“Steady to hop?” Hunting other game with your bird dog

On a dare, I am writing this blog entry.  Honestly, its not for the dare but just because I never thought of writing it.  I do thank Frank Campbell for the dare.

Over the years my Brittanys have had various jobs.  Some not as glamorous as others.

Chief for example (not my kennels namesake, rather he was named after me when I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer in the Navy) was probably my most versatile of hunting dogs.

He appeared on the local news when Animal Planet visited some years ago.  His ‘cameo appearance’ showed him retrieving the remote control for the t.v. as well as a bag of chips and soda.

When Chief was but a young lad, he accompanied me on my two young boys first hunts.  Their first hunts were for gray squirrel in Maryland.  I believe in fast action for youngsters as a great way to get them started.  I really don’t need to say that squirrel are delicious when cooked right so yes, we never shot anything without eating it.

In the beginning of Chief’s first squirrel hunts he learned patience.  He too was like the young boys and had to be encouraged to sit still and be quiet.  Most hunts didn’t take much quiet time for the squirrel to become active so we all had a good time.  Chief’s job was to retrieve all shot squirrels which really came in handy if it fell into heavy brush or perhaps was crippled.  Chief soon became quite adept at hunting squirrel and would even watch the tree tops for our quarry!

One bow season in Maryland, I shot a deer and had to track it.  The blood trail was scant and I had a hard time tracking.  A quick dash to the house and back with Chief.  I let him smell / lick the blood that I found and enouraged him to find more.  He did so with just a minimal of encouragement.

My Brittany Missy was terrific on rabbits as she was a trial / hunting dog so was steady to wing and shot. She would point rabbits and hold steady to hop ( a must for safety ).  Tumble the rabbit, touch her on the head and get a prompt retrieve to hand!

Waterfowl?  No problem.  All of my Brittanys are waterlovers and whether it is a shot gamebird or duck, the retrieve is the same, fun for all.

I hear folks say “I’ll spank my dog or yell at my dog if it points anything but game birds!”.  Why?  Are you THAT vain?

My dogs have pointed deer, turkey that startled the dog at their size, rabbits, squirrel, skunks, coons, porcupines, armadillo’s, etc.  I’ve had unwanted retrieves of critters that include live racoons, ‘possums, armadillo, etc.

True, I do discourage some of that such as the squirrels, skunks, coons, porcupines, dillo’s, deer, etc.

I don’t discourage however, the pointing of game such as turkey, rabbits.  First off, it doesn’t happen much since hunting upland birds is a bit noisy.  Secondly, as long as they are steady, they’ve done their job.  Don’t forget that the Brittany breed was bred to hunt feather, fur and fowl.  

If you want to discourage it, go for it.  Simply ignoring the perceived ‘problem’ usually makes it go away since they want to hunt what you choose, usually ( LOL ).

My old saying is that “if this world goes to hell in a hand basket, you’ll be glad for a point on anything” so you can eat!  I also say that “the folks that think meat is only obtained from a store wrapped in cellophane will be darn glad to be your friend!”

If however, you are a snooty “game bird only purist” I wonder why you continued reading past “steady to hop?”  LOL.

Give that versatile Brittany of yours a treat for me and tell ‘em “Dave says good dog!”

Cordially,

Dave