First Day Afield

Beautiful Fall day in the woods today. Perfect temps, clear blue sky and the foliage just starting it's annual display. I ran Gunner first today and it wasn't long until his bell went silent. I moved up on his point, gun at the ready when a song bird flushed from some bushes in front of him. I lowered the gun as I explained to him that this wasn't what we were after and I could have sworn he gave me a look that said "only kidding". I cast him off again and he seemed to be taking things a little more seriously. He runs with a sense of joy, just loving being in the woods and sometimes I think he might be missing birds because he isn't paying attention. I can't fault him though because I am often guilty of the same thing. However, today he didn't miss a thing and it wasn't long before he locked up tight on a woodcock point. He held nice and steady and I couldn't have asked for better manners on a bird. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke he repeated the performance a little while later. Next up was Gally. She is the complete opposite of Gunner. She is all business right from the git go, with no lack of motion and none of it wasted. You know when she hits the ground that it's time to kick things up a gear. She stays within a comfortable range but when she considers an area covered, it's covered and time to move on. No pottering around with this girl. She had a couple of nice woodcock finds and one relocate on a running bird that she handled beautifully. I couldn't help but marvel at how far these Setters have come. It seems like only yesterday they were busting birds and chasing them over the hills to parts unknown. I could not be more pleased with how these dogs have turned out. Last but not least, it was Chunk's turn. This season I'm not actually hunting Chunk per se as we have begun the steadying process with him in preparation for next year's Hunt Tests and Field Trials. So being without someone to gun for us, the two of us headed out with only some water and a whistle. He handled very well, hit the coverts with enthusiasm and was just a delight to watch. Unfortunately we didn't find any birds but I did give him some remote hups which he accomplished admirable. I heeled him back toward the truck and on our way back I hupped him as another truck was approaching. The husband and wife who had also been hunting stopped to see (as they put it) if I was the one making all the racket over here. We laughed as I admitted that indeed I was the guilty party. We talked about their dogs, my dogs, the area in general and the beautiful day. They were suitably impressed that the entire time we talked, Chunk continued to stay hupped without reminder, while I tried to not look too overly proud. So that's the report on Day 1 afield for us. Tomorrow we'll head to the camp and see what's doing up there and maybe kick around a bird or two.