Hunting and Fishing

[Birddogman]

The following are some pics from the past four or five weeks

Here, Maggie did one of those twirl in the air and freeze upwind points on a bird that was right at my feet. Obviously, Chase hasn't gotten the word as yet. I took one step and the bird flushed - a nice cock pheasant.



It dropped out of sight down near a little pond. Here is Maggie "hunting dead" for the bird:



Chase found the dead bird and brought it to hand:



Later that day, we got a uniquely pretty cockbird - all light tan with without the typical bars on the feathers, but with a white ring around the neck and dark green head.



Maggie still leaping through cover at age 13.5,



We did several hunts with my old .410 - a 1940's vintage Model 42 Winchester - quite effective with 3" loads if you keep your shots within 25 yards or so:





Chase retrieving some of many birds taken with the .410 (a quail and a pheasant):





Maggie retrieving a .410 chukar:



Maggie at work under a cold winter skies:



A couple points from the business end - if you are a bird and you wake up from a nap to see this, you'd best get your affairs in order:





Way cool point (Maggie) and honor (Chase) in a big weed field:



Double dog point:



Chase coursing for scent on a high promontory with Godbeams coming down on distant fields and mountains in the background:



We came across this lonely colonial era graveyard in our wanderings:



The back of our house looks down the mountain toward the east. My caregiving duties have me up each day looong before sunrise, but the good news is that I do get to see the sun come up each day. This was the first sunrise of 2012



I have been using the 12 gauge very little this year (normally it gets most of its use in the west and we haven't been west in the MH as usual due to caregiving), so I thought I'd give it an outing. Well, I shot horrible! In general, my wingshooting this year has been really, really good. Not this time. We managed to scratch down one whole bird after a couple of embarrassing misses. I was wearing a heavy coat (I normally hunt in shirt sleeves until the temps get below 25 or so, but it was way too cold and windy for that this day), so maybe that had something to do with it.



The late ruffed grouse season was open in PA until nearly the end of January, so we spent some time chasing them up in the mountain:



When hunting, you can get a nice view down off the mountain into PA Dutchland when the trees are bare in the winter. This was very early in the morning - sun not quite up yet.



Walking the roads and trails and letting the dogs hunt the thick stuff on either is OK for a lazy hunter.



But, one really must get in there to see any birds. When I do, I wonder about the wisdom climbing through this nasty, steep thick stuff to try to find nearly non-existent little brown birdies, when we could be hunting pheasant in open fields. Is this where the fun starts?



Maybe the boulder fields are where the fun starts? Or, maybe it doesn't start...



Back to the "flatlands". This was a classic point by the Chaser - he looked like a dog statute.



It turned out to be an exceptionally pretty cockbird. "Here ya are, Boss!".



Here are both dogs working some heavy phez cover.



It produced another nice bird:



"We've got him surrounded for ya, Boss!" Believe it or not that bird got clean away! Might have had something to do with trying to get the pic and not doing my job as the gunner. I got The Look afterward.



Ruffed grouse season is now closed here in PA (sigh), but we can see the mountains where the little buggers (and we) live from the hunting club:



There must have been something very interesting under this greenbrair patch - all I could see was two waggin' tails



Maggie at work on a cold and windy winter day:



We can sometimes scratch a bird out of this wooded ravine:



The Chaser afield:




Come on Boss, get your fat old butt in gear and get up the hill - we're waiting and waiting...



Chase point - the bird got away while I was taking the pic.



A good retrieve:



Think there might be a bird lurking in this stuff? I've gone back to experimenting with heavy 28 gauge loads by B&P (1-1/16 oz.) in the left (tight) bbl, hoping to gain enough experience with them to draw some valid conclusions about whether they are of any benefit. I tried to do this during the "wild" bird seasons, but didn't kill a large enough number of birds with the 28 under enough diverse conditions to draw any objective conclusions. So far this preserve season, I can say that I've made several successful 40 yard or more shots on big cock phez with the rear trigger on the 28. Don't know if those shots were just the proverbial lucky BB; or if the results are repeatable - haven't killed enough birds with long shot using the 28 gauge to know for sure.



Another Chase point - this one we killed.



A nice Double Dawg point:



Maggie near the end of the day:



I liked the looks of this Old PA Dutch farmstead under winter skies.



Hope you enjoyed coming along with us. I'd sure love to see anyone else's hunting pics.

[Fishinn]

Beautiful- thanks for the pics. I have two Britts as well, great dogs.

[barlin44]

Great dog pictures..and love the "on point"... WOW
I really like your vintage 410..very cool...
Thanks for sharing

[bill2011]

I never realized this thread was here. We are located in Newfoundland in Eastern Canada. Have had 5 Brittany Spaniels over the years and hunted Ptarmigan, ducks and Canada Geese. No Brittany's now. Our last one passed away last year. So I bought an English Setter for my grandson and can borrow it whenever I get the chance to get out in the field which these days is not often enough. DW usually has more luck on geese than I do but we both love the hunt. We hunt Moose in fall and bag one every year. We trout fish in spring and fly fish for Atlantic salmon in July. Usually have great salmon fishing. I think that fly fishing for Atlantic salmon has to rate with the best of it. Anyway it's nice to read posts from folks who enjoy the same stuff,