Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Feeling a bit guilty for cheating...

What everyone else said. Great photos as usual. Your black Lab looks skeptical, the yellow looks downright pissed. They know.

Leighton, our girls work our hearts pretty good & the local squirrel & rabbit populations.

We decided we wanted family dogs & companions, not necessarily hunting dogs.

We did look into training when we got Izzy, but decided against the discipline needed to do it properly.

Both of them point naturally, but won't stay locked up.

You know, they think it's way more fun to chase those birds & critters.

They know. They knew when you left.

Great pics, Kamo.

Great Dogs, 99.

I trained all my pointers, or should I say took them hunting. They all gradually got the idea that if they flushed the delicious smell went away and they just started pointing longer and longer as I walked in to them from the rear and side so they could see me coming as I firmly voiced Whoa. If the bids flushed, I shot.

The dogs learned the game. If they didn't bust them they would get to go retrieve one.

It Eventually got to the point I could get to the dog and gently try to push it forward from the rear and they became staunch on point, quivering all the while from acting as if fearing the bird would fly away if they got too close but wanting to be close enough to be hypnotized by their smell.

Thanks Jag, we'll take them for a walk on the property next weekend, as grouse opens on Thursday, here.

Deb will tote her 20ga & I'll try to look after the dogs.

I do have half a dozen grouse wings in the freezer.

Good luck, but most of all have a GREAT time.

I know it ain’t officially “fall” yet but you can practically smell the turn of the seasons in those photos.

Goldenrod? migrating Monarchs? Dead giveaway

Very nice pix and vids, Leighton! I think about your apology of the "crappy cell phone pics", and I recall the quality of the photos we got from the top-of-the-line digital cameras we were using in 1999-2000, and I think your apology is entirely unnecessary.

Looks like fun; thanks for a great post.

Thanks 43S, and of course they do. They hear a soft gun case get unzipped from the other side of the house and before I can stuff a shotgun in it, there are a pair of tails thumping away behind me with copious jumping and whining. I hate leaving them behind, but they get 4-6 walks a day in local woods, beaches and in fields year round, so they're never cooped up.

It's early goose now, but again, I don't really get excited about chasing birds until it starts cooling off considerably. Once the colors change (soon), the leaves are dropping and even better, later in the season when the snow starts flying, that's when it's game time in this bird hunter's heart and in our girls' hearts as well. These two would rather come hunt with me than eat, and for those who know labs know that's saying something!

Jag, I like your 'intoxicating' smells comment. I have a serious need to hunt more wild quail and a bunch of other species of grouse. I love hunting just about everything big and small, but if the world was coming to an end, I'd be out there chasing birds with Mrs. KG and the girls before the curtain fell.

N299s, I hear you loud and clear. Above all else, our girls are dear, beloved parts of our little family and we love on them hard. To the point of spoiling then rotten, truth be told. Even if they had no desire to hunt they'd still be incredibly loved, but the fact that they so love to hunt and are pretty good at it is a big bonus. Starting out green and silly, I used to literally swim after downed waterfowl, including in 30F water in the dead of winter, something I don't feel I have to do anymore. But they do and still sure do enjoy it greatly, so win-win!

Doc, good to 'hear' from you. I hear you, and you're right about quality of then vs. now, but when I see images out of focus or otherwise not what I was going for --such as the monarch pic-- the wee photobug in me gets a little pissed.

Thanks for chiming in folks, and for the other hunters of all stripes here, best of luck out there this season for whatever you're after. Hopefully we get a proper New England fall and winter, with some nice storms and cold to push the birds from up north down. I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty good one. But then, I always say that...