Photo By: Karen ThomasonI hit Fatman Mountain this afternoon with our little female Gordon Setter, Mickey. We walked a side road and took a break at the end. We found no birds on the way in but on the way out we flushed 3. Mickey got really birdy and locked up on point looking left to right, and downhill. I moved in right behind her, gun in the ready position, and eager to burn some powder. The grouse flushed about 30 ft. behind me and up the hillside. Mick was pointing in the wrong direction. She does this a lot. She'll catch the scent and freeze.....even if she hasn't pin pointed the direction. She has a super nose and holds a point forever. I believe more birds will give her the experience and ability necessary to work moving grouse. It's o.k. for your Gordon to carefully relocate if she is not sure where the grouse is. We flushed 8 this afternoon but never fired a shot. DWT
Though I don't have the wild birds that you have to train, I've seen my dogs hit some scent, point, study the situation then move and point again once they believe that they have the bird located. Sounds like Mick is well on her way to being a great little dog. If she is that steady sounds like you did your early work well and she should eventually figure this moving grouse situation and become an exceptional little grouse dog.
ReplyDeleteMickey has lots of training on planted birds but the last 3 grouse seasons have been a disaster for us. No grouse, a heart attack and getting shot, kept us from hunting much. She's learning, and I think she will be a great dog by the end of this year. Peat would circle running grouse and push them out to me, and Blackie does this too. It takes lots of grouse experience and a smart dog to play this game.DWT
ReplyDelete