February fun

One of the great things about living close to chukar country is that even though the take season is closed, Grady and I can still have some fun. The season has been closed for four days, and Grady and I have already taken advantage of the great weather twice. I haven’t taken my camera, but I had my phone for pictures and videos. Amazing how much easier it makes hiking the hills without a shotgun and all the gear in a game bag.

I took some pictures along the way.

Mainly because I love taking them, and also a chance to show off my dog.

In one of my past blogs, I mentioned how Grady had started going around the chukars that he had seen earlier to trap them between us. I tried to video this, but I didn’t turn the phone on until it was too late. I did get the very end of it. If you look quick, you can see Grady pointing towards me as the huns flushed. You’ll just have to believe me, it took five minutes for me to get to that point.

This next video, after I took this picture of Grady on point,

he stayed locked on point as I walked ahead. So I tried to video the birds taking off close by. As usual, I turned the phone off, thinking the birds had already flushed. Sure enough, I turned back towards Grady, and as I walked back, the birds flushed between us. There were six of them. It would have been a gimme shot, but I probably would have choked.

This last video is Grady creeping. He had already held the point there for about three minutes, waiting for me to get to him. When I finally got there, he started his creeping. Usually, when he does so, he’ll adjust his creeping speed to me. You can tell when he wants me to be ready for the action.

I know most of you have dogs that perform like this. It’s just my chance to brag on mine. And I have to admit that sometimes those points don’t produce birds. But they always produce some excitement.

The good news is that we have been seeing plenty of birds. No big coveys, but enough that if they get paired up, they could produce some good hatches in June. Meanwhile, Grady and I are going to keep having some fun. I have no other life. I’m the world’s worst fisherman, and until turkey season comes around, this is my only entertainment.

Bear with me, because I’m planning on making more videos of Grady. And I got a postscript. The dam’s owner said my pup should be born in the next 10 or so days. I’m super excited to go through this process one more time.