New Breed.... Flat Coat Pointer (land only)

[Oscar]

Due to my uni workload I will be unable to get out with some of the blaserbuds crew in a couple of week's time in the Victorian Highlands after Sambar. However, being a cool day I thought I would take my little pup (almost 2 years old now) for a wonder through some blackberry patches to see what we could see. Where this particular patch is I like to wait until the end of march to go there as it can be thick in places , is very wet and has with some very tall grass. Just the place for Mr snake in the warmer months, ok for me as I wear snake proof gaiters but unfortunately the risk to the dog is too high early in the season.


So off we wonder and apart from some terrific numbers of finches, no rabbits. But after 3/4 of an hour a rabbit pops out and with one shot we knock him down. Now this is where the fun begins. Monty loves to retrieve from water, but on land I have noticed over the summer a distinct reduction in interest. Bang goes the gun, rabbit drops, I give the command top fetch, follows the gun but does a zig zag pattern and finds the rabbit about 20m away..sniffs the rabbit, looks at me, sniffs the rabbit again and looks back to me as if to say "its here"! Mmmm young man that will simply not do as your a retriever not a pointer ....will save the skin from this rabbit and do some land based retrieval work I think!


So I pick it up and after some more wondering around and getting stuck in bogs, rabbit number two pops up, one shot and down he goes. And Monty takes off again after I give the command but no rabbit...even after investigation of the blackberry bushes. Now because of the close range at this location I have a skeet choke in my first tube...unfortunately this was a shot around 30m and I think maybe only hit him enough to do the job but the bugger got down a rabbit hole so no cigar. Another hour or so saw a few rabbits but they were either too quick for me or outside the range of my shotgun. So as the mist started to roll in I packed up and went home. But on the way out I saw something that reminded my why I want to get a drilling when I hunt in this forest, a nice fallow doe !

Anyway, home we went and there was at least enough on one bunny for me so that I can make some rabbit, mushroom and sage sausages this week, will see how that turns out?? Plus some land retrieval work for the boy!

[mchughcb]

A drinking or bbf! I was out yesterday with the no 4 and the 7x57R . Only saw roos though.

[Gun Barrel Ecologist]

Sounds like Monty is getting uppity about not get enough attention and taken on a sambar hunt

Poor dog just needs more time in the field. How many more assignments do you have to go?

[Oscar]

Chuck,

Probably drilling would be best for this hunting spot though in reality either would be good.


GBE,

One assignment due tomorrow. Two due mid month and another due at the end of the month!

[Dom]

Well, always a good day to get out and about. I'm a bit surprised by how green it is after hearing about the extreme heat you guys have had this summer. Winter still hanging on here, spring supposed to arrive in another week or so.

[Oscar]

Dom,

This little hunting patch is in a bit of a natural water course and even in the middle of summer because of the moist ground it still stays green. However if I had taken a pic of the land outside this area it would have been the real colour of Australia, namely brown, light browns, dark browns and even some greys!

[Oscar]

Well with the semester over and for the first time in what seems like months I had no extra assignments etc to do, I though I would take the boy out again. Well the 2nd day of winter has certainly come with full force here is southern NSW, with rain and howling wind. Not the best conditions for bunny busting but the boy needs more field time, so who am I to say no

Down to our usual spot and this time I take not the shotgun but my old brno .22 for kicks. Well with a bit of rain, howling winds (ie ~45-50kmph) and overcast the bunnies were not cooperating and any chance I got , well, it would have been better if I have brought my shotgun . But the hunting gods finally smile on us and one shot dropped a bunny (which was some relief to me as I have not actually shot any rifle for the better part of three months and lets face it, shotguns are a little bit more forgiving when it comes to trigger pull).

So apart breaking at the shot he did go into a search pattern but as the bunny as ~40m and he was busily searching between the 15 and 20m mark I gradually walked to the rabbit with commands of fetch and back. However this time he did find it and yes he did return it to me What can I say, there is just something right when you hunt with dogs when things start to come together as they do in the books!


Also, and I know they are not a sponsor but I did get a chance to try out my new Kuiu guide jacket in solid green. Basically I wanted a hunting coat that was lightweight but could vent with pit zips, relatively quiet (though not as good a fleece) reasonable water resistant but in a solid colour because something camo is not required. Well it worked a charm. Other than a very lightweight polar fleece zip thermal on I can honestly say I was not cold but more importantly I did not feel like my movements were restricted because of bulky layers. Would be better if it had a pocket or two more but given the conditions today (at 5pm it was ~5-66 degrees with wind howling) it will be my go to jacket for future hunts.

[mchughcb]

Good work, Monty is coming along