The Ladies of Lakeview
As winter slowly loosens it's grip through out most of the Midwest I arranged a play date for Daisy Friday at The Haymarsh. We were joined by my friend Dave who raises English Setters and due to work, family ect didn't really get out much last fall. He had two of his girls Gracie and Ella with him.
The morning brought a balmy 18 degrees with a solid 10MPH wind and I was wishing I had dug the long underwear back out. It was dam chilly to say the least. We arrived at the club just before 9am and the dogs were ready to go. I had asked Tim to release 6 of his finest birds on high ground. At this time of year the marsh in Haymarsh is usually very evident however with the colder temps it wasn't so bad. We lingered in the clubhouse having a coffee and talking dogs to one of the guides who was waiting for his hunters to arrive.
We had four fields so there was 160 acres to our disposal to find the six birds. Gracie was the first to find a bird and Daisy honored her in style BUT Ella busted the cock bird out of range. These two dogs hadn't been hunted in a while so while Dave was frustrated in their performance or lack thereof I marked where the bird flew and the chase was on. Daisy was working scent in a thick wooded area when the rooster busted in a wild flush. He wasn't going to be pinned down by two dogs again. What he hadn't counted on was that I was in position with the 30 inch DHE 20 and that combo proved his undoing. Our first bird was in the bag.
We continued on through a long strip of thick switch grass that has held a bird on more than one occasion. Ella was on point this time and Gracie and Daisy had honors. the bird was a runner so typical of birds at the Marsh. The dogs would point, relocate and point again. this played out over a 100 yards when the cock bird flushed ahead of the dogs. Dave and I both fired and the bird crumpled and Ella made the retrieve. We picked up another rooster along the edge of the woods as we headed for the truck to deposit our bounty,give the dogs a drink and have a coffee.
We had found four of the six birds released by now and expanded our hunt area. The dogs locked up Daisy solid on point and Ella and Gracie backing. A Woodcock flushed, then another, then another. I bet the dogs pointed a dozen of the long billed worm eaters throughout the day. I'm betting those birds wished they had stayed south a little longer. Another rooster gave the dogs a run for their money but run is the key word here as he wasn't using his wings until he had a solid 50 yards on the dogs and flew to safety.
It was crowding noon and Ella and Gracie were showing their lack of being hunted and were getting tired. We had picked up another bird so we had seen six and collected five. We worked some edge cover along a wood line and a field that still held thick grass. Gracie showed some interest and Dave proclaimed another Timber Doodle. Daisy was also on point but it was the point, creep, point creep scenario that to me said Pheasant not Woodcock. We followed along as the dogs sorted things out and a little farther along all three dogs locked up out in the field of thick grass. As Dave and I approached a rooster climb for altitude. I waited for Dave to shoot but he wasn't doing anything all the while the bird was gaining freedom. Finally I shouldered the 20 and a dozen wing beats into freedom the load of 7 1/2 cancelled his plans.
At the end of the day six beautiful cock birds lay on the tailgate and three tired but happy dogs rested in the dog box and two hunters headed to town for lunch.
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There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter...Earnest Hemingway
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