I must admit that I love working with upland bird dogs. They love doing what they do so much it makes the sport better than any time of hunting I do; and, I’ve called bull elk to 10 yards (meters) and got them with a bow. Yes somehow I’d rather watch the dogs work the birds and fields.
I can remember hunting in Saskatchewan (SK) and we had a huge field to hunt with a ridge top in the middle. I saw sharp-tails piling into it the day before so I knew it would be good.
The day we hunted the wind was crazy and completely at our back so I decided to walk around the hill top such that the wind was at a 45 degree angle, and then move back to the center of the property on the other side. This way we could work the field back to the truck.
I really wasn’t expecting much on the walk to the far side. However Gulliver knew better than me. He set off at a slight angle, maybe 55 degrees from the wind, and ran it big. When he got out maybe 2-300 meters he cut sharply back into the wind and worked a back and forth patter in wide swaths and then repeated. As he was doing the wide swaths (quartering), he would snap and tighten up the patter; he was catching scent. He then narrowed in and then locked on point.
Every time he locked up on point I’d hustle my but to get out in front and I’d flush 15-30 birds. We did this over and over again and probably saw maybe 300 sharp-tail.
I had to tag my birds in SK so I didn’t shoot any, plus I had just bought Peach from Georgia and she was not trained. So I let peach run, chase birds and have fun. It helped steady Gulliver on flush and it showed Peach what the game was, minus the dead birds of course.
When we finally got back to the truck, my buddies, who went there own way, where bit put off by my lengthy endeavor. But honestly, with such a good day in the field I lost track of time.
Later in time I can remember watching both Gulliver and Peach pointing a Ruffed Grouse on the top of tree stump together, locked and holding point. I regret picking up the gun and not the camera as it was a beautiful sight, now only etched in my memory. Plus, I missed.
Tommy