On the barrens ....

[chris dawe]

The Ptarmigan are really scarce this year,alot of walking with no reward in the bag , I left the pup home yesterday,(we put on close to 30km on Saturday ) and took old Heiko in for a quick spin ,he's been showing his age when hunting and to top it off I think his hearing is starting to go ...but yesterday he had at least twenty finds on snipe ,and four Ptarmigan,he handled his birds in a way that would make any gunner proud !

Shooting my little O frame 16 with my own handloads was a real treat when my turn came for Snipe they went down (got 7 )...but the Ptarmigan ,that was pretty embarrassing....

The first two that got up,Heiko had them pinned,but when the first Snipe of the day got up it took the second barrel to drop him ...I should have clued in ,when the old fella just stayed flattened out ...three Ptarmigan got up while I stood there with my finger up my nose ( I think a dog should be allowed to bite me at times like this )...

Later that morning ,after firing what I thought was my last successful shot on a Snipe (just grabbed a handful ) I committed to taking pics ,my brothers setter Frank is really coming along...which is total instinct ,because the Brother wouldn't train a snail for a race ! we had been getting some nice work from the pup and Heiko was showing him how it was supposed to be done ...we were headed out when the old fella disappears for a time ,I'm down in a hollow and the wind is up so I can't see him or hear the beeper when I turn it on to locate him ...we crest a rise and there he is flattened out ,all I can see is his head poking up from the arctic cotton...I stay off trying to get a pic ,my brother go's in for a shot at what we think is another snipe,when a nice fat Ptarmigan gets up wild the brother misses ,I on the other hand am in perfect position for a shot,but no shells ?


I sit for a break rubbing Heiko's ear's and root in my pocket for a protein bar ,but it's in my other pocket ...my last two shells are in this one !!!!!!

Some pics from Friday ,first one is my pup on point way off ,the second is out side looking in ,the third inside looking out...but no birds