New Pastures and Pointers

We have had a good couple days working new pastures north of camp. We have run a couple young dogs and are making progress with the first year dogs.

We trailered over a mile north of town. Our first brace on the ground was Phil and Dot. Both hunted hard and patterned well, the race was forward and big. Dot pointed at the edge of a wheat field, I was able to flush a couple sharptails and Dot broke at the shot but was corrected brought back and we attempted to flush more birds with her standing well until I released her. She was hunting at good range and rewarded with another find near a small butte - her manners were much better on her second find and I was well pleased with her finish. Chewy honored both times and we were well pleased with his work.

Our second brace was Squirt and Jake. Both dogs had one unproductive midway through but we felt the birds had probably skedaddled by the time we got to the dogs to flush. Both dogs hunted intelligently and hard and finished the brace strong but had no bird contacts. Jackson had no birdwork and no opportunity to honor.

Lucy and Dent - Were in the third brace. Both dogs ran well, Lucy was close to moderate range and Dent ran to the extremes. Lucy pointed and I attempted to flush she self corrected and got too close to a bunch of sharptails and they flushed - Lucy stopped briefly and was styled up and stood through another flush and shot. Dent did nice work for a young dog. Sallie at first was not enthusiastic but after the other dogs made contact she was more attentive.

Buster and Pete ran in a bird rich field, but the heat and humidity were up and both dogs ran short races, but covered the field in a thorough manner and evidently the birds had gone into deep cover of the cropland adjacent to the prairie pasture.

Kiwi and Trevor - Kiwi got into some sharptails but was unable to pin them before they flushed and she chased merrily - Trevor stopped at the flush and handled it well before the shot - Kiwi perked up and ran a nice well applied but moderate race for the remainder of her time on the ground.

This morning., the sky was very overcast but we decided to run as many braces as we could. We trailered 2 miles west and 2 miles north. This was an area we seldom explored but we found out we need to go over there more often.

The first brace was Collin and Drifter. Both these dogs ran a big and well applied race, both the dogs made contact with birds - Drifter and Collin both finding birds and knocking and chasing them - It was very fun to watch the young dogs and how they developed - the first field was pasture but we also ran on some alfalfa field. This was the most enjoyable brace of the day. However, we were unable to catch Collin and he went off hunting on his own.

The second brace we turned loose was Cordite and Sonny. Both ran a forward, well applied race. Our first piece of birdwork was a divided find where both dogs simultaneously pointed. Collin by this time had joined us and failed to honor and flushed the bird. Cordite stood mannerly while Sonny needed some correction. The second find was a beautiful piece of birdwork by Cordite with both Sonny and Rhemy honoring well - all dogs stood broke at the flush and shot. We finished the brace well and Collin was caught and put away at the end of the brace.

The third brace - Cam and Joey - we put on rain gear as a light rain began. Joey had a great piece of birdwork but Cam failed to back and was corrected. Just then the sky opened up and our brace was abbreviated because of heavy rain and lightning.

Kane and Rock - We ran these dogs together after the rain had let up and they both covered the alfalfa and native pasture in a thorough manner - and Rock was rewarded for is effort with a nice pheasant find, Kane backed nicely and all was in order for the flush and shot - they ended the brace shortly after that.

Doc, Molly, and Haley - After the sun had come out and we worked some dogs on pen raised birds - I took them for a run. Both Haley, Molly ran big and pointed a group of birds before knocking and chasing - after Doc saw the birds and chased, he started to venture out on the prairies more - Molly had two finds, and Doc backed her on his own until the birds flushed - both chased merrily.

Unfortunately, we were not able to get all the dogs run but I am very pleased with the progress we are making.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill