Ok, so it was more hunting than training. Next time I'll leave my shotgun in the truck and focus on the dog, but we did have fun!
I took the day off work, and a buddy from the San Diego Sporting Dog Club went with me out to the IV to look for pigeons to shoot for my dog. I wanted to work him on steadiness, and he did pretty good. He'll do better next time, after I engage my brain and put the gun away.
The morning started off slower than slow. We were looking for a spot recommended to us by a fellow club member, and couldn't find it. So we headed north to some feed lots that I know of, but have never hunted. We quickly started seeing birds. LOTS of birds. We set up in a field across the road from the feed lot, and occasionally, a pigeon would stray over us, and we'd take a shot- but we only got one there. The euros and mourning doves were making a valiant effort at making criminals out of us, flying over us low and slow. We didn't shoot them though, as much as they deserved it. After a while, we headed around the back side of the lot, and saw a bunch more pigeons sitting on a stack of hay bales. As we approached the group, we quickly smacked three down, and while Boomer was retrieving them, my buddy shot three more! Over the next hour or two, we ended up with a total of fifteen birds for the morning! Boomer made some awesome retrieves.
The weather was fantastic- overcast, 70's and 80's, with a good breeze! What a great morning!
I took the day off work, and a buddy from the San Diego Sporting Dog Club went with me out to the IV to look for pigeons to shoot for my dog. I wanted to work him on steadiness, and he did pretty good. He'll do better next time, after I engage my brain and put the gun away.
The morning started off slower than slow. We were looking for a spot recommended to us by a fellow club member, and couldn't find it. So we headed north to some feed lots that I know of, but have never hunted. We quickly started seeing birds. LOTS of birds. We set up in a field across the road from the feed lot, and occasionally, a pigeon would stray over us, and we'd take a shot- but we only got one there. The euros and mourning doves were making a valiant effort at making criminals out of us, flying over us low and slow. We didn't shoot them though, as much as they deserved it. After a while, we headed around the back side of the lot, and saw a bunch more pigeons sitting on a stack of hay bales. As we approached the group, we quickly smacked three down, and while Boomer was retrieving them, my buddy shot three more! Over the next hour or two, we ended up with a total of fifteen birds for the morning! Boomer made some awesome retrieves.
The weather was fantastic- overcast, 70's and 80's, with a good breeze! What a great morning!
