When you are upland hunting, a good hunting buddy is one that sticks with you and pays attention to where you are moving as you hunt.  A good hunting buddy does all the work: finding the birds even in the thickest cover; flushing the birds out of that cover so you get an easy shot; finding and retrieving the birds even if they get far out and you are not sure you even hit them; and then delivering the birds to hand.

Yep.  As a hunter you can’t ask much more from your hunting buddy.

Lucky for us (and a credit to their breeders), all of our dogs are good hunting buddies.  But there is something special about Storm when she hunts a field.  I think it is because she hunts with such focus.  It is really fun to watch her.

When it was her turn to hunt the field on Saturday, she was all business and it wasn’t too long before she flushed her first pheasant of the day.

Nice Flush Storm
Nice Flush Storm
A Shot
A Shot
And A Second
And A Second
Nice Job Storm
Nice Job Storm

With her first bird in the bag, Storm was off hunting some more.  The birds must have dug deeper into the cover because she really had to work for her second bird.

Storm Hunting The Field
Storm Hunting The Field

She finally found and flushed it.  It was a perfect flush.

Perfect Flush
Perfect Flush

Unfortunately the bird got high fast.  It took three shots and even then I wasn’t sure whether the bird was hit.  But Storm was following close behind.

Storm After The Bird
Storm After The Bird
Might Be A Lost Bird
Might Be A Lost Bird

I figured that bird got away, but hubby said “Just wait”.  So we did and after a couple of minutes, here comes Storm with the bird.

Nice Job Finding The Bird Storm
Nice Job Finding The Bird Storm

Some people train their dogs to be steady to flush (or to sit as the bird flushes).  This is true for most pointing breeds and a requirement if you plan to run any Upland Tests.  We do not teach our dogs to sit on the flush.

We do reinforce recall so they are not chasing birds all over the field, but as they gain more experience, they seem to understand their job.  That way we can be fairly quiet in the field and do not need to constantly tell our dogs to “hunt them up” or need to constantly recall them.

Storm’s third bird was a bit of a surprise.  Usually you can tell the dog is on a bird by watching their tails.  The dog will stop with tail straight up and quivering (at least all three of ours do that) and you know they are ready to flush a bird.

Storm must have been right on a bird that was ready to flush because it did and hubby and I were not really ready.  It flushed into the sun and my pictures are also into the sun and a bit hazy.

A Fulsh
A Flush

Hubby had trouble getting his safety off the gun because his glove got a bit hung up on it.  The bird got way out there.

Somehow He Hit It
Somehow He Hit It (You Might Be Able To See That Storm Is Under It Waiting)

You can see in the picture how far out that bird was and that he was shooting into the sun, but hubby made the shot and Storm made the retrieve.

Good Girl Storm
Good Girl Storm

It was an awesome job by Storm because that bird could have easily been lost in that high cover.  Storm was on it though.  We joked that she was waiting for it when it hit the ground.

Storm’s last bird was a nice close flush, shoot, retrieve.

Flush
Flush
Shoot
Shoot
Wait For It To Fall
Wait For It To Fall
Retrieve
Retrieve

And that was four flushes and four birds for Storm and time for her to let Thunder have a chance.  I will have his pictures on Friday.

Nice Job Storm Four Roosters And A Hen
Storm You Are A Good Hunting Buddy

18 thoughts on “What Makes A Good Hunting Buddy?

  1. Now THAT is what I call teamwork! 🙂 great job, all of you!!

  2. I’m sure she is the best hunting buddy, the look of her eyes says all. Probably Storm is related with Diana, the roman goddess of the hunt :o)

  3. Wow! Storm really knows what she is doing out there. I didn’t realize that the dog would follow the bird after it is flushed…but it now makes obvious sense as the dog would then have a better idea where the bird fell. excellent photos of an excellent hunt!
    Oz

  4. Great job, Storm! It’s so interesting to read your stories about hunting dogs as I have absolutely no knowledge on the subject. It’s amazing what dogs are able to do.

  5. Storm looks so proud in that last picture. It’s really nice to learn more about hunting dogs, always something interesting on your blog! 🙂

  6. Macha says, “Good job Sis!” Really informative series of shots, and yes, some Chessie ladies really have that instinct. They just seem to know, understand movement and have a sense of place. Surprise successes are always memorable!

  7. Hi Y’all!

    What a magnificent hunt, Storm! Unfortunately, my Human only hunts with the camera anymore, so I NEVER get to retrieve.

    Y’all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

  8. Storm is a natural! Mom says most dogs can do something, but only a few really have the talent and Storm is one of those.

  9. Storm you do an excellent job and stay focused on what you are doing. Whatever a dogs job the best one stay focused and do it well. Great hunt 🙂

  10. I will always and forever remember Storm and that goose, so it is no surprise to me what a great hunting dog she is.

  11. She looks so happy in both photos where you can see her face. She certainly seems like a natural at it, and that she really enjoys it.

  12. Wow she did a really great job – and she looks so darn happy about it as well 🙂 She is such a great hunting buddy.

  13. Nice article, how true. Each of my guys have their own hunting style, and a dog’s personality and character really come out in the way they hunt. Each one has something different to offer.

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