Same Old, Same Old
Bode (above) and Rosie finally started their woods training today in Vermont, in search of grouse and woodcock to sharpen their skills on. Both dogs had good sessions in our limited time out there this morning (only 1.5 hours, due to rising temperatures), as they contacted eight birds (one grouse and seven woodcock) in their runs. They patterned well, responded to commands, and even held through the firing of my blank pistol upon the flush. All good things.
The good news is that the dogs looked great after a long summer layoff, pointing each of the woodcock that they encountered (Rosie had three and Bode had four). Not that its bad news that we only moved one grouse (not pointed) in limited time out there, but we're anxious to see what the grouse numbers will look like after the cold and wet spring and early summer that we had. It was pretty bad, and we'll just have to see what effect that weather had on the young ones.
More updates to come ...
More Importantly
If you have visited the Partridge Blog before, you may have noticed a change in the layout of the blog. After a month or so of transferring each blog post from the last ten years, the new and improved (let's hope so!) blog has been launched and I hope you like it.
All of the same information regarding flush rates and success from grouse hunting years past is still there (the "Tote Board" is at the bottom of the page, below the blog entries), but the Archived Posts are there as well, diligently organized by year and month. The Cloud Tags will help you find posts of particular interest, and the whole thing seems to be better organized than the old blog. I'm sure I'll find deficiencies here and there, so the work will continue.
The good news is that the dogs looked great after a long summer layoff, pointing each of the woodcock that they encountered (Rosie had three and Bode had four). Not that its bad news that we only moved one grouse (not pointed) in limited time out there, but we're anxious to see what the grouse numbers will look like after the cold and wet spring and early summer that we had. It was pretty bad, and we'll just have to see what effect that weather had on the young ones.
More updates to come ...
More Importantly
If you have visited the Partridge Blog before, you may have noticed a change in the layout of the blog. After a month or so of transferring each blog post from the last ten years, the new and improved (let's hope so!) blog has been launched and I hope you like it.
All of the same information regarding flush rates and success from grouse hunting years past is still there (the "Tote Board" is at the bottom of the page, below the blog entries), but the Archived Posts are there as well, diligently organized by year and month. The Cloud Tags will help you find posts of particular interest, and the whole thing seems to be better organized than the old blog. I'm sure I'll find deficiencies here and there, so the work will continue.
