GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

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HMiller
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GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by HMiller » Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:51 pm

The story of the GSP Mafia's first annual excellent bird hunting adventure...

The journey started in Greenville, South Carolina on September 18, 2009 with myself, Doug and Jordan. We left Greenville on a sunny Friday afternoon, loaded up with hunting gear and our pups, Maebyn and Finley. As is typical with most GSP Mafia trips, I was relegated to the backseat of the truck and the boys commenced with the driving and excited discussions about the week that awaited us. We drove to West Virginia to pick up our fourth member (Bruce) and the other five pups who would be making the journey with us (Doodle, Groove, Leah, Heinz and Dollar).

We left out of West Virginia around 11:30a on Saturday, September 19th to make the long drive to South Dakota - our final destination.
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(beautiful West Virginia)

The drive wasn't too bad... I can say that because I didn't actually drive at any point on this journey... my pillow, book and DVD player were precious to me... aside from my midnight to 3a stint as co-pilot, during which I pointed out every random roadside attraction the state of Wisconsin had to offer (multiple indoor waterparks and other various assortments).

We arrived in South Dakota safely and our first official stop was at Cabela's (my new favorite store) to purchase some last minute items and our hunting licenses. After a trip for groceries, we arrived at the cabin and were amazed by the beautiful views!
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(view from the cabin/our front yard for a week)

The pups were probably more excited than we were... the minute we unloaded them they were going in 7 different directions!
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(shameless plug for my sweet Maebyn!)

Shortly after we unloaded our luggage, our fifth and final member, Adam, arrived. (Now, some of you may be wondering how Adam became a member of the GSP Mafia. Yes, he lives in South Dakota and this trip was our first official meeting, but his "son" Almost Heaven's Daddy's Paycheck, or Cash as we call him, is a litter mate to Maebyn, Finley and Groove and he fits in really well with our crowd, thus solidifying his membership)

Now that our group was complete, we opted for a late afternoon hunt on the Grasslands. (And this is really where the story begins, or at least the interesting parts) We started with one of Adam's preferred hunting spots somewhere in the Grasslands - if you showed me map of the Grasslands, I promise you I could get us back to that spot, or any spot we went to during the week, but that's beside the point... The afternoon was warm, but had started to cool off, so we set out with Mae, FIn, Groove and Doodle. The hunt was somewhat short, but the dogs did well and we saw a few birds, but most were getting up before we were anywhere near them. Adam shot the only bird of the day and Bruce had a not so nice encounter with a rattlesnake (what I noted as the first and hopefully only snake of the trip) - the "not so nice" was for the snake... it didn't survive the encounter. (I still get the chills thinking about the snakes...)

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(the pups admiring Adam's bird)

Day 2 (Monday)
On the morning of what was our first full day of hunting we headed to Sand Creek in the Grasslands. The first (and main thing) to know about this spot are that there are TONS of hills - not your typical small, rolling hills though, massive, make-your-quads-scream hills (note to self: the stairmaster is a must prior to next year's trip). It was a cool morning and the winds were whipping, but we set out with Mae, Fin, Dollar and Heinz. The dogs worked the land wonderfully and even had a few pheasant finds, but the sharpies and chickens were super skiddish with the high winds, so they were up and off before we could get close.

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(Finbo has some legs!)

The morning hunt didn't produce any dead birds, so we went decided to try our spot from the first day for the afternoon hunt. We hunted it differently and spread out a bit more this time and made a loop, working the slopes and flat areas. The wind was still proving to be our enemy, but as would prove to be the "norm" Adam shot the only bird of the day. Every day we learned something new - hunting insights realized, first aid tips, etc - that day's knowledge came with a run in with barbed wire and superglue... Mae's ear is proof that superglue works on dog injuries (I was skeptical). And, I almost forgot! Each day we saw all kinds of exciting wildlife (and no, snakes DO NOT count as exciting wildlife).

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(the Antelope!)

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(the gorgeous sunset!)

The most interesting thing about day two was that the pups ran 30 miles at an average MPH of 8.5 (thank you Garmin Astro!)

Day 3 (Tuesday)
We started in a new spot - in the NE area of the Grasslands. Doodle, Groove and Leah worked the area beautifully and we got up a good number of birds and even managed to shoot two sharpies (I think credit goes to Bruce). We made a quick stop in Pierre and then headed back out to the Grasslands for an afternoon hunt. We got up a ton of birds and I managed to ruffle a few tail feathers, but wasn't able to knock anything out of the sky.

Day 4 (Wednesday)
Well, we shouldn't have known there was something ominous looming with the way the day started out... We let the pups out for their morning bathroom break and Groove and Heinz came back with quills in their muzzles... they had found a porcupine and attempted to play with it.

We went to an area north of Pierre for our morning hunt - it was a walk-in area along the Bad River. We took Mae, Fin, Dollar, Heinz and Leah out for the hunt and they all did well. Leah (11 month old) did a great job on her second day in the field and showed some great potential! Mae had a couple of stop to flushes and got a great point towards the end of the morning. We collected 3 birds (two sharpies and one chicken), thanks to Doug and Bruce.

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We made a quick stop off in Pierre during the middle of the day, as it had gotten pretty warm and we wanted to do a late afternoon hunt, once the temps had decreased. We stopped at the DakotaMart - I highly recommend it... part grocery store, part sporting goods, it was fabulous! The guys wouldn't let me kill all of our time in the DakotaMart, so we ended up doing a mid-afternoon prairie dog hunt. It wasn't all that exciting... lots of waiting and relating of the situation to the mole game at the video arcade (where you bop their heads when they come out of the holes). Once we deemed that it had cooled down enough we set out on our late afternoon hunt... We didn't make it fifteen yards from the truck when I heard the unfamiliar, yet sickening "buzzing" sound... my first rattlesnake encounter... I screamed "Oh my God!" and before the last word left my lips I had unloaded three rounds into the (insert expletive here). It would take one more round for the snake to officially be dead, although I did hit it three times, and before the last shot was fired the most terrible thing happened - Leah ran over top of the snake and it bit her in the nose. Initially I hadn't realized that she'd been bit - I had already re-loaded my gun, told the guys I was "DONE!" and was on my way back to the truck when I realized Bruce was holding Leah and looking at her with a worried expression. The guys loaded up the dogs while I called the vet, Oahe Vet Clinic in Fort Pierre. It was after hours, but they leave their home and cell phone numbers on their answering machine for cases just like ours. I was able to get a hold of Dr. Jeff Ehrenfried and he met us at the clinic. He immediately gave Leah steroids and antibiotics via IV and monitored her while we went over how it happened and he let us know what to watch for, etc. He was absolutely wonderful and by the time we left the vet, Leah was walking around and slowly her spunky personality was showing back through. She swelled up a good bit, but by the next morning she had her spunk back and was running around like she had been the day before.

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(Leah and her quadruple chin)

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Day 5 (Thursday)
We opted to go back to Sand Creek for the morning hunt. We started this hunt on the opposite side of the two-track this morning, as we decided to try a big loop and finish with the large hills of the previous day. We took Mae, Fin, Doodle, and Groove and set out. Within thirty minutes of starting out Mae flushed 20+ birds and I moved up and was able to shoot a straggler that didn't fly off immediately with the rest of the group! I shot my first prairie chicken!! It was an excellent feeling and shooting my first wild bird made all of the walking worth it! We looped back around on another set of hills and worked the ridges and flat areas as we headed back to the truck. Sure enough, it had warmed up and we saw our third, and FINAL, rattlesnake of the trip and Doug did the honors of killing it. He managed to shoot the head only, so we (i.e. Bruce) picked the snake up and carried it back to the road (dirt), so we could do a little snake aversion training.

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(my only fear about the trip, so I had to get a picture with the one thing I feared and killed)

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(Sunflowers!)

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(Cash wants to play with his brother Groove!)

Adam and Cash were waiting for us at the cabin when we got back from hunting (we opted to head back to the cabin after the snake encounter, as the temps were warming up a good bit, increasing the likelihood of more snake encounters). We let all of the pups play and run around the cabin to burn up some energy.

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(Twins! Well, almost... Maebyn and her brother Cash)

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(Leah's back to her usual self, with the exception of the swelling)

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(Cash Man!)

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(Brothers! Cash and Fin)

In the late afternoon Adam, Doug and Jordan decided to take Cash out for a short hunt. They had a good hunt with Doug and Adam each bringing home a bird. While they were hunting, Bruce and I worked to get dinner ready (casserole with sharpies and chickens) and Bruce set out to work Heinz and Dollar on a few pheasants in the "yard." Bruce's good intentions didn't get very far though... He let Dollar and Heinz out and they happened upon a porcupine, with Dollar getting the worst of it - he apparently tried to pick the darn thing up in his mouth! After what seemed like forever pulling quills out of Dollar, the other three got back to the cabin and we dined on a delicious dinner of sharptail and chicken!

Day 6 (Friday)
Our last day of hunting... We headed out to a new spot in the Grasslands (Just North of Sand Creek). This was the day that we had all been looking forward to - the opportunity to run the litter mates together - Maebyn, Finley, Cash and Groove. It was a foggy morning and for the first little bit, if we hadn't had the Garmin Astro we would have been lost! We made two loops on the land and Adam shot two birds. It was foggy most of the morning and we worked the area somewhat slowly (knowing it was our last day, I think we were all moving a little slower than normal, as we weren't ready to go home), but it was awesome to see all four litter mates work the field together! When we set out, it was as if they were all competing (to a certain degree) and as the morning progressed each pup came into his/her own and showed their independence, while keeping track of us and their mates. It was very cool!!

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We wrapped up the morning hunt and decided to take one last crack at Sand Creek. There were a few birds, but it was a little sparse, however, we did get a great point (by Groove) and honor (by Fin) to wrap up the day of hunting!

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(another look at our front yard for a week)

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(Leah - pretty much back to normal, with minimal swelling)

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(Doodle Bug)

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(starting the long drive home)

I hope you enjoyed this diary of the GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition!

We look forward to sharing more exciting adventures with you. :D

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The GSP Mafia
Bruce, Groove, Heather, Maebyn, Doug, Adam, Cash, Jordan, Finley
Miller's Mischievous Maebyn VDHimmel JH

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snips
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by snips » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:03 pm

Wow guys, looks great!!! Green with envy!!! Rick and I let our trip drop this yr, were too busy....But really enjoy seeing your adventures!!!
brenda

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Dave C
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by Dave C » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:09 am

Excellent post and cracking looking dogs.

Dave.

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Ditch__Parrot
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by Ditch__Parrot » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:21 am

Great narrative. Sounds like a fun trip. Some great looking dogs !! (of course I could be a bit biased :wink: : )
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GSPVIZ
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by GSPVIZ » Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:35 am

Great Post.

Did you rent that cabin? The views are amazing!

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HMiller
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by HMiller » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:04 am

Thanks!! I chronicled each days events in my notebook, so I wouldn't forget anything! It was an amazing trip and South Dakota was gorgeous!!! We rented the cabin and it was perfect because we could just let the dogs roam around in the mornings and evenings, not to mention the views! There are right around 1,000 pictures from the week, so it was very hard to select just a "few" to add in with the post! We're already looking forward to our trip next year, location is TBD. :)
Miller's Mischievous Maebyn VDHimmel JH

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MTO4Life
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by MTO4Life » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:43 am

Absolutely awesome. Beats my half day hunts for grouse!!! But I'll take them anyway!!! Looks like you had a great trip.

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SD Pheasant Slayer
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by SD Pheasant Slayer » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:52 am

Well done Heather!!! It was such a great time meeting and hanging out with the lot of you and your dogs. Can't wait for next year!
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Almost Heaven's Daddy's Paycheck - "Cash"

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by 1doogie » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:05 pm

:mrgreen: WOW!!! :mrgreen: I've been waiting for these pictures! Bruce has told me some of the stories!!! :o Looks and sounds Like you had an exiting trip! I wish my boy Wyatt didn't get sick and could have gone!!

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by snips » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:09 pm

Is Wyatt OK now?
brenda

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by 1doogie » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:16 pm

Yes Benda, I dropped him off with Bruce on Fri. and he will be there for 4 weeks!! From what I've noticed he has had a full recovery!! :D

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by AHGSP » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:33 pm

Wyatt is well B, as you can see from the pic below from Sunday, standing to the flush :wink: 8)
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About the trip......
Awesome job narrating Heather! Job well done and I think you may have potential to be a scribe... :D
For me, this trip would not have happened without you, Doug and Jordan. Thank You! :D

Groove after playing with a Porkie :evil:
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Doodle on a nice point on a Phez in a ditch
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I'll leave this with one thought; Why on earth would anyone want a big running Shorthair? :lol:
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Bruce Shaffer

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten"
Mark Twain

Bruce, Raine, Storm and GSP's
Almost Heaven GSP's
"In Search of the Perfect GSP";)

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by midwestfisherman » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:18 pm

Excellent PE, thanks for posting it. What a great place to go for a week. I hope to make it out there next year.
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by snips » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:23 pm

Doodle is looking good!!! Wyatt too!!
brenda

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by MillerClemsonHD » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:20 am

Good post babe. Much better than if the rest of us had tried to remember what had happened after we got back and tried to put something together. You forgot a few key points though.

After the stop to flush and one dead bird on the way back to the truck the great point Mae had she let me walk in and flush the bird and shoot it. Would have gotten a retrieve if it had not been for all 5 of them going for the same retrieve but at that point I didn't care. I had gotten to shoot her first wild bird over her. The picture will always be in my head, just wish the camera wasn't over the hill waiting by the truck with the person carrying it!!!! I can't get too mad though she was a trooper and covered more ground than expected, especially since she was in a boot up until 2 weeks before we left.

You also didn't give doodle any credit on the bird you shot. From where Bruce and I were on the other side you had doodle down over the hill on birds as well when they started to come up.

Adam got to shoot over a nice point by Groove while we were all on the other side of the ridge. He also had Cash on point with Groove honoring from about 200yds and thought there was no way he was honoring and hadn't noticed Cash on point. By the time he didn't get any birds up for Groove and saw Cash on point he tried to get there but birds got up before he got there.

It was a great experience and can't wait for the next one. Enjoyed getting to meet Adam and see Cash again. Hadn't seen him since he was 8 weeks old. I know it was special for Bruce to get to see 4 pups out of one litter on the ground together. There were a lot of first times on the trip for us and the dogs which made it special as well. Its too bad Wyatt couldn't make it, would have been fun to see another pup on the ground and learning something new every time on the ground. Also our group has requested Adam change his handle from PheasantSlayer to BirdSlayer. When he shoots he doesn't miss, lucky for us or we would not have had much to eat Thurs night.

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by maker4life » Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:57 pm

Flat out awesome !

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by AHGSP » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:40 pm

Doug,
Their were many special memories from this trip that I'll carry for the rest of my life and the one with the Rattler I'd prefer to not remember; other than Heathers dance, quick draw and expletives :lol: ; but it was extremely special to me to be able to see these 4 littermates hunt together. I'll never, ever forget it. Just simply awesome!

I've talked about it with a few people since getting back, but I don't think any of us ever imagined a year and a half ago, the friendships made and hunting trips planned all because of a couple of lil GSP pups.
To explain to anyone interested; Doug/Heather and Jordan lived very close to each other but had never met until by chance, they got pups from the same litter that led to a friendship amongst them and they to me. Some training, competing and some joking around.... the "GSP Mafia" was born of light humor amongst new found friends and plans made for a hunting trip that has solidified a friendship that will carry us all through life I am confident.
Simply amazing what a couple of canine companions can do for us humans when we give them a chance to teach us a thing or two 8)
Bruce Shaffer

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten"
Mark Twain

Bruce, Raine, Storm and GSP's
Almost Heaven GSP's
"In Search of the Perfect GSP";)

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Ricky Ticky Shorthairs
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by Ricky Ticky Shorthairs » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:21 am

WAAAY COOL!!! It's amazing what a small world it is.

Ya'll got some nice dogs there.
I'm gonna make my way to the Crow Creek Res. in the middle of Nov.

I have frequented some of the places that you guys went to in Pierre. Lynn's is pretty cool. I stayed at the hotel at the top of the hill last time I went out there.
I met the head of the S. Dak. DNR in the parking lot one night. He used to be the head of the Iowa DNR and lived only 20 miles from me. Small world indeed.

Doug

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by DGFavor » Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:46 am

Very cool outing fellars!! Awesome post! Very cool country! We saw a good number of rattlers back there as well - little easier to take from up on the back of a horse!! :wink:

(The big running shorthair pic would've been a little funner if they'd have been on the far hill instead of right in front of the camera!! :wink: :lol: :lol: )

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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by AHGSP » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:35 pm

DGFavor wrote:Very cool outing fellars!! Awesome post! Very cool country! We saw a good number of rattlers back there as well - little easier to take from up on the back of a horse!! :wink:

(The big running shorthair pic would've been a little funner if they'd have been on the far hill instead of right in front of the camera!! :wink: :lol: :lol: )
Yea, yea Doc!
I'm just a poor fella and was lucky to be carrying the 3X Zoom Casio point and shoot! About the only time I could take pix of the dogs was when they were in for water! :lol: heck, I got lucky on that Phez point at about a 100 yards!

The "Official Camera Gal" had opportunities to take pix with her 75-300 lens, when the Astro was saying dogs were 700 yards and more to the front, but kept complaining that all she could see was a blur going through the grass :lol:

Looking at how big the country is and I know I'm preaching to the choir with you, I'd rather the dog be covering all that ground than me! FWIW, trailering or renting horses was HEAVILY discussed as something that would be awesome to do next year.
You willing to volunteer the hunt and the horses?! :P 8)
Bruce Shaffer

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten"
Mark Twain

Bruce, Raine, Storm and GSP's
Almost Heaven GSP's
"In Search of the Perfect GSP";)

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HMiller
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Re: GSP Mafia's Excellent Bird Hunting Adventure | 2009 Edition

Post by HMiller » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:51 pm

I vote for horses next year!!! I have a TON of pictures where most of the dogs are at least 500 yards out... Some of them are Finbo and I was lucky to be able to tell it was him... He's the white spot in the pics... These pups are AWESOME when it comes to their running ability. I've seen most of them run in trials, etc and seeing them on wild birds was AMAZING!

Ps. AHGSP - I miss my baby girl!! :)
Miller's Mischievous Maebyn VDHimmel JH

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