There...And Back Again.

The dog work for this year's hunt was surprisingly good. Several birds were harvested by the dogs that would have been lost otherwise. Our very first bird was only wounded, but was quickly dispatched by Bubba and returned to us for the pouch. A downed quail would have been impossible to find, if not for Scooby. Manny hit the field for the very first time this year and helped us put two more birds in the bag in one day. It is a great feeling when you can see the dog "get it" for the hunters. Sasha hunted beautifully and had no trouble pinpointing a couple of pheasants even though her training basically started a week before the hunt. Four dogs on one hunt is usually a challenge. Fortunately for us, it was never a problem. They hunted all day, every day and stepped up to the task every time. I can't wait til we do it again. I have added a couple photos worth sharing.

Are We Ready?

I think Manny has answered that question. He has a new roomate, Sasha, they have been working on their retrieving skills with a pheasant scent loaded retriever dummy. So far, so good. They have both passed the 'gun-shy' test with no problems. Manny looks like he is waiting for the rest of us...

Weimaraners hunting pheasants

Check out what a weimaraner does when a wounded pheasant tries to get away....

This is what we will see in Hartington, Nebraska this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUTxpROca_M

Boot Camp gets Tougher

As the 2009 Nebraska hunting season gets closer, the pressure builds on the training for Manny.
The days of fun and games are transitioning to focus and dependability. Watching Manny daily, I have observed his very keen nose. It is about the best I have seen among all my previous gun dogs. As his training gets more and more focused, the pheasant scent becomes more and more recognizable to him. I started getting Manny to 'find the bird' as it gets darker and darker. In my opinion, this gets Manny to use his nose more than his eyes. Right now, he knows to point when he smells the 'pheasant', but he does not know why because I do not have a real bird for him to see. Hopefully, that will change this year during the hund. There will be mistakes and 'busted' birds, but that is how dogs learn. I want a dog to range out about 30 yards and work across, then return to me in a horizontal figure-8 pattern. So far, when Manny has been 'loose', that is exactly what he does. I am fine with that. He just needs to learn to 1. come when I call 100% of the time. We are working on that. I want to keep his boldness, but I also want his discipline to get in line with the demands of the hunt. We will see.

Phriends, Phamily, Pheasants and Phun

It don't get no better dan dis. More to come....

Where did all the food come from?

Since the past hunt was limited in success, it has been postulated that the food would only be 'pheasant flavored'. Well, things have changed dramatically thanks to HB and SP. It seems that we will have PLENTY of game birds for our pheast. I have two pheasants and five quail. HB has three ducks to add to the evening and I just received word from SP that they have an additional SEVEN pheasants and five more quail. Based on the length of the guest list...we should definitely have enough food for everyone. The "trick" will be to make sure that we don't "baste" the chef too much and let the food get messed up.

Pheasant Pheast Awards

At this year's Pheasant Pheast, we will be awarding the "Kwong Salute" award. The nominees are:

J. McCown
S. Peters
D. May

The "WD-40" nominee for the cleanest gun on a pheasant hund, so far:

H B

The "4WD" nominees so far:

D. May
J. McCown (in a rental car I might add)

The "Claim Jumper" nominee:

J. McCown (I believe he said he had the "cleanest gun" too....)

Please send your votes (one person per award) to bigteam2k@windstream.net

The Pheast will be at Chateau Bryant in Commerce, GA on January 17, 2009. All attendees of the USOPHT08 hund and their spouses are invited including St. Corky and St. Diana. The festivities will begin and 3pm local time and continue until we can't. If you need directions, please send your request to the email address above. We will provide setups, phood, pheasant phlavor and phun. Our bartender, Kelly B, will be happy to mix whatever you bring at your convenience. Please RSVP at the above email address also. Thanks! May we all have Pheasants Phorever. jb

Growing and Growing and Growing

Well, Manny has been with us since November 22, 2008. When we got him, he weighed 6.5 pounds and we seriously wondered if he would ever get big enough to retrieve a quail...much less a pheasant. All of my doubts have been erased. Now...six weeks later...Manny weighs almost 18 pounds. Seriously. I never thought that he would grow that fast. He is still a young puppy. His hunting instincts are very good. I use the wing on the string technic and he gets very excited when we head to the garage to "hunt em out" and "get the bird". I have also started to break him in to the leash. I use the same technic that I would do in the field. Before we leave the house, I put on the leash and reinforce him when he does it right. Once we get to the garage...where the 'bird' is...I remove the leash and tell him "let's get the bird". It works very well. Lately, I have started to leave him in the garage and I go hide the "bird". When I let him out, I say "let's find the bird". So far, he has found the 'bird' every time and when he does, he points and holds until I 'flush' the 'bird'. I believe he will hunt just fine and I now believe that he will be big enough to retrieve quail and pheasants. During the Pheasant Pheast, we will show everyone the results.

Now, on to the Phirst Phormal Pheasant Pheast. So far, we have 19 confirmed attendees. The PRESSURE is on the Nebraska contingents to round up some more ROOSTERS before the Pheast. Either way, our PHEAST will be PHABULOUS! For any one who wants to know about accomodations, Exit 149 on I-85 at highway 441 has a variety of Hotels that are suitable. Chateau Bryant will fill up quickly. Our PHOCUS will be on the PHUN!