Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    
    
    
        Well I would have to say that the most memorable time in the stand
    this year was on 12-25-91.
         I left the house at 6 am drove to my favorite spot put up my stand
    and settled back and waited for daylight, the woods were so quiet it
    was almost spooky, no car noises, no planes flying overhead, and best
    of all no sounds of strip mining equipment off in the distance, but
    after all it was christmas morning. 
        at first light I could hear a deer walking about 100 yrds away, the
    snow sounded like corn flakes (8 degrees) well at 7:20 I watched a
    really nice doe meander by a mear 30 yrds away, never knowing a human
    was in her territory.
        then shortly afterwards I heard the oh so familiar sound of turkeys 
    flying off roost, and then 45 minutes later I had 23 turkeys all around 
    me and they didnt care what then funny looking thing hanging on the
    tree was. there was one really decent gobbler (+ - 7" beard) but all
    the rest were hens and jakes, but none the less to see such a majestic
    bird in the wild is a thrill.
        Being that I get to return to pa often I get to see turkeys quite
    regularly, heck I can remember when 10-15 yrs ago the only turkeys were 
    in the northern mountains of Pa. then all of a sudden the population
    took off and now they are everywhere. and even a neusence in some
    places, as a matter of fact I know if my mom could of got her hands on
    a shotgun there would of been some dead turkeys last summer, after
    spending better than  $300.00 for roses boardering the driveway and
    rock garden, she came home one day to find 14 turkeys there and not one
    single rose bush, seemed they really like to eat the young tender
    plants.. she was furious, her temper is about as long as mine, and I 
    will have to say she can shoot better than I can. the turkeys never did
    come back to her house. 
    
          Some people really dont understand why guys like to go out into 
    the woods and sit for hours on end, go to extreams to camo themselfs,
    spend megabucks on equipment, just to hunt wildlife, and what really
    gets me is when someone asked me on monday if I got another deer and 
    when I said no they said well you must be bummed out., I said well I
    spent close to 35 hours in the woods over christmas, and ya know what 
    I didnt hear 1 D*MN telephone, 1 T.V. , or anyone hounding me to do
    stuff. its so peacefull out in the woods. one nice long day in the
    woods is the best relaxation a person can get. 
        Just being part of natures day is a success to me!
    
                                                      Lee
    

    While I was deer hunting one time;  I had stopped to eat a sandwich and
    just enjoy the surroundings.  After about the third bite I had three or
    four "gray" Jays watching me REAL INTENSE like.  Reminded me of my Lab.
    Drooling, all bugged eyed.  Anyway after throwing small bits of bread 
    around,  I had one actually land on my stomach and take small pieces
    out of my hand.  I didn't harvest a deer that year, but that "wild"
    bird eating out of my hand was worth every bit of time and money spent.
    
    Jeff

    Re: -1
    
    Those gray jays are called Canada Jays.  They are closely related to
    Blue Jays, but are at the opposite end of the scale in terms of
    disposition.  Instead of squawking at you forever, they will freqently
    eat out of your hand with just a little encouragement.
    
    Reminds me of another encounter this year while in the woods of Maine. 
    I'm used to flushing grouse (partridge) and getting my wits scared out,
    but I'd never seen a Spruce Grouse until this year.  It's easy to see
    why they are a protected species.  They are nearly identical to Ruffd
    Grouse in terms of size, but are darker and have a bit of red.  These
    spruce grouse are the dumbest birds.  I nearly stepped on one and all
    it did was fly straight up about 8 feet and landed on a limb.  Then it
    just stayed there.  Easy to see why they are now protected.  They need
    it.
    
    Also, while my brother and I were putting up a couple tree stands, a
    good sized bull moose came walking down the path we were near.  Even
    with all the noise of two guys breaking off limbs, hauling these
    home-built stands into the trees, loud talking, etc.; this bull moose
    just stood about 75 yards away watching us.  He was still there when we
    left.

    I, too, have had Canadian Jays feed out of my hand.  In Maine, they
    come out of the woodwork when you field dress your deer.
    
    During my second year of deer hunting in Maine, I was crouched over on
    my hands and knees checking out some deer sign when I hear a rustling
    underneath a canopy that was formed by frozen snow and sagging pine
    boughs.  Looking over my left shoulder towards the commotion (about 7
    feet away), I froze as a very large and very sleepy black bear stood on
    its hind legs, snorted and ran away.  Yes, boys and girls, 7 feet.
    
    By the time I realized I had a bear tag attached to my deer tag, that
    bad boy was in the next county.
    
    Needless to say, my soiled shorts are still under that pine bough.
    
    Mark.

    This has got to be one of the best notes in hunting this year.  Just
    reading all the other notes brings back all the memories of the hunting
    season which just ended yesterday.  When I walked out of the woods for
    the last time of the season, I actually shed a tear.  Not because I did
    not harvest a deer, but because the woods is like home away from home.
    I saw so much wildlife this year, and the one incident that stands out
    the most was during bow season.
    
    I was sitting on my stand on a cool early October morning and the sun
    was just beginning to show its rays through the tops of the pine trees,
    when I had heard a sound of something walking on the ground below me.
    It was a red fox.  It came within 5 ft of my stand and didn't see me.
    I had also seen plenty of fox squirrels this year.  What I like most
    about hunting, is getting in the animals environment and observing them
    without being detected.  Nature in the wild.  I really want to get a
    video camera and tape some of this that I am experiencing, so I can
    share it with my wife.  There is ALOT more to hunting than squeezing a
    trigger or releasing an arrow.
    
    Bob
    

    
      Yeah, I had the Canadian Jays eating out of my hand up in Errol NH
    this year. I love the way they fly through the woods. They just seem to
    swoop from branch to branch. I was feeding it bits of my sandwich by
    holding the piece between my thumb and forefinger and "making" him
    land on my palm and digging between my fingers for it. They are one
    neat bird :-)
    
      About 9 years ago (in Errol) I had what I now believe was a Canadian
    Lynx walk by me about 20 yards away. That was really something! My
    first sighting of a "wild cat" ever! I was on a hillside that my buddy
    had taken a bear on about a week before. It was cold, and I was just
    sitting against this tree with my collar up when I saw movement direct-
    ly in front of me. At first I though it was a pregnant dog or something
    because it looked just too "stocky" to be anything else. To get a
    better look at whatever this was I raised my rifle to see it through
    the scope (yeah, I know it's not suppose to be done, but this was
    definitly "spur of the moment!). It was moving right to left, then it
    made a slight turn toward me. I got a REAL good look at the cats face
    as it walked by me to the left. It was sorta "panting", and I could see
    the very prominent mustache and the hair tufts at the tips of the ears.
    It was completely brown too, not that mottled look like a Bobcat has...
    That was one of the most interesting things I've ever seen in the
    woods! I like to think of stuff like this as "added bonuses" to your
    hunting experiences...
    
      I know this was suppose to be about 1991, but I couldn't resist :-)
    
    Joe

    
    
    Oct, 26, 91 in N.H., It was the opener of the Muzzle-Loader season. I
    decided to still hunt in the a.m. and make a large circle around my
    stand to see how things were since I hadn't been there in a week.
    
    As I was completing my circle and approaching my stand I jumped a deer 
    which ran by my stand.(@#%$&^)...At 8:30am of which I've been on stand
    now for about an hour, I was leaning against the tree looking lets say
    north for the purpose of this note and heard something directly behind
    me. As I turned my head there's this spike looking(laughing) at me.
    Two quick jumps and he's gone.(#$@^%$)
    
    At 1:30pm a shot fired about 200yds away, two deer come running to me
    one to my left and one to my right about 60yds and they blow by.....
    (@#$%$%%^).
    
    At 4:30 to my left 2 skippers come prancing down the hill about 45yds
    off, they go by...bye-bye(@@@$%#@#) I'm up to 6 deer now and remaining
    calm as I could...darkness comes, I go to the truck and scream!
    
    Next morning....9am, I'm on same stand.....Big-doe walking by 12yds...I
    fire...muzzle-loader doesn't go off.(#@#$%#@)...
    
    I wrap gun around tree,take home, melt down and make a lamp out of it.
    
    I didn't, but that was on my mind.
    
    Rick
    

    There's much more to the hunting experience than simply pulling the
    trigger and harvesting an animal... 
    
    some of the things i've had the pleasure of seeing and hearing while on
    stand:
    
    Had an Owl fly by my head as I reached the ground after climbing down 
    from my treestand at dusk.
    
    Had a Redtailed Hawk light on a branch in front of my treestand not more
    than 5' from me, had the pleasure of watching it as it intently
    surveyed the red squirrels scurring arond on the ground below... Was
    treated to a view few people will ever see in the wild, when it
    unfolded it's wings, glided off the branch to swoop down and handily 
    snatch up a screaming red squirrel (although not for long) and fly 
    effortlessly away with his supper.
    
    Had several chickadees light on my hat, shoulders, gun barrel, and
    actually had one flip upside down on the brim of my camo hat after
    walking around on my head for a few seconds...
    
    Saw racoons, turkeys, fishers, porqupines, coyotes... 
    
    Had a red fox wander around under my tree, with his nose to the ground
    probably wondering who the "new" fox was in his area who had urinated
    under the tree (had squirted Tinks red fox P under my stand from above)
    wasn't sure at the time if they were in season (mass bow)
    
    Seeing good friends fill licenses, hoping for others to bag their
    first, listening with excitement when they tell of deer that they saw.
    
    The terror of almost stepping on a Thunder Chicken one night when
    coming out of the woods alone at dark... (roosted under a laurel bush)
    Many of you have experienced the excitement of almost stepping on one
    in the daylight, picture yourself doing it in the dark at night...
    
    Tracking a buck on saturday during the Mass shotgun season, (many of
    you know what the conditions were like) light dusting of snow on top of
    sheer ice... and "watching" the track of this deer as it fell down on
    the side of a hill and slid down 30-40 yards off of a 6' wall and into
    someones backyard. (if anyone was ever wondering how deer travel on
    crusty/icey snow... now you know, they fall down just like we do)
    
    There's many more experiences, but these are just a few that quickly
    came to mind.
    
    Being in the woods to enjoy good times with good friends is the real
    reason, pulling the trigger is just frosting on the cake.
    
    Fra

    
    
       As bob stated this note is great, the meories of unsuccessfull days
    afield. several others come to mind for me.
       during my bowhunting experiences this year amongst the pain of torn
    muscles in my shoulder I was put in a position that I had to put the
    lower wheel of the bow on the stand and hold the top wheel with my left
    hand and on evening a chickadee decided that the arrow made a really
    nice perch. well after setting there for a couple minutes it walked on
    out the arrow till it got to the broadhead and intent on haveing that 
    shiny stainless for supper it tugged and pulled and tugged until he
    pulled so hard the arrow came off the rest.
    
       Another experience happend during the archery season also as I stood
    in a nice pine waiting for a deer I heard a noise that came from my
    left but I didnt know where, as I am looking off to my left I become 
    eye to eye with a big grey squirrell about 6 inches from my face, it
    just hung on the tree and looked at me, then when it was satisfied that
    I wasnt going to harm it he ran up the tree and finished cutting the
    acorn he had stashed in his mouth.
    
       Yet another encounter with a grey squirrell happened during gun
    season here in NY, thanksgiving day as I sat on the ground watching a 
    ridge I heard something coming towards me, when the squirrell finally
    came into view I noticed he was carrying an apple about the size of a 
    softball, well when the squirrell got to my feet he stopped looked at
    me and dropped the apple and ran about 20 feet stopped turned around
    ran back grabbed the apple and took off with it again, I was wondering
    what was going through that squirrell's mind at that time. by the way 
    I was wearing safety orange at the time, but he still managed to come
    that close to me.
    
    
                                                       Lee
    
    

    
        On Dec. 1, while duck hunting out of my blind on an island on Lake
    Champlain in Vermont, I spotted a large bird soaring over the mountains
    on the New York side of the Lake. Generally I see quite a few turkey
    vultures where I hunt, but this bird seemed to fly differently. I
    picked up my binoculars and looked and saw a beautiful adult male Bald
    Eagle in full plumage. I watched him for a good half hour working his
    way back to the Vermont side of the lake.
    
        I called Vt. Fish and wildlife office when I got back and talked
    with them for 10 or 15 minutes and which they confirmed that there was
    a nesting pair in the area where I hunt and they thanked me for
    reporting it in. I told them I would not reveal the location as I
    didn't want someone to try to disturb them. Up to that point, I had no
    idea we had bald eagles in Vermont.
    
         And my wife wonders why I get up so early in the morning to go out
    and sit in the cold....?!
    
               John

    
    
    I had a few exciting moments like when I was in Pa. trying a new area,
    while walking toward an old abandon orchard in the wee morning hours a
    snort and a flag goes off 20 yards in front of me..I sit down behind a
    rock wall and at 9:00 am something comes running in behind the wall and
    blows, I raise my head slowly and am face to face with a four pointer,
    the deer turns and walks away from me without a chance for a good
    shot.arghhh
    
    As I try to grunt it back to me, to my right another four pointer comes
    walking in. Its about 30 yards away from me and would keep stoping and
    checking the air. Everytime it would stop there would be trees and what
    not in front of the vitals, after holding the bow to the point of giving
    up from cramping of the muscles it finally gave me a broad side shot at
    15 yards with it's head behind a tree, I draw back and put the pin on
    the dime and in slow motion, like the tape October White Tail Hunting
    for those of you that have seen it, the deer dropped a full body
    width and the arrow flew harmlessly over it's back.Arghhhhh.
    
    I retrive the arrow and no sooner do I walk back to were I was sitting,
    I'm checking the arrow and 6 deer come running up and jumpimg over the
    stone wall about 25 yards from me.. triple arrrrggghhhhh...All this in
    a 25 minute span. The next day I sat there all day seeing neither hide
    nor hair of these creatures.
    
    Last but not least was having that ten pointer walk ten yards in front
    of me while I'm sitting in front of a boulder, I was able to draw on it
    without it ever knowing I was there. Unfortunately, by the time I drew
    on it it had moved to my right were alot of branches would have
    interfered with my shot possiblly paunching it. I have never seen a
    deer that big and that alone really made my season one that will be
    with me for many years to come.
    
     Nothing can ever match the enjoyment of being out in the wilderness and 
    being one with nature.

      The note about the bird flushed out in the dark reminded me
    of something that happened this year to me. I finally talked
    my wife into going out with me to my evening stand during bow 
    season. We didn't see any deer, but did see lots of other wild-
    life. Even had a partridge land about 10 yds from us. She thought
    that was great, and I was hoping that maybe this experience would
    get her interested in going out hunting with me more often. But,
    on the way out of the woods that evening (after dark) we prac-
    tically stepped on a partridge before it took off. Just about
    scared my wife to death!!! I almost fell down laughing.... ;-)
    However, she really didn't like being out in the woods after
    dark, and that bird certainly didn't help. Might be quite a 
    while before I get her out ther again.....
    
      Next year I will be taking my son out bow hunting for the first
    time. He will be 8 yrs old, and he's been bugging me for quite a 
    while. I promised him that I would take him next year. I think he
    will be old enough to be quite in the woods. Time to start teaching
    him the basics of hunting. In a few years I will have him as a 
    hunting partner, then it will be 3 generations hunting together (my
    Dad hunts with me all the time). That will be real nice....
    
    -Ron-
    

    I consider any year I learn something a good year. This year I
    learned I should be more flexible about where and when I hunt.
    So, it was a good year ;-)

    
    Each morning I'm able to get out in the woods is an experience of new. 
    There is always the usual, but then there is the new, and having seen
    or heard it once doesn't make it old.  Listening to the lizards walking
    the leaves, turtule burying itself, even seeing different bugs.  Fox
    blue & red,  its like be rejuvenated each time I get into the woods. 
    There is always something new, depending on my state of awareness.  
    
    About the only thing that will change is, next season when the weather 
    report is for cold, whether it feels cold or not before going out in
    the AM, I will dress for cold weather.

    
    Sitting on the edge of cedar thicket overlooking a deer run when I 
    hear, tick..tick..tick...tick coming through the cedar's, it's a pair
    of grouse cruising through the cedars (thick stuff), kind of like a 
    couple of F-14's in a dog fight.  Well the female decides to land and
    sit right next to me...I'm talking 6" away!!! and the male starts
    displaying for her right in front of me, dragging his wing tips, all
    puffed up, I slowly rolled my eyes down and to the left to see this
    bird staring up at me...she didn't spook but just walked off wondering
    what to heck I was...
    
    Never knew how smart raccoon's were until I had one track me up a tree.
    2 coons were coming into the orchard I was watching pretty regularly
    and the largest one was always very careful.  This coon sniffed me out,
    to the point of tracking my steps exactly, and then sniffing (you could
    hear it draw the air into its nose) and climb the tree I was in to a
    few feet below my feet.  What a thrill to watch them climb apple trees 
    and shake apples out, and to have on land square on top of the coon on
    the ground...just too funny.
    
    Have a deer walk through an orchard pushing a couple of grouse along,
    no more than a few feet in front of the little bucks hooves.  This 
    surprised me because I thought the grouse would have flushed from the
    sounds of the deer coming through the brush...but not these birds, they
    really know their predators well.
    
    As Fra, I had a Great Horned Owl land in the hemlock next to me to
    swoop on a unsuspecting chipmunk...quite a russel in the leaves.
    
    After missing a shot on a 4 pointer with my bow, have the deer swing 
    around and trot towards me, to stop a few feet away bobbing its head
    like crazy to see what I was...I was too much in awe of what was
    happening to shoot again, and it wouldn't have been a good shot anyway.
    
    While bird hunting through some mixed hard/soft woods take a gray
    squirrel on the run, only to see it scurry away...thining I lost it.
    When all of the sudden I feel a wet nose on the back of my leg...and
    there's my lab with a dead squirrel in her mouth!!!
    
    To see a mother doe scold her young fawns because they're distracting
    her from watching me in a treestand.  The mother doe spotted me almost
    instantly as she came into sight, and proceeded to stomp and bob her
    head etc.  But as her little ones would get close to her, rub their
    noses into her neck, etc., she would snap her head at them as if to
    say, "Don't bother me you fools, look in that tree, and tell me if that
    looks normal!!!."  It was interesting to watch, if even at the time it
    bothered me because she was so darn perceptive...I didn't get a shot.
    
    I find that the times I view nature simply as an observer are far more
    frequent than as a predator.  I certainly don't take pleasure in seeing
    animals die, but knowing what the balance of nature really is, and
    accepting death as part of that balance, it makes it possible for me to
    participate in that balance.
    
    It's my own personal feeling that with more notes like this, and more
    people understanding that killing the animal is not paramount to being
    a "successful" hunter, these hunter misidentification tragedy's could
    be eliminated.
    
    Kevin

	For the past 5 years my friend and I have always spent 2-3 days of
camping out during grouse season. We love the fast pace challenge of trying
to knock these miniature SCUD missles out of the sky. Usually in the afternoons
we spend an hour or two fishing for a couple of brookies for the evening meal
cooked over the campfire.  Soon my friend will be moving back to his native
Penn. and these special moments we had hunting, fishing and camping will be
over.  He has hunted and fished since he was in diapers and he passed a lot
of that knowledge to me - it is something I am truly grateful for him in doing.

	When we sat around the campfire in the evening the conversation usually
drifted away from work and quickly into hunting, shooting, fishing, tracking,
etc.  Slowly the world started to grow smaller and smaller until its size was
about the radius of light from the campfire with the additional warmth of his
friendship.  

The greatest pleasure I had this season was a pheasant hunt with my in-laws 
on a Wisconsin farm. A week before we left for our trip I bought my 3 year
old son (turned 4 in Dec.) a Daisy pop gun and a woodland camo outfit.

I enjoyed teaching my son the basic of gun safety ie don't shoot Daddy.
After a successful morning hunt on the way back to our camper we
propped up one of the pheasants with sticks near the side of the road.

My brother(s) in-law and I then took my son (who had just arrived) and 
started to walk down the gravel road. We had our shotguns and he had his 
pop gun. We were dressed in woodland camo. It was a real enjoyment for us 
seeing how excited the little guy was. For every step we took he took two.
We finally came across the propped up pheasant. We all encouraged him and 
the little guy dropped on all fours and belly-walked up to the pheasant and 
started to fire away. The little guy ran up and grabbed the pheasant. He 
could barely lift the bird but with a face of a determined Olympic weight 
lifter he managed to curle the bird and ran towards us. His face was all 
grins (ear-to-ear). 

Another pleasure was watching him help clean the bird. You clean what you
shoot! Needless to say, I'll have a hunting partner in the years to come. 
                                       
Pete

    Watching two forkhorns lock antlers to establish dominance, but 
    they weren't very good at it. One got his fanny slammed into the
    trunk of a quakie. Comic relief for the evening hunt. 
    
    Having a doe face me in thick woods and not bolt when, out loud,
    I said, "Mornin' ma'am." She seemed to know I wasn't going to 
    hurt her. 
    
    Stepping around the back of the truck as a doe stepped around the 
    front of it. 'bout got religion on that one.
    
    Having a five point elk in my cross-hairs at 250 yards and not 
    daring to pull the trigger. 
    
    Finding out that when my hunting partner sees a five point elk
    in the flesh, he loses the power of coherent speech.
    
    Following my tracks back to the truck and finding droppings in 
    my bootprint.
    
    But mostly the breeze in my face, the stillness of the forest and
    the feeling that I'm alone in a place I love and have very mixed
    feelings about sharing. 

       This past season was my best hunting season ever..in success and in
    enjoyment.
    
       It started a year ago December when I came home from work to find
    my new hunting partner Kelsey (yellow lab) sitting on my bed.
    
    
    
       Watching my new partner grow,(and myself since I never had a hunting
    dog before)from her first sock retrieve, to a dummie retrieve, to sniffing 
    out the pheasent wing underneath the throw rug in the livingroom at 4 mths.
    
     Taking her out and introducing her to nature, "having troubles getting over
    that stone wall girl" I would say to her, now I watch her bound over them 
    in one shot.
    
       Getting through the period when she wouldn't retieve a thing,all she
    wanted to do was play "I don't want to chase that thing and why are you
    blowing that wistle so much, whats your problem I'm having fun" she
    would tell with that big tongue.
    
       Its the summer now and she is a retieving fool now. Sitting in a park
    with my lady and my new born daughter Breanna, when I see a paper bag 
    blowing  in the wind across the field about 70 yds out I put her on
    mark and she rambles out to it and brings it back to me.
    
      Later in the summer,getting closer to the start of the hunting season
    now. I have her triple retrieving through my decoys in my favorite swamp.
    Having her off playing and throwing the dummie out as far as I can and
    behind stuff, then sending her on a blind retrieve and having it
    delivered to my hand.
    
       Whats so hard about this training a hunting dog bit anyway,I would
    say to myself and the hunting god would reply "just wait and see".
    
       Grouse season opens no luck but didn't expect to have any,waiting 
    for ducks and pheasents to open.
    
       Opening day of pheasent I'm at my club at dawn when we go into the
    woods...what a nightmare. We go out into the woods and Kelsey doesn't
    care about hunting, she had to say hello to every hunter and their dog
    she could see, not to mention she thought every wistle she heard was 
    for her.( I had a problem with other hunters sending their dogs in
    where I was). After I sat and calmed her down and let the other hunters
    go on their way,we started again. I was hunting with my buddies father,
    he's 78yrs old so we have him path hunt. We are working a field next to a
    pond when I see a nice cock pheasent on the ground. I turn to my
    buddies dad and tell him whats going on. I work my dog over to it and I
    watch my dog get her first flush, and right at Malcom, only to find
    some SOB heard me tell Malcom one was on the ground and he got
    in-between us for the shot, and he missed. Upset but happy I left to
    have breakfast. Later that day she got many more flushes but I only
    got 1, she retrieved it to hand.
    
    Then the nightmare duck hunts. All season long I was setting up in the
    wrong part of the swamp. Watching other people get their ducks.Then 1
    day I see a hunter knock down a duck and standing by his blind looking
    out over the water, I thought the duck must be out of his wader range
    this could be a good chance for her first water retrieve. I get to him 
    and he says its off over there somewhere. I put her on mark and send 
    her,she swims 20 ft off shore and stops and doesn't go any deeper. She 
    doesn't believe me there is something out there. Where did my trained
    dog go?? Then I would hear the hunting god say "thought it was easy
    didn't you".  My dog and I had this debate at waters edge for about 15
    min. when a hen mallard flys with-in 20 yrds of us, I knock it down
    and tell her to GETIT and she swims over and brings to my hand. I have 
    learned a lesson today, she doesn't have the confidence in me yet,we'll
    work on that on the off season. At least she did have her first water
    retrieve.
    
        How proud I was when she had her first 2 bird day (in fact she got
    3 that day 2 pheasent and a grouse).I have her off to my left in some
    heavy cover when I hear noises in dry leaves to my right, I scope out
    a cock 15 yards from me. I watch my dog get closer to it and her
    excitement raise.She is following in the birds steps when she get to
    about 10 feet from it she stops and looks at it then me, I tell calmly
    thats what we here for and to get it she goes after it like a shot,
    bird goes up.....bird goes down...she brings it to my hand. Good job
    Kesley 1 bird in 5 min. Now we are at the other end of the cover when
    she starts picking up speed again and up goes bird...down comes bird
    only to land in a tree squawking at my dog and I. I walk over to it
    it goes to fly again but it has a broken wing..the chase is on..
    I watched with tears in my eyes because I was laughing so hard, as I
    watched my first year dog chase this bird and have it jump over her
    and head in another direction, seeing my puppy get POed at the bird and
    finally to burry it, brings it back to hand with the good wing hitting 
    her upside the head. Great job Kelsey 2 birds 10 min. lets go eat
    lunch. After lunch we head into a new area, she is working hard now
    she has birds on her mind and in her nose. She's working in heavy
    cover when a grouse comes crashing out and up over some trees then 
    BOOM,BOOM down comes bird (good shooting Duff 3 bird 4 shots)falls
    behind some really thick thickets and over a mound and into a gully.
    Kelesy comes out of the cover she was in,looking at me saying "where is
    it". I sent her into the junk,she worked her way though the thickets and
    over the mound and out of sight. A minute later she comes back over the
    mound with bird in her mouth. Best retrieve all year...
    
        Watching the both of us grow as hunters is something I'll never
    forget (except maybe the bad shots). Sitting in the woods at the end 
    the day (with or with out birds) having a good feeling knowing I was
    spending time with a good friend.
    
        This off season we will both have some work to do, me in reading 
    her better and her growing out of being a puppy (but do I want that I
    don't know). 
    
        What did you say hunting god "it only gets better". IF so we have
    alot of enjoyment ahead of us.
    
    
        Duff
             
    
    
    
      
    
         Just walking in the woods with my new friend and seeing the both
    of us grow through the season was something I'll never forget (except
    my bad shots).
    
    
    
    
    
      Whats so hard about this training a hunting dog stuff anyway

    The last time out for small game, my son Danny (age 7 carrying
    binoculars), my brother Tom and I had an interesting time.  We took
    lawn chairs and a thermos of hot chocolate and sat out on the top of
    a hill that Tom owns (about 6 or 7 acres) just waiting for squirrels.
    
    Danny got bored so we walked over to a ladder stand about 40 yards
    away.  Danny was climbing down from the stand and asked "Daddy, what's
    that on the ground, is it an own?".  Sure enough, not 3 feet from the
    base of the stand, there was a small owl (about 8 or 10 inches high)
    asleep on the ground.  With the three of us gawking at it, it must have
    taken about 30 or 45 seconds for the little critter to wake up and
    calmly fly to a tree about 40 feet from where we were.
    
    Later, walking around the top of the mountain, Tom pointed out a group
    of 4 doe - which Danny spotted again later in the afternoon from
    onother one of our brother's "front" yard.
    
    To top things off, Danny spotted a young chestnut tree (maybe 8" in
    diameter and 30 or so feet tall); Tom had seen chestnut hulls, and has
    been looking for the trees on that mountain for 7 or 8 years.
    
    Danny had a great time; petty sure we got a future hunter here.
    
    Dave Scoda