It was in the 80’s yesterday when I trained and the forecast for today was for it to be in the 90’s so I started about 7:00 am. I ran the young dogs early and then had to wait for my pigeons to come back before training the older dogs. I trained Luke, Lucky and Dolly about 9:30 and it was already getting hot.
Luke
I put 2 pigeons out about 75 yards apart and turned Luke loose to hunt. I wanted to hurry because of the heat so I didn’t even take the dogs out of the truck until it was time to run them. Luke is always going all out, so when he hits the scent cone he slams into a point. This time was no exception. I walked in front of him kicking the cover, flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. He never moved. I continued to kick the cover, then tapped him on the head to release him.
His second bird was about like the first. When he pointed he was rigid all over. I walked back and forth for a long time then finally flushed the bird and fired the blank. He never moved. I walked in front of him kicking the cover, then tapped him on the head to release him.
Lucky
Lucky was next up. I heeled him from the truck to the field, whoaed him then tapped him on the head to release him to hunt. He moved into the field, working the wind. I could tell he smelled the bird a long time before he pointed and he was still 20 yards from the bird when he stopped. When I guide this is my most productive dog. He knows how close to get or how far to stay away before pointing and he learned this at an early age. I walked in front of him, kicking the cover. When I flushed the bird and shot, it came over his head real low. His head moved but his feet didn’t. I kicked some more then tapped him on the head to release him.
He was closer to the next bird when he hit the scent cone. I walked in front kicking the cover. I flushed the bird and shot the blank pistol. He never moved. I tapped him on the head then I started back to the truck to put him up and get Dolly out. The field I was working dogs in is about 35 acres surrounded by woods all the way around. I looked for Lucky when I was almost back to the truck and he was running the edge of the field next to the woods. He will be 10 years old this month and it was 80 degrees but he was bred to find birds and he was trying his best. They are too soon old.
Dolly
Dolly is eight years old and she had been whining to go ever since we had parked the truck. If the dogs whine or bark I make them wait until last and she has been last all year. I heeled her to the field and released her to hunt. She started to make a big cast then got some scent and trailed toward the pigeon until she was about 15 yards from it, then pointed. I sometimes wonder if the dogs ever get to talking amongst themselves and say our owner must not be too smart. We point right at the bird and he’s off 25 or 30 yards in the wrong direction trying to flush the bird. Anyway I kicked the cover then flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. She never moved. I continued to kick the cover then tapped her on the head to release her.
She was from one side of the field to the other. She hit the scent cone on her second bird and froze. She was about 25 yards from the pigeon but she was getting a lot of scent. Her head was real high and her tail was almost 12 o’clock. I walked in front of her, flushed the bird and shot. She never moved. I picked up the traps and she hunted back to the truck.
Writing this blog makes me think about things that I might not think of without it. Like Lucky being 10 years old and Dolly 8. I raised both of them from pups. I owned the sire and dam of both of them. At 10 this may be Lucky’s last year or last year might have been and Dolly doesn’t have very many more. Then to take that line of thought even further, last year may have been my last, also.
The Lord has always taken care of me and I think he will again. I expect to be hunting for several more years.