Two young pups in the UP

[SXS OHIO]

This was my 7th year hunting the UP all but one was in October. My Gordon setter Ruby 14 and 8 months is fully retired and stayed back at home being spoiled rotten.....(-: My field bred Gordon puppy Miss Charlie Rae born November 2023 was her 2nd trip to the UP and she will be 2 this November. She has had two professional training sessions since her first time in the UP and is now learning her real world Grouse hunting craft. I am very pleased with how she in doing. She has so much drive, she wants to get out there and find birds no matter how deep in the woods she must go. I do my best to keep her 100 yards; I have the tone button worn off the 300i. In her defense she has held a well-set grouse 70 yards out till I got there. My other pup a Ryman Setter from Wyss Fireside Kennels Miss Daisy May, she was born February 2024 and will be 2 this coming February. She also was at the bird dog boot camps training and is way easier to handle being biddable English setter. She works much closer than Charlie. In a couple years these two will be rock stars on the tram trails and grouse woods. Daisy was gifted to me by my longtime friend and mentor of the grouse woods, Dave Beaner of Pittsburg PA, AKA Pine Creek Dave. It's a long story how Daisy came to live with me. Her first 10 months was very hard for a puppy as her master was unable to do any training or even get her out for runs due to his health issues, so she spent that time with very little contact. We had our hands full getter her up to speed when we got her 2 days before Christmas 2024. She is a fine dog and has fit into are home well. On the 6th day in the UP, Sunday I hunted Daisy only for a long 6-hour hunt in some prime UP grouse woods. She really put on a show that day. The first half of the hunt she was learning the smells and ways of grouse and doing a good job looking for them. The 2nd half of the hunt we got into the best coverts and the points started; the light came on, she showed me what I had! A Ryman grouse dog! We had 3 solid points that most anyone could have shot the bird, close and open shots. The last bird she worked moved ahead of her from one small pine on the tram trails edge to next and the next and lost one it set. A death triangle was set. I took one step to close, and the grouse erupted in plain sight crossing the open tram trail just 10 feet from me. I still can't believe that bird did not fall out of the sky after two clear shots at a great big drummer the size of a basketball. I was beside myself and could not apologize enough to Daisy. She got her promised crock pot pork and kabosy dinner that night. Grouse camp 2025 was a huge success for me and my puppies. We enjoyed 2 weeks of dog work, wonderful weather with only one rain day! Both dogs had birds killed over their points, a second decade of bird hunting has started. We also had a nice visit with are friend Harold Pickins that we see most every year in the UP. SXS Ohio