By George, she's really got it now

[TARNATION !!!]

CHARLIE has now taken to retrieving like she was born for it. Her Husky blood kind of screwed up retrieving - or maybe I just didn't work hard enough or drop enough roosters or..... I get older and more forgetful. I really did have the camera along but of all things the memory card was full when I tried to take a pic or two. Okay, next time. Should be Tuesday.

This past week I drove from Regina to Winnipeg via Radville, Torquay and Oungre. That is a few hours out of the way and even more while hiking pheasant cover. The trip out was quite succesful. First rooster took me a bit by surprise. As I fumbled with gun and gloves, it made it to safety. I headed back towards the truck and put up two flocks of huns. The second flock was well within range. I hit one and it wobbled and plummeted into heavy cover, over a small hill and down toward the creek. I'm thinking lost bird or long search. CHARLIE watches intently. When a shot rings out, she has a keen eye and in this case was off on the run, diving through all the cover. I'm thinking, if she finds it, I hope she remembers she is now a retriever. And so she did. She was gone maybe two minutes and came trotting back, bird in mouth. Now that made me pretty happy, to say the least. From there, we went to another good spot and had hiked for about an hour. We approached a small stand of poplar near the creek, with a lot of 6 foot high grass and cattails. I had lost sight of CHARLIE and KYRA but a rooster jumped from near the poplars and was dropped about 40 yards away into the high grass. I didn't have time to think about that shot, as four more roosters rose from the same area. I dropped a second bird dead onto the ice of the creek. Now I was concerned about finding the first when the grass in front of me began moving and I could hear the sounds of CHARLIE fighting her way through. When she appeared, to my delight, she had the limp rooster in her mouth. She gave it to me and I pointed to the iced rooster. Off she went and back she came. Gotta love a two for one spot. Then it was off to an old gravel pit. There was a lot of cover that was basking in the micro-climate of the sun's rays, while the air was in negative temperature range. CHARLIE put up several birds and then a rooster with a broken leg took off. The leg didn't need further attention. Again, from that 6 foot high grass, CHARLIE emerged, rooster in mouth and given to hand. Well that was my three birds, so we headed for Winnipeg. My 92 year old father-in-law and I dined on fine fare for a few days.

The return trip, while succesful, was a bit disappointing. I chose to go through country I had not been in for six or seven years. I had an inventory of great spots in my mind. When I arrived, every little piece of cover that a pheasant might find comfy was posted. Don't know what went on in the last few years, but the landowners must have gotten royally pissed off. I'm talking an area about 10 miles square with great habitat that I had hunted for probably 15 years. I found two spots where the signs did not appear. There were plenty of birds but no shots fired. I left the area and drove 20 miles to another spot I hadn't been for several years. Nothing much had changed there. I checked an old shelter belt. Two bald eagles decided they didn't want to hang around. Two pheasants left from the end of the shelter. One carried on. CHARLIE brought the other to hand. As we headed to the truck, another rose from cover but the trees interfered with a shot. Light was now into the magic half hour after sunset. We wandered along the creek for a bit and another nice rooster jumped up with the benefit of trees blocking my shot. I decided to try a less treed, dry slough. We were no sooner into it than a hen decided to not bother to roost there for the night. As we worked the cover toward a point, KYRA got very birdy and jumped into the weeds. Mr. Rooster jumped out and crossed left to right. A puff of feathers showed he had strayed into the pattern of #4 lead from some unknown manufacturer - still have some of that and use it for the late season birds. CHARLIE was on it right away and delivered it to me. So, all in all it was a good trip. Visited with the father-in-law. Hunted my way there and back. Dined on my favorite game birds. Shared the excitement of witnessing CHARLIE's new found talent. Tuesday will be another frozen pheasant hunt. Thursday will see the dogs with the sitter while I find some sun and sand in Maui for a couple weeks. If it is warmer than -40 when I get back, CHARLIE and KYRA will get a couple more days rustling up the big wily winter roosters. Maybe I will have the camera and a memory card with room then. Cheers, Jack