Opening Day 2021
October 30 was Opening Day here in Iowa for pheasants and quail. It was a beautiful sunny day with a steady, crisp north wind-perfect for taking the dogs out after some ring necks. My dad had a Brittany and I had my 9-year-old Brittany Ray, our stud Grif Gus, and our 5 month old female Lucy as a tag-along.
The main goal of the day was just to see where Gus was at after getting a Prize 1 in the NAVHDA NA test but entering his first full hunting season. We started on a little 20 acre piece of land belonging to my Grandpa and just a few steps in one of the dogs went on point. Unfortunately the rooster took off on his own at about 50 yards and moving straight away. We learned right away the first growing pain we will have with Gus when he took off after that rooster, kicking up half a dozen other roosters and as many hens along the way. We didn’t get any. When we looped around and started making our way back to the road I lost track of Gus. He had went out in front and was working his way back into the wind. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes, straining through the bright sunshine for any sign of him. Mid step I noticed him frozen on point about 25 yards in front of me; unfortunately when that step landed it was close enough to flush a group of about seven tightly packed together pheasants. I missed a shot with the sun in my eyes and dad couldn’t make out heads or tails through the rays.
The next hunt was a on a river bottom my grandpa owns as well. The hunt started out very much the same except a few birds flew early on their own but Gus still thought he had a chance of out racing them. He was wrong. Right when we got Gus reigned in my Brittany Ray (who’s supposed to show the young guns how it’s done) went on a solid point-two hens and thus no shots. On the second half of the hunt we got a point on a rooster who decided not to wait for me to get there and I missed a long side-to-side shot. A few minutes later Gus went on point again; the rooster didn’t wait for me again but a practice shot on the previous bird was enough to help me connect on this one. He went down with a head shot and Gus retrieved him to hand.
It was a wonderful morning in Creation full of joy and learning. We learned that Gus is doing great and that we have stuff to work on. I have always trained dogs and I have always wanted them to be perfect right now. As my dad likes to tell me, “Let them have fun, let them figure it out.” Dogs are like people-if we try and force them to be perfect today and work too much, too hard, too soon we can kill their joy. I would share this encouraging word with all of you. Enjoy the time with your dog, laugh at the hiccups, celebrate the wins, enjoy the memories. It can be hard-the world likes to judge based on a moment or a mistake but we’re not in this to impress anyone. We do this because we love time afield, with our dogs, with each other, and with the Almighty.
