A real hunt, more or less

We used pheasant at Luke Weaver's last Sunday, and the second one decided to run.

Larsen quartered his way out to the bird's last known position, and then swung around and headed off in a seemingly contrary direction.  He looked birdie and intense, so I followed him.  Al wasn't so sure, and lagged a little.  I wish I'd had my gun in my hands.

Larsen found that bird and put him up, but all of the guns were too far away to do anything but salute the bird.  Al thought he saw a tail feather waft.  The pheasant flew to the far tree line, so I roped up Larsen and we walked across the field to the trees.  I found a spot to release Larsen, and he went at a right-angle to my setup.  He found the bird, and put it up, and this time Al hit her a bit harder.  I released Larsen who went into the thick stuff to find the bird.  Larsen lost the bird and doubled back to pick up the scent.  He took a new tack to the wind and went back to the thicket.

I tried to follow but got tangled, so I backed out and just hoped for the best.  Periodically, I saw red and white flash through the briars.  Larsen tracked the bird down and brought her out, with a beautiful prance to his step.  His delivery was just short, but Marilyn recommended that I just pick it up, which I did.  Let's stay happy.

Larsen next went to the thicket and picked up another bird that had been shot but not found.

 A nice 20 minute outing that let the happy dog hunt without the bother of overhandling and whistling.  

South Fork

A correspondent sent the following note to me:

Had a great time at South Fork Hunting Preserve’s first Continental Pheasant Shoot couple of weeks ago, and quail hunt afterwards.

South Fork Hunting Preserve is in Danielsville, Ga, which is northwest of Athens, Ga about  17 miles from Bowman and 78 miles from north Atlanta.

 

 

Let's try it again

Well, ok, if you insist, but only if you are steady to the flush.

Upland hunting in NY

One of my correspondents opined on grouse hunting on public lands in NY.  The recommendations are valid in other areas as well.

If you're hunting public land in NY, you'll find that much of it is fairly mature.  The trick is to find the covers within the cover.
 Look for apple trees back in the woods.  They're the remnants of early homesteads and often attract grouse despite the overall maturity of the forest.   If you find creeks or swampy areas, hunt the edges of them.  The cover will be denser. If you can clearly identify stands of Beech, hunt them.
 Some of the best cover if you can find it will be stands of dogwood brush, pencil to hammer handle in diameter, with some alder on the edges.  This early in the season they often feed on dogwood berries and the density provides haven from predators.  It makes for tough shooting so use some strategy.  Get one guy on the sides or covering the back before the dog or other gunner pushes in and don't forget to take turns.
 Stands of prickly ash are also good, but murderous on the flesh (hence my username).  They're mostly found in reverting pastures alongside or near the dogwood.   You'll be hard-pressed to find a more bloodthirsty weed but it's good bird cover.  The trick to moving through it is to flow.  Don't stop, don't hesitate, just move like water and you'll be okay.
 Two other elements that will be critical to your success are conifers and slope.   If the cover looks great but there are no pines in sight, you probably won't find as many birds as places that do.  Remember, they almost always have an escape plan and there's nothing like dense stand of conifers for good hiding.
 Slope - not totally necessary but definitely worth looking for.  I've found that a cover with some slope will hold more birds than flatter areas.  If you're pushing up a hill, be extra ready when you're nearing the crest.   They'll often run to the top and wait for you to pass buy.  Once they figure out you're onto them they'll be ready to blow out before you are.  Beat them at their own game. (HT Briarscratch)

Robert Cleminson (British, active 1865-1868) On the grouse moor 18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.5 cm.)

Field time

Larsen was back in the field on Sunday after his conformation showings with Aki Friday and Saturday in Jonesboro, Georgia.

The highlight of the morning for Tim and me was sending Larsen after a cripple.  Neither of us knew any more than the general area where the bird went down.  Moreover, we did not pursue the bird right away.  Instead, after the shot and lost bird, we went back to field training and forced Larsen to quarter, flush, and sit.

Tim decided that the time was right, and I heeled Larsen toward the general area.  I then sent him as I would for field work.  Tim told me not to send him on a hunt-dead because we were not asking him to take a line anywhere.  We wanted him to hunt.

Tim and I sat back and watched as the dog worked a deadfall, then moved upfield along the tree line.  He wheeled and doubled back, working the air and the ground.  This was all Larsen.  We were spectators.  We heard the cluck of the chukar as it tried to run, but Larsen was on him.  Larsen brought him back for the retrieve.

As much fun as it is to train the dog, it is inspiring to see the spaniel take the initiative and bring back the bird.

Pheasant hunt

It felt like a hunt as Larsen tracked a rooster pheasant.  It was a plant, to be sure, but that tough bird got up and started running and didn't look back.  I quartered Larsen, but pretty soon decided to just pocket my whistle.  What was the point?  That's when the hunt began.  The little dog scented the bird and started after the bird and never let up.  We didn't need whistles or commands to get his attention or keep him in range.  The rooster and Larsen's response took care of that.  This was a field-smart dog and a wily pheasant.  There were no straight lines on this hunt.  Larsen pivoted on his nose, wheeled about, and moved across and deep into the  field.  Bill T. and Al were flanking with the guns, and we lost ourselves in this hunt.

Along the way, Larsen found a downed chukar and started to bring it in, and then got a full whiff of pheasant.  He started toward that scent, chukar in mouth.  I called him in, and Marilyn B, following closely behind, told me to take the bird and immediately release Larsen to the hunt.  On we went.

Larsen corralled the bird in some tall stuff just before the bluffs of the Tallapoosa.  The bird went up hard and Bill brought it down.  Deep in the blind, Larsen couldn't mark the bird.  He got his reward for his hard work as Marilyn gave him a toss into that blind.  

There was fun talk on the long walk back.  We had been caught up in the quick strategic moves of bird and dog.  It was a fine effort all around and made the day worth it.

More on Larsen's day later.

Bird hunting season in Georgia ends

Bird hunting in Georgia is over until next fall, as the grouse and quail seasons ended yesterday. Working with pen-raised birds on a private reserve is permitted in the upcoming months, of course, but rough hunting on public lands is ended.

Volunteer jonquils are blooming in patches along Georgia's upland country roads. The sun has gained strength and is quite warm on a clear day, but the chill returns in the evenings.

Mr. Mimms and the other bird growers will clean out their pens and make ready for a new generation of chukar, quail, and pheasant. The pen-raised game-bird shortage will get more acute, and the available birds will be of poorer quality and moulting.

We'll practice with birds when we can, and in the meantime get serious about firming up Larsen's basic obedience.

Jonquils bloom along a road near Bowman, Georgia last Sunday, an indication that the 2011 hunting season has ended.

How a spaniel hunts

Each type of gundog has a particular way of hunting. The fundamental distinction is whether the dog flushes or points.

A pointing dog ranges far and wide in his hunt for the bird. For big running dogs like German Shorthair Pointerse, the hunter might put a GPS on the dog just to find him.

When the pointing dog comes upon a bird, he stops and points. The dog may strike the classic pointing stance: which is front paw raised, nose aimed at the bird, and tail up (if he has an undocked tail). The hunter locates his dog and hikes to him. He then walks up to the bird and the dog, and basically kicks up the bird to shoot it.

(Click on photos to see entire picture.)

A Brittany on point. Photo courtesy of Central New Mexico Brittany Club.

A pointing dog may work for a bird that hunkers down and holds his ground. But some birds, like pheasant, do not hold, they run. In fact, a pheasant, like many galiforms would rather run than fly.

A pheasant hunter wants a close working dog: a dog that hunts within gun range. The dog must aggressively charge into the cover where the bird has hidden itself and give the bird no choice but to fly.

That is what the spaniel does. The spaniel searches the field by quartering in the "halo," or area in front of the hunter that is in reasonable shooting distance. When the flushing spaniel finds the bird, he aggressively attacks and in so doing, sets the bird awing. The dog's snapping jaws provide the incentive for the bird to get out of Dodge.

Stanley demonstrates the spaniel flushing technique.

Sunday quail hunt

There was nothing else to do, so Larsen and I went to Circle W to hunt quail.

Danny took us to a field that was new to us. It was right under the Heflin radio tower. The field was just under a mile long and ran along the Talapoosa river. There were several knarled old walnut trees, but otherwise, just a lot of broomstraw. The morning was overcast, with spitting rain that eventually cleared.

Danny's layout was relatively easy. The birds were not too deep into the cover. The setup guaranteed successes, which kept Larsen in birds. This was the way I'd have it on this fall Sunday. This was, in many ways, a celebration of his fine performance in the WSSCA Hunting Test. Just a day outside together.

I chewed on my whistle a little, but didn't pip it much. I pipped only when he went obviously far afield, which was not often. With each step, and each bird, I got more confident that the little dog would find the birds. Larsen's flushes were efficient, and the only shots he didn't give me were when the birds stayed low. If I missed the bird, or just tipped it, we marked it and marched after it.

I tried to keep quiet on Larsen's retrieves. I didn't didn't say "here boy" or "hold it" or pat my leg. I kept quiet, and just turned a bit away from him. Once or twice, I told him to "heel" and let him walk with me while he carried the bird. We weren't in a hurry, and this wasn't a test, so I let him hang onto the bird while he panted with his nose buried in the soft feathers. His deliveries were very nice.

In all, we bagged 8 of 11 or 12. We found 11 (Danny said one of our 12 flew to the tree line when he was planting. This is a free day pass for a quail; at least until the hawks circle.)

We finished the day by doing several "hunt deads" and water retrieves, just for fun. The hunt deads were 70-80 yards long, but Larsen watched me place the bird, so there was no mystery. It was simply taking a line a long way out and bringing the bird back. His water work was a little ragged with the delivery, and I will work on a strategy like the land strategy that results in a cleaner presentation.

We went home with our game bag full and a tired happy dog.

This is a bird dog.

Danny has a few secret fields.

Larsen clowns with a feather on his nose.


Let's do it again!

Mid-50s and cloudy is still hot for an active spaniel, and there was nowhere we needed to be, so we took a break.

Larsen takes a breather.

That's Larsen waiting for me to return from placing the bird at the far end of a 70-yard hunt dead.

Home for a bath and some chow.

Remembrances

Training at Circle W had that early fall feel to it. The air was cooler than it had been in forever. The sky low and gray, with no hint of summer. There were traces of color on a few trees in the hills that rimmed the farm. The fields had their fall cuts.

Bill T. and his gun were at about three o'clock to my right. I had my gun, too, and set Larsen to work.

Larsen was in front of me about 20 yards, and a bit to my right shoulder. Larsen's tail, when you can see it, provides a good signal of what is happening deep in the broom straw, but when he finds a a tough bird, his whole body is aquiver. Larsen went into the grass. The chukar was strong and went up, flapping loud and hard. The bird curved into a chandelle, climbing high over Bill, and arching back into a hard looping dive to my left. The bird leveled off, still flying hard. I turned to my left and shot it going away at twenty five yards or so. The bird went straight down. Larsen closed fast. He picked up the bird, and brought it straight back on a full run. He gave it to me and I him a squeeze.

Bill said that shooting a bird over your own dog and having him retrieve it to hand was what the sport was all about. I told him that even at that moment, I was trying to preserve the memory of that happy dog returning at top speed to show me what our little team had done.

Six inches

Larsen and I worked at Tim & Cathy's this morning. Tim had Masters candidate Moses and Junior candidate Rags working. Frank M and Deb brought Mr. Wiggles and one other, but I'm not sure who.

I ran Larsen in the box. What this means is that I quartered him (let him run from left to right and then right to left in front of me and the two gunners) in an area defined as an imaginary rectangle with two corners set by the two gunners and the other two corners set 20 yards straight out from the gunners. Any bird that is found and flushed in the box should be killable by reasonably competent gunner. You want your dog to find and flush a bird in the box because that gives you the best chance for a clean kill. When the dog gets outside of the box and flushes a bird, the chance of making a clean kill falls. A wounded or missed bird makes for a fly-away bird that the dog chases, loss of control, and overall mayhem.

In my exercises, I quartered Larsen without having a bird in the field. Instead, I held a live bird by its legs behind my back. At an opportune moment, when Larsen's back was to me and he had demonstrated some good quartering, I took a few quick steps forward, planted the bird in the grass, and retreated. On his backhaul, lo and behold, Larsen found and flushed a bird. The bird was right in front of me, his handler! The bird was shot, and Larsen retrieved.

Larsen's quartering was very good. He listened to the whistle, and hunted aggressively. His retrieve needs work. Larsen returned the shot bird, but set it down on the ground about six inches from me. Setting the bird on the ground is a DQ at the Senior level. So this is what we will work on next.

Frank suggested that I work on the last six inches by doing a basement/backyard drill with him with cold game. The idea is that I would set up a little retrieve of six or eight feet. I would sit on the ground, legs out, and let Larsen retrieve the bird right to my lap. The goal is to get the retrieve up close and personal. I can then stroke Larsen and soothe him as I ask for the bird. All very up close.

Larsen's retrieve has improved greatly. We need a little more team work to pull it all together.

As an aside, Larsen's hunt dead was very good. He went out the 50 yards or so and hunted around. I was ready with the whistle to help him, but he seemed to have a pretty good idea. He found the bird and brought it back to hand, with (admittedly) a little trick on my own part. I turned to my left, he trotted to my right, and I kept right on turning until I could reach the bird as he went by on my right. I'm not sure if that is exactly cricket.

Let 'em hunt?

The question posed was whether hunting with a springer involves quartering accompanied by active handling and whistle pips, or just letting the dog hunt. The respondent is a successful springer trainer and has also judged for our Dogwood WSSCA tests. I'm reproducing the response in full for all of our enjoyment and knowledge.

I would say that at times, I am on the whistle with the dog but most of the time, I am just letting the dog hunt.

Quartering is all about searching for game. A dog that does not quarter well will miss game. This is not to be confused with a dog quartering in a methodical windshield wiper pattern over unproductive ground just because the pattern looks nice.

The quartering pattern should also have different "looks" depending on the wind. I am sure this is covered in most training books. I have learned that if I will not whistle, the dog will utilize the wind to its advantage to find birds. This shouldn't be a "taught" skill ... well.. the handler has to be "taught" what to expect and then stay out of the dogs way.

If one of my dogs breaks out of its search routine, then there is a reason it isn't turning or coming back across and it usually means get ready for a bird to flush.

When hunting my woodcock thickets, a nice wiper pattern is not going to be expected. Too many obstacles in the way. However, the dog should cover ground on either side of me. I will walk slower and make sure all the cover has been checked out based on the wind direction and scenting conditions. I want to make sure they at least pass cover on the downwind side. I hunt my dog towards objectives making sure we check out all the likely spots game might be hanging out.

I don't think it is any different than what one should expect from a hunting dog from a pointing breed. I would hope the pointing dog would be covering ground farther away from me than my spaniels. They should search and use the wind in a similar manner.

I would say that most spaniels are natural at quartering (ie covering ground on either side of the handler). There are drills that will help refine the skill but that is just another training drill.

Sometimes it is just this easy.

The season ends

Cathy V, with Humphrey and Zelda, and I, with Larsen, went to Danny's Circle W farm for one last spring practice before the Clumber Spaniel Nationals in Orlando next weekend.

It's spring in Alabama. Danny is out of quail and has given his fields their summer cuts. The fields have no more cover than you would see on your nicely manicured suburban lawn. The only areas with any cover at all seemed to be under water left behind by last Thursday's storms.

I got to the field early to run Larsen. Larsen and I finally found an area with some cover that was relatively dry, or at least not under water. The small area had a profusion of green spring grass and some old cane and many thorns. A nasty site to be sure, but one that might be similar to the Hunt Test grounds in Florida.

Cathy's goal on Sunday was to have a little simple fun with Humphrey and Zelda in this last run before the Clumber Nationals. No e-collars, no real challenges. Just run through the traps in short, fun installments. My goal for Larsen was to continue to work on the to-the-hand retrieve. Both of us were successful, and it put a great end to the season for Larsen and me.

Cathy fretted that Humphrey did not take a straight line in the Hunt Dead, and we both agreed that Humphrey would not take a straight line to his dog bowl. He seems to forget what he was after about half-way out, and then shifts from sight to nose and tracks down the bird. There is no doubt about his finding the bird, and it is not a pig & acorn thing. Humphrey being Humphrey, he believes his nose, and not his lyin' eyes. Who knows what Humphrey will do this weekend. Miss Zelda performed flawlessly and we hope she will add a Master leg to her trophy case.

Larsen and I continued to work the Joe DeMarkis method to get Larsen to crisply bring the bird to hand. (See post at Friday, April 8, 2011.) We made progress, with Larsen bringing the bird to a perfect Junior-level distance and putting the bird down. Finally, when running hunt deads at about 60 yards, Larsen twice brought the bird precisely to hand in a good Senior/Masters delivery.




Larsen finds a good spot for training.


A perfect Hunt Dead.



The promise of an open field.

How to clean quail

Some relevant comments from the post:

Comment: I love the video and especially those shears. But one thing I noticed you nicely listed having to leave a wing, head or foot, then cut off both feet.

Response: I wondered if someone would catch that screwup, old age brain f*rt. I did keep a wing and put it the ziplock with the bird. Since the mearns limit is 8 and gambels/scaled is 15, that requirement is so the warden can tell species. Where I hunt the nearest mearns is at least 250 miles away so I doubt if a warden would be too concerned.

We are blessed

Our morning hunt was great fun with two very good friends. John, Charlie, and I followed Larsen and his nose around the field at Danny's Circle W. We started at about 9:00am, as the last of the frost burned from the grass.

Larsen flushed 8 of 10 coveys that Danny had laid out that morning.

We stopped the hunt only because of the rising temperatures (about 67 by noon) and to protect Larsen.

We bagged a dozen of the quail, with Larsen himself weighing in with three of them that he trapped and brought in. We harmlessly filled the sky with lead on many of the flushes. Larsen retrieved all of the birds that we shot, including a genuine hunt dead. He responded to instructions, whistled and hand-motioned. Larsen understands that a successful hunt requires teamwork.

I'm grateful to have had some good companions, human and canine, today and grateful for the ability to enjoy a day outdoors on the hunt.

I'll post a hero shot (photo) when Charlie sends it to me.

Ready to go

We have a car full of dog-and-bird stuff, some room for two friends, and 30 quail waiting for us in the field.



Larsen preps for his big day on Saturday.

Looking back

I was preparing to write a review of Dennis Walrod's Grouse Hunter's Guide.

I thought it might be useful to have a photo and recording of a grouse to illustrate the blog-post. I happened upon All About Birds and for fun I click on the bobwhite quail to hear the familiar "bob-white".

Larsen, asleep at my feet, snapped his head up. He looked at me. It was a wide-eyed look of arched and searching surprise each time the bobwhite chirped. Yes, in the brown eyes of your own dog, you can darkly see into the deep and beautiful motivations of these spaniels.

The hunt

On Saturday, Larsen and I will join John G. and Charlie L. on a half-day quail hunt. This is Larsen's coming out party in the sense that he will find, flush, and retrieve the birds for us during the hunt.

I'm very excited but not nervous. Larsen is a trained dog. He will do well.

The trip will broaden his horizons as to what a real hunt can be. Unlike a Hunt Test, this is not two and out. We will stay in the field for three-and-a-half hours. Larsen will learn pacing and patience. I will give him his nose, and tweet him around only when he is outside the box - - outside the range where I think John, Charlie, or I can reasonably shoot the bird.

I'll probably start off without my gun and just run him and let John and Charlie shoot. Later, I may grab my gun and spell one or the other of the guys.

In recent weeks, I've handled my gun over Larsen with Bill T. backing me, or just by myself, and Larsen has done well. John and Charlie are new to him, but I cannot think of two better people for Larsen's real hunting introduction.

Dogs and birds

Not just dogs, spaniels.  And not tweety birds, either.  Quail.

Jeanne, MaryAnne, and I did what might be called hunt training.  It was training in the sense that we got our burlap sacks of quail and a patch of broomgrass on the back 40 at Circle W and got left alone.

We set the birds and took turns with the dogs: Larsen , Chance, Millie.  We did our best to plant the birds for the dogs.  We tried to find that balance between a bird that flies off as soon as he hits the ground and a bird that burrows deep into the grass never to be seen again. 

We trained and had fun at the same time.  If a bird flew to the far end of the field, we treked off to see if we could find it.  We walked to the edge of the field and then into the treeline.  Larsen was happily snuffling in the same brambles that grabbed at me, went through my jeans, wrapped around my wrist.  He stopped and rooted around, and I thought he was about to pull out a big nasty piece of road kill.  But, no, it was not a dead possum.  It was a live quail that had headed south as deep into the brush as a bird could go.  I had my gun open, and probably unloaded, and just watched as bird and dog took off.  Off went the hunting party trailing after that dog and bird.

The dogs had a grand time.  Chance learned that birds were fun.  Millie found her bird and then scented  into the wind as if watching out for a flying bird - - even though she was standing right on it.  Larsen huffed his way around the field and brought his birds almost, but not quite, to hand.  We all learned something about our dogs today.

Fly away

Tomorrow we will return to Circle W for some practice with quail and chukar.  We will practice fly aways. 

A fly away occurs when the dog flushes the bird and the gunner either misses the shot or does not get a shot off at all - - a very common occurrence in hunting.  You do not want the dog to chase a fly-away to the ends of the earth and disturbing all of the birds and wildlife between you and the horizon.  For a dog that is not steady at the flush (i.e., does not sit when he flushes a bird), the next best thing is to call the dog off the fly-away and return him to his line where he can start working the ground close to, and within gun range, of you. 

Larsen will chase a fly-away forever, confident (and well-founded confidence) that he can track down the bird wherever it lands, grab it, and bring it back.  It's remarkable to watch, of course, but this long-range solo performance is not the type of hunting that the upland hunter ordered up when he grabbed his gun.  Our goal, therefore, will be to break Larsen off of the chase and return him to the field.

What we will do is let him find a quail or chukar and let it get up and shoot with the intention of missing.  Bird and dog will take off.  There will be a point of inflexion where dog slows from his insane dash to a more measured run.  At that point, I will hit the whistle and wave a clip-wing quail over my head.  If need be, I will release the bird and let it flutter about.  Anything to grab his attention and get him to head back to me.

The AKC Hunt Test permits a Junior dog to chase for a bit, provided he comes back.  This is at odds with some of the British-style training books such as Kenneth Roebuck's Gun Dog Training Spaniels and Retrievers  which counsels that the dog should be steady to wing and shot early on.  We've followed the AKC approach, and so are beginning the steadying process with our fly-away work.