My good friend Tom bought a Brittany Spaniel and invested a great amount of time training him to "woah," retrieve, and point pigeons that he put out. After some time, Tom joined a group that organized field trials with quail to judge dogs. With a bit of persuasion, I convinced him to take his dog woodcock hunting. Things were progressing well until the dog started following his nose.
Learning the Ropes
Tom, unfamiliar with owning a hunting dog, would call his dog and point him in the direction he wanted. I decided to observe for a while to see how the dog performed. Despite Tom calling him off the scent numerous times, the dog managed to point a few birds. It wasn’t his fault; he had never owned a hunting dog before.
The Pheasant Encounter
We walked into an open area with a small hedge row when I saw the dog spin into a scent cone, working what could only be a pheasant. Bo darted back and forth, trying to figure out the bird’s direction. Tom started to call him off when I stopped him and explained that his dog was working a pheasant. Skeptical, he watched as I pointed out the dog’s body language and told him to wait for the bird to flush at the hedge row’s end. Sure enough, a loud cackling rooster burst out of the brush. Tom looked shocked and asked how I knew. I explained that after hunting over dogs my whole life, I learned to trust the dog's sense of smell and body language.
The Grouse Hunter
We then took Bo grouse hunting, where he proved to be a natural. Bo pointed with a soft touch, meaning he maintained a good distance so as not to bump the birds before we got close. Grouse are easily flushed, and Bo quickly caught on to this. The first season, we shot a few over solid points. Each year, Bo improved, and one season, I shot over twenty grouse thanks to him. I like to think Bo is in heaven right now, pointing at a grouse with that same soft touch.
Hunting over a well-trained dog is an experience like no other. Watching a dog like Bo work is a testament to the bond between hunter and dog and the incredible instincts these animals possess. Trusting your dog’s nose and understanding their body language can lead to many successful and memorable hunts.
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