We arrived at our eastern Montana destination so early, we had time to put the dogs out for a quick run. The weather was perfect! From the 90's earlier in the week, it was now 45 and drizzle. Scenting conditions were never better and the wind made it even easier for my "first timers".
This old bridge is one the mental landmarks I use to realize I'm really in hunting country!
Ruby isn't pointed, she's winding something interesting. It turns out, a large group of Sharptails fed through this area. We went on to get them up a few minutes later.
This is Shack. This blurry photo (I was so excited, I'm guess I'm lucky I even got a picture at all!) is his first ever retrieve. Of any wild bird. He was on the ground working with me, by himself, getting his sea legs, when I noticed he suddenly locked up, then moved, looked around, looked at me, locked up again, then dropped his head- as 15 Hungarian Partridge got up 10 yards in front of him! I dropped one into the alfalfa and called him back to look for it. He made a pass by, doing 100 mph, and headed back out. I loved to see the excitement, but I wanted to find the bird, as well. After a minute or so, I looked up and noticed him nosing around about 50 yards away, then he jumped in, picked up the wounded bird and retrieved it to me! Not bad, Shack! That's a lot of good stuff happening in one cast for a pup!
