North Central

Thrasher

Thrasher

Member
My dad and I took the dog and went out on Friday. 3 minutes into the field Molly points and moves and I loose her in chest high grass and brush. A rooster flushes ahead and off to one side. Dad fires one time and the bird is now out of range. He continues to watch it to see where it will land. I am tracking the dog by watching the tall grass move when dad calls out "he is going down!". I look over and the rooster is about 150 yards out and fluttering as he falls. There is a finger of the lake that the bird was flying over, about 80 yards wide, and I figured he landed in the water, but dad says that he made it to the other side. We can't hunt the other side, but I decide to take Molly over to see if we can find the rooster. We load up in the truck and drive a mile or so to the other side. I left the gun in the truck and took Molly out in a couple of acres of tall grass and brush. She hunts around for about 5 minutes and comes back with the rooster!!
We drove back to where we had been and hunted the area. We were hunting a swath of trees, with me on one side with the lake 20 yards off, Molly in the thick stuff, and Dad on the other. Molly tracked two more roosters to Dad's side that flushed within range, but no luck. She also trailed two hens and another rooster to my side, all three of which she pointed. The rooster came home with us.
Molly did pretty well and without her we would not have found that first rooster.
 
Great dog and great eye! :thumbsup: I love to hear stories of tough but successful retrieves.
 
Dad and I were supposed to go after deer today, but he had a funeral in Nebraska to attend today. I decided to sleep in and give the deer hunters a chance to get out of the area since I was going to hunt public land. I took Molly out to the same place as last weekend, we got there around 10 am. We entered the field, really thick, tall grass. She pointed, moved, pointed, moved, and as I walked in a rooster got up. Good shot, good retrieve. We continued to walk the same corner, hoping for another rooster, when Molly busted a covey of quail. I let them go. A minute later Molly locked up hard. I walked in, expecting another rooster and a single quail took off. Another good retrieve. We hunted the area, walked a couple of miles where we normally put a quite a few hens, and found nothing. I figured they would be back in the thick stuff like normal, but started to wonder if they were in the corn (now around 1 pm).
We crossed the road and started walking a grass strip adjacent to corn. We pointed one hen and flushed another that took off when the first launched. We hunted to the end without seeing another bird. We crossed the corn field to hunt back to the truck and Molly turned birdy. She tracked for a minute and pointed. Locked up tight until I got close and started creeping in. She looked at me, kind of saying "Now wait a minute, I swear that bird was just there!" I let her go and she scented around and locked up on the same spot. Still no bird. I backed her up 50 feet or so and let her hunt the area again. This time she moved past the original spot and locked up again. I walked in and Molly sort of glanced at me, saying "Whoops!! Let me go find him for you." I let her go again. She went 20 yards and locked up again. This one was a little different, as I walked in she never moved her eyes from a spot 10 feet or so in front of her. I moved in on that spot and a rooster got up 10 feet in front of me. I held off, letting the bird get some distance, shot, and missed!! The second shot took him and Molly brought it back.
She went on to bust another covey of quail, which we watched fly. When we got back to the truck Molly points again. Two quail erupted as I moved in. I popped a shot at one for Molly's sake since she had done it right, and decided it was time to call it a day.
Since deer season is in I put Molly in a blaze orange vest. She only wears it 4 or 5 times a year, and does not seem to mind it at all.
photo3_zps5c9f61d4.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Nice photo and a pretty pup too. Sounds like you had a great hunt, I am glad for you. Thanks for sharing.
 
Great report -- thanks for sharing. My best dog was called Molly too. Been gone a couple years now.
 
That standing corn was a bird magnet and you and the dog did well by it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top