I've had Kassie out at least a half dozen times this year. That isn't as much as I had planned, but the best I've been able to do. I had to turn down two invites (due to work) on 4 day hunts in Eastern Montana that would have been incredible experience for her. We've hunted Block Management near Helena and Great Falls that has been pounded pretty hard, so the birds are wild as wild gets and most of those birds have been huns and sharptails. Still, she's had several points where huns or sharptails had previously been and trailed a pheasant or two that flushed wild 75 yards ahead of us. She's hunted well considering her age (11 months), but hadn't really got into a lot of birds until yesterday. She's also had her fair share of puppy moments; like blowing through 30 sharptails then chasing them 1/4 mile, eating cow poop while a rooster flushed 75 yards ahead of her, and chasing ravens hovering in the wind currents across a field to name a few. I have to remind myself each time that she's a puppy and everything is a learning experience.
We were lucky enough to be invited to hunt some private land yesterday that has had minimal pressure. The freind who invited us has a 9 year old WPG that Kassie has met several times. As you can imagine a pup that hasn't had a lot of exposure to other dogs, especially hunting with them, on a regular basis can act like..........well........a puppy when the other dog shows up. I was just hoping that would all end as soon as the first pheasant flushed. In reality, I was concerned that she might make it a terrible experience for the friend who was kind enough to offer the invite.
While Kassie is still puppy to the core, she did make me a very happy Griffon owner yesterday. As I had hoped, the switch flipped as soon as the pheasants started flushing from the shelterbelt and she was all about birds. She had to attempt a chase or two or three, but they were shortlived as she seemed to be picking up on how futile that was. She did a fair job of pointing then repositioning several times and continuing to try and track down a rooster or two that was running before they flushed ahead of her. She did a good job of locating and holding points on several hens in a stretch of irrigation ditch that we hadn't covered. She was right behind my buddies dog on a couple retrieves and retrieved the second rooster that I killed.
Not only were these Kassie's first roosters, they were my first wild roosters and my first Montana roosters. I wish I hadn't waited until the season was almost over to finally get her into this many birds.
Mountain backdrop to the fenceline/irrigation ditch where several of the birds held up beneath the snow and grass. It was quite a site to watch a rooster blast up from the irrigation ditch through the snow and grass just beneath the dog's nose.
Kassie on her first retrieve and my second rooster for the day. She was on the bird pretty quick once it hit the ground, but locked up and pointed straight down. I had to laugh as I approached her because I couldn't get her to budge. I think she may have been holding her breath even. I finally figured out why she wouldn't pick it up when I got there and realized it was still alive. Kassie dove on it and picked it up after it darted across the ground about 10 feet.
Several photos of Kassie holding points on hen pheasants that held for her.
We were lucky enough to be invited to hunt some private land yesterday that has had minimal pressure. The freind who invited us has a 9 year old WPG that Kassie has met several times. As you can imagine a pup that hasn't had a lot of exposure to other dogs, especially hunting with them, on a regular basis can act like..........well........a puppy when the other dog shows up. I was just hoping that would all end as soon as the first pheasant flushed. In reality, I was concerned that she might make it a terrible experience for the friend who was kind enough to offer the invite.
While Kassie is still puppy to the core, she did make me a very happy Griffon owner yesterday. As I had hoped, the switch flipped as soon as the pheasants started flushing from the shelterbelt and she was all about birds. She had to attempt a chase or two or three, but they were shortlived as she seemed to be picking up on how futile that was. She did a fair job of pointing then repositioning several times and continuing to try and track down a rooster or two that was running before they flushed ahead of her. She did a good job of locating and holding points on several hens in a stretch of irrigation ditch that we hadn't covered. She was right behind my buddies dog on a couple retrieves and retrieved the second rooster that I killed.
Not only were these Kassie's first roosters, they were my first wild roosters and my first Montana roosters. I wish I hadn't waited until the season was almost over to finally get her into this many birds.
Mountain backdrop to the fenceline/irrigation ditch where several of the birds held up beneath the snow and grass. It was quite a site to watch a rooster blast up from the irrigation ditch through the snow and grass just beneath the dog's nose.
Kassie on her first retrieve and my second rooster for the day. She was on the bird pretty quick once it hit the ground, but locked up and pointed straight down. I had to laugh as I approached her because I couldn't get her to budge. I think she may have been holding her breath even. I finally figured out why she wouldn't pick it up when I got there and realized it was still alive. Kassie dove on it and picked it up after it darted across the ground about 10 feet.
Several photos of Kassie holding points on hen pheasants that held for her.
