Young hunters and coaches
Luke
Brian Fidler called me in November and asked if I would use my dogs on a controlled hunt for a group of people from his church, Paradise Outfitter Ministries. Anytime I can get my dogs into birds, I’m ready. They released a lot of quail and some pheasants and it worked out real well for Lucky and Otto a German shorthair that Mark Swanson used. I was afraid I couldn’t keep Luke in that small of a field so I used Lucky first. When most of the guys were through I told them I had one more dog if anyone wanted to go through the field again. Two guys elected to go. Luke hunted like he knew what I wanted. He pointed 2 pheasants and the guys got both of them.
Luke on point
A day or two after this hunt Brian called to see if I would do it again for a youth pheasant hunt. Of course I would.
Young hunters and coaches
On the 14th of December, Mark Swanson and I put out about 15 pheasants. A film crew from the television show “This Dog Will Hunt” was there. This hunt was also sponsored by Heartland Pheasants Forever, Diakonos Counseling and Pro Pac dog foods. The hunters were instructed on safety. When a dog pointed 2 or 3 hunters would move in ahead of the dog. Each hunter would have an adult coach with them. They would load their gun with one round before walking in to flush. There was another field being used at the same time with young hunters learning to hunt safely.
Mark had a German shorthaired pointer, Otto, and I turned Luke loose first. Both dogs were experienced and would point and honor. Otto was a better retriever than Luke. Most of my dogs will retrieve quail but they will not retrieve pheasants. Something I need to work on.
We had 6 or 8 youth hunters with their coaches (mothers and fathers). First one dog would point then the other. Most times when one would point the other would honor. Some of the pheasants flew real well and the hunters got shots, some just ran. Kind of like wild pheasants
In the afternoon Mark and I put out 20 pheasants and we had a new group of hunters. Mark put Otto out and I used Lucky. At almost 10 years old Lucky doesn’t stand as tall on point as Luke does or as he used to, but when he goes on point he’s there as long as the birds hold. He also honors from where ever he can see another dog on point.
Lucky pointing a pheasant
We put out more birds and there was some of the runners from the morning left, so we had a lot of dog work in the afternoon. All of the hunters got to shoot and most were able to hit a bird.
This was an excellent way to introduce young hunters to bird dogs and birds and I am glad to be a part of it. I hope the kids had as much fun as Mark, Otto, Luke, Lucky and I did.