Spring Snow Goose Hunting

Well, after getting the pup to 500 points it was time to have some fun! Generally, I start snow goose hunting in South Dakota, but it was later this year, so we actually went straight to North Dakota. I'd planned to hunt snows for at least three weekends, but for one reason or another, I was only able to make it out for two of them. The first weekend I headed out with my dad and Arlie. Crammed in my dad's truck, we headed west and did a bunch of scouting. All the water made it extra tough getting to the birds even when you did find them. We ended up with 12 on Saturday I think. Certainly could have been worse, but I definitely expected better. Sunday, the weather turned against us. Rain overnight and it was still raining hard when we got up. We didn't have a very good field and with the rain decided it wasn't worth trying to set up. So, we tried to do a little sneaking but couldn't find anything worthwhile. We cut loose on one flock, but they were quite a ways out and came up empty. So we decided to head to town, have some breakfast and hang it up for the weekend.

I got out again the next weekend with a buddy, who also guides for Lone Drake Waterfowl Outfitters, and got after them again. We met up with a couple other guys after we found a field so there was four of us. It only took 3 vehicles driving around for a day and a half. But it turned out alright - I think we shot 48 that night. We already had a field lined up for the next day too. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a blizzard. This winter just won't quit! We never set since all of our decoys were windsocks and would have been filled with snow in no time. Mid day a couple of us put a sneak on some geese that were piling in to a field just down the road from where we were parked. There weren't very many close enough for us to get to, but it still turned out to be worthwhile - 23 geese down. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the trucks staying warm. Meanwhile, lots of geese continued to use the field we were planning to hunt. So the next day we got out there early to greet them. Surprisingly most of them were adults and not juvies as we expected. They didn't come in very well, though that was partially due to the snow and our difficulty hiding. But enough of them came close for us to shoot 88 of them throughout the day. No doubt we lost at least a half dozen more that sailed off or something, but that's just how it goes sometimes. And of course Elsi had a great time chasing cripples all weekend. I think the only thing she didn't like was having to retrieve a couple that were all of about 15 yards out in the water. Ah the life!

500 Points!

Well, we did it. We ran a lot of tests this spring, but we got 'er done! After the first couple weekends, the weather warmed up a bit, the snow melted, and the dogs ran a bit more freely. We ended up running Key City HRC, a new club that started up in IA next. They've got a great club going there and put on a great test even with the storms that rolled in on Sunday. Both tests went fine on Saturday. Sunday was one of those spring rainy days that you don't really plan to go outside all day. But we had tests to run. So, when we got a clearing, the judges got things rolling quickly. Elsi ran second and got a low flier right out of the gate. I guess after being pent up and not getting much to retrieve on Saturday, it was just too much and she thought she had better just catch it herself. When we got to the second test, the weather was threatening once again. We ran early, and got half way through the test when lightning was spotted. Back into the clubhouse for another weather delay. An hour later, we got back out for the second half of that test and got through it ok. So, 3 for 4 down in Key City, meant we still needed 15 more points, which meant 2 more (upland) passes. On to Big Wapsie.

The last upland test of the spring around this area is Big Wapsie's, typically the last weekend of March. They are an older club, and also run a good test, though they are struggling with membership lately. They have wonderful grounds and some great people there. And, the nice thing is, it's fairly close to home. A couple friends went down to run their dogs as well and hopefully rack up a few points themselves before the summer training got underway. Saturday turned out to be a nice day and the dogs were ready to roll. Some of them a little too much - Elsi included. Actually, she ran the test just fine aside from being deaf. The cover was pretty tall and fairly thick, which is a good thing for uplands of course. But not a good thing for a deaf dog trying to run hunt tests. After the second bird flushed and flew away, she was steady but figured we should keep hunting - I think she wanted a retrieve. By the time I could get her corralled back in it was too late. That kind of stuff just doesn't fly for HRC finished level control. On to test number two. This one went better, but I could still tell she was on the edge. It certainly helped that she got to pick up a bird on the first flush, however it would have been much better if it had been the second one! In any case, she passed. Just 5 points away! Guess we have to stay for Sunday.

So, Sunday comes. I was able to convince Pat to stay and run Sunday even though they had planned to go home after Saturday. Well, it was interesting, that's for sure. In the first test she looked eerily similar to the first test on Saturday. Not good - the saving grace was that the direction she decided to 'keep hunting' was the way we were going. So although it certainly wasn't ideal, it turned out ok. Honoring off lead - barring anything crazy we'd just done it. I'd entered both tests of course though, just in case. So we headed over there to run that one. Man she was getting loose. First bird, she didn't look good but got a rerun on a technicality. I was sweating bullets. Second bird gets up and flies away, OK no problem. Back to the first bird for the rerun, and it gets up and flies off too. Dog stayed, got her back and went to honor. Felt a lot better after that. Should have some insurance there. And that's the way it went down. After the rest of the dogs ran, we picked up our ribbons and thanked the club.

All things considered, we got it done. Things went downhill a bit at the end - She went 6 for 8 over the last two weekends. Not the same consistent 4 for 4 weekends I was used to, but for being deaf and getting a total of 2 training sessions during the whole spring season I guess I can't complain too much. Now the old girl can retire. She'll spend the rest of her days hunting, playing frisbee, and just relaxing. Speaking of which, we missed out on a lot of the spring snow goose season running all these tests. Time to get after that!

More uplands

It's been quite a while since I posted. Things have been busy, including some life changes - job and otherwise, but I'm still kickin - and hunting! I was able to get in a quite a few days afield last fall chasing ducks and I'm getting ready to get back after the snow geese in South Dakota as they make their way back north.

But first, I've got some work to do with my pup. I'm not a field-trialer or anything since I just got my dog to hunt. I've gained a ton of knowledge and experience with the retriever clubs that I've been a part of over the years. Mostly though, I stick to the HRC venue. The picture at left is from a regular test at Bong Recreation area a few years back. I never really planned on "chasing points". But as I've casually kept running my dog in tests, I realized that I had a legitimate shot at earning 500 points with her at our local Hunting Retriever Club, LLHRC. So last winter I decided to go for it. I ran a few more upland quads and she did pretty well, so I got busy in the spring and ran a few regular tests. They didn't go as well, due mostly to her hearing loss. So, I'm back to uplands. We've run a few already this winter and we're on the home stretch. We ran our home club, Horicon Marsh, and Dakota HRC. So far she's 8/9 in those tests. The only failure was really a handler error. Hopefully in a few weeks I can let the old girl hang it up - and it's all just fun hunting after that!