Pheasant in NY with my VH Parker

[QUOTE=Kevin Origoni;6230]Dave,

Thanks! My Setter's name is Sam. He's 7. He is a great companion and not too bad in the field either. Looks to me like an "Osthaus" painting- great foto and the tail- sure, it doesn't find the birds as does his nose, but it sure shows a most intense point. Preserve birds? That's about the only pheasant left for us "die-hards" in Western MI-now 20 years or so ago, we had some fairly good pheasant hunting, even a few grouse in the tag alders. Many of my gunning pals used to think that allowing a pointing dog you were training for grouse and woodcock to hunt pheasants (with their tendency to run) was a mistake- I'll bet your dog at age 7 handles all of those fine upland birds. Have you ever tried the Poly-Wad or other brands of Spreader shot loads for the first barrel in your 12 VH??