Blooded the Twigg Yesterday

Yesterday I pulled The Twigg, my latest hammergun acquisition from the gunsafe for her first hunt.  Emma and I headed for the Piney Creek Covert, a new covert that had held some birds last week and I'd hoped it would hold some today. About a half hour into the hunt Emma pointed into a barberry tangle and I walked in nervously hoping to drop The Twigg's first bird. The 'cock used a grapevine tangle in it's escape which I tried to shoot through with no success. Not long after that failure Emma found another bird which gave me an wide open chance to redeem myself. The right barrel shot flew harmlessly by the bird but when the left hammer dropped so did the bird, and The Twigg was blooded. Emma found the bird in the fallen maple leaves.

I reached the creek crossing that I had used last week and just like last week Emma's beeper went on point mode somewhere across the creek. I struggled up the creek bank and into the barberry filled bottom trying to zero in on Emma's beeper but even with hearing aids in both ears the acoustics of the creek bottom had me stymied as to what direction she was in. After several misdirection casts I finally located her on point but as I had feared the bird had run out from under her point. After several attempts she relocated the bird near the creek but it lifted before I could get in position for a shot. As we worked our way back toward the truck Emma found another bird and The Twigg and I put it all together and dropped the bird with one shot.

 

I always take in my surrounds as I hunt and in this covert I discovered an old stone wall, a scattering of old apple trees and an occasional old chestnut fence post telling me that long years ago a farmer and his family had tried to eke out a living in this lonely creek bottom.

 

We made it back to the truck with no more bird contacts so I decided to try a small piece of cover that was along the route home. The covert was along a small creek that often times went dry during the summer but now with the fall rains contained a small flow. The cover was thicker that I had expected and after 45 minutes of busting through the brush and briers I was ready to head home. As I made my way to the road Emma's beeper called me back into the brush. I found her pointing in head high goldenrod.

 

The 'cock gave me an open shot and I dropped the right hammer and saw the bird fall into hellish cover.

 

I crawled into the nasty mess with Emma thinking that the bird might have hung up in the thick cover before reaching the ground, a situation that I've seen before, but after several minutes Emma had found the bird and made the retrieve.

 

Back at the truck Emma, bloody from a split ear, poses with her birds. A bit of Farnam's Wonder Dust on the wound and I had the bleeding stopped.

 

So ended a wonderful day in the coverts with superb dog work and The Twigg showing me that even after 130+ years she could still get the job done.