First wild Rooster for Maggie over the weekend. Hunting some heavily pressured public land right next to my house, she gave me a nice 15yard flush. At 8months old, she’s done a little work at the game farm but it’s great to get a wild bird under the belt.
Not sure who was more proud, the dog or myself 
Congrats. 
At 8 months, I’d say she is off to a very good start.
She’s so cute! Way to go Maggie!
Awesome news Pete. There is only one first!
Awesome. 
Awesome!!
#2 tonight!!
What an awesome after work hunt resulting in Maggie’s 2nd wild rooster. Old timers in the lot leaving said don’t bother hunting, no birds out there. Guess they missed one – 24.5”+ tail feathers! Sorry if I seem so pumped, just such an awesome feeling getting a bird so close to home and seeing all the hard work and training pay off. Very very proud of our 8mo old hunting machine… if you can’t tell 
That’s passion Pete! I love it! 
Congrats its a great watching all your hard work and time pay off like that. Good looking pup too. 
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Sorry if I seem so pumped…
Don’t apologize. That is awesome!!! The hard work is paying off. Good job.
What area you hunting Pete? Good luck out there. I’ll be out there in a week.
Give me a shout if you ever need a extra gun. I’d love to tag along.
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Give me a shout if you ever need a extra gun. I’d love to tag along.
Will do!
Kooty – It’s in the Aberdeen area. I’m just tagging along with some friends.
We took the last few days off to let her pretty raw nose heal up.
Excited to get back at it!
From what I’ve red, the numbers are up in all areas, but still below our 10 year average. It’s still fun no matter what when you get to watch a pup “get it”. Good luck, let us know how you do.
Figured I’d give an update on how Maggie did in South Dakota. Overall she did fantastic! So pumped with how well she’s progressed. She’s getting much better at watching the birds fall and the retrieve. She hunted 6-7hrs/day for 5 days and showed no sign of wanting to slow down.
The first day she would run to the bird but not retrieve (similar to the retrieving problems I was having here at home). By day 5, she was not only retrieving dead birds but chasing down runners and finding those birds that fell in the real tall grass. It sure seems like she understands the program and what we’re out to do. I’m also much more proficient at seeing when she’s hot/birdy or just working an area.
Pheasant hunting is so much more fun with a dog. I enjoy working and watching her learn as much if not more than actually shooting at the birds.
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Pheasant hunting is so much more fun with a dog. I enjoy working and watching her learn as much if not more than actually shooting at the birds.
I need to convince my wife of this. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening for a couple five years for me. 
My take is pheasant hunting isnt worth while without a dog. Unless you are in an area flush with birds you rarely even flush them purposely without help from a dog. That’s my main motivation. That and finding them once down.
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