[JJHACK]

Well my pup really turned the corner this weekend and I was into some birds. The tip I got from a friend about the location of some chukers was right on the money. He found/ saw them while fishing, marked them on his GPS and I returned to hunt using my GPS to find the exact area along the Snake river.

Never intended to bump into pheasants, but I'm not complaining. Bushman was born on Sept 1st of this year, so he's quite young. He flushed the first pheasant which was running ahead of him. Then he retrieved it right back to me. The next Rooster he pointed rock solid It jumped and I waited a bit to shoot missing it, however with the second shot I knocked it down. When we walked closer to look for it Bushman pointed it again. There it sat still fully alive but unable to fly, or run. This dog is in some kind of a trance when on point. He will ignore just about any command I give and seems deaf. When I walked a bit closer it flopped around and then he grabbed it. Two for two.

We walked up a narrow rocky draw and I saw lots of Chucker tracks in the snow. We did not go 100 yards and he was locked up again. I walked up right next to him and looked all around. Hmmm nothing?? Then from 4 feet away under a sage brush I chucker jumps and I knock him down another flawless point and retrieve.

This happened a couple more times. Then the last one, I had flush right into my face. Over my shoulder and go behind me. I hit him with a very awkward shot and his one leg dropped down but he still flew/ coasted to the ground 200 yards away. We walked over and searched a while. Then bushman started with his tail waggin and nose snorten you could just sense he was onto something. All of a sudden the bird jumped and flew ........well kinda flew and then fell and jumped and bushman grabbed him and again right back to me. That was one of those birds a guy without a dog would never have recovered.

I'm simply speachless over the performance of a 5 month old pup. If he never got any better then this I would still be 100% satisfied. I know guys speak about their dogs like their children. Most seem really proud of their dogs. I did not arrange the breeding, I just bought a dog on good faith from a reputable GSP breeder and took one of the last two unspoken for pups. Way too much was luck for me. If this breeders pups all hunt like this it would be a miracle! Sure I'm proud, but God preprogammed this dog with his skill set, not me.

There was one down side to the trip. My little boy woke up not feeling too good. About 8am he said he did not want to go out today he was sick. My wife came along for the trip and we stayed in my truck camper. So he missed out on this hunt and I was on my own. Thats a huge downer for the whole enjoyment for me, but the upside was I did cover about 4 times the area I would have with his 5yo legs tagging along.

I told him I'll find a place to go with him at a club, or preserve before the end of winter. I figure bushman could use a litte more hunting now that he has this much figured out. too

 

[netboy]

Way to go,looks like life in Eastern WA is fitting you nicely!

 

[Echo Mules]

Looks like JJ has gotten bit hard by the "Upland BUG", life will never be the same. :lol:

 

[JJHACK]

It's an incurable virus I'm afraid!

The funny thing is I was hunting birds the first part of the season without a dog. Upland hunting was something I very much looked forward to even without a dog. However now that I have this dog, it's so much different. It seems to be more then just bird hunting. It's had some wierd overwhelming effect on me. Rather then just wandering aimlessly hoping a bird is hidden away, I now seem to focus on the dog and read his reactions. I simply focus on what he's doing and I know whether there is a bird around or not. It's really obvious when he smells a bird, you can hear his snorting and grunting from 30 yards away. Nose to the ground, and the stubby little tail going back and forth like crazy.

It's very entertaining to have a dog for this now. Watching him work and seeing how excited he is to get on these birds is simply wonderful. What an addiction it has become. Unfortunately it's gonna get expensive now that the open season is over, and I'm not done hunting yet. I gotta get him on some preserve birds for another couple months.

By the way, I thin sliced those chucker breasts and fried them up. They are awsome!

 

[RiverTraveler]

Now that's the way to end the season! Congratulations to you and your pup on a great year!

Echo - you are dead on! JJ has all the signs of bird fever... No antidote for this one

 

[stillwater]

Nice ending, sounds like a lot of private land around you what about buying some birds and planting them yourself- not as fun for you but it's work for the dog!

 

[JJHACK]

There are a lot of pigeons on a farm down the road. I am thinking about getting a Pigeon trap and asking the farmer if I can catch some of them. I can clip the wings and then will only fly 50 feet at a time then. It's a good possibility for some training birds. I can even shoot them if needed. No season on pigeons.