After the miserable night in the tent, it felt good to be on my feet, put my boots and coat on, and load up to head out to the fields. I brought both Macy and Rocky on this trip, anticipating swapping them in and out at each field. The first field was a large piece of CRP, and I decided Macy would get first honors since she does have seniority. As we walked away from the truck, I could hear Rocky howling in protest. By the second day of hunting I think he had finally figured out the route and quite complaining when left in the truck, but he was sure unhappy about it that first time!
Macy was pretty excited in that first field, but I managed to channel her energy into a pretty effective quartering pattern across the field. In that field she managed to flush two roosters. One was promptly double shot by me and another hunter, and the retrieve was subsequently stolen from Macy by a Drathaar. The second rooster I managed to completely miss, even though it should have been a “gimme” shot. In my defense, my joints were still so cold I felt like I was having difficulty moving my shotgun with any sort of fluidness. Unfortunately, that was probably the most successful field that I hunted the enter trip.
Taking a shortcut across a cut Wheat field:
Later on in the morning I was hunting with Rocky and a rooster flushed to my right. Rocky was on the bird immediately, but again had it stolen from him by a Drathaar, this time a different one. While we managed to make it work hunting my flushers with a bunch of pointers, I can’t say that it was as enjoyable as it could have been. While my dogs are quick, it’s about impossible for them to beat a long legged pointing dog to a retrieve. In addition, many times I had pointing dogs ranging out in front of me at about 50 yards. This made it more difficult for me to keep my dogs in the range I wanted them, and also meant that the ground in front of me had already been covered.
In order to compensate for the pointing dogs, generally I would try to make sure that I was on one of the “wings” anytime we covered a field, that way I could swing wide and kind of separate my Cockers from the other dogs. This made it much easier to handle my dogs, but also made us less successful, I think. In one field, while working the “wing” Rocky got really birdy and wanted to head further out from the other guys. I decided to follow him and forget about everyone else. He continued quartering back and forth feverishly, and at the end of the field he burrowed into a clump of brush and flushed a rooster. I hit the rooster and it seemed to drop hard. Rocky was at the sight of the fall immediately, but instead of picking up a dead rooster, he began to quarter back and forth. When I went to investigate, I found a bunch of feathers where the bird had hit, but he was gone. Rocky kept hunting, making wider circles, but he was never able to locate that bird. I’m chalking it up to inexperience as Macy or any other more experienced dog would have immediately started trailing that rooster. Instead, Rocky got confused by all of the scent but no bird and started randomly hunting for it. More time in the field should resolve that problem.
On Saturday of the trip (day three), we hunted a cut Milo field that had quite a few birds in it. I made a long crossing shot on a rooster and winged it. I could see it running down one of the rows, so I got Rocky in the generally vicinity. When he hit the trail, he did a sharp 90 degree turn and was on the rooster within seconds. After that retrieve he was a different dog. I think his energy level at least doubled, and I had a terrible time keeping him in range. I kept him quartering hard, but even then he was covering ground so fast he had a tendency to get out too far. Obviously I need to get him on more birds as that rooster brought out some of his immaturity.
Headed back to the truck after a long day, but guns still ready just in case!
I shot somewhere around six roosters and a couple of quail on the hunt. I was hoping to maybe shoot a few more, but at least there were enough to keep it interesting. I also have to blame myself for the number not being a little higher…I missed a few shots that I definitely should have made! I suppose that comes from not getting out in the field as much this year with a gun. The birds in the walk in land (WIHA) were very wary, and it was difficult to in them down so they’d flush. I know many just kept running and never flushed. More hunters might have made the hunting more effective, but it was also enjoyable having a smaller group of guys.
Rocky and Macy performed as well as I could expect. Rocky had tremendous energy throughout the entire trip. He would hunt hard all day long and then still be a cheerful, energetic dog around the campsite in the evening, while all of the other dogs slept soundly. It was definitely a maturing experience for him, and he was slowly starting to learn the game by the end of the trip. He was able to make a few retrieves, and a number of flushes, so the experience was good for him.
Rocky showing off the energy!
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Macy hunted hard the entire trip but slept hard as well! She just can’t compete with Rocky for energy. She also took a bit of a beating on the trip. On day one of the trip she got a 1.25” long gash on the inside of one of her ears. I sealed it up with some EMT gel and she was good to go. On day two she got a 1/2” long cut on the side of one of her pads. I spotted it due to the bloody foot. Once again I sealed it up with EMT gel and then I booted that foot. She continued hunting the rest of the trip with that boot on and didn’t seem to be adversely affected by the boot or the cut. She handled very well in the field and was responsive to my commands. Overall I was very pleased with her.
Highs from the trip were probably watching the dogs work, seeing Rocky retrieve his first wild birds, watching Macy do her thing, and hanging out with fellow hunters and dog lovers. Lows from the trip were the absence of flushers and the presence of pointers, freezing in my sleeping bag at night, not seeing as many birds as I’d hoped, and getting aches in my knees from walking too much and sleeping on the cold ground!
A rather pathetic picture after one of the days (can you spot Rocky??):
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