First point of the new upland year

[bauerline]

I started taking the dogs out for a run this week after the spring break. They had their first point of the new upland year today:

Now, it was a sitting duck by the pond but its a start. I did get to see and hear the holdover rooster crowing earlier in the morning. The best part of the morning came when I was brushing the dogs on the tailgate after I got home. I could hear a distant call of a bobwhite quail! Glad to know some of those guys are still around since I released them in December. He was calling from an area that has a fencerow beside a pasture that was allowed to grow up a little. I hope to hear him and others again.

 

[FLDBRED]

Yep it's a start! I used to work my dogs all summer, but now I give them a break. Before you know it, October will be here, can't wait!

 

[bauerline]

A few days ago I made the first release of quail from the johnny house. I usually do a few releases and call backs before running the dogs on them. But the birds this year are strong flyers and there were a few that didn't recall. So I took the dogs out to see if we could find them. Nittany and Blitz were able to find a couple of birds at the edge of a field of switchgrass. The birds ran and I didn't push hard to get a flush from them at this point. It was nice to have the dogs point something besides rabbits and ducks.

 

[FLDBRED]

Nice! Your boys sure get a lot of good bird work. I ran Dugan early this morning. It's been a long hot summer!

 

[bauerline]

It was a beautiful and cool morning. About as good as you can get in late July. The cool temps allowed the dogs to work for a little over an hour today. And thankfully the quail gave them something to search for.

It's hard to tell but Nittany is in the field on a single quail:

I was pleased that Blitz did not give chase to the quail as it walked out of the cover. He was on point before the bird was seen.

Blitz on a different single:

 

[FLDBRED]

:thumbsup: Looks like your boys are ready to go already!