Grouse Hunting 2008

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted but as the world is want to do we have been rather busy as of late. Between Heather starting up masters classes for the fall, work, hockey, and hunting life has been a little hectic.

Baylen and I have been experiencing our best year to date as he continues to improve. It seems to me that most dogs start hitting their stride once they have had about 3 years of experience. Baylen will be 2 on Dec. 1st.

Him and I definitely have room for improvement but it is neat to see how far we have come. For example, I have been grouse hunting for about 4 years and in that amount of time I shot only 4 grouse. This year after 3 weekends we have 8 birds under our belts.

Baylen is getting off the trail more, has started to find the birds for me after I shoot them, and recently has started pointing a few. He is also beginning to retrieve the birds, however, he only does this when he sees me coming. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is picking them up because he wants to show ownership. None the less I am content and excited that even with my limited training experience he is turning out to be a good hunting dog. There is definitely something to be said for good breeding!

Here is a picture of the two of us with 4 birds we shot a week ago.

I will post more hopefully in the near future as Todd, Zach, and I are going duck hunting in North Dakota this coming weekend.