Molly Earned Her Keep

We had a couple of hours this afternoon for a hunt.... No luck in the high country, so on the way home decided to check out a small swamp in hopes of getting a Hare.... We drove in, and there sitting on the grass by the water was a large Ruffie, about 30 yards away.... I took aim on the eye, squeezed, saw the shot hit, and the Grouse went Kamikaze on me.... I've seen this once before, where a dead Grouse leaps into the air and climbs vertically until it runs out of adrenalin at about 70 feet and folds.... This one went straight up, folded, and fell back into the reeds, with a loud splash as it hit the water.... My wife saw it hit but I didn't, and I got Molly out of the back of the Rhino and told her "Go Fetch".... She went roaring down the bank and straight to where the Grouse took off from, whirled around and started running back and forth.... By this time I was at the edge of the water, pointing roughly where the Grouse was (I couldn't see it), and each time she went towards the water I said "Good Girl".... Suddenly she caught the scent, turned and made a beeline into the reeds, leaping through the mud and water, where about 20 feet from shore she stopped, made a grab, turned and ran back to the shore.... with the Grouse in her mouth.... There is no way she could have seen it or heard it (by this time it was motionless), so her nose was the key to finding it....

We heaped praise on her, and all the way back home she had the biggest smily face you could imagine.... She was jumping all over as I cleaned the bird, a huge male grey phase Ruffie.... The breast meat weighed 10 oz. which is big for a Ruffed Grouse.... Molly is darned proud of herself, as are Diane and I.... She really earned her keep today, we would have lost that bird if it wasn't for her....

Bob

Thats awesome Bob

Molly is growing up to be a great hunter. She deserves an extra helping of thanksgiving feast today.

Probly mentioned this before :crazy:

Had similar happen to me with a big sharptail- it verticalled 60 feet or so, then arced for the last ten, and ended up in the top of a big blue spruce. Before I could shake it out, or do anything else, a big bald eagle swooped down, and made for the horizon with it in it's talons...

Never had a dog with enough brains to hunt with.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail