quail hound
Moderator
I had a chance to extend the season a bit today and run JP in a NAGDA competition and raise some money for cancer awareness at the same time. These are fun events with lots of good people to share stories with but for some reason JP seems to under perform in them which is a bit frustrating for me since I know what kind of hunting dog JP is. Well, JP put together a winning run today.
He started hot out of the gate quartering and using what little wind there was to gulp the air, 5 mins into the run he gets birdy and produces the first pheasant which I drop with a 3/4oz load of 7.5s and JP delivered it to hand as any self respecting Springer would. He continues on with the judge and I in tow and flushes two more birds that I connect on and he delivers. Around 12 mins in JP jumps bird number 4 which should be our last but I miss clean with both barrels, I thought about letting him chase it knowing he will catch it when it lands but it headed over another field of competitors so I called him off and back to heel where I take a moment to water him and gather myself a bit before casting him off again. Only four birds are planted per run but I know the dogs before JP left some extras in the field for him so with a command of "get out" the search continues. The judge informs me that "you have five minutes" as JP works towards a field corner where he puts up bird five for me. I takes me two shots but I hold up my end and so does J with his final retrieve. 17 mins out of an allotted 20, 5 finds, 4 full retrieves, and 7 of 8 shells used for a score of 184 and the win.
Its not quite as satisfying as a wild rooster or a brace of quail is but it felt good for JP to finally put down a winning run.
He started hot out of the gate quartering and using what little wind there was to gulp the air, 5 mins into the run he gets birdy and produces the first pheasant which I drop with a 3/4oz load of 7.5s and JP delivered it to hand as any self respecting Springer would. He continues on with the judge and I in tow and flushes two more birds that I connect on and he delivers. Around 12 mins in JP jumps bird number 4 which should be our last but I miss clean with both barrels, I thought about letting him chase it knowing he will catch it when it lands but it headed over another field of competitors so I called him off and back to heel where I take a moment to water him and gather myself a bit before casting him off again. Only four birds are planted per run but I know the dogs before JP left some extras in the field for him so with a command of "get out" the search continues. The judge informs me that "you have five minutes" as JP works towards a field corner where he puts up bird five for me. I takes me two shots but I hold up my end and so does J with his final retrieve. 17 mins out of an allotted 20, 5 finds, 4 full retrieves, and 7 of 8 shells used for a score of 184 and the win.
Its not quite as satisfying as a wild rooster or a brace of quail is but it felt good for JP to finally put down a winning run.
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