CAnderson
Well-known member
Today I had the opportunity to run my little white Setter dog for the annual NJ Youth Pheasant Hunt. I have volunteered in the past years and have had a blast. This was my son's second year taking part in the hunt. He too had a blast. I have met some really nice dogs and handlers taking time from their day to give the youth hunters an opportunity to hunt over a dog. I am glad that my son gets the opportunity to know what it is like to train a dog and hunt over one. I know I am one of those guys who would find it hard to keep going everyday with a dog in the field or in the blind.
Regretfully I did not think to take a group photo. I do have a photo of my son once we got back home and were getting ready to clean the bird.
I got paired up with a gentleman from North Jersey running a female GSP. It is great to see two dogs that have never met or worked together figure out quickly how to cover a field and pin a pheasant. It didn't take them long to get into sync. We had 5 boys in the group and a total of 10 birds in the field.
We had one big rooster get up out in front of the boys and no one got to take a shot. The bird sailed up into a thick hedgerow. Not being one to at least give chase, I sent my Abbygirl up to see what she could do. It only took a couple of minutes for her to find scent and point the bird. The next dilema was getting a gunner into the hedgerow to flush and shoot. That took some doing and in the meantime the bird started to run. I got into the hedgerow to give my dog an "easy" and have her relocated the bird. She went through some more thickets and out of sight. The other handler and I decided it was going to be too thick to have the boys move through the brush so I called my girl. Nothing. I called again. Nothing. So I went in the direction where I last saw her and find her laying on the ground. I call her again, she wagged her tail got up and started limping badly. Then she layed right back down. Then I noticed a 2" long cut on her skin. Her hair was missing and blood was beginning to form on the skin. I got concerned, picked her up and headed back out into the field to inspect the wound. Fortunately, it was only an abrasion. But is must have startled her and caused her some pain. So, I gave her a good girl, called her a sissy and told her to get back to work.
With the scent of more pheasant to be had, she obliged and off we went. She and the little GSP hunted the rest of the morning without a hitch.
Her new battle wound.
In the end, we managed to pin 7 of the 10 birds and have a couple really nice clean flushes. Three of the birds got to running and eventually flushed. All told some good shooting by the boys and we managed to take home 7 birds amongst the group. Two of the boys each took two birds and the other three boys each took one home. And no one got hurt!
Hope some other handlers have the opportunity to get involved in hunts like these. The kids really enjoy these each year.
Regretfully I did not think to take a group photo. I do have a photo of my son once we got back home and were getting ready to clean the bird.
I got paired up with a gentleman from North Jersey running a female GSP. It is great to see two dogs that have never met or worked together figure out quickly how to cover a field and pin a pheasant. It didn't take them long to get into sync. We had 5 boys in the group and a total of 10 birds in the field.
We had one big rooster get up out in front of the boys and no one got to take a shot. The bird sailed up into a thick hedgerow. Not being one to at least give chase, I sent my Abbygirl up to see what she could do. It only took a couple of minutes for her to find scent and point the bird. The next dilema was getting a gunner into the hedgerow to flush and shoot. That took some doing and in the meantime the bird started to run. I got into the hedgerow to give my dog an "easy" and have her relocated the bird. She went through some more thickets and out of sight. The other handler and I decided it was going to be too thick to have the boys move through the brush so I called my girl. Nothing. I called again. Nothing. So I went in the direction where I last saw her and find her laying on the ground. I call her again, she wagged her tail got up and started limping badly. Then she layed right back down. Then I noticed a 2" long cut on her skin. Her hair was missing and blood was beginning to form on the skin. I got concerned, picked her up and headed back out into the field to inspect the wound. Fortunately, it was only an abrasion. But is must have startled her and caused her some pain. So, I gave her a good girl, called her a sissy and told her to get back to work.
With the scent of more pheasant to be had, she obliged and off we went. She and the little GSP hunted the rest of the morning without a hitch. Her new battle wound.
In the end, we managed to pin 7 of the 10 birds and have a couple really nice clean flushes. Three of the birds got to running and eventually flushed. All told some good shooting by the boys and we managed to take home 7 birds amongst the group. Two of the boys each took two birds and the other three boys each took one home. And no one got hurt!
Hope some other handlers have the opportunity to get involved in hunts like these. The kids really enjoy these each year.
