I have enjoyed this thread immensely, I do think I would be a bird hunter if I did not have dogs. Here is a picture of Maggie in Montana with a limit of roosters my father and I took over her. She was something special. My dog trainer summed her up well to me one day while we were walking back to the truck. He said "she is what I like to call an independent thinker. She has every card a dog could have drawn in regards to skill but would be a handful for any professional trainer". That dog was full tilt from the second she hit the ground until we returned to the motel. Some of the more memorable moments were her treeing a Canadian Lynx while grouse hunting. Many retrieves that were mind blowing including one where I pulled her off the trail to show her where the bird was and after patiently indulging me she gave me that look that said "just wait here and I'll take care of things". She disappeared for about 45 minutes and right before dark as my anxiety level was sky rocketing she appeared on the horizon with my bird. One morning in Kansas after about 8" of fresh snow she caught at least 4 hen Pheasants burrowed under the snow. She did not really appreciate me releasing them after all her hard work. I learned over time to never doubt her. I heard it said that Springers do not hunt the wind but work foot scent. Well nobody told her that and she was quite effective at taking large loops and picking up body scent, especially when we had a wounded bird down. I miss her greatly but currently have her Grand Daughter who is also a great dog.


Firearms imports, consignments


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]