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Well guys, my 5 month old GSP pup flushed and found his first bird last weekend. It was a covey of quail, from which I shot two of them.
This morning we were out again and he actually pointed and froze. I said to my little boy,....... look at bushman he's on point! Then no sooner the words were out of my mouth the covey broke and I was lucky to be able to shoot a single bird as they caught me so far off guard while I was admiring his point. I just figured he was confused by something and I just happened to catch his point. Well that Quail fell into a dry ditch which was filled with tumble weed about 7 foot high. I started into the ditch and found some feathers. Then searching the ground nothing? That little quail was in the sage brush about 6 feet off the ground. Birds that small don't fall to the bottom like big rooster pheasants do. A short time later he went on point again. This time he was flat to the ground, like a cat stalks a bird, frozen on point and his belly nearly touching the earth. Then he busted and grabbed a meadowlark out of the air. What a whacky morning with him! He figured out how to point and then hunts like a leopard grabbing a bird from the air.
Anyhow bushman made his first point, and after that he was like a machine. Somewhere in the distance we heard a shotgun fire. Instantly he jumped up and looked around for the bird and was running top speed searching. He did not understand that it was not me that shot. That shot was probably miles away. But he now relates gunshots to dead birds.
We have only a few days left for the season, I gotta hunt him hard now that he's fired up. Hunting with a dog like this is so much better then just walking the ditch alone. I'm totally addicted with this upland bird hunting with bushman now. I would have posted a photo, but those quail are just so tiny in a photo. I'll take one of him on point next time out.
This morning we were out again and he actually pointed and froze. I said to my little boy,....... look at bushman he's on point! Then no sooner the words were out of my mouth the covey broke and I was lucky to be able to shoot a single bird as they caught me so far off guard while I was admiring his point. I just figured he was confused by something and I just happened to catch his point. Well that Quail fell into a dry ditch which was filled with tumble weed about 7 foot high. I started into the ditch and found some feathers. Then searching the ground nothing? That little quail was in the sage brush about 6 feet off the ground. Birds that small don't fall to the bottom like big rooster pheasants do. A short time later he went on point again. This time he was flat to the ground, like a cat stalks a bird, frozen on point and his belly nearly touching the earth. Then he busted and grabbed a meadowlark out of the air. What a whacky morning with him! He figured out how to point and then hunts like a leopard grabbing a bird from the air.
Anyhow bushman made his first point, and after that he was like a machine. Somewhere in the distance we heard a shotgun fire. Instantly he jumped up and looked around for the bird and was running top speed searching. He did not understand that it was not me that shot. That shot was probably miles away. But he now relates gunshots to dead birds.
We have only a few days left for the season, I gotta hunt him hard now that he's fired up. Hunting with a dog like this is so much better then just walking the ditch alone. I'm totally addicted with this upland bird hunting with bushman now. I would have posted a photo, but those quail are just so tiny in a photo. I'll take one of him on point next time out.