I've got quite a few stories about my dogs, but here's one from 2 weekends ago.
It was a "solo" weekend at the farm where I'm privileged to be allowed to hunt in central SD. After struggling to find birds that weren't jumping way out of range the day before, we had finally found a good pocket of roosters in thick cover and got 3 birds in relatively short order. The following morning, I got my camper hooked up and ready to pull back to western SD. As soon as legal shooting hours arrived, we took a quick walk to see if I could add a couple of birds to the cooler for the drive home. First up was my 8 year old GWP, Piper, who quickly found a nice, mature bird in a food plot, pointed it, and made a nice retrieve after I dropped the bird in a harvested field. As we were wrapping up our short walk, I was caught off guard by a big, wily, longtailed rooster who waited until the last instant before making a dash for it. I swung hard and slapped the trigger and watched the bird go down. In an instant, my 2 year old Pointing Lab, Remi, was streaking toward the downed bird. Suddenly, the rooster was back in the air, somehow, flying the low-to-the-ground dipsy-doodle flight that usually ends up with the bird back on the ground in 15-20 yards. I've often marveled at how fast Remi is, and this pursuit was no exception. 10 feet behind the still flying rooster meant I didn't dare take a follow-up shot. The bird refused to go down, with Remi equally determined to not let it escape. Eventually, both Remi and the rooster disappeared over the crest of a hill at least 300 yards away. I thought for sure the bird had gotten away. Suddenly, Remi appeared out of the tall prairie grass with the bird in his mouth, pleased as punch with himself! I could not have been more proud of both of my dogs that morning! I know for sure that second bird would have been lost if I'd been hunting without a dog. This picture was taken probably 15 minutes after our short but exciting morning hunt. Can't wait to get back out again!
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