They grow up quick.

Phil C · 10-30-2021, 09:41 PM

A puppy one day and a serious hunting dog the next.
Due to some personal issues I have been a little lacks at training my young dog Ollie over the last 6 months.
I had her quartering on a check cord, and had introduced her to pigeons in a release trap when I took a break from training. Not a good way to get a puppy off to a great start.
About 6 weeks ago I started taking Ollie to a local park early in the morning since it was a lot closer than our training ground and started back to getting the basics down.
Back to scratch quartering into the wind and turning on the whistle, whoaing increasing the time to several minutes longer each time out.
I had not shot any birds over her and had not worked on steady to wing and shot.
I traveled last week 250 mile round trip to buy 35 pigeons for training this week, only to have a bobcat get into the pen and kill every bird. ( cat is now resting in a freezer awaiting his transformation into a rug. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons.
Fortunately my hunting partner had a few young bobwhites. Rather small but already flying great and he let me have 4 quail.
Up early this morning and took Ollie and 3 of my older dogs out to our training area where I took them all for an hour run.
Once back at the truck I attempted to put a couple of birds into my bird bag so I could plant them into my electronic trap.
Luck would have it one of the quail escaped and flew off into the tall grass.
My buddy Dave was standing there when this happened and we decided what the heck let’s see if Ollie can find the bird ( it had flown around the truck so we were not sure where it had landed.)
I took Ollie on the check cord and made a wide quartering pattern up wind, darned if she did lock up at about 15 yards from the bird. Dave asked what do you want to do? Want to try shooting a bird over her? Sure why not. She has never had a bird shot for her so I was not sure how it would go. Ollie stood staunch and did not try to move while Dave retrieved his shotgun from the truck.
I put just a little bow in the check cord so I could snap her back to whoa if she bolted. Dave flushed the bird made a great shot, and Ollie never moved. A tweet on the whistle and off she went to find the bird. She found it in the tall grass picked it up but was not sure about retrieving it to me. That’s OK, a great piece of dog work.
I took another quail and loaded it into my trap and headed out leaving Dave to run his dogs.
Went and planted the bird and then back to the truck for Ollie. Decided to let her drag the check cord but let her quarter into the wind in the direction of the bird.
5 minutes later her demeanor changed and her cat walking with her head up signaled she had the scent. She was still 30 yards out and she slowed almost to a stop at 15 yards when I softly said Whoaaaa. Ollie locked up, tail and head high.
Her unwavering stare and rock solid stance convinced me it was OK not to pick up the check cord. I snapped a few pictures then I reached for my release controller, pushed the button and nothing.
The trap would not spring. Damn. I was now convinced this was not going to work out well.
I had to reach down and manually release the trap. Out the bird sprang, and I struggled to get a shot off actually two since I was shooting one of my Parker’s.
Never scratched a feather, as the quail flew away. Incredibly Ollie just stood there.
Wow I thought maybe the good lord decided to cut me some slack today.
I tweeted on the whistle and Ollie made a swing out towards the bird.
That’s when I remembered I had only grabbed the two shells that I had loaded into my gun. I called Ollie back towards me as I needed to retrieve some more shells.
That’s when she picked up the scent and locked up. I had no choice but to tell her Whoa and I walked back to the truck quickly and reloaded.
Ollie was waiting on me still holding. I moved in and flushed the quail this time dropping it. Again Ollie stood there until I released her. It took a few minutes for her to find the bird in the tall grass but she finally did. A few “fetch it here” and she brought me the bird.
I am so happy that despite some challenges in keeping up with her training and issues I had today.I could not have asked for a better training day with Ollie.
A good day today.

Dean Romig · 10-30-2021, 10:31 PM

WOW !!!

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Bruce Hering · 10-31-2021, 01:17 AM

Thats outstanding. You got a good one coming along there. Have fun.

mobirdhunter · 10-31-2021, 08:23 AM

Phil, this comes under the category: "this never happens." Go buy a lottery ticket and see if your good fortune holds...then go shoot wild birds over that gem of a pup!

Phil C · 10-31-2021, 02:04 PM

Took Ollie out this morning with the other two quail. Decided to work her in the desert so she starts learning about all the cactus and other sticking things. This time with new batteries my electronic traps worked perfectly.
A great morning and acted like a broke 5 year old pointer. Steady to wing and shot and only moved after I released her for two perfect retrieves.
Im so excited to put her on Mearns quail this December.
2 of my dogs are 12 years old and it may be their last season.

mobirdhunter · 10-31-2021, 02:07 PM

Amazing.

Phil C · 12-04-2021, 04:31 PM

Took Ollie out for the opening day of Mearns season yesterday. It was hot and dry with tough scenting conditions unfortunately.
I always take my new dogs for their first Mearns quail hunt to a place where 2 of my dogs ashes are scattered.
Hunting was a little tough there but about 30 minutes in my dog Scout whom I was running Ollie with went on point.
I let Ollie work her way up and back Scout, then walked in for the flush.
Nothing there. I Released the dogs, Scout went up and Ollie down the hill.
A few seconds later Ollie locked up. I started down the hill and 8 to 10 quail flushed.
I picked a bird that was turning Sharp behind a tree and fired. It did come out the other side.
Another bird cut around behind me and I made a clean shot with my Parker 20 gauge Skeet Gun.
Ollie never moved. A tweet on the whistle and some hand gestures and she hunted the downed birds. Scout came over and picked up the second bird I had dropped and with a little coaching Ollie found and retrieved the first bird I had shot dropping it in my hand.
Could not be happier.
4 hours of walking and only found two coveys. Ollie and Scout both had another point and retrieve after a covey flushed wild and I missed the first shot.
Was able to circle back around later and picked up two more quail over the dogs.

Dean Romig · 12-04-2021, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phillip Carr

4 hours of walking and only found two coveys. Ollie and Scout both had another point and retrieve after a covey flushed wild and I missed the first shot.
Was able to circle back around later and picked up two more quail over the dogs.

But worth every minute of it it seems Phil. Nice!!

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mobirdhunter · 12-04-2021, 09:00 PM

Two coveys in four hours doesn't sound bad at all, especially this year for us in our home covers. And to have your pup do so well is icing on the cake.

I hope you can get your dogs into more birds, as I know how crucial it is in their first years. (BTW, The feet on those birds are remarkable. I guess they must make a pretty good living scratching up something for dinner with those feet. Makes our Missouri Bobs' feet look much smaller.)

Enjoyed the photos -- thanks!

Phil C · 01-14-2022, 01:01 AM

Just a quick picture and update on Ollie. She is definitely on her game. A few days ago I was hunting her with Scout.
Scout got birdy but then gave it up. About that time Ollie crossed the ravine. She picked up the scent and continued to work it out until she located a covey of Mearns.
She is hunting like a dog twice her age.
I’m really pleased with how Ollie points. Upon the flush she holds until I send her for the retrieve, making long retrieves to hand.
Also just as important she stops when I holler wow. I found out this week on a hunt just how important the wow training was from a safety perspective.