Deja Vu

                                                             It was the first week of December 2011 and Molly and I had gone on a solo run under cloudy skies and a light fog with temperatures in the mid teens when my boots hit the ground. We were 45 miles south on this day hunting an area with cover as good as it gets. Some open pasture with short grass along with a little CRP,sloughs, and tree rows between crop fields of sunflower stubble and corn. But it's big and again without a dog that can cover ground good luck!
                                                             After an hour and a half I looked at my Garmin GPS Tracker and I had walked 3.5 miles and Molly had gone 6 as we made a loop through this large area. Molly had pointed a 5 bird group just a hundred yards into the run so we had one Rooster in the game bag as we turned back south towards the Jeep. As we made our way across this short grass pasture into the wind Molly picked up scent once again and followed it all the way into the next pasture. She had already been tracking this scent for a few hundred yards when she crossed the fence back near our starting point when this feeling of deja vu came over me. Two weeks earlier the same situation had occurred while hunting with my son Carson in the exact same spot. At the end of that run Molly had done the exact same thing picking up scent a couple of hundred yards north and crossing over into the same pasture first pointing a hen and then picking up another bird and coming to point in very sparse cover which had turned out to be a Rooster which I had shot. It had been an incredible piece of bird work as she pinned these birds down in very sparse cover without bumping them.
                                                              However on this day I was played out from following her numerous times as she tried to pin down birds only to have them run ahead and flush wild out of range. But that feeling of deja vu wouldn't let go as I crossed into the pasture not yet believing the same experience could repeat itself. It didn't take long for her to come to point once she tracked the bird into the next pasture. As I cautiously walked forward I thought regardless of whether it was a Hen or Rooster it had been a superb show once again. I was able to walk in front of her and a Hen flushed twenty feet ahead! I took a minute to congratulate Molly but she wasn't done yet as she made a big cast around the pasture and started working back towards me from a couple hundred yards away. The zig zag route she was on indicated to me she was working a moving bird which in this short open cover is difficult to culminate in a point with the bird agreeing to hold from flushing until I can get there!
                                                              Much to my surprise on this day Molly suddenly stopped short focused intently on a small clump of grass barely noticeable in the open cover. I had about 75 yards to cover to get within range. So again for the countless time this day I did another dash or "surge" as my friend Dennis would call it attempting to close the gap between us and get within range before this bird decided to take flight! As I approached I couldn't help but notice this looked and felt like the same spot this happened 2 weeks earlier. I got within 20 feet or so breathing heavily and slowly walked another few steps when a mature Rooster with tail feathers bending in the wind took flight to the south and fell on the second shot. The bird came down hard in the open pasture but still had some fight left but Molly quickly secured the bird and walked in a circle with her prize before approaching me with the bird letting me know who the responsible party really was!

                                                              We took a few minutes to absorb this great finish to Molly's run and reflect on what a coincidence we had just experienced. I am always thrilled by watching the Setter's hold birds on point in the open cover as it's such a beautiful sight to behold. Made even more thrilling then by being able to shoot a bird for them. As we then turned to walk the short distance to the Jeep we listened to the jealous howling from Mick and Beau who undoubtedly had heard the shots and were now awaiting there own solo run.