A field dog and two newbies
I took two waterfowlers (5 yrs. experience) pheasant hunting. They had never done this before. Granted, a preserve hunt but a good one. One hundred acres, fallow fields and woods of an overgrown farm, and rolling hills made for a good days hunt which gave us all that feeling of tired at days end, but a good tired feeling. I loved the comments. "This is a great hunt". "I can't believe that the dog retrieved that one" (bird sailed maybe 80 yards after being lightly hit). "I'm taking my son pheasant hunting during his winter break".
I had the opportunity to educate them to this type of hunting: appropriate clothing, appropriate loads, shoot through trees, pheasant habits, cockbird flush vs. hen flush, etc.
Then the comment "I can't believe the shape your dog is in. She doesn't even look tired. Whatever we walked she did three times that. And she is well behaved." (Those on this forum who know my dog can laugh at that.) I welcomed the opportunity to tell them the difference between a working dog and a pet, and the training that goes into the dog. And I felt very satisfied that I think I got two new people interested in upland hunting.
