Steve Snell’s Gundog Blog

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Part 2 of my notes from the 2009 – 2010 Hunting Season

1/8/2010 Aspermont, Texas

It’s 17 degrees. There is very little wind or I would be back at the hotel.  I love to quail hunt but I’m just not that tough.

My first round was with Sage and Click.  Sage had a nice find on a small group of bobs. Click backed. Both dogs were steady to wing.

We headed back to the truck.  I put the rest of the group on the chain gang to air them out.  I travel with 8 to 12 dogs at one time.  Without the chain gang, I would spend all my time walking dogs.

Next I ran Apple, Mac and Izzy. All three pups did really well. Apple made a 600 yard cast and came back. Izzy made a 350 yard cast and came back. All three ranged out but kept up with me.  Mac works a little closer but runs well for a foot dog.

Mac pointed and held his first covey of Bobs. I flushed the covey.  It was a really nice group of 25 to 30 birds.

We went after the singles. Mac, Apple and Izzy all found and busted singles.  It’s always fun to see the light turn on when they find wild birds.

I ran Brandy by herself.  She found a covey of bobs and busted them. She ran pretty well considering how little I have worked her. Time to fix that.

The only issue is that I have with her is that she is running behind me a bit.   I really do not like a bird dog that spends any amount of time behind me.  She’s also a little out of shape.

Ran Cash. He did well for a few minutes but than he left the country.  He has a bunch of run in him and I have to get it under control if he is going to be a foot dog.

I went back to the truck to go pick him up. He went on point multiple times but I am not sure he was actually finding birds.

Once I caught up with him we did some ecollar work on turning. He did much better

I finished up the day with Stud.  He ran well considering how long it’s been since I have run him. The last trip for him was Nebraska.

He still takes a lot of stim. I have to set my 1825 collar on the high collar setting and then it takes at least a 4 to turn him. After a few corrections he seems to stay in the area and hunt for you.

He did go on point but gave it up before I got to him.

I spent the rest of the time checking a few areas that I need to hunt next month.

I fed everyone and put them on the stakeout chain and then drove to Midland.

1/9/2010 Midland

25 degrees. sunny with a  5mph wind.  It’s a little chilly but not bad. Nice weather for quail hunting.  I am always amazed at how “hot” it can be in this part of the world even with temps below 50 degrees.  There is something about the sun in West Texas.  It just seems to burn brighter here.

Ran Sage and Click. Nice pairing.  I enjoy running these two dogs together.  They give me very little trouble and they hunt well together. I didn’t have to yell or use my whistle once.

We ran into lots of scent and a few points but no birds.

Turned out Mac, Apple and Izzy. They all took off down the road. Finally turned at about 350 yards.  All three finally came in and hunted. They stayed with us and turned well.

Mac found his second covey of quail. His first covey of blues and held them. He then found and bumped two singles. That makes him two for two. He might just be worth feeding in the off season.

Izzy runs really big but she turns back and hunts with us. I did not have to look for her during the round.  Apple really likes her birds. She will also runs pretty wide for a pup.

Over all I am very pleased with all three of them.

Ran Cash next. He is still running a little big but he will turn when you tell him. I walked into some birds but couldn’t get him on the right side of the wind to find them.

Ran Stud. He did a nice job. Pointed a couple of times but no birds. Really pleased how he has held up with no work this fall. He should have a good couple of hunts before the end of quail season.

Ran Sage and Brandy. Area looked good and both dogs were doing well.

All of a sudden Brady’s DC 30 Astro collar stopped working.  She was about 150 yards out and it lost the signal. There were no cover issues and the ground was pretty flat between me and her.

She came back by but my hand held system didn’t pick up her collar. I kicked myself for not grabbing her drag line.

She made a big cast and it took a very long 5 minutes for her to come back by. I spent that time trying to figure out what I would tell Sam and Kathy if she got lost.

When she came around I caught her check cord and brought her in. The collar was completely dead. No idea why. It should be fully charged from last night.

This will be one for the Garmin engineers to figure out. Very odd. We just have not had many issues out of the DC 30.

Ran Cash with Click. If I can get the kinks worked out this will make a nice brace.
Got into 3 coveys of blues. Click pointed two of them. Cash busted all three.

He is handling better and running with me.

1/10/2010 Midland

25 degrees and Sunny.

Brandy and Sage. Nice round but no birds. I like the cover but no sign of birds.

Brandy ran well. I put a Tracker collar on her as back up to the Garmin Astro.  I seldom run a back up tracking collar any more but this dog belongs to my 11 year old son and I’m not taking any chances with her.

I really like the k9 Comfort drag line over a regular check cord.  This particular material does really well and since it is a hi viz orange, it is easy to see in the grass.  It also does not pick up any burrs and it is water proof.

Ran Izzy and Apple together. Both handled well for pups. Apple found a single and I saw the covey get up in front of us. We went to them and both dogs scented birds and flash pointed before busting them.

I really like these pups. These two will run big but they both handle and check back in.

Ran Mac and Click. I figured it was time to move Mac up to the big leagues.  He is finding birds and wanting to hold them.

About 200 yards from the truck Click rolled into a covey. He relocated twice and then I saw two birds get up way out in front.  We headed toward them. There was some thick cover in front of us and I figured there might be a few birds hold up in it.

What happened next made the whole trip worth it. Click pointing singles. Mac pointing singles. It was perfect.

Mac found as many birds as Click. One time Mac was on point and Click came in to back.  I cussed myself for leaving my camera in the truck.

We had points on 10 birds and nice dog work all around. Mac is ready to move ahead in his training. He reminds me of Click as a pup. This round makes Mac 3 for 3 on this trip. No other dog on the truck can match that record.

Ran Sage and Cash. Cash ran well. Sage got birdy and worked a covey over 150 yards into the wind.  Cash came in and busted them. Went to the singles. Worked Cash on whoa a bit. Sage got to the singles and pointed.

Brought Cash in got him stopped. Bird flushed and I killed the bird. Sage found it and brought it to me.

I tossed the bird back into some cover and let Cash find it and hold it in his mouth. He likes them but has not put it all together yet. He is thinking about them but he needs more bird contacts.  This just isn’t a great year to have a bunch of young dogs.  We don’t have the number of birds to make the training easy.

Ran Stud. Handled well. Made a 380 yard cast and locked up. Held the covey until I got there. Had them pointed at about 50 yards. Steady to wing. He lived up to his name today.  Considering how frustrated I have been with him since I bought him, things are starting to change.  He is learning how I want him to work and he is coming around to my way of doing things.