doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Incredible hunting dog feats.

Doc Drew's pup T-bone backing technique.

jdw: you talkin northumberland county, pa per chance?

Was driving 100 miles north of Toronto along a highway in an SUV. Just my wife and I and our two setters on a summer Friday on our way to our sailboat on Lake Huron (Georgian Bay) for the weekend. The back seats are folded flat because it's just the two of us and it means lots of space for the dogs.

Suddenly, one dog locks on point looking out the window of one of the rear side doors. Won't budge and I'm doing 70 MPH so I can't imagine what she is looking at that wouldn't have disappeared in the rear view mirror.

Finally figure it out with the help of my wife. She was staring at a jet overhead at about 15,000-20,000 feet. Flight path of jets heading west out of Toronto International.

for a few years had the privilege to hunt grouse with a dynamic duo...a male setter and a female beagle...

setter would be out front casting from side to side. beagle would bring up the rear behind me...

sometimes setter would miss a bird that would hold tight, even after setter and i walked by...beagle would often scent bird and begin to yip...time to get ready for a shot!

My French Britany pup was 7 months old and partially trained on planted birds and loved retrieving quail, not so pigeons. Took her out for the first time on Gambel's quail a little early in her training anyway. Gambel's are notorious runners but she came up firm on point and my son in law was sent about 20 yds around. He found nothing in front of her. I released the point and she went about 100 yds and locked up again. This time I sent the son in law around the side and upwind a 100 yds then back toward us. She was pointing a small covey which flushed about 35 yds in front. Instead of sending the quail running she was stopping well short which is a feat few pointing dogs learn on Gambel and Scaly coveys. She continued to work that way for the next 13 years. Shooting pointed coveys is very unusual. And I never lost a downed bird - in fact she vacuumed up several wounded birds each season which some other party had lost. Sure miss her.

Ed, that was mostly Lehigh County, but there were plenty of pheasants back then in Bucks County where I lived.

My friend owned the mother of my setter and she along with my dog were house dogs as well. I watched one time as he told Poly to fetch his slippers, which she did.
My friends brother used to brag how good she was and took her hunting with some friends, she would not hunt for him, but if I took her when he was re-activated into the Navy, she would hunt for me.

I hesitate to even tell this story but here goes...
I had just let my GSP out of the truck at a state WMA and had loaded my gun....She made a couple of cast and went on point.
I flushed a small covey of quail and knocked down one bird which had flown down an access road. It had rained the night before and there was a lot of mud holes and standing water. My dog went for the retrieve but couldn't locate the bird. Back and forth she went to no avail. She eventually approached a large deep mud hole and started to dig... Feathers started appearing on the water and out came the quail still alive!! My brother was with me and gave me one of those "What the Hell" looks! I can't explain it....

Jerry, your Mearns Quail story reminded me of Emily, my Britt when she was a pup.
I and two friends went to Arizona to hunt Mearns Quail and I took Emily, my 6 month old Brittany.
One of the Shorthair's went on point and Emily was on high ground just behind the pointing dog. She launched herself and landed in the middle of the covey, snapped her head around and gave me a grin.
Later, she redeemed herself with many points and retrieves.

I've had two incredible hunting dog feats.

The first happened in about 1976 while duck hunting with my young pup Duke, an English Springer Spaniel on a pothole off the Wolf River in Northeastern Wisconsin when a trio of drake Mallards suddenly appeared over the tree tops and were circling the pothole in an inverted V formation, as they came past for their third go 'round I took one shot with my 20-ga. Ithaca/SKB 280's IC barrel shooting 3" 7 1/2s. All three fell to the water dead. Duke made the triple retrieve when he was just 8 months of age.

The 2nd was about three years ago, my English Setter Winston stopped to point a woodcock while retrieving another. Unfortunately, I didn't connect on the 2nd bird. Here's a pic of that event:

Although it didn't involve birds, I like Daryl's story the best.