Old Dogs, Last Hunts

I read an article that got me to thinking about the last hunts of some of my old dogs. I’ve been blessed with some good dogs and the ability to still be able to hunt at what some (most) people think is an advanced age. Most of these old dogs pictures aren’t on this computer but I will use what I can find.

A lot of years ago I had an old English setter that the kids named Scamp. Scamp wasn’t flashy but he hunted really hard and when he went on point he would stay as long as the birds didn’t run off or flush. My son, Ryan, and I were hunting him near Warrensburg Missouri one day when we lost him. This was long before GPS systems. We looked for him for about 45 minutes and found him on point near where we had last seen him.

When we walked in a nice covey of quail flushed. After we shot and Scamp had hunted dead if we got anything, we were talking about Scamp. I said something about him holding the birds for a long time and Ryan said, “He was mad at you. Did you see how he looked at you when we got here”? I hadn’t noticed but I’m sure he was.

Later, when Scamp was old, Dennis Garrison and I were hunting in the same area. We hadn’t been out very long when we noticed that Scamp was running into trees and other solid objects. He was blind. I started back to the truck with him. There was a draw that ran from where we were to the truck and I stated down one side and Dennis was on the other.

Dennis yelled, “dog on point!” I said, “go ahead. I’m going to take Scamp on back to the truck”. “It’s Scamp on point”, Dennis said. I went to his side and we killed the single that he was pointing. I took Scamp on back to the truck. That was his last hunt. He still lived another six months and had a good life.

Another nice dog that lived a long life was Lucky. Another English setter that was named by my grand kids. Lucky lived to be almost 14 years old and hunted to the end. His last season we were hunting in Kansas on a large property and were finding a few quail. Lucky wasn’t as fast as he used to be but he was happy to be hunting.

This property had some rolling hills and I saw Luke on point near the top of a small mound. He was looking off to the south west and since the birds had been running a lot I tried to circle in front of him but out several yards. Lucky came in front of me and without seeing Luke went on point. He was looking to the west.

I got almost even with him and a large covey flushed about 30 yards in front of him. These birds were at least 75 yards from where Luke had made the original point. I don’t remember whether I killed any or not but I think that was Lucky’s last point. Lucky was a good dog and sired a lot of good dogs.

Another one was Lady. I bought her when she was about 7 weeks old and kept her in the house for a while. Her first year she was a natural retriever until the last day of the season. She quit retrieving and I force broke her to retrieve in about 2 weeks. She became the best retriever I’ve ever had.

Vince Dye and I were hunting near Greensburg Kansas and when we turned dogs loose he said, “I’ll bet you a quarter on the first rooster”. I had just barely agreed when a rooster pheasant flushed in front of us. I knocked it down and Lady went to retrieve. When she just kept going I knew the pheasant was running.

We looked a few minutes and I checked the GPS and Lady was still moving away from us. I knew she was after the pheasant. We went just a little way and Vince knocked a quail down. As Roxie, his short hair, brought it to him, with the white on the little rooster quail’s head gleaming, Lady brought the pheasant to me. The pheasant wasn’t in any shape to be mounted. She had pulled a lot of feathers but she got the bird. I got my quarter from Vince.

Lady had covered a lot of ground but as she got older she stayed in front of me about 50 to 75 yards. Vince and I were hunting in Missouri and were using several dogs along with Lady. The other dogs were hunting hard and covering lots of ground. As we went down a wide water way Lady pointed. When we went in a covey of quail erupted in front of her. Vince was surprised. “With all of these dogs down she still finds birds, doesn’t she,” he said? I wasn’t surprised. When she said there were birds, there usually were.

Another time Vince and I were near Greensburg Kansas. One of the dogs pointed and as we walked in a covey flushed and flew to my left. I was between Vince and the birds so he didn’t get a shot. I only shot one time and knocked a quail down. Lady saw it fall and went after it. I watched her and as she came back with the bird I saw her head jerk to the side. I told Vince I bet I had hit two quail. Lady brought me the quail and waited for the head then went back and got the other bird. She got the head off that one, too.

When she started retrieving I had started giving her the head off of the quail that she retrieved. As she got older and there were faster dogs she thought she deserved the heads off the quail whether she retrieved them or another dog did. She, usually, got them.

The last hunt that I took her on was near Emporia Kansas. As the other dogs hunted hard and covered lots of ground Lady stayed right in front of me. As we got close to a large thicket that was too thick to go through she went on point. She could no longer hold her tail up but I knew she was on point. As I got close her tail started wagging. She was telling me to hurry the birds are running. When I got close to her I heard the covey flush way ahead of us, in the thicket. I couldn’t see them until one quail flew back over us. When I shot it fell in some tall weeds 40 yards from us.

Lady didn’t see the bird fall and I took her to the area and said, “hunt dead”. It took a couple of minutes but she found the dead bird. I think that was her last hunt.

Then there was Dolly. Dolly was Lady’s daughter out of a son of Grouseridge Reroy. Dolly as a puppy, about six weeks old, would climb the chain link pen to get onto her house because she got more attention than her litter mates.

I would play with the puppies and she would style up and her tail would curl until it hit her back. I knew I didn’t want a dog with a cycle tail, that bad. Every few days I would tell my wife, June, that I was going to get rid of her. She would always say, “you better wait”. As she got older the tail straightened. I’m glad I waited.

I guided for a few years at Bird Fever in Richmond Missouri. I always used Dolly and usually had Lucky along, too. Once, I was using her and had about 4 hunters with me when she pointed looking to the south west. There was a pretty strong wind out of the north east so the wind was hitting her right in the butt. The hunters got ready and I went in front of her and walked out about 15 yards. Nothing. I tapped her on the head and she moved up.

She only moved a few yards but still the wind was behind her. I went back in front and couldn’t get anything to flush. I went back and tapped her on the head and she went about 25 yards, still with the wind, and grabbed a dead chukar and brought it to me. How she could smell that is beyond me but she knew it was there.

She was a good retriever but not as good as her mother, Lady. But very few dogs are as good as Lady was.

Last season, I took her to Oklahoma in February. We didn’t find a lot of quail and I don’t remember her making a point but she hunted, for an old dog, well. A few days after we got home I noticed a swelling around her mouth. When I took her to the vet he said she had cancer. And she was in pain. There was nothing that could be done. I rubbed her head as she was put to sleep. That is the hardest thing a dog owner has to do.

I have been blessed with other great dogs. It’s hard to take them to the vet for the last time but that can’t keep us from having dogs. The good times with the dogs far outweigh the bad. I have some young dogs and I’m starting a puppy.