The return

Well just got back and getting my feet under me here. All in all it was a great trip capped by the performance of Ivy's lifetime on a couple of Rooster pheasant's finishing off both my Dad's and my limits for the day. I can say I would have liked to stay longer but missed everyone back east. More later....this weekend begins the season here in Mass....

Well Yesterday was a cold and wet day so we got out very little. However today was a different story. We ran Ivy this morning and she got her first hun shot over her. Best news was that either Dad or I are the ones who got it and she stood steady through it all. Of course being the imp she is she then worked a running covey of huns and blew them out. Eventually chasing one over the hill. She did however redeem herself slightly on a jackrabbit when she didn't chase one which came out a mere 4 feet away from her. I also went out in the afternoon over a friends dog but the wind had come up again and the birds were spooky so although I was able to take a few long shots nothing came from them - oh well. Tomorrow we'll be headed over to the western part of the state for a more traditional sharptail hunt in the badlands.

2nd Day

Well the operative word today was WIND. It sure can howl out on the prairies. Last night a couple of friends came in and this morning we went out hunting with them. Working this morning we got into a fair number of Sharptails although not much shooting for one reason or another. Moving spots I was able to knock down my first sharptail of the season. It was a young bird but not to many pin feathers to pull. Not to say I did not have any other opportunities to knock a bird down but after working all summer with planted birds it takes a bit to catch-up to these western birds. All in all a good morning.

Took Ivy and Gabby out in the afternoon. Ivy worked with me and Gabby worked for my Dad in separate covers. We had no bird contacts as the wind was severe although Ivy worked the wind nicely and handled like a dream even in the trying conditions. Gabby according to reports worked nicely and they had two separate groups of birds that got up just out of gun range. She also worked a running pheasant although not in season. Well at least the old dog has continued to have bird contacts.

1st Real Day PM

Well we also went out this afternoon and took the puppies, mine and 2 others that are here. Zoe did a nice job working well. She is learning what her legs are for. She was gaining confidence as she moved along. In the end she was chasing a tweety bird and ended running over a sharptail - oh well that's a puppy for you. ;)

1st Real Day AM

It's amazing how well you can sleep after a long drive. So after a good nights sleep we got out and going. First up was Gabby, might as well see how the old dog would do. Well after pointing and holding over a dozen pheasant it's safe to say the old dog still has it. She had a great day and cemented herself as still the most consistent dog in the kennel. After Gabby set the bar high we decided to run Ivy. Well Ivy did not come close to Gabby's performance - actually she acted more like a puppy by blowing out every bird she came into contact with. In an attempt to see the silver lining on an utterly poor performance - she did handle nicely.

The Drive out

WELL a 30 hour drive is LOOONG..... After that thought things went well. We worked Ivy today. She was ired fromher long trip to the west. We had her down for 1.5 hours and moved 3 different coveys of Huns a covey of Sharptails. She had a single sharptail pinned down but I had lost her and when the bird flushed did not know where she was so did not shoot. Dad had the covey of sharptails go out in front of him and didn't touch a feather - got to remember to take the safety off. ;) Well time to go to bed. See y'all tomorrow.