UNNECESSARY ANXIETY

Yesterday, 19 month old K-Lee and I hunted part of a flood control reservoir .   We worked along a stream bed and along hedgerows of poplar and tangled brush.  We pushed through the open field that was at the heart of the area.  We hunted the river's edge, carefully combing every piece of cover that looked like it would hold a bird or two.  Nothing.  K-Lee was running big and fast.  I had to call her back in several times.  She was all "go!"

As we completed our last "sweep", a hen pheasant went up in a wild flush--not far from K-Lee.  (She didn't have time to point.)  I fired and missed, then I noticed that K-Lee was chasing after the flush.  (Mental Note:  More training work for later.)

I let her look for the hen although I was pretty sure that I had missed it.  After a few minutes, I called to her and told her to "Leave it!"   We continued north along the stream bottom when a rooster flushed from the high ground to my right.  K-Lee was in there and I thought that she may have busted up the bird, so I didn't try for it.  Again, I noticed that she didn't stop at the flush. (Another mental note:  She does alright on a planted bird, but the "wild" ones seem to pose a different challenge for her.)

We hunted the far side of the stream to see if we could pick up the birds that flew across, when to my surprise, I looked up and saw a team of sled dogs pulling a cart and driver!

I quickly pulled K-Lee out of the immediate area and they went through.  The driver was friendly enough and thanked me for the courtesy.  I had my hands full, so I just held up my shotgun to him in a sort of "wave".  They gave a new meaning to "multi-use area".

As we traveled home, I felt like we were regressing.  No points, much running and only wild flushes.  I was afraid that K-Lee was losing her desire to point and preferred flushing them.

Can you see the grouse?

Fast forward to today.  I took her to another portion of this federal area for a couple of hours and started poking around.  She became quite energetic.  It was obvious that she was hitting some sort of scent trail.  Nothing came of it, so we moved to a place I call "Frank's Corner".  (My buddy Frank almost always found a grouse at this corner in the trail.)  I sent K-Lee into the toolies and all of a sudden she was on point!   I told her "whoa, whoa" as I moved in for a shot.  As I crossed over a dead-fall, a grouse that K-Lee had pinned, rocketed from the fallen leaves  towards a distant unknown location.  The bird was perhaps two feet above the ground, flying "nap of the earth".  The bird put K-Lee between me and itself.  Clever!......."No bird!"

Later, she came across what appeared to be a scent trail of some sort, so I told her "Track!"  She put her nose to the ground and started following an invisible "line" through the brush.  This went on for several minutes, and I let her work it out.  When things "dried up",  we moved to another section several yards away.  Nothing, but she was still trying to figure out the "scent".  When she appeared ready to give up and move on into more cover, I called her over and sent her into  brush on the sunny edge of the field.   Suddenly, a point!

As I moved in, the bird went up and offered me a nice going away shot.  (Yet another mental note:  K-Lee is going for the fetch without being released--more work ahead.)  I told her "Fetch!" anyway.  After a few moments, she found the bird.  With a slight e-reminder that it belonged with me, she brought the bird to my side and delivered it.  We took a few moments and celebrated together.

My concerns seemed to have been unnecessary.  Two nice points and one retrieved bird in the bag.  Life is good.