crockett
12-17-2009, 09:13 PM
Hello all,
It's been an up and down bird season for me. After a lot of off-season work with Ruby (almost exclusively on whistle sits to stop her on runners and to generally keep he within range) and many days door-knocking I was excited for a big season with some new spots on my milk-run for pheasants. We started off strong in October, with some of our new spots paying off and some of the old ones coming through in spades.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Rubymorningquickylimit.jpg
After a few good good goes at the roosters we had a poke at some waterfowl, but in general it was a bit slow.
This is one of the good days.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/PA100177DaveDogsBirds.jpg
After a particularly big day out in the Bay of Fundy mud Ruby was in some pain at the end of the day. The next day something was just not right. Her ears were down and her back was arched while she walked stiff legged and whined a lot. I stayed home from work to monitor her and she seemed better after a "productive" backyard bathroom session. I was relieved to think that it was a short-lived dietary indiscretion of some kind. My relief was short-lived though, when I came into the room and she could not stand up. The vet techs met me outside with a stretcher and we got her in and onto the x-ray. She showed a moderate case of spinal stenosis - basically a calcification of the vertebrae, especially the ventral side, indicating some kind of spinal instability. The likely underlying cause was a herniated disc, and the suggested treatment was 6-8 weeks of rest. Dissappointed of course about cutting her season short but much more concerned about her long-term prognosis as a gun dog and even as a pet. Anyhow, I had her on Robax for a week and Metacam for a month then slowly started phasing her back into short walks and monitored her, especially when we stopped the Metacam. All seemed well, although we were often unsure if we were seeing real limps or twinges or if we were just looking "too hard". At 6 weeks the vet suggested that she could pick up the activity a bit, but I decided to err on the side of caution and leave her out of the field for the full 8 weeks. During those last two weeks we ramped up the walks until she was doing two 45 minute walks a day. Meanwhile, I kept busy in the field.
Picked up some rooster over other dogs.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/DavelastSaturdaylimitsmall.jpg
First time out with a pointer - these were her first birds and a nice payoff for me at one of my newfound spots (3 of us took 5 roosters that afternoon).
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Umiqshardwork.jpg
Got my deer
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/DavesDoe.jpg
Also picked up a few pheasant hunting dogless :lame: and spent more time than I have in years poking around for grouse after work, which was kinda fun and moderately productive.
Anyhow, the last day of the pheasant season was this past Tuesday. This was also the 8 week mark. I decided to go an hour before dark and take her for a 30 minute hunt. The reason for going so late was to ensure that I wouldn't get caught up in the heat of the moment at hunting with her again and exceed the vet's recommendation of a very short and easy hunt. Well, we went into a tiny patch of cover that I'd been saving, untouched, in case she got the green light to hunt. I was thrilled to see her hunting beautifully, checking back to see that she was in range, quartering nicely, all the right stuff. She got on some scent and I opted to remind he of the whistle-sit, even though she was not really out of range. The instant I blew the whislte her butt hit the ground and a rooster flushed wild 100 yards out! I watched it go down to the river and land on the near side - one more chance... We approached from downwind in the wet goldenrod as quietly as we could. I kept Ruby at heel until we were within 30 yards and then let he go. The rooster went up almost immediately and I shot him over the far bank of the river. Some other birds went up at the same time and distracted Ruby, so she didn't mark the fall. The rooster was not hit hard, but the far bank was high so I could not see if he ran or what. I heeled Ruby and then lined her across the river. A short while later I heard he come panting back (she does not line "to Philidelphia"). From the panting I knew that there was no bird in her mouth. I cast her again and then as soon as she was gone long enough to be near where I guessed the bird might have fallen I called to her to find him, fetch him up. For a while all I could her was panting, back and forth, back and forth. Finally I heard her pant change to a snoring snort and she came over the bank with a peeved-off rooster held by the butt! I was very proud of her retrieve, and laughed when the rooster came to hand I found that she had plucked every last feather from his butt - the back end of him looked like a chicken from the grocery store! It was too bad that I couldn't see what transpired up there on top of the far bank. The rooster only had a few pellets in his shoulder and none in the vitals, so it must have been quite a chase!
You can see him here on the right:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/Rubypluckedbumlimit.jpg
Anyway, we turned and headed back for the car and were halfway there when she got birdy again! I could see from the way she was right on top of the scent and her ears and head-tilting that she could hear and smell a bird right under the matted down grass infront of us. She started pouncing with her forelimbs stiff. This side, that side, this side, that side. I was letting her do her thing, just waiting for the bird to come up. Well, it came up alright - in her mouth! I couldn't believe it! I killed the bird and headed home, thrilled with our closing day limit and our prospects for 2010. Later, cleaning the birds I found two wound channels through the breast meat of the live-caught rooster, and a shattered sternal keel, which explained why he didn't flush and why she was able to catch him. I guess we robbed a coyote of his Christmas dinner! Too bad sucker!
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/Rubylastdaylimitdown.jpg
Anyhow, I've still got until the 31st for waterfowl and grouse and an extended goose season into early January. I will probably take her for a few easy grouse hunts with my wife over the holidays, but she'll sit out the waterfowling for this year. I'll let my buddy's dog pick up the slack and keep working her up to what I hope will be a full recovery.
Anyhow, for those of you who made it this far through my "Dear Diary" thanks for reading!
Happy Holidays and all the best to yourselves and your two and four-legged families.
Cheers,
-Crockett
It's been an up and down bird season for me. After a lot of off-season work with Ruby (almost exclusively on whistle sits to stop her on runners and to generally keep he within range) and many days door-knocking I was excited for a big season with some new spots on my milk-run for pheasants. We started off strong in October, with some of our new spots paying off and some of the old ones coming through in spades.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Rubymorningquickylimit.jpg
After a few good good goes at the roosters we had a poke at some waterfowl, but in general it was a bit slow.
This is one of the good days.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/PA100177DaveDogsBirds.jpg
After a particularly big day out in the Bay of Fundy mud Ruby was in some pain at the end of the day. The next day something was just not right. Her ears were down and her back was arched while she walked stiff legged and whined a lot. I stayed home from work to monitor her and she seemed better after a "productive" backyard bathroom session. I was relieved to think that it was a short-lived dietary indiscretion of some kind. My relief was short-lived though, when I came into the room and she could not stand up. The vet techs met me outside with a stretcher and we got her in and onto the x-ray. She showed a moderate case of spinal stenosis - basically a calcification of the vertebrae, especially the ventral side, indicating some kind of spinal instability. The likely underlying cause was a herniated disc, and the suggested treatment was 6-8 weeks of rest. Dissappointed of course about cutting her season short but much more concerned about her long-term prognosis as a gun dog and even as a pet. Anyhow, I had her on Robax for a week and Metacam for a month then slowly started phasing her back into short walks and monitored her, especially when we stopped the Metacam. All seemed well, although we were often unsure if we were seeing real limps or twinges or if we were just looking "too hard". At 6 weeks the vet suggested that she could pick up the activity a bit, but I decided to err on the side of caution and leave her out of the field for the full 8 weeks. During those last two weeks we ramped up the walks until she was doing two 45 minute walks a day. Meanwhile, I kept busy in the field.
Picked up some rooster over other dogs.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/DavelastSaturdaylimitsmall.jpg
First time out with a pointer - these were her first birds and a nice payoff for me at one of my newfound spots (3 of us took 5 roosters that afternoon).
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Umiqshardwork.jpg
Got my deer
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/DavesDoe.jpg
Also picked up a few pheasant hunting dogless :lame: and spent more time than I have in years poking around for grouse after work, which was kinda fun and moderately productive.
Anyhow, the last day of the pheasant season was this past Tuesday. This was also the 8 week mark. I decided to go an hour before dark and take her for a 30 minute hunt. The reason for going so late was to ensure that I wouldn't get caught up in the heat of the moment at hunting with her again and exceed the vet's recommendation of a very short and easy hunt. Well, we went into a tiny patch of cover that I'd been saving, untouched, in case she got the green light to hunt. I was thrilled to see her hunting beautifully, checking back to see that she was in range, quartering nicely, all the right stuff. She got on some scent and I opted to remind he of the whistle-sit, even though she was not really out of range. The instant I blew the whislte her butt hit the ground and a rooster flushed wild 100 yards out! I watched it go down to the river and land on the near side - one more chance... We approached from downwind in the wet goldenrod as quietly as we could. I kept Ruby at heel until we were within 30 yards and then let he go. The rooster went up almost immediately and I shot him over the far bank of the river. Some other birds went up at the same time and distracted Ruby, so she didn't mark the fall. The rooster was not hit hard, but the far bank was high so I could not see if he ran or what. I heeled Ruby and then lined her across the river. A short while later I heard he come panting back (she does not line "to Philidelphia"). From the panting I knew that there was no bird in her mouth. I cast her again and then as soon as she was gone long enough to be near where I guessed the bird might have fallen I called to her to find him, fetch him up. For a while all I could her was panting, back and forth, back and forth. Finally I heard her pant change to a snoring snort and she came over the bank with a peeved-off rooster held by the butt! I was very proud of her retrieve, and laughed when the rooster came to hand I found that she had plucked every last feather from his butt - the back end of him looked like a chicken from the grocery store! It was too bad that I couldn't see what transpired up there on top of the far bank. The rooster only had a few pellets in his shoulder and none in the vitals, so it must have been quite a chase!
You can see him here on the right:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/Rubypluckedbumlimit.jpg
Anyway, we turned and headed back for the car and were halfway there when she got birdy again! I could see from the way she was right on top of the scent and her ears and head-tilting that she could hear and smell a bird right under the matted down grass infront of us. She started pouncing with her forelimbs stiff. This side, that side, this side, that side. I was letting her do her thing, just waiting for the bird to come up. Well, it came up alright - in her mouth! I couldn't believe it! I killed the bird and headed home, thrilled with our closing day limit and our prospects for 2010. Later, cleaning the birds I found two wound channels through the breast meat of the live-caught rooster, and a shattered sternal keel, which explained why he didn't flush and why she was able to catch him. I guess we robbed a coyote of his Christmas dinner! Too bad sucker!
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/dreamwaters/Hunting/Rubylastdaylimitdown.jpg
Anyhow, I've still got until the 31st for waterfowl and grouse and an extended goose season into early January. I will probably take her for a few easy grouse hunts with my wife over the holidays, but she'll sit out the waterfowling for this year. I'll let my buddy's dog pick up the slack and keep working her up to what I hope will be a full recovery.
Anyhow, for those of you who made it this far through my "Dear Diary" thanks for reading!
Happy Holidays and all the best to yourselves and your two and four-legged families.
Cheers,
-Crockett