This Weeks Wanderings

Got out Wednesday with Copper. She found woodcock in the Warrior Ridge cover. Sadly at 7 1/2 years old her hips won't let her hunt more than an hour or so and the next day she was stiff and in pain.

On Thursday Hattie got the call and we hunted the Milligan's Cove cover. In an hour she had 3 solid points and proved again that she will be the dog that all future dogs are compared to.

Not a good pic but this is a woodcock that walked back and forth in front of Hattie while she held a rock solid point.

Sunday was Emma's turn. We tried the Prince's cover first with her bumping a grouse and no woodcock found. Next we tried the Wopsy cover and I saw her bump a woodcock. Finally we went to the Rifle Range cover. After bumping a woodcock she went on point along the logging trail. She held while I took a pic and walked beside her and took another. Then I walked off the trail and flushed a woodcock that flew over my shoulder. Finally a solid point and some thing to smile about.

Disappointing Weekend

Got out this weekend for some woodcock chasing, sadly that's what it amounted to. We hunted some classic cover on Saturday with Emma bumping one and me flushing one.

On Sunday we found them.

Ugly cover to a tree hugger beautiful to a woodcock hunter.

Emma tore up the cover looking for birds.

You comin' Dad?

Not your typical plodding Ryman.

The disappointing part of the weekend was she bumped 5 or 6 birds that I saw
and only held her couple points for a few seconds and then rushed in and flushed the bird. As she approaches her fourth birthday it's becoming painfully clear that she may never make it as a birddog. I've given her as many opportunities as I could in the last four years but the "light" just hasn't come on. I'll hunt her hard this fall but will begin to plan on a new pup perhaps for the spring of 2012. Not to worry, Emma will have a good home for the rest of her life cause she's part of the family, but as I watch my number of hunting seasons start to lessen I yearn for a solid pointing dog to walk up to and experience the thrill of the flush before my hunting days are over.

As always I look for anything unusual to take a pic of. Here's a nice fungi of a color I've never seen before.

At first I thought spike buck, but the "horns" seem to be attached to the skull more like a true horn than an antler that is shed every year. Any ideas ???

Hope to get the old dogs out next weekend for some solid points before the woodcock begin to nest.