Gun Dog Forum

Seasons are winding down but Spud and I were able to hunt Bobwhites and Roosters in two states this week, making the most of the last days/weeks. Finding and shooting some birds over good dog work on each hunt.

Thought this was going to be covey of quail but was a group of maybe 10 pheasants.



Pointing a Rooster yesterday morning.



Another Rooster point from yesterday.



A little farther than he needs to be in that Tall Grass Prairie but he settled in nicely and got a couple of wild end of season roosters pointed for us.



Bringing in the first one yesterday.



Spud photobombed our limit photo from yesterday.



Got some nice work on Quail this week too. That Rooster makes the 4th State we have taken wild roosters in this season, quail are the 3rd. We have a lot of fun.

Spud looks like quite a dog!

Your doing a great job keeping him hunting and in birds. So much easier to bring out their true potential with wild birds.

Congratulations !

Looks like a nice day for some dog work. I need to do a better job of pulling out the camera once in a while during the fun, sure fun to look at after the season has closed.

love the expression on the dogs face in the last photo. Good day for you both and thanks for posting photos.

Thank you Gentlemen.

Always a decision to make when hunting alone as to when to use a camera or a shotgun. It is far easier to get retrieve and scenery photos. The point photos are more difficult and risk missing an often hard earned shooting opportunity when birds decide to fly and you have a camera in your hands. Hunting alone magnifies that.

The Late season roosters make for a lot of photos in heavy grass and the dog facing away as I approach. The days where we complete our limit and have a ways to get back to the truck yield some of our best photo ops on pointed wild birds but an autofocus camera in heavy grass is always a challenge.

Was hunting Prairie Grouse in SD this past September when the Garmin notified me Spud was on point up and over a steep roll above me. I chugged up the hill and there was Spud standing head up and intense. With a dang 6 wire tight fence between us and Spud only 15 yards on the other side it. I immediately knew my chances of getting over that fence without putting the birds up were slim and none.

Too late I grabbed for my camera in the vest behind me, woke it up and started trying to find Spud in the viewfinder. About then what would have been an easy double of 4 huge Prairies Chickens went up. I dropped the camera and scrambled to get my shotgun mounted, but was too late and never fired a shot, nor did I get the photo.

4 days later on the only day of the trip with decent weather the Grouse were holding for points as dreams are made of and I was walking back towards the truck with a limit in my vest, shotgun on a sling over my shoulder and a camera in hand. Spud had multiple finds on the way back and I got some photos that I will enjoy long after the grouse are eaten.

Last week Spud had a covey of Bobwhites pinned down in an intense point facing me as I walked towards him. I was torn between grabbing the camera out of my vest, waking it up and getting a photo. But it was the fourth drop we have made that day in some new country and the first covey we had found. I walked in to flush with my shotgun at the ready. Got a retrieve photo, but an opportunity foregone to get that intense head on shot of Spud on point.

Thanks for the updates and great photos.

Anybody else still at it?

Yep, chukar season ends at the end of the month. Had a good outing today. Good hunting to all.

Nice. wish our season lasted a few weeks more