As you read these stories my motivation for writing them is to preserve what are the high points,perfect moments or those not so perfect, of my life with the Love Creek English Setter's. Most of our lives are spent doing someone else's bidding so that maybe we can afford to do some of our own. And maybe, just maybe, we may be fortunate enough to experience some great moments significant enough for us to understand why we get up every day and keep pursuing our dreams. I've been very fortunate in that I've had many of these moments. Enough to fill this page and many more. As a culture we store the symbols of similar great moments as a people in museums to forever preserve them and honor those responsible. In much the same way these pages are my museum if you will. My way of preserving our life and times. They are really the sum total of our experience together. As good as it gets.
So as I look at the Setter's this morning I wonder how long we'll have. How many more days like these I've written about. How many more miles will we walk together before age catches up with us and all that'll be left is what's on these pages and in my mind. These are good times that I know in the end will be the best of times. As I look at the Setter's I don't ever want to forget any of it. And so I write on.
During the 2011 season Tom had come out the second week of November and we had decided to hunt together on this morning. Having been watching the harvesting of crops across the area I chose a run I call the Marilyn Monroe 480. Almost a full section of rolling CRP grass bordered by now harvested corn to the north and wheat to the east and west. This was such an expansive area of heavy cover it didn't get as much pressure as the smaller sloughs and pockets of cover. The gang hunters or "shitbirds" as I call them like to surround the smaller areas so they can shoot the heck out of the birds. Gotta get our limit! I prefer to hunt the birds not ambush them. And yes I believe in fair chase. I do have a sense of humor about this however as in anything there are different styles and strategies with one faction always discounting the others methods or beliefs. Let there be no misunderstanding!. I am grateful there are not many hunters out there that cover ground like I do with the Setter's!
I suggested Tom take the east edge and I'd take Molly and work the west side of this area. The wind was all of 15 to 20 mph and coming from the west under partly cloudy skies.
Molly and I headed into the grass which is quite heavy along the north side and she began working to the west edge. There were birds moving as she cast about coming to point quickly along the northwest edge. I moved ahead to flush and a Hen took flight. We turned back south and worked up around a rock pile with Molly coming to point again on a rise facing south. I was 50 yards behind her and on approach several birds started flushing wild out of range back into the CRP heading south. This field has several rolling hills which run east and west providing cover from the wind in the depressions between them. The challenging part is it's so big and when birds start moving you can really put on some miles pinning them down. I'm speaking from experience having hunted here several times over the year's with mixed success.
On this day as I walked along my guess was that the depressions out of the wind might hold birds. So we walked on and made a cast to the east a quarter mile and circled back west once we got over the first hill. Sure enough Molly got birdy 100 feet from the west edge of the wheat stubble and was working a bird. I got close as she was obviously tracking this bird headed right for the open wheat stubble. Just as she got to the edge she pointed facing north. I was within range but hoped the bird would hold for me to walk right in as the wind was a real factor today so every advantage was welcome on this day. I got right to Molly and the Rooster flushed to the west into the wind as I hoped hanging in the air before turning and I fired bringing it down! Molly ran over to retrieve and I decided we'd repeat this strategy of hunting the area's between the hills as we moved south.
We moved on heading east again over the next rise a few hundred yards and Molly picked up scent again tracking back and forth across the top of the hill and over into the next depression or bowl formation in the field. This bird was really moving about but she kept circling trying to keep picking it up as it changed direction several times. This was incredible to watch as she systematically kept locating the scent and trying to pin down the bird. I had everything I could do to keep up hoping to be within range when she went on point finally. Again this bird was headed back to the west edge of the field and the open wheat stubble. I was hoping she would get it pinned down before it reached the open field. She did coming to point 50 yards from the edge. I was 60 yards away when she finally locked up and having been following this contest as best I could was winded at this point but the bird was holding. I was able to again walk right in as Molly held steady facing west flushing this second Rooster into the wind again and bringing it down with one shot! Spectacular bird work! I hadn't let this bird get very far out before firing and was happy it wasn't hit to hard when Molly recovered it. As we took a moment I saw Tom's truck back on the road as he looked for us. Since we were almost to the back of this run and our strategy was working I decided to press on over the next rise.
We repeated the maneuver of casting east in a wide arc and then turning into the wind heading west. This time Molly picked up scent and started working the birds to the east back and forth through the area between the ridges or hills if you will. This went on for quite a while with points and relocating and pointing again only to have the birds run out. Finally after circling about Molly locked up again and I flushed a pair of Hens. We were now almost all the way to the east edge and turned back west working the south edge of this run as we headed back. Another cat and mouse game ensued with a Sharptail flushing wild in the adjacent hay field just out of range. As we came back west and turned north again Molly started working a bird again in the low spot between these ridges. She tracked the bird up and over the next ridge out of my sight momentarily. When I came to the top of the ridge there she was 100 yards ahead against the opposite side of the hill on point. This looked so much like the previous points it was unbelievable. What was more unbelievable is that this bird was holding as I made my way once again right up to Molly. I collected myself as I approached wanting to make this shot for her if we had another Rooster. I moved ahead to flush and sure enough our third Rooster took flight again into the wind falling with one shot from my Gold Label! What a text book performance I thought. Molly had handled everyone of these birds perfectly. They had all done their best to outsmart her but she'd circled and cast about never loosing them as she worked to head them off and hold them for the gun. What a run! As we walked along the wheat stubble headed back north I was glad to see Tom driving along the field edge to pick us up as we both had quite a workout.
Our success was due of course to superb bird work. It couldn't have happened without a very talented and experienced bird dog. Molly. She had handled these birds with incredible determination,drive and desire. My knowledge of the terrain led us to approach the run with a successful strategy hunting the areas in between the ridges betting the wind would make them a desired location to hold birds on this day. And they did. Three up and three down. Three birds and three shells. A real triple play!
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