SHARE YOUR MEMORY OF YOUR FIRST HUNT WITH A DOG..

[GUNDOGS]

I love to talk dogs and i have heard some really heartwarming stories over the years about people and their first hunt behind a birddog..i would love for you all to share your earliest memories of the experience and anything you can about the dog as well, also how or if it is why you still hunt today..my first real hunt with a birddog was with my husband almost 9 years ago with his shorthair HARLEY, we went for waterfowl one VERY EARLY fall morning, it was so cold out i could see my breath, we set up the decoys in the water, i got stuck in the muck and hubby had to help me out it was pretty foggy that morning and it was absolutely quiet except for the sounds of gunfire from the other blinds..we took HARLEY out of his crate and brought him to the blind, he was so excited and he was shaking so much i thought he'd die of a heartattack..within minutes the sound of ducks became louder and louder, my husband shot one and off went harley into the water without hesitation, he disappeared into the fog and i was scared to death he wouldnt find his way back, my husband said not to worry and next thing i know here he comes proud as a peacock with the duck eager to give it to brian..i knew from that moment on birddogs and hunting would be a part of my life forever i really look forward to hearing any stories you all have ...ruth

[Ahumphers91a]

I was waiting for my recently deceased Molly to be ready to come home as a puppy, never hunter behind any pointing dog ever. We set off into a field with my Molly's Dad, about 20 steps into the field his owner says, "See that?" I look up and Doc was locked up, it was so beautiful, right then and there I told myself I would never own any other kind of dog!

[brad27]

never hunted behind a birddog. that will change this november.

[markj]

Um, I was like 4 was the retriever 64 was a bad year, Dad got his limit every time out pheas and quail....

[baileydog2007]

My "first" time hunting behind a dog, it involved a lot of yelling. A lot of throwing rocks/shells in the marsh for the dog to go get the ducks. A lot of yelling. And then, a little more yelling. It was my Dads dog, when I was 10-12 yrs old. Not fun.

Now, the first time I remember hunting behind a dog that made the experience more enjoyable............I remember that well. I waas probably 15 or 16 and my Dad took a friend of mine and myself to southern MN, Lac Qui Parle (sp?), for some pheasant hunting, at my Dads friends farm. The dog was a black lab named Duke. Honestly not sure how "good" of a dog he was, but at the time, and by what I had to compare to, Duke I thought he was the best dog on the planet. When Mike said "here" the dog came. When he said "over", over he went. When a bird hit the ground, Mike had it in hand immediately. He could tell by Dukes tail if he was on a bird, and seemed right 100% of the time. Now, in hindsight, I dont think Duke was an amazing dog. Good? Probably. But its definately the hound that got me interested in dogs, and labs in particular. I remember talking about Duke years after that hunt and hoping I would have a dog like that one day. Although I was yopung and wouldnt swear to it that he was what I would call a "good" dog today, at the time, I was in awe and it certainly helped kick start my life long interest. Since about a year after that I never been without at least one dog. Until recently, all had been labs, now, an English Setter, and I HOPE by fall to get a GSP if things work out and I can find an appropriate litter with availability.

As far as "my" first dog memory that sticks. I had a lab, Bailey, who was shot by a neighbor of mine, in my yard, deer season of 2009. Its a miracle I didnt end up in jail, but thats another story. I knew Bailey was a "good" dog early (Good to me anyways). While I know many knock akc hunt tests, I enjoyed them with her. I remember being in Miller SD on a pheasant hunt, in a large "walk in" area. Just me and Bailey. A party of guys just finished hunting this area, but I decided to try it anyways, end of day, no time to get to another place. Plus, they didnt have dogs, and I only needed one bird. So, I walk about fifty yards, Bailey flushes and retrieves the bird, right where they had just came from, empty handed. I struck up a conversation with them, they asked if I would take my dog and walk it with a couple of them (some were not interested in walking anymore, 612ers all the way I think). I was happy to. Long story short, we walked about a half hour, put up a lot of birds, and they shot 4 roosters, and every rooster was returned to the guy who shot it, perfectly. It was soooo cool. Usually Bailey brought the Birds to me if I was there, this time she didint and the guys were in awe. Not that Bailey did any amazing bird/dog work, but those 612ers were impressed, it was really cool, and ended up selling a Bailey pup to one of the guys. See him on occasion in Miller and keep somewhat in contact. Fun stuff those dogs are.

[Onk]

I was about 5 or 6 and my dad and uncle took me along with my cousins. We hunted behind one of the best EP's we ever had Queen, I say we hunted behind her but I was only carrying a toy gun! My two older cousins hand graduated up to a BB gun for one and the ole hand me down 410 for the other. My dad and uncle shot birds, don't recall how many seemed like a ton, my oldest cousin got at least one and I remember them making him give the 410 to his brother so he could try. I thought I should have at least been bumped up to the BB gun! Funny I remember us kids being in the back of dad's ole 66 green and white ford truck with the shell, us and the dogs. That is the same year that I experienced my own Christmas story, yep I got a BB gun and no not a Red Rider it was a Daisy! That was prob. my first and fondest memory of bird hunting.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

It's been so long ago I can't remember my first hunt with a bird dog.I will say the first BD I ever had & hunted over GSP (Sugar) taught me more then I ever taught her.I never really did any training,we had BW quail in all directions from my front door at the time,I did make a CC out of an old telephone cable.I put her into birds & she did the rest,she was steady no matter how long it took me to get to her but once I started past her she flushed the bird & I didn't know any better & that's the way it was the 12 yrs she lived.She would retrieve to me but I would walk to her & take the bird so she learned to only come halfway back,again my fault,I never hunted her with another dog untill she was about 10 so she didn't back these were all my faults not hers & though I learned from my mistakes I never tried to change her because they were all my mistakes not hers.I have a pic of her & a couple phez I took when she was about 8,I'll try to scan it & see how it turns out,maybe post it.

This pic sets in my book shelf & makes me tear up everytime I look at it.

[mrcreole]

I was so young I am kind of hard pressed to remember the actual dogs. My dad was big into rabbit hunting and had Meadow Ridge Kennels in Lake Charles and bred some fine beagles. At times we had up to thirty beagles. To this day I still enjoy beagles and rabbit hunting but my passion is bird dogs.

My great grandfather lived in a little town about 80 miles away and he is the one that lit my fire with bird dogs. I hunted with him from the time I could follow him in a field until he died when I was 30. His name was Ozema LeDet, a die hard Louisiana frenchman, but we just called him Old Dad. He was an engineer and fabricator by trade and opened a burial vault and monument business in the 1930's that is still run by my great uncles today in three different cities in Louisiana. My first strong memory on a hunt with him was when I was about 9 or so. My dad had bought me a 20 guage Mossberg pump and I had gone to spend the christmas break from school with my great grandparents. At that time he had a white and lemon EP and a white and orange setter. We went to one of the family farms milo fields one afternoon. Those two dogs didn't seem to go 10 yards between points. There were quail everywhere back then. As I remember his dogs were nothing special compared to what I have today. They didn't retrieve worth a darn. Didn't look all that stylish on point but they found birds.....hundreds of them for years. When I was about 14 he got a Brittany to replace his ep that had died by this time. He was so proud of that dog....because he retrieved!

When I got my driver's liscensce at 15 he gave me my first bird dog, a white and black setter. Later he gave me a weim. When I started duck and goose hunting he gave me my first Lab. In high school I met my best friend to this day, Lee Monlezun. He was a bird hunter too and he and I made many an early morning trip to hunt with Old Dad. I remember when Lee and I got our first quail whistle. Old Dad was amazed that we could whistle up a covey and soon had a whistle of his own.

Because of Old Dad I feel obligated to share our sport and am thrilled my sons are avid hunters and trialers.

[Sharon]

Well , it's not a good memory.

Dog went on point. I moved ahead to flush and shoot the bird. Took the safety off, dog broke and banged against my leg and the gun went off.Could have lost my toes.

Lessons: Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.. Don't go in front of the dog. Come in from the side.

First A.F. trial:

I was paired with an expert. I knew we were already in trouble. Off we go , his dog had several solid finds as did mine. Then we had a double find. The Judges weren't up to us yet. He said to me, " YOu were here first so you have to go in and flush the bird. ( Not true. You wait for the judges and they decide whether one or both is going in.) In I went. The Judges arrived. My dog tool a step on the flush. I had to pick my dog up and I saw the Gentlemen smiling. I had been taken. He knew that if he stood by his dog , it was unlikely to break. Why take a chance when may be winning? Lesson learned.

When the Judge said to pick up the dog . I thought I had to carry him all the way back to the car.

Despite all this , we still managed to make Amateur Walking Derby Dog of the Year for Ontario.

Then there was the day my pistol wouldn't work while dog was on point. Judge asked to see the gun. He said," I have never seen anyone put a gun together back wards like this. " ( The dog was still on point.)

[GUNDOGS]

Well , it's not a good memory.

Dog went on point. I moved ahead to flush and shoot the bird. Took the safety off, dog broke and banged against my leg and the gun went off.Could have lost my toes.

Lessons: Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.. Don't go in front of the dog. Come in from the side.

First A.F. trial:

I was paired with an expert. I knew we were already in trouble. Off we go , his dog had several solid finds as did mine. Then we had a double find. The Judges weren't up to us yet. He said to me, " YOu were here first so you have to go in and flush the bird. ( Not true. You wait for the judges and they decide whether one or both is going in.) In I went. The Judges arrived. My dog tool a step on the flush. I had to pick my dog up and I saw the Gentlemen smiling. I had been taken. He knew that if he stood by his dog , it was unlikely to break. Why take a chance when may be winning? Lesson learned.

When the Judge said to pick up the dog . I thought I had to carry him all the way back to the car.

Despite all this , we still managed to make Amateur Walking Derby Dog of the Year for Ontario.

Then there was the day my pistol wouldn't work while dog was on point. Judge asked to see the gun. He said," I have never seen anyone put a gun together back wards like this. " ( The dog was still on point.)

Some not so good moments there sharon (glad you got your toes still) but some REALLY funny stuff too when the judge said to pick up the dog and you thought you had to carry him all the way back to the car THATS FUNNY ....ruth

[gsps4evr]

My first hunt behind a dog was when I was 14. Behind my first Gsp it resulted in alot of get over her you son of a (fill in the blank). That day ended with him needing a bunch of stitches from running into a barbed wire fence and me getting home and taking my dads truck to take him to the vet 15 miles away. My folks were gone for the day. I'll never forget that it never came to mind that I could get into trouble for driving under the age. I guess I didn't care had to take care of my pup I figured. Then I think the next week I went out and shot a bird over him and I was hooked from then on. Shot lots of bird over that old boy.

[GWPtyler]

I have a few firsts when it comes to hunting with dogs:

1) First time I can remember hunting with any dog, period: I must have been only 6 or 7 years old. We were staying at my grandparents' place in Fergus Falls, and my uncle, Jay, decided he was going duck hunting with a friend in the morning. He was young then, in his 20s, and he had a pretty young springer named Winchester. Jay woke me up at about 4 a.m. and told me to get ready because I was going hunting with him. I had no idea he was going to invite me out, but I was more than a little bit excited. Anyway, I don't remember much about the hunt, but at one point they must have gotten a couple ducks because Jay sent me out to the plowed field behind us to grab some rocks. I had no idea what he wanted a bunch of rocks for, but I did as he commanded. Well, Winchester was having a tough time retrieving the birds, so Jay used the rocks to throw them in the water. Eventually she got all of them, but I thought it was pretty funny how frustrated my uncle was.

2) First time hunting with my own dog: This was last September, and my great uncle, David, and I decided to do some scouting for duck opener. This is kind of an annual tradition for us, but this year I decided to bring my new GWP, Remy, along to see how he did. Granted, he was just four months old at the time, but I had no expectations and, knowing he wasn't gunshy, figured it all would be good experience. So we drove around for a bit and found some ponds that looked promising for the following weekend. When we were satisfied, we headed to one of our favorite sharptail grouse spots and let Remy out. He was absolutely in his element. He zigged to the right, then back to the left. I had an oversized orange skid plate on him for protection, and a little bell on his collar so I could hear him if he took off. Well, we got over a hill and Remy was running straight away from me. I was following, not really paying attention, when suddenly a grouse gets up right at my feet. I shoot it, and just then another one gets up and I get my first double of the year. At this point, Remy is going absolutely ballistic at the sound of the gun and is running all around me wondering where the birds were. I was getting a tad concerned, as he didn't seem to be focusing on the scents. Then, he began getting closer to one of the downed birds.

"Good boy," I said. "Dead bird." Remy got closer, and closer, and was right on top of it...then ran right past it! I was flabbergasted. So I tried directing him back to the bird, and again he ran right over it. Finally, I bent down, pointed to it, and said "Fetch," at which point he looked at it, and then looked up at me as if to say "oh, that's what you wanted?" He eventually did pick it up, and found the other bird, too, but I always will get a kick out of those first birds (he did get much, MUCH better as the fall progressed, but those first sharpies sure gave him hard time!)

[jlowery]

2 years i been workin dogs now. And come last november my soul will never be the same. Had a big tussle on this forum about takin such a young dog pheasant hunting with the chances of ruining him with all the gun shots.

2010 Opening weekend of pheasant could not have gone any better hunting behind a bird dog for the first time, and mine at that. Red my brittany was a mear 10 months old. The guy that lets us hunt all his homeland was riding with me, and knew that it was my first gundog to train, and he had a little worry in his voice when we pulled up at the first field, and he said lets let the guys get out and walk this field and leave the pup, just to get everyone going, and on the right foot before we let the dog loose. So we walked the first field, shot some birds... And on to the next field to what began the best bird hunting i have ever seen. My Britt was worked prefectly out in front Responding to my voice, and even retrieved two birds, and quartered and locked up on a couple hens. Got some great comments on how well the dog worked and looked forward to next year.

I have since seen a lot better dog work, and have a lot on my hands to work on, but i will never forget that week of my first experience running behind Red.

[MTR]

I moved to Wisconsin from the east-coast when I was 14. I immediately took hunters safety and talked my dad into letting me spend the $115 I had on a used Mossberg pump at the local hardware store. We shot some trap to at a local conservation club with a hunting neighbor a few times that early fall. A co-worker of my dad asked us if we wanted to go pheasant hunting on a Saturday morning just west of Fond du Lac on some DNR land that releases pheasant. He had either a DD/GWP/WPG (some wirehaired breed)and we had never seen a dog like that. As usual, for a kid that age, I got bored and tired walking and trudging through the marsh hay within a half an hour. The dog locked up on point - I had no idea at what was going on and had never see a dog behave this way. He asked me to walk up to the dog because a bird was there. I walked up and looked down and said there is nothing there (dense marsh hay) and not really knowing to kick around etc, I turned to to tell him that just when the rooster exploded from the cover. The guy waited long as he could to pull the trigger and bring down that bird. The bird folded and landed in a Hawthorne bush 6-ft in the air on a fence line. The dog broke and jumped into that bush and retrieved the bird to hand. It was the most amazing thing that I had seen. I had wanted a wirehaired dog every since. With the lab getting older, I was able to talk the wife into a WPG last spring. I just couldn't be happier!