Saturday 7th November 2009

Co. Tyrone.
A dull but warm and humid day with the odd light shower.
I sit in the bath after a day like today and wonder was that the best day I have ever had in the field? By the time I’m finished I have usually decided that it wasn’t the best ever……………………. but today was very, very, very good. The final bag was seven pheasants, with another dead in the air but not picked, a woodcock, a snipe and a vixen.
Ryan, Norman’s young spaniel is a much harder hunter this year than the last and his manners are impeccable as well. All the dogs had a retrieve or two today but Ryan had the majority and managed very well.
Tam pushed a fair few birds today and more to the point till we hit the high heather he covered more ground than the pointer. This was more a question of a close hunting pointer than a wide-ranging Blunder. He even managed a retrieve of a very dead hen pheasant from across a stream, something he doesn’t specialise in. Runners , yes, dead birds, pick it yourself.
Chris gave us another master class. He stated off roading about two hundred yards at pace to produce a hen that was shot way out over the bog and followed it up with a point and retrieve of a snipe. This took some time to complete as the dead wee bird was held up in high heather suspended at the top of a high bank and the dogs both knew roughly where it was but couldn’t pick it. Eventually Chris found it and snatched it as he lost his footing stretching out over the drop off. He produced three woodcock from dense whinns and I saw one of them sitting about eighteen inches in front of him and him with his nose on the ground because the whinns were so low. He had several very impressive finds but I twigged something today. Just about every time he air scented outside cover(not really a point) either he or Tam would produce a bird from the spot.
The only problem is that it is very difficult to look past Chris when choosing a pointer to shoot over. He has the edge over all the other pointers because of his retrieving but none of the younger dogs will ever gain his experience if I use him all the time. Roxy is nearly as good a hunter but she doesn’t retrieve. I think I know the answer already. Use Chris till he’s done and then worry about his replacement. I’ll field my strongest team at all times. I think I will rename him ” The Postman”…………………………..because he always delivers.