me for contact info