Mater the Griffon

[yamadirt 426]

Some of you guys have seen him on the doberman thread but i'm giving him his own thread now. He was 9 weeks when we got him and he is just shy of 12 weeks today. He is calm, attentive and responsive. He sits well and retrieves ok for a young age. I'm trying to do the right things but I'm also just "winging it" with the help of books/dvd , youtube, this site. He is a family dog and fits in well with our older doberman, 2 cats, 3mon/3yr old kids + more. He puts a slow stalk on the cats around the house and is very interested in the rabbit hutches out back. He loves feathers and seems to have a good drive for anything game'e .
We mostly do 5 mins of retrieving a couple of times a day + the standard house training/social training. I'm just trying to be calm,assertive and dominent. I really like his patience and he looks like a thinker. I know I havent even broke the surface of training yet but I'm happy so far. Here is a short vid of some back yard mallard wing retrieves and a few pics. I've learned to leave as little meat on the wing as possible. As it thaws it attracts his taste buds a little too much. I try and correct as soon as possible but I should probably be using a 20' lounge to correct him if he doesnt come straight back
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6333.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_EXPORT1-copy.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=EXPORT1-copy.mp4)

First fetch on video

[Sasquatch]

He's a beauty. Gotta love Griffs...they do it all as gun dogs and are great pets.

Where is the breeder located?

[yamadirt 426]

I got him out of Montana. Ear Mountain

[Kasomor]

Nice!! Wondered what your neighbor was going to think when you shot! Love your sound effects. :-D

Looks good. Your pup has a great attitude. Got a couple suggestions for you. I would have ended after your third toss of the wing. You always want to end on a REALLY high note, when everything is going right and not try to get "just one more" retrieve in.

At around 3.15 in the video you correct him for not giving up the wing. You tell him "no" strongly, tap him on the face, tell him no a bunch of times, hold the wing in front of his face, and tell him no some more. The next retrieve he does not come back to you. There is a direct correlation between your correction and his not coming back to you. I'm actually surprised after all that that he went for the wing again. Fair number of pups would not have.

At his age going out and getting the wing, bringing it back to you should be a cause for a PARTY! Don't be so quick to take the wing away from him. Get him back to you but fluff him up and tell him he is the greatest dog in the world! He wants the wing which is why he is retrieving it. If Dad doesn't make it a party and puts to many rules in at this stage of the game, pup is going to not want to come back...or go. :(

And you are right...he should be on a 20 foot or so rope. :-D

[yamadirt 426]

Thank you so much Kasomor. I will keep it to just a few tosses and I will party it up from now. I do notice he fades after 4 or more tosses. I will post more as I go. Thanks again

[yamadirt 426]

He's a beauty. Gotta love Griffs...they do it all as gun dogs and are great pets.

Where is the breeder located?

I noticed your posts when i was researching the breed. How is your dog doing ? What type of hunting do you do ?

[yamadirt 426]

Nice!! Wondered what your neighbor was going to think when you shot! Love your sound effects. :-D

Looks good. Your pup has a great attitude. Got a couple suggestions for you. I would have ended after your third toss of the wing. You always want to end on a REALLY high note, when everything is going right and not try to get "just one more" retrieve in.

At around 3.15 in the video you correct him for not giving up the wing. You tell him "no" strongly, tap him on the face, tell him no a bunch of times, hold the wing in front of his face, and tell him no some more. The next retrieve he does not come back to you. There is a direct correlation between your correction and his not coming back to you. I'm actually surprised after all that that he went for the wing again. Fair number of pups would not have.

At his age going out and getting the wing, bringing it back to you should be a cause for a PARTY! Don't be so quick to take the wing away from him. Get him back to you but fluff him up and tell him he is the greatest dog in the world! He wants the wing which is why he is retrieving it. If Dad doesn't make it a party and puts to many rules in at this stage of the game, pup is going to not want to come back...or go. :(

And you are right...he should be on a 20 foot or so rope. :-D

I just did another session with him. I gave him 3 tosses and got 3 great retrieves. Had a party each time. He was stoked. I let him carry the wing up the back stairs and to the door for a reward. Thanks again.

[Johnny G1]

A very good video and a nice dog.

[Kasomor]

I just did another session with him. I gave him 3 tosses and got 3 great retrieves. Had a party each time. He was stoked. I let him carry the wing up the back stairs and to the door for a reward. Thanks again.

AWESOME!!

You want him EXCITED and HAPPY with every retrieve and you want him to know that YOU are thrilled with him...and you want to quit with him REALLY WANTING more cause you are building his innate drive and desire.

I let my pups hold onto the bird while I'm fluffing them up to. :-D

[labguy]

Kasomors advice is exactly right. Please don't demand too high a standard at 12 weeks. Right now all you want is to build retrieving desire.

There is lots of time after his adult teeth come in at around 6 months to demand higher standards.

You might also want to work on some basic puppy obedience with treat rewards and no harsh corrections between your retrieving sessions. Watch the dog and as soon as his attitude sours the least bit, you'll know you have done too much. Five or six short sessions are much more productive than one 15 minute session.

I like your reference to "calm assertive". Cesar has the best handle on canine/human interaction of anbody that I've seen.

Nice little pup you have there. You should have a good dog for next season. Keep it happy and keep it fun (for both of you:-D). Good luck.

[Sasquatch]

I noticed your posts when i was researching the breed. How is your dog doing ? What type of hunting do you do ?


He's doing great and is probably the easiest dog to train I've ever had. We hunt grouse mostly but pheasants once in a while. My friend hunts ducks with his and says she does really well. They are great swimmers, that I can attest to.

I'm thinking seriously of getting another one now that he is almost 7...that's why I wanted to know where your breeder was. Both of these dogs came from Quebec. (mine is on the right)

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh298/Sasquatch-shots/DM.jpg

[Foxton Gundogs]

X3 on what Kas said keep it fun end on a good note and add more "work" very slowly. Get to know and read your dog he will be your best "barometer"

[yamadirt 426]

He's doing great and is probably the easiest dog to train I've ever had. We hunt grouse mostly but pheasants once in a while. My friend hunts ducks with his and says she does really well. They are great swimmers, that I can attest to.

I'm thinking seriously of getting another one now that he is almost 7...that's why I wanted to know where your breeder was. Both of these dogs came from Quebec. (mine is on the right)

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh298/Sasquatch-shots/DM.jpg

That's a great pic. I think the breeder brought in the dam from Quebec for my litter. Its a small world with these dogs.

[Sasquatch]

Just thought I'd give you an idea of what you have to look forward to yama. I haven't met a disappointed Griff owner yet, I'm betting you are not going to be the first.

[yamadirt 426]

Well Mater did his first live retrieve today. I was on the farm hunting pigeons with the pellet gun and manage to bring one down. He did not clue in exactly what we were doing. He was just following me around the farm. So when the bird fell he was flapping around and we both approached. He was very interested but the bird was flapping alot and he was apprehensive. It was not like the duck wings that did nothing as they hit the ground. I scooped up the bird and we walked outside of the barn. I really had his attention now. It was a 45mins of walking around the barns trying to down a bird by this point.
So I threw the bird up and it carried itself about 40' before it touched the ground . Mater was on him from the minute it left my hands and this time no hesitation. He picked him up and brought him right to me. It was great. My bud on the farm came over and grabbed my phone for some footage and i threw the bird up again. This time it sailed about 35 yards and took a left out of sight behind some round bales. But Mater again was on him. By the time we came around the round bales Mater was on his way back bird in mouth. This bird was very much still alive with no tooth damage. So Mater did use a nice soft mouth. Then on the third toss the bird went the other direction back into the barn and then down into the manure pit where we could not get to him or else he would have made that retreive also. That ended training for the day. If i can figure out how to get the video off my phone I will but next time I will just bring the video camera. So he is not afraid of the pellet gun or live pigeons at this point. And I could not be happier

[WaderGator]

VERY jealous about your puppy. whats his energy level like around the house and what kind of exercise do you give him everyday? my buddy has a german shorthair and she was pretty energetic when she was younger. just wondering how different the breeds are

[yamadirt 426]

He is very calm around the house. He has his bursts of energy where he plays with my other dog or wrestling with my 3yr old but I would say 50% of his awake time is sitting or laying around and watching what's going on. He will get up to put a stalk on the cats or is enticed into some sort of play by one of us. That is one of the consistent comments we get is how calm he is at anybody's house. Daily exercise is fetching in the back yard, walks in the dog park,walks about the farm, wrestling with the "boys". We just started some leash training today. So there will be walks around the block but id more prefer to do some sort of field work. Although I know the leash training is very important

[Foxton Gundogs]

Watch those retrieves on wounded or dieing birds, I'd try to stick to birds that you know are dead then live birds in a "sleave" untill he figures out how to handle moving birds. A good "wing beating" can sour a pup pretty fast and it can take a while to bring them back. Sounds like you have a whole pile of "raw MATER-erial"lol to work with and I know how hard it can be to sty restrained when you have a good one. In the long run tho you will be much better off to bring the pup on slow.
Good luck
Have fun.

[WaderGator]

good to know. I'm probably going to be seriously looking at getting one in the next couple years. make sure you post lots of updates!

[yamadirt 426]

Watch those retrieves on wounded or dieing birds, I'd try to stick to birds that you know are dead then live birds in a "sleave" untill he figures out how to handle moving birds. A good "wing beating" can sour a pup pretty fast and it can take a while to bring them back. Sounds like you have a whole pile of "raw MATER-erial"lol to work with and I know how hard it can be to sty restrained when you have a good one. In the long run tho you will be much better off to bring the pup on slow.
Good luck
Have fun.

Your right it is tuff to stay retrained. Thats why I started with a pigeon and I actually tried to hit a few starlings first. They were too smart. I've just about got the video off my phone. I've had to download 4 different programs so far. I never thought about the wing beating as he takes a good beating daily from the dobie and my son. Also he is getting big too. But I will try to go slow.

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0004-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0057-1.jpg
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0078.jpg

Here are a few fun pics. Its been really neat to watch my old Dobie adopt Mater into the family. From 6 days of growls and lip curling to a father son relationship.

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_WP_000289.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=WP_000289.mp4)


Here is the video of the retreive. Im sorry it sucks as far as the camera angle goes. Next time will be better

[Sasquatch]

Great pics Yama....love the one of Mater sleeping with your dobie.

[Kasomor]

:-D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_WP_000289.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=WP_000289.mp4)


Here is the video of the retreive. Im sorry it sucks as far as the camera angle goes. Next time will be better

Good stuff.... really liked how you fluffed him up when he brought the bird back.

I know it wasn't your intent...but make sure he gets the bird everytime you send him. Even if you have to walk up with him and give the bird another little toss again...you want him to get the bird EVERYTIME, so her learns not to come back to dad with out a bird....unless the bird lands in sh$$ of course. :mrgreen:

[FirePower]

:-D

Good stuff.... really liked how you fluffed him up when he brought the bird back.

I know it wasn't your intent...but make sure he gets the bird everytime you send him. Even if you have to walk up with him and give the bird another little toss again...you want him to get the bird EVERYTIME, so her learns not to come back to dad with out a bird....unless the bird lands in sh$$ of course. :mrgreen:

X2 on what Kas said, here is a bit of a hint. I always carry a dead bird or 2 in my game pocket when working pups with clip wings just for the ocasion you ran into. You can always give them a dead bird to complete the retrieve. In your first segment you can see exactly what Foxton means by a dog being wing beaten by a live bird. It didn't seem to faze your pup there but beware when steping up to gamebirds.

Great work I believe you have a winner there.
FP

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks for the tips guys. They are appreciated. :) My biggest problem with this guy so far is sock eating. The little bugger loves them. Last week he ate 2 of my 3yr olds. 1 came out one end and 1 was pulled out the other as a xray showed it in his colon. We did a massive sweep and clean of the house in and out. Well just yesterday he managed to get another pair. So he puked 1 and passed the other himself this morning. I almost had to help. I was so mad I took him to work with me to keep him away from my wife and kids. ( Keep him safe ) Well I get home from work and we are all hanging out . I had a 5 min snooze on the living room floor and out he comes from the bathroom my wife and kid were in with another sock. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH keep the freaking doors shut !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have allready dodge 2 bullets here FFS. Where is the other sock I say. Well we can't find it. I am steaming at this point. Found out a couple of table spoons of hydrogen peroxide will safely make a dog puke in 5 mins. Which he did and out came the sock. So a few lessons I learned so far. The latest one is don't let your wife read about stuff your writing about her on the internet. She will be mad at you. Mater is just fine right now and i'm off to home depot to pick up 4 auto door closers. For the record she loves Mater very much and this is not her fault. Everything is always my fault. Love you baby

[Sasquatch]

So a few lessons I learned so far. The latest one is don't let your wife read about stuff your writing about her on the internet. She will be mad at you. Everything is always my fault.

Those are valuable lessons yama. See? The pup is teaching you stuff already.

[yamadirt 426]

Well Mater is 103 days old and according to the book I'm reading now Game Dog by Richard Wolters is coming into the typical adolescent stage that should last about a week or so. He sits/stays/comes well. I'm very happy with that so far. Retreiving work is also going good but has its ups and downs depending on his mood of the day. So its short when hes off and when he is focused he can train much longer. He will stay until he is sent and i am now dropping off the dummy and doing a lap around the yard to throw him off. I then will send him to look for it. Its a work in progress but its coming along. Here is an updated photo.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0215.jpg
I've picked up the bones/canvas dummy/balls and anything else off the floor so its just the rubber dummys for now which he likes. Also my dobie is right into the fetch thing right now too with these dummys lol. We have done a few more live retrieves the last couple weeks but he is off birds now for a few weeks. I know he has the drive in him for birds so its back to dummy training for now. Here is a vid of a 100 + yd fetch on a bird last week. On the following toss he did not quite listen well so that was it for live birds for now until he grows up a bit.So far he is off the socks but we have been watching that. We have added the whistle to the sit(1blast) and come (4blasts)command today. With fetch(2blasts) to follow soon. He has also got the laydown command figured out. He learns fast.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_WP_20111223_230324Z.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=WP_20111223_230324Z.mp4)

[yamadirt 426]

We are going to start our walking closer and closer to the gun club around the corner from the house. He goes everywhere with me and is used to a variety of sounds and people and dogs and has not shown any shyness. He will play with any dog at the dog park big or small. I've had a buddy shoot 3 times with the shot gun over 100yds away while we were on the farm walking and he has been in the truck while i've hunted waiting for me. Curled up sleeping on my seat. He also loves to look up while he waits. I bring him out when we set up the deeks and then when we pick them up so he knows whats what. He will sniff out the dead birds while we pack up. He is up to 25lbs now

[Foxton Gundogs]

Don't be to ridged on the steadying part of his work, I have found if you try to steady a pup up to young it can reduce their drive. I tend to let my pups run in on flushes and retrieves to help build drive and hard charges and flushes. Personaly dont steady my flushing dogs (spaniels and retrievers) till about a year old depending on their developement. That has always produced hard going dogs. As long as the obedience end is kept up hup/sit-stay steadying is usually a walk in the park latter on. You can slow a dog don but its hard to speed them up. IMO

[yamadirt 426]

What does steadying mean in training. Is it just being to strict ? Can you please elaborate Foxton. Thanks man

[Moose63]

How did train him for a "soft mouthed" retrieval?

[Foxton Gundogs]

What does steadying mean in training. Is it just being to strict ? Can you please elaborate Foxton. Thanks man

It means making him wait to be sent for the retrieve and not letting them chase a flushed bird

[Kasomor]

Well Mater is 103 days old and according to the book I'm reading now Game Dog by Richard Wolters is coming into the typical adolescent stage that should last about a week or so. He sits/stays/comes well. I'm very happy with that so far. Retreiving work is also going good but has its ups and downs depending on his mood of the day. So its short when hes off and when he is focused he can train much longer. He will stay until he is sent and i am now dropping off the dummy and doing a lap around the yard to throw him off. I then will send him to look for it. Its a work in progress but its coming along. Here is an updated photo.

I've picked up the bones/canvas dummy/balls and anything else off the floor so its just the rubber dummys for now which he likes. Also my dobie is right into the fetch thing right now too with these dummys lol. We have done a few more live retrieves the last couple weeks but he is off birds now for a few weeks. I know he has the drive in him for birds so its back to dummy training for now. Here is a vid of a 100 + yd fetch on a bird last week. On the following toss he did not quite listen well so that was it for live birds for now until he grows up a bit.So far he is off the socks but we have been watching that. We have added the whistle to the sit(1blast) and come (4blasts)command today. With fetch(2blasts) to follow soon. He has also got the laydown command figured out. He learns fast.


He should be dragging a long line when ever you are working him. Instead of distance on the retrieves I would be working on getting him to come back to you 100% of the time.

How many times did you call him on those two retrieves. 15?? You are teaching him not to come every time you call him. Call ONCE if he doesn't come, say nothing walk out pick up his line, give him a tug and call again.

AND another thing :mrgreen: you are going to run into is mouth problems (ie. plucking, crunching bones, eating the bird, refuses to give it up, running away from you to do any of the above) because of this. See how he was chewing on the bird on the second retrieve while he gives you the paw?? The longer you allow the slow pick up and recall issue to continue either with bumpers or birds the more that behavior is getting ingrained.

He retrieves fine for his age. He comes fine for his age. It's combining the two behaviors together that you need to teach. That is not something that he is going to learn on his own when he gets older. You've got to teach it...with a rope :-D

Why the two whistle to send on a retrieve?? Is that common for spaniels or pointers? I hope your whistle for sit and come sound different to and will not cause confusion for Mater. 4 blasts start with 1 blast which you will have taught him means sit. :-D See where I"m going with this? "tweet......tweet.....tweet.....tweet" is different then "tweettweettweettweet."

Make the come in whistle distinctively different from the sit.

[Foxton Gundogs]

He should be dragging a long line when ever you are working him. Instead of distance on the retrieves I would be working on getting him to come back to you 100% of the time.

How many times did you call him on those two retrieves. 15?? You are teaching him not to come every time you call him. Call ONCE if he doesn't come, say nothing walk out pick up his line, give him a tug and call again.

AND another thing :mrgreen: you are going to run into is mouth problems (ie. plucking, crunching bones, eating the bird, refuses to give it up, running away from you to do any of the above) because of this. See how he was chewing on the bird on the second retrieve while he gives you the paw?? The longer you allow the slow pick up and recall issue to continue either with bumpers or birds the more that behavior is getting ingrained.

He retrieves fine for his age. He comes fine for his age. It's combining the two behaviors together that you need to teach. That is not something that he is going to learn on his own when he gets older. You've got to teach it...with a rope :-D
I hope your whistle for sit and come sound different to and will not cause confusion for Mater. 4 blasts start with 1 blast which you will have taught him
Why the two whistle to send on a retrieve?? Is that common for spaniels or pointers?means sit. :-D See where I"m going with this? "tweet......tweet.....tweet.....tweet" is different then "tweettweettweettweet."

Make the come in whistle distinctively different from the sit.

I agree with waht Kas is saying about whisle commands. Just to clear up from my end, with Spaniels(and retrievers that I train as flushing dogs) I train to retrieve on their name, It eliminates a lot of problems when hunting multiple dogs. The whisle commands I use are as follows 1 LONG PIP= stop stay(hup) and pay attention to me. 2 PIPS= reverse or change direction(I also teach them to do the same on the voice command "come round" who knows when you may forget your whisle) A SERIES OF PIPS(pippippippippip) come in to me. These are the standard Spaniel whisle commands used by trialers and field handlers. Simple and straight forward. On a side note I NEVER train a flushing dog to HEEL. I train the command "WITH ME" that is to walk on a loose lead at my side or slightly in front of me(or off lead simmilarly) An upland dogs place is IN FRONT not behind you and I never want them to think diffrently.

[yamadirt 426]

He should be dragging a long line when ever you are working him. Instead of distance on the retrieves I would be working on getting him to come back to you 100% of the time.

Yes I agree he needs to drag a long line. I will pick this up very soon if not today

How many times did you call him on those two retrieves. 15?? You are teaching him not to come every time you call him. Call ONCE if he doesn't come, say nothing walk out pick up his line, give him a tug and call again.

He did come right away on the long retreive. I continued the command as he was running to me just to keep his focus on coming to me. I probably didn't have to say it that much. It was on the second retrieve he was chomping the bird. This is why I'm not using birds for awhile. I've got a frozen bird for him in a few weeks and just bumpers for now. I know that must have been a painful 3 mins for you guys to watch lol. I'm working on it.

AND another thing :mrgreen: you are going to run into is mouth problems (ie. plucking, crunching bones, eating the bird, refuses to give it up, running away from you to do any of the above) because of this. See how he was chewing on the bird on the second retrieve while he gives you the paw?? The longer you allow the slow pick up and recall issue to continue either with bumpers or birds the more that behavior is getting ingrained.

He retrieves fine for his age. He comes fine for his age. It's combining the two behaviors together that you need to teach. That is not something that he is going to learn on his own when he gets older. You've got to teach it...with a rope :-D

Why the two whistle to send on a retrieve?? Is that common for spaniels or pointers? I hope your whistle for sit and come sound different to and will not cause confusion for Mater. 4 blasts start with 1 blast which you will have taught him means sit. :-D See where I"m going with this? "tweet......tweet.....tweet.....tweet" is different then "tweettweettweettweet."

I am just using tweet for sit and tweettweettweettweet for come for now along with a voice command.

Make the come in whistle distinctively different from the sit.

Thank you guys very much for the direction. Its tough to do this on my own. I have never needed a dog for more than a family pet. My dobie is a great, obiedent dog but I need more training than this dog does I'm sure.

[yamadirt 426]

A couple pics from todays walk at the lake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0329.jpg
Taking a dip
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0317.jpg
racing big brother
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0271.jpg
close up on his hairy face
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0351.jpg

I took him for a walk around the farm today. I had him sit and stay and i walked off about 70yds. He didnt budge just kept a good eye on me.I shot the 20ga away from him and into the ground and still he sat and eyeballed me. I gave him the come command on the whistle and he came at me as fast as he could. 1 blast of the whistle and he dropped his bum on the ground just as fast at my feet. He is very attentive at the farm. I did this 3 times and he reacted perfectly, gave him a ton of love and we went home. He had is eye on the sky when the ducks were flying high over us. I dont plan on shooting over him for another couple months . Today did not bother him at all.

[Kasomor]

He is so friggin cute!!

Can you shot and chuck a bumper at the same time?? Proley not safe but if you can, chain the shot with a bumper/ bird throw at 70 yards away...just like you did today but chuck a bumper. Or better yet, you stay with Mater... have one person shot at 70 yards out and another person standing with them to throw the bumper. Don't shoot the bumper, you don't want holes in it cause it will sink in the water :mrgreen:

Great that the shot is not bothering him but teach him that the shot means something. That something should be a duck or bumper landing on the ground for him to retrieve.

Your doing fine with him...you are training him in a logical manner. A lot of people do not train their dogs...they just expect that their "hunting" dog will naturally do what they want. They end up with all kinds of problems and then blame the dog. :-?

My hat is off to you. :-D

[Sasquatch]

Great shots Yama - nice to see things progressing so well.

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks Sasquatch. We will get the boys out again soon. He has almost doubled in size. Cheers

[tash]

Thanks for sharing the photos, he is ridiculously cute!
Love the photo where he is running with big brother...

[yamadirt 426]

Well I took Mater hunting today and had one chance at a Mallard. One pop of the 20ga and he dropped. This is the first time I shot with mater at my side and he did not disappoint. I cant remember the 2 secs after I shot as I watch the bird fall. But Mater had him marked on his way down and I think I said fetch. He was on him . It was with 1 min left of shooting so it was dark and about 30yds from us. He searched for about 15 secs and I walked over to help but he didn't need it. It was a big green head. Too large for him to pick up but he grabbed his leg and I we picked him up together. I just love working with this dog. He is so attentive in the field. Here we are at home with the bird and a coupl of other funny pics.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0545.jpg
Can you say belly rubs. 4 month old Mater and 5 Month old Jaylynn
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0517.jpg
And My 3 boys hanging together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0541.jpg
Cheers all !!

[yamadirt 426]

He also found out about ditches tonight. Instead of going around it although I don't think he saw it. He plowed right into the water and up the side to get to me happily waving his tail around like he just did something very cool.

[labguy]

Well I took Mater hunting today and had one chance at a Mallard. One pop of the 20ga and he dropped. This is the first time I shot with mater at my side and he did not disappoint. I cant remember the 2 secs after I shot as I watch the bird fall. But Mater had him marked on his way down and I think I said fetch. He was on him . It was with 1 min left of shooting so it was dark and about 30yds from us. He searched for about 15 secs and I walked over to help but he didn't need it. It was a big green head. Too large for him to pick up but he grabbed his leg and I we picked him up together. I just love working with this dog. He is so attentive in the field. Here we are at home with the bird and a coupl of other funny pics.
Cheers all !!

Somehow I get the impression that you really like that dog.:cool:

Looks to me like you will have a very good life together. Having fun with your dog is what it's all about.

Thanks for the pics......cute little kids too!!!!

If you get really interested in this dog stuff, there are some very good retreivers trainers in the lower mainland that you may be able to hook up with to learn a bit more.

PM me if you want some contacts.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Good show, keep it fun the puppy years are the best thanks for the pix way to cute.

[Kasomor]

[QUOTE=yamadirt 426;1058245]Well I took Mater hunting today and had one chance at a Mallard. One pop of the 20ga and he dropped. This is the first time I shot with mater at my side and he did not disappoint. I cant remember the 2 secs after I shot as I watch the bird fall. But Mater had him marked on his way down and I think I said fetch. He was on him . It was with 1 min left of shooting so it was dark and about 30yds from us. He searched for about 15 secs and I walked over to help but he didn't need it. It was a big green head. Too large for him to pick up but he grabbed his leg and I we picked him up together. I just love working with this dog. He is so attentive in the field. Here we are at home with the bird and a coupl of other funny pics.

It's always sweet when it comes together for a pup. :-D

Thanks for sharing the pictures to!

[yamadirt 426]

Went out again with my hunting buddy and his dog. The field we hunt is drying up. Not many birds flying anymore. The teals are still around and that's what we ended up with tonight. 1 teal hen. And if it weren't for mater man we would not of found her. We had her marked another 15 yards further than where she was. We looked for what seemed like 10 mins and on our walk back to the robos Mater picked her up. Finally a duck his size.

[yamadirt 426]

Here are a few updated pics on Mater. These are some fun shots.
Snow days. Here are the boys at work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0488.jpg
Here are the boys at play
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0504.jpg
Here is Mater at rest
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0506.jpg
And just a cute shot with the 2 pups and my baby girl
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0404.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

Here are some hunting shots
I had him out a few times since the last update. He marked a duck fall about 60yds away on fri. Although I helped him find it in the grass. He was on it from the time it started to fall. This time on the fetch command. I'm trying to find those pics of that day on my computer. He was cold in the bay that day and I had to give him the liner to my jacket. So today I made him a jacket out of my old waders.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0580.jpg
Duck camo pattern. Im not done yet as I have to buy some cream color spray paint
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0578.jpg
Here he is not aware of the redhead about to attack him
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0533-1.jpg
Now we are going to try our hand at rabbits for a few months. We'll see if he will retreive some fur. He was pointing at the songbirds fluttering about the marsh on the last hunt. Very cool.

[Sasquatch]

He's looking good Yama - bet he's going to love the rabbits.

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks Sasquatch ! It looks like he is starting to lose his spots slowly like Deloo. His face is still dark but the silver is creeping in on his body.

[Kasomor]

Sounds like you are having a blast!! Thanks for posting those great pictures.

[Sasquatch]

If you're looking for somewhere to teach him to run rabbits, let me know. There's a spot near here with lots of wild rabbits he can work.

[yamadirt 426]

I scouted an area that holds a ton of squirrel and rabbit. It would be slingshot only. Well there is a squirrel on every branch and mater and I were giving this one guy a hard time. He was totally into it and and was following him tree to tree. Today we went back in the pissing rain but I only carried 16 rds with me and I suck with a sling shot. We had this one big blackie held to a couple of trees. Mater was on point and we fired a bunch of rounds but the shots were fairly low percentage. Finally the squirrel had enough and broke to the ground with mater on his ass he chased him across the street and up a huge tree. I had only 1 round left at that point and had one more broadside shot left on the walk out. No dice. I need practice . It's cool to watch him identify are quarry and stay on him until he gets away or comes home with us .

[yamadirt 426]

Had another blast out squirreling again today. We did connect today but was a poor body shot . I watched him for 5 mins afterwards but must not have been a critical hit. Mater is loving this new game. He spy's them in the tree and goes on point and looks to see that I'm with him and aware of our quarry. Our communication is coming around and I think any hunting experience is better than none. We worked this one big Blackie for a while and he broke to the ground and just barely out ran him. He went in on a belly crawl through the bramblesto try and track him and is using his nose alot which is great. Its just a Mater of time before we have one for the stew pot. He just vibrates when we are close to bagging one. Alot of fun.

[Foxton Gundogs]

I'm not trying to spoil your fun but just remember overload can happen to a pup. If he is to be a bird dog you dont want him casting thru the grouse woods and keeping his mind on the tree tops. Might be(and I dont know what your ultimate goals are) better to get pigeons and consintrate on his bird training, then add fured game latter when he has his mind wrapped around the primary goal. Training on pigeons can be as much fun as upland shooting. just a sugestion.

Cheers
FG

[yamadirt 426]

I hear ya Foxton . When I first looked into getting a pup I looked at a few different breeds. Then I came across these guys and what stood out was the claim they are the ultimate walking gun dog. Now im sure there are other breeds to claim this but I choose this breed for a few different reasons. Their size seemed right, temperment, look and style. Breed to retrieve whatever the game is, strong swimmers and have a coat to run through the brambles. He is the mellowest dog I've had at home yet vibrant in the field. Watching everything closely on the ground and in the air. I'm so happy I chose this breed, or maybe this breed chose me. Ive only had him a few months now and from day one I couldn't be happier the way him and I have blended together. We will be a great team regardless of our pursuit I'm sure of it.

He has a few jobs that he must perform. 1 to obey my commands 2 stay in gun range 3 to retrieve whatever game we put down. Locally On any given day we can hunt pigeon , squirrel or rabbit. Ducks/geese in season. Pheasant but not often . And then upland but this will require at min 1.5 hrs travel. And at least 3/4 of day , so not often at least not for a few years. once the kids get older we will do much more upland. I do think that he will be a good upland dog .

We will revisit the bird hunting monthly that is for sure but I'm going to change it up on him through out his life. Plus he will also relate the different hunts with the different area we hunt. For example we won't be going to the squirrel grounds to hunt ducks. And the rabbit terrain will be more of a phesant terrain also. In fact they live together in the area im going to hunt. Upland is the only thing that he won't be used to but I'm going to use the wing on a fishing pole trick for practice lol. But his pointing is deeply imbedded in his little brain. I am not saying I know what I'm doing, I just know what I want to do. My biggest and only fear was him being gun shy. So far so good. Im sure I'll give you a call one day I just hope it's not because I screwed him up and need help. Cheers man and thx !

[WaderGator]

where did you get him from? im talking myself into getting one (with your help) more and more haha

[yamadirt 426]

If got him from Montana . Ear mountain griffons. It should come up if you google it. We had him flown to Seattle . Do a search on korthals griffon or wirehair pointing griffons and read some info. And if your really keen we can meet up for a walk so you can see him in person. Also Sasquatch has one about 6 yrs old and he can vouch for the type of dogs they are. It cost about 480 all said to have him flown to Seattle not including the price of the dog. But one could drive there. Not too far. They are avail in Alberta and Quebec too but the guy in montana is a real straight shooter with none of the typical adoption crap from a lot of breeders. He also just had a litter a few weeks ago but I think most are spoken for but maybe not all :) you can pm me for some ph numbers are even to talk with me in person if you'd like. Cheers Wader.

[Sasquatch]

Be forewarned Wader...you see that pup in person and you are going to go home and get yourself one. He's a cute bugger.

[WaderGator]

haha i remember when I was a kid and my dad had a breeder bring a fox terrier puppy over just to "take a look" welllllll they still have her haha along with a chocolate lab who can't retrieve a tennis ball. ive done a fair amount of reading on the griffon and they seem pretty damn perfect plus the old lady likes them. The work schedule is a little up in the air right now which is really the only thing holding me back.

[FirePower]

I hear ya Foxton . When I first looked into getting a pup I looked at a few different breeds. Then I came across these guys and what stood out was the claim they are the ultimate walking gun dog. Now im sure there are other breeds to claim this but I choose this breed for a few different reasons. Their size seemed right, temperment, look and style. Breed to retrieve whatever the game is, strong swimmers and have a coat to run through the brambles. He is the mellowest dog I've had at home yet vibrant in the field. Watching everything closely on the ground and in the air. I'm so happy I chose this breed, or maybe this breed chose me. Ive only had him a few months now and from day one I couldn't be happier the way him and I have blended together. We will be a great team regardless of our pursuit I'm sure of it.

He has a few jobs that he must perform. 1 to obey my commands 2 stay in gun range 3 to retrieve whatever game we put down. Locally On any given day we can hunt pigeon , squirrel or rabbit. Ducks/geese in season. Pheasant but not often . And then upland but this will require at min 1.5 hrs travel. And at least 3/4 of day , so not often at least not for a few years. once the kids get older we will do much more upland. I do think that he will be a good upland dog .

We will revisit the bird hunting monthly that is for sure but I'm going to change it up on him through out his life. Plus he will also relate the different hunts with the different area we hunt. For example we won't be going to the squirrel grounds to hunt ducks. And the rabbit terrain will be more of a phesant terrain also. In fact they live together in the area im going to hunt. Upland is the only thing that he won't be used to but I'm going to use the wing on a fishing pole trick for practice lol. But his pointing is deeply imbedded in his little brain. I am not saying I know what I'm doing, I just know what I want to do. My biggest and only fear was him being gun shy. So far so good. Im sure I'll give you a call one day I just hope it's not because I screwed him up and need help. Cheers man and thx !

You wont screw up, just read your dog and if you sense any problems developing take a step back and a deep breath and get anolitical for a while. All input, is usually based on experience good and bad. It gives you things to consider if you sense something is not right. As far as your terrain segregation it is a good point but what you have to consider is squirrels cross country with grouse, rabbits with pheasants etc. This training thing can put a trainer in overload let alone the dog.
Good Luck, have fun lad and read your dog

FP

[yamadirt 426]

Lol thx FP. I will just have to explain that red squirrel and chipmunk are not in season. Keep moving Mater. I can foresee the occasional distraction in the field.

[Crimson Viking]

Dang yama !! u shouldn't have told us where u got Mater... now i am really interested. These dogs sound great, not that watching Mater develop gave me any doubt. I follow your posts of Mater's progress constantly. Keep up the good work and pls continue to update!

[Sasquatch]

Couple more guys get Griffs - we're going to have to start a club

[WaderGator]

Couple more guys get Griffs - we're going to have to start a club

haha once I get one i'm down. Better than talking to the poodle owners at the dog park!

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks for the good words guys. I'm going to post over Maters lifetime. It will be filled with all our hunts and progress. Good or bad lol. Cheers guys

[yamadirt 426]

Well I'm 0 for 5 for squirrel . Plenty of opportunity . I get at least 12 or more 10-15 yd shots per outing. My accuracy is getting better so I should have one to hand soon. Mater is great. He knows what the game is and points well at them. He also points at the birds and works the long grass on the way into the trees. We are working on the whoa training and he holds a point very well. He also loves to get low and crawl deep into the blackberry brambles using his rough coat to his advantage. We are going to switch gears this weekend and try for a few pigeons.

[yamadirt 426]

Well mater just got a little more expensive today so he better go pro in his first year. I'm gonna want blind double and triple retrieves . Seriously though , he has not ate any socks in awhile as we have been very vigilant about it. But he went out of his way to go under the seats in my clean truck and eat a pair of those tight cotton colored gloves one would wear in winter. These ones I wore under my hunting gloves. Maybe the scent attracted him but i did not think about the gloves when I clean my truck last week. I just stashed them under my seat for another cold day. The little bugger lost about 10" of small intestine. He is just waking up from surgery as i type and should recover fine. I on the other hand will be recovering for the next year in the pocket book. Dam I should have got insurance on him. Today sucks. Lonely in the work truck without him. Also we are 0 for 8 for squirrel . Life was just going great , And then the cycle of 3 begins. 2 more bad things to come ..... Bring it on f'er

[Sasquatch]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that Yama...vet bills can add up quickly. It's not too late get insurance - it just won't cover any pre existing conditions. Not sure it is worth it in the long run, but it sure does take the sting out of the big bills.

As long as he pulls out without any problems...its all good. He'll be back in the truck in no time. Most of them eventually outgrow that "eat everything" attitude. Mind you, some never do....

What are you using for a sling shot? They have some pretty fancy ones around these days.

[yamadirt 426]

It's a kinda fancy Chinese one. It's pretty much the standard wrist support tube band. I've been watching you tube and most of the pros use a simple v with flat bands. I'd like to try one of those

[yamadirt 426]

Mater is home for the night. He goes back tomorrow for the day. 11 staples on the belly and Minus 10 " of intestine. The doc says he is doing really well and is above average in recovering. Which is good and bad. I think it's because he knows geese are open but the doc said no hunting for 2 weeks.

[WaderGator]

hows the little guy doing?

[yamadirt 426]

Thx for asking Wader. He is doing good. He was only allowed 3 tsp of wet food every 2-3 hrs for the first 2 days and he was a lean dog to begin with. He has been on a 1/4 cup every 3-4 hrs since. So he is a bit of a bone rack but I've slowly been upping the food in the last 24 hrs. His energy is 90% now and his weight should be up soon. He's got a lot of pigeons waiting for him on the farm and may get his staples out tomo but no exercise until this coming weekend. We r both itchin to get out. Cheers

[WaderGator]

jeez. my girlfriend is doing a "cleanse" and I thought her diet was restrictive haha. Went and kidnapped my parents lab for a trip to the dog park today. it was too nice to sit inside!

[FirePower]

We went through the same thing with a spaniel bitch, she ate a burlap sack. The vet said that it was like a band saw blade going through her. She made it but it opened my eyes. We had hung sacks over all the doors to the dog houses as a weather barrier. Never again.

[yamadirt 426]

I went to the farm today for an hour and only ended up with 2 birds using the farm pellet gun im not to familiar with. The first bird was in the rafters of the loft and mater pounced on him and retreived him for me. The second he did not see hit or go down so I went to about 15 yds from it and sent him on a blind retreive. It took a few close calls and eventally a rock toss in the direction of the bird but he did not give up and brought it back. However these 2 retreives were far from respectable and the last 2 weeks off have not help. His mouth was too hard and he was not responsive enough to my calls. But still fun. There are lots of birds right now so going back again this week. I brought the 20ga but didnt have an open shot today.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6603.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/RSCN6609.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6605.jpg

[afsheee]

I also have a Griff. I got him in december so he is about 4 months old now. Best dog for me!
I have been doing some good training with him and he responds very well... however, I need to find some birds to train him with. anyone know where i can get some pegions? im in vancouver

[Sasquatch]

Lets see some pics ashfeee -if you have a hard time finding birds, you can trap some pigeons. I have a trap, but usually just used a salmon net.

[yamadirt 426]

Yep before I can help you I will need to see pics ASAP pls. Lol how many and how far are you willing to drive. You can net them many places. I'm sure I could get you a couple but you must drive out right away if I catch some. Where did you get your dog from ?

[afsheee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgC3trzJ4c8&context=C4731c49ADvjVQa1PpcFPvB2_FcWuSxCkkTiwfydZx idpy6mN83Gs=http://forum.huntsandguns.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15&d=1331321191http://forum.huntsandguns.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14&d=1331321127

[Sasquatch]

George is a smart one! Nice pup...thanks for the vid.

[yamadirt 426]

Afsheee. I can't open up the vids on my iPad for some reason . I'd still like to see your dog .

Well a week after the last pigeons I went back and bagged a few more. Mater went from bad to worse this day. He was excited to picked up the birds but he was more interested in making sure they were dead then retrieveing them. We stopped hunting and did alittle training in the yard before we left. That's it for birds for a few months.

We started a ff program and are on day 7 right now. The first few days were a little rough. The first session went too long. The next 3 were a lot of dropping the dummy after a couple of seconds. Today was the best so far. I put him on the table leashed. He took the plastic dummy and just looked at me with these eyes that said " yes sir " he held that for 15 sec and gently put it in my hand when I said give. Next item is a brittle brush that he does not like to put in his mouth. He took it on command and gently steadied his grip and held that for about 20 sec and gently gave it to me on command. And third he took a canvas dummy and delivered as was asked. I'm using a mild ear pinch. Of course he got a lot of lovin after each "retrieve" . He retrieves Great in the back yard and delivers to hand much better now. But the ff training is far from over.
He's not done until he will hold a hotdog. I'll try and get a session on camera one day.

[yamadirt 426]

I finally got to see your dog. He looks great.

Well Mater and I were able to bag our first rabbit tonight. We blew our chances on quite a few before it all came together. He was working the smallest rabbit holes and pounding through the thickest brambles when he got a scent. We must have seen or heard a dozen of them but only got one so far for next easters dinner.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_1152.jpg
he was proud to bring him to the door when we got home :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_1151.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

We also stalked up to a sleeping comarant . Spelling ? When he woke up and figured out that there was a dog and man with a gun staring at him from 3ft away he didn't even try to fly away. He actually sat down and rolled over. His beak was huge and so old looking, bleached from sitting out in the sun for the last 20 yrs. it looked like it was made from a piece of old driftwood. I held mater back by the collar. He wanted that bird. Crazy looking thing. We puttered off and went looking for rabbits.

[WaderGator]

sounds like a pretty fun day bet you're itching for duck season to come around!

[yamadirt 426]

Yes and no. This boy still needs a lot of work in the next 6 months before ducks open

[yamadirt 426]

We were out again for this evenings sunset in a tshirt and camo vest ,Gorgeous night. So I shut the truck door with Mater on his leash walk about 20 paces and a rabbit crosses in front of me . Dam I haven't loaded the gun yet. Oh well good start any way. We work a good kilometer and came back. Not a lot of action today. With the full moon tonight they will come alive later I'm sure. We were a hundred yds away from the truck when a rabbit broke cover about 4' away and went into the thick grass. Mater had seen but not heard him and ran to far. I called him back and we went in together , this was a mistake as the rabbit got spoked right back out to the open. I had to take about 6 big steps out and with an off hand shot I just missed. I watched Peter coton tale hop right down the bunny trail. It was a fun hunt and mater did great. He stayed in nice and tight today. The rabbit from last weekend tasted great in a stew.

[Sasquatch]

Sounds like fun Yama. Is he pointing any of the rabbits or just giving chase?

[yamadirt 426]

No they blend in . There is not much of a chance to point them. But every time he hears something or stops at a rabbit hole whit a fresh scent he will point. Or the birds fluttering about the bush. I mostly try to keep him about 5ft ahead of me . It seems to work well.

[FirePower]

Sounds like you are having fun lad but it also sounds as if you need to work your pup on scent rather than sight and sound. We used spaniels quite a bit for bolting hares in the UK and would drag scent train the young dogs as they do with hounds to teach them to follow their nose. Lots of times we would just turn the dog loose in the briars and wait on the edge for them to scent the hares out and bolt them.

[yamadirt 426]

Yes fire power your right. He isn't working off scent much but I did hang on to the jacket from the last rabbit. So I am going to practice dragging it for him. He does stop when he comes across a fresh track. So I think he is putting the 2 together. Cheers.

[yamadirt 426]

Just to add to Maters Blog. We have been out a few more times for rabbit since our first kill. Ive been able to get a couple of shots off but nothing for the pot since. Very close. Its still a great way to kill a sunset out walking with the dog and shotgun in the off season.

We have also been out for squirrel a few more times while on lunch break. My slingshot accuracy has not improved yet, but we still put a good run on them. One of these days ill get to taste one of these. With the leaves starting to appear its only going to get harder.

This past weekend we went out for bear and I almost had my first big game. A nice color phase bear. I saw him in the morning and then searched for him with Mater all day long. It went from a hunting high to a major low in my short hunting career. The 30-06 doesnt bother him one bit. We had alot of fun together none the less and we started on his bear tracking. In total 1 bear 4 blacktails and 3 grouse seen in the day. I only managed a couple pics. We were in some great terrain and I counted about 30 fresh bear craps in this square kilometer. I think most were from this bear though. Mater did great in the bush , he was alert, stayed in range ,pointed and did what was expected of him at this point. Not an exciting post , certainly not what I was hoping to be reporting but Im wanting to document it on here anyhow.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6628.jpg
we did alot of this
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6629.jpg
Its hard to tell but this dead fall was 6' + up on both these pics. We both learned alot this day and some things Id like to forget. Cheers

[yamadirt 426]

Went for bear with mater again. Busted a few grouse and only found 1 bear on the way home feeding off the highway. I did get 1 good pic of Mater
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6635.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6638.jpg

[Sasquatch]

Yup, that is a nice pic Yama - Mater is lookin' real good. I have no doubt you're going to find your bear soon.

[WaderGator]

awesome pics. He's getting so big!

[Foxton Gundogs]

Great pix hes growing like a weed, my new guy seems to grow overnight lol puppy stage is so fun and so short keep the reports coming

[FirePower]

Capitol photos lad the last one should be framed.

[yamadirt 426]

Ive been out for rabbit last week but was skunked. Mater has broken in his swimming trunks and now loves water. It took about 5 trips out to the lake and then a solo trip without tyrant bugging him in the water before he would swim out about 30+ ft.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6665.jpg

So tonight I was able to get out for the sunset with Mater and my 3yr old for a walk . My boy is very much into hunting and between walking with him and Mater , laughing and looking for rabbits its almost enough to bring a tear to my eye. We busted one as we got out of the truck and started walking. The wind was blowing hard and the grass was loud. There are rabbits everywhere so fresh sent is abundant. I sent Mater into the tall grass but the rabbit was long gone.

We walked about 500yds down a path and then crossed the boulevard and popped out on the rd. Looked left nothing, looked right and there on the side of the road about 18yds . I say theres one. Now Ive missed at this distance many time on a running rabbit but this guy did a back flip and then flop when the 20ga barked. Finally I got one and with my boy to boot.

Mater never did see the shot but he ran in the direction and went past him. We have got to work his nose some more lol but after another pass he picked him up and I got my first real retrieve to hand with a rabbit. We were all hooting and hollering and super excited. Mater was waving his little stump around like crazy. Now I know its just a rabbit big deal right ... Wrong to me its its the start of some real adventures with my boys that I hope last a long long time. Our game will start to get bigger one day I hope lol. Its only been 3 yrs . Thanks for looking.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6743.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6745.jpg

[Sasquatch]

Good stuff Yama...hope the stew is Tasty.

[riflebuilder]

You will love the Griffon mine is a great dog they are very smart and just love to hunt and please you. They really soak up the praise and lookk like their whole life is over if you give them heck.

[yamadirt 426]

You will love the Griffon mine is a great dog they are very smart and just love to hunt and please you. They really soak up the praise and lookk like their whole life is over if you give them heck.

I could not have described them any better. I've only gave him heck a few times and I swear I saw a tear once. Pls post a pic on this thread if you have any. Love to see some of him with birds

[Crimson Viking]

Love reading ur adventures with Mater, Yama. Keep up the good work and posts

[yamadirt 426]

Here is Mater's new necklace. We are just slowly incorporating it into the training. I really like the audible sound it makes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000436.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

And a little training from today. He had to work to find him. But brought him back without swallowing him :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000441.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

He still needs alot of steading training as he thinks a gun shot means go time. He hasent learned how bad of a shot I am yet, but its a work in progress. He is 9 mon in a 2 days.

[yamadirt 426]

I went out for a walk last night with my son, Mater and a fellow griff owner and his dog. We had a good time looking for some rabbits. I was able to put one down for dinner. The dogs were great together and very fun to watch. The retreive was quite comical I must say but in the end it was 1 in the bag. Thanks for coming out for the evening ! 3 tired boys in this pic
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/RSCN6789.jpg

[ActionJackson017]

Right on, where were you out walking?

[yamadirt 426]

I've got a few buds with some farm land in surrey and delta. Find blackberrys and you have rabbits .

[yamadirt 426]

you know your dog is a hunting dog when he is sleeping outside beside the door and you can slide the action of your shot gun and he springs to his feet with a big grin and a wagging tail. :) And at just shy of 10 months this dog gets turn on by the site of the shotgun as much as I do. Any gun for that matter. The crack of the 3006 in bear season just drove him nuts when it went off. He just had to go check out the target before I could get there. We went off for a short hunt tonight and it was just him and I this time.

But lets rewind back a couple of weeks. After the last successful outing I went out with Mater, my son and my father-inlaw. Now its quite hard to be stealthy when you tow a train like that around, but to get a rabbit is only half the fun. There were many seen that day, some of the biggest rabbit I have seen . We put the stock on a few but one in particular crossed over to the ditch side in the long grass and had no where to go. I held everyone back and went in with Mater to flush him. Which he did but he kicked out between me and everyone else so I did not have a safe shot. But the rabbit changes lanes and is heading straight at Grampa and my boy . With an angle change and so a safe shot Grampa missis and the rabbit made it to safety. That was it for the day.

Fast forward to today. I had the boys at the dog park and we did a few laps. Its neat how he's a different dog at the park, running big laps and playing with all the dogs and then switch to hunting and staying in tight and alert. Well he started to limp around noon and i keep an eye on him all morning because I had it planned to get out tonight. So I massaged his leg and made him rest and prayed lol. I was really looking forward to getting out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6952.jpg


Well the time came and i decided if I leash him and keep him calm , walk slow and not very far thats better than nothing. We got to the spot and he was vibrating like usual. But i didnt pump him up. Leashed up , racked some shells and started walking. It wasnt long before his limp was gone and the leash came off but he stayed tight. After about 50yds he pointed into the brambles. He was 10' infront of me and 5' off his nose was our first thumper. But the shot wasnt right as I didnt want to shoot over him and then have him run under all that cover. He did not see the rabbit but just knew it was there so I waved him on. And I watched the little guy slowly hop away into the darkness. As we were coming up to the honey hole sure enough there is one broadside at 14 yds. With Mater to my left side I squeeze the trigger and watch the rabbit back flip behind some wood. Mater was heading in the right direction but never saw the hit. He looked back for guidence and i waved him on. As soon as he got overtop of him I hit the audible sound on his E collar and he stopped, backedup and picked up the rabbit. We have been working on that. Perfect ! So I was dancing around as he brought him over and we had a party. ( Thx Kas ) We kept it short as I didnt want to work Mater hard at all today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6958.jpg

This is him licking his lips after a good days work. I am so happy with this dog. Thanks for the tips from all the pros on here !!!

[pnbrock]

looking good looking foreword to getting mater and hudson out together.he is on his last leg of training so will be done at months end or so.have to admit your dog is looking good !!

[yamadirt 426]

Thx pnbrock. I too look forward to getting the boys out :smile:

Ive done up all the rabbits differently. They have been in the crock pot, beer brazed in the dutch oven and this last one which was my first doe was marinated in olive oil with tons of fresh herbs, minced garlic, montreal steak spice, and a few other dashes of whatever with a squeeze of lemon. Seared on the pan, then into the oven @ 275. I did manage to over cook them but tastes good with a slash of red wine.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN6962.jpg
cheers boys

[WaderGator]

Always great to see new pics of mater

[pnbrock]

not sure how you guys can choke down fuzzy tailed rodents,I'm sure they don't taste like chicken.

[Kasomor]

not sure how you guys can choke down fuzzy tailed rodents,I'm sure they don't taste like chicken.

Actually rabbit DOES taste like chicken but it is better for you. Extremly lean meat, no fat anywhere.

I like mine Shaked and Baked. :-D

[Foxton Gundogs]

Sunday it was fresh Thi sweet and spicey glazed bunny on the bbq 1 hr. in tin foil, then glaze and grill for about 15 min. MMMMMMMMMMMMM Vewy vewy tasty cwittews indeed.
http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n499/FoxtonGundogs/stuff/25zp5ol-1.jpg?t=1342551212

http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n499/FoxtonGundogs/stuff/DSC03002.jpg?t=1342550265

http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n499/FoxtonGundogs/stuff/DSC03005.jpg?t=1342550360

http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n499/FoxtonGundogs/stuff/DSC03008.jpg?t=1342550454

[yamadirt 426]

Yay I'm not the only one. What's your story on the rabbit Foxton ?? Do you hunt them or was it opportunity ? Pnbrock I saved you some lol :-P I'm actually ready to harvest 7 flemish/newzealand this week. And have another 6 about 2 weeks old now. These are 100% Flemish. And yes, much the same as chicken But no grease.

[ActionJackson017]

Oh wow, that bacon wrapped rabbit looks awesome. I can't wait to get out with my pup and start working her on small game & fowl.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Spaniels are trained in GB on hares their natural instincts are sharpened in "kept" rabbit pens. I train them in the old English method with one exception. Across the pond they quite often start their spaniels on rabbits or hares and hares are quite often the main game rough shooters hunt. I never put a spaniel on rabbits till they have a firm grasp that birds are their main quary and they are locked on them. If I hunt rabbits I use the term "Hunt Hare...Hi-On" where for birds I just use the comand "Hi-On" and with antler dogs its "Hunt Horn...Hi-On" they learn to differentiate pertty quick if they are started right.

[pnbrock]

thats fear factor crapp right there!!!!!!yuck

[Foxton Gundogs]

thats fear factor crapp right there!!!!!!yuck

Good thing you have better taste in dogs than food is all I got to say LOL:mrgreen:

[FirePower]

Hares are a spaniels main fare on the Isles. Even after coming to Canada I remember my Da keeping a rabbit pen in the rough behind the barn. He would put the young dogs in it for an hour or so a day to sharpen their questing instincts.

[yamadirt 426]

Here is an update on Mater with just under a month until bow season starts. We were up rock creek area doing some scouting and visiting family. Stayed at a great BB on a 300 acre lot. I was up early to hike the grass hills and stir up some wild life. We saw grouse and white tail doe every morning. Over all we saw a bunch of M and WT buck and doe, 4 grouse and 1 rabbit. Here is a shot of my 2 jr hunting partners. Both are pumped for the upcoming season.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0087.jpg
This is the view we woke up too every morning. You people are blessed out that way !!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0047.jpg
Just a good pic of Mater.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0098.jpg
Im in the middle of harvesting my own bunnies this week so I wont likely get out for rabbit for a few weeks. So I will try to get out doing some type of training anyhow. We have a few unorthodox training methods here at home that I hope will pay off . I can almost have him completely clear the yard of any kids/dogs toys that i ask him to get giving him direction from the balcony. Id probably get it done quicker if I did it myself but not as fun.

[yamadirt 426]

I also got a good one with him and his big brother which despite his health issues is hanging in there great. He can still outrun the young gun.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0069.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

Mater has been walking around wondering what his purpose in life is as its been a few weeks since our last rabbit hunt. We went out on tues for a walk and only seen one rabbit but he was on scent much better as it was obvious we had pushed a few around. But alas bird season is apon us. We are looking to get out and arrow some grouse this weekend. Not sure where to go. Squamish, Harrison, or chilliwack . I also just realized the goose opening started today too. I think that a walk in the woods sounds alittle more appealing. This is what We have been waiting and working for. Hunting season is finally here. Good luck to everyone !

[Sasquatch]

He's gonna figure out his "purpose in life" over the next few months. Of that, I am pretty sure.

[yamadirt 426]

Just an update for Maters blog. We did go out to squamish and try and arrow something and didnt see anything. Ive seen grouse every trip out before this one. But thats hunting. And last weekend we went out for Maters first goose hunt. Which is what we should have done the previous weekend as we were told the geese were flying low and slow everywhere with no one around. But again thats hunting . There were hundreds of birds out though. seagulls, swallows, hawks and what ever else fly's in the marsh. Mater was very patient and sat beside me all of the 1hr we stayed before we gave up. He was very keen to work. Besides all the great family milestones, i havent looked forward to any thing more in my life than this years duck opener.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000471.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

Today we got up early and went harrison way to look for some grouse. We found a great fire rd off the beaten track that looked great for chickens. Lots of gravel to eat and what i thought was some good looking cover with easy walking. It was also a great deer area looking at all the rubs. I did have a few slugs in my pocket just in case. We found our road about 730 and climbed up about a 1000 ft in elevation with no grouse to be found. Then we came across 3 other hunters walking up the same road as we neared the bottom. Mater did not expect to come across anyone else out there and neither did these guys as my truck was parked at a different location. Mater had flipped to defensive mode and was barking and putting on a show. Once he checked them all out he let his guard down and we bullshitted for a few mins then moved on. Its good to know he has your back out there and also good he had all his blaze orange on him today. You just never know. Here is a pic from today and a short vid of him working the road.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_290.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=290.mp4)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/295.jpg

[Sasquatch]

Sure looks like he's on the track of something there Yama. Nice to see the vest on him.

[yamadirt 426]

I just picked up that vest and I'm glad I did. It was dark on that rd and to see Mater come around the corner without it on , even though I was a half step behind would surprise someone in the bush not expecting a dog. He might look like a mangey coyote to someone. It was funny because he always sleeps beside my bed but the night before we went he slept beside all the gear and gun in the other room. Locked of course . Lol

[yamadirt 426]

Happy Birthday Mater !

[bcgamebirds]

Happy birthday Mater, Looks like you have a great Dad!

[Sasquatch]

Happy birthday Mater...man that year went fast.

[yamadirt 426]

Thx guys. ya Sasquatch the last little while has been a blur but the next 2 weeks will be slow as molasses . Make sure to get your bird license this year so we can hunt the boys again soon :)

[Sasquatch]

I was out near Little Fort for a bit last week. Ran into a couple of birds which was nice - then Delou decided to take a leap off a 15 embankment. Usually when he does that he lands in the soft stuff half way down and slides the rest of the way. This time he landed right at the bottom on the hard and got the wind knocked out of him. Stood there sort of stunned for a minute and then walked away with his tail tucked.

Well, that ended our first hunt of the season quick - he limped for a couple of days but is back to normal now. When I saw how hard he hit ground, I thought that it might be the end of our season right there.

Gonna try and get out next week again.

[yamadirt 426]

Damn ,ouch man . Poor Delou . I glad he seems to be back on track. All depends on the situation but I think duck hunting over all is easier on the dogs and us as well :) All the more reason to give it a go this season.

[yamadirt 426]

Well we were out working on " The Office " today and a little skeet shooting . Mater tried his best to bring back the clays that werent destroyed but over all it was not a great idea to bring him out for that. Here is a picture of Mater in the 1st blind built this year. Ive got corn on one side and grass on the other with a cover crop going in for the winter. Should bring lots of ducks and birds. We are set low in a ditch about 3´ below the fields height. With Maters camo coat he can sit up top on either side or site in the blind. Had my 10yr old nephew out today practicing up for next weekends heritage day hunt.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000474_zpsdd354c21.jpg
and from a few feet away
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000475_zpsfdd87500.jpg
should make a good mid season blind. im not too sure about the opener here yet.

[pnbrock]

nicely done on the office,should work awesome giving your assistant plenty to do.

[yamadirt 426]

Today I got a new gun which will hopefully bring a lot of action Maters way . Its a Tikka combo 12over222. I got a great deal on it at "The best little lure house in Ladner" Thanks Brian ! Its hopefully going to bring in an abundance of ducks, upland, rabbits and deer. It will see the most days in the field of any of my guns. Im super pumped.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0567.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

Well this weekend wraps up the 2 day youth-mentor season or as we know it heritage days. My nephew became of age this summer and we were able to make both days. He has been skeet shooting the 870 in 20ga twice with me this year and was able to hit a few clays so off we went. Now i dont know about him but i could barely sleep fri and sat night as i was to pumped to get Mater and Dayton into their first real duck hunt.

Saturday found us trying out two different locations. The second spot was good but no birds were brought down. I was only letting the kid shoot 1 shell at a time for the first few flights. In total he only got off 7 shots but it was his first day so that was fine.

Today turned out to be more productive. We went straight to the good spot in the marsh and waited. Now kids do as kids do and he was staring at his feet more that the sky and a few opportunities were wasted but we had 1 drake mallard heading straight in on us and he was brought down by 1 shot. Mater was on him. He was still very much alive so it took a few seconds but Mater picked him up and brought him over, about a 15yd retrieve. There was major praise and high 5`n going on after that.

Next was a duck coming in fast and somewhat low left to right . Dayton pulled of a 25yd shot on him , what i would consider a long shot for this gun. 2 shot for 2 birds, not bad for a 10yr old on his 2nd day hunt. But this retrieve took about 25 min. The duck had enough steam to make it to the fraser and when he saw Mater on his ass he started diving which left Mater doing circles in the big river looking for him and us on the shore helplessly looking for him to rise. Dayton went back for the gun and we managed to find him about 50yds down shore. 1 more pop to finish him in the water and Mater had his first real water retrieve. STOKED !!

And our 3rd bird brought down was traveling in a flock of 3 coming from right to left. wait, wait, now, BOOM. 3rd bird down just 8 yds from the robo. Now im not sure what Mater was thinking because the bird was so close, he did bring him back just not up to some of your guys standards thats for sure lol.

Anyhow we had a great time and im lucky if i get a good nights sleep at all this week

[Sasquatch]

Looks like a fun day Yama. I'd say that's pretty good shooing for the lads first time out. Sounds like you were even more excited than him!

Mater seems to be coming along great -

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_ExportMPEG23of30092012_070517.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=ExportMPEG23of30092012_070517.mp4)

A short vid from today.

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000481.jpg
a few still picks too. the last one is from night flight tonight which was no flight but i wanted to get the boys out for the sunset and moon rise which were both lovely tonight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000485.jpg

[Kasomor]

Awesome Yama! Your nephew is one lucky lad to be going out with you. Loved his commentary of the day :-)

[yamadirt 426]

It was also his idea to make duck fajitas with the meat. I wasn't there but I was told it was delicious . :) Thanks for the kind words guys !

[Foxton Gundogs]

Cool good on you and congrats to Mater on his water work, and your nephew for the fine shooting.

[pnbrock]

That's awesome I'm sure the young fellas got lots to brag about this morning at school!!

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000491.jpg
a couple of birdys from today. Turned the work phone off for once and did a bird/deer hunt with my partner. 4 doe seen and 3 grouse . 2 of which fell to the new combo gun. and the scope is tuned into the 222 perfectly. zero at 50yds. The grouse were road hunted and retrieved by Mater. The big blue flew quite a distance and had to be tracked as he flopped down the hill about 50yds. Mater did well and brought both to hand.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000493.jpgBoth birds were hit with the 12ga.

[yamadirt 426]

opening day has finally arrived. I was 10 car in line by 6:15 but no one was in my spot. When i left there were 20 cars deep. There were boats and hunters everywhere. All i can say is wow. I must have heard about 500-600 shots easy in the 1hr i was out. There was a lot of feathers hitting the ground today. Mater had 4 birds to retrieve out of 9 shots. He figured out there were others out today and just payed attention to me and my shots only. He marked and retrieved all 4 birds. I had been waiting for this day all year and all our training paid off on the last bird. I left at 735 to make it back home before my son woke up, its his 4th bday today. I'm going to try and get out every other day this year but not for a limit. Just 1 or 2 birds an outing. Once the combo gun is reamed out to except steel I will be using it exclusively for a month(single shot) . The rising sun was gorgeous, it was a perfect morning to spend out in the marsh.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000494.jpg
crappy pics . no good field pics today
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000496.jpg

[BigSlapper]

Well done you two ...!!

[Kasomor]

Nice!! :-D:-D

[SambOz]

Exceptional tale Yam, enjoyed it very much !

That young hairy dog is going along very nicely for his age, very smart dog mate.

I read that you have taken him on furred game as well which is probably the prime use of G.W.P.'s in Australia. Here they are used in fairly thick mountain country on Sambar deer and excel at pointing the animal. They are not allowed, or used, to chase.

They also get a work out during our duck and quail seasons and soon catch on if they haven't worked feathers before.

He's certainly fitting into the family scene well and the pics tell it all really..loved them :-D

Look foward to hearing more.

[yamadirt 426]

Thx Samboz.

I truly do love to blog about him and keep the posts more about his hunting that day, more so than mine. And I plan on documenting each hunt until he is gone . It's more for me to reflect on later in life as I know it should always be online instead of a book I could loose or ruin. I also love the comments and help as he is my first dog that is more than just a pet. He is my work mate in my truck everyday , hunting partner 99% of the time and best buddy. And if he can point me my first deer he will secure his spot in my hall of fame, are dogs cannot chase deer here as well. I'm still yet to bag one. And as far as small game goes he still has a lot of firsts to come his way :)

Good luck and all the best down under

[Sasquatch]

WTG Yama - looks like you are going to have a helluva season!

[yamadirt 426]

Went off for an evening duck hunt sun night. The corn is not yet cut in my field (comes down tomo) but i was happy to see some birds a buzzing. We sat in the "office" for a bit and watched. Its been so nice out lately everything was a little high. I pulled a rookie move and decided to pack up 10 min early to go get turkey dinner and desert. Of course that blew my only shot of the night.


Mater and I woke up at 5 this morning to head back into the marsh. We brought down 2 birds before my buddy showed up. First retrieve was slow and not spectacular lol and the second found a drake mallard hiding in a deep crevasse so i helped out mater find that one. My buddy showed up with his dog, an old timer at 9 yrs of age. The marsh is hard on an old dog with all the pot holes and ditches . Mater ran out to retrieve 2 birds for my bud and brought them back much better to hand. He does like to drop it once he gets close then i will have to ask him again to pick it up, I am standing in a muddy hole though. Its a work in progress, The forth one was a beauty and he came right to me with it. The fifth bird was my 3 bird on my forth shot and my last bird for the day. After the shot Mater marked the wrong bird and lost sight of the shot. So while Mater went in another direction the old man came off the log and picked up the final bird. He may not be as quick anymore but experience told him which bird was going down. Great weekend and the bird so far have tasted great !

its not easy to be the camera man and shooter but here is another vid. Action starts about 1:45.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_ExportMPEG2of08102012_054747.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=ExportMPEG2of08102012_054747.mp4)

[yamadirt 426]

I cant tell you how lucky I feel to pack my dog with me while I work everyday. Even luckier I can pack my shotgun with me in the bin truck. The corn was chopped in my field Monday and i haven't made it there yet. Today I was done by 1pm so I went to check out the "office" and found Im going to have to lift the floor. I knew I would but with the little rain we had its already floating. I seen a ton of gulls ,crows and starlings picking through the corn but no ducks. So Mater and I decided to walk the property. We pushed 1/2 dozen ducks up into the air that were mixed amongst the other birds but they landed in the ditch beside the field . I thought we would start with these guys and jump shoot them. As i rounded the burn pile I could see a hen keeping an eye for predators while hundreds of mallards sat at rest in the ditch. I did not know there were this many birds until i jump the hens and made a couple of poor shots. No birds but the sky lit up with all these ducks I had no clue were there. So after scaring everything away and no birds in hand I set up robo and my 6 deeks and sat at the burn pile. It did not take long before a drake flew over us from behind the burn pile and did a loop over the decoys. Bang flop retrieve (still not to hand but at my feet) and we had our first bird. I wanted to check out the big ditch in case the first hens i shot at did get hit and sat down in the ditch while everything jumped. So we walked, nothing seen, turned back and sat in the burn pile again. It wasn't 2 more minutes before a hen buzzed us , quacked, then sat down in the ditch 30yds away. So i decided to jump her, bag her and go home before 4. She was hit on my second shot but was still able to do a massive football field size loop but could not gain elevation. I watched her crash into the bulrushes of another ditch about 100yds away and we went for her. We walked the ditch line and i spotted her first. I steadied Mater and sent him on a line, well he went the other way lol after a few minutes he caught a scent and picked up the very much still alive hen. I think i seen her go for his eyes while he was bringing her back, this retrieve was better and brought to my feet. Still not to my hand though dang it. He will get it. Everything else he picks up in training is brought to hand. Anyhow Im Loving this weather ! Cheers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000498.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

What an awesome morning. Perfect conditions out today. I need to get a weather proof camera. Big winds,rain and lots of birds. On the walk in about 15 to legal there were lots of big flocks looking for a spot to land. As I was setting up the Deeks and robo, Mater had his eyes on the birds flying over us.

2 mins into legal 2 consecutive shots and 2 widgeon. The retrieves were short as the birds were hung up in the wind over the Deeks. So 1 5 yd and 1 10 yd retrieve . Not to hand :( , Foxton I worked on hold all day with my downed birds from fri. He was flawless around the house but hunting... nope, to my feet. Since I'm not out for a limit we worked on steadying. I let about 10 birds drop into the Deeks which are at 15 yds . Mater was about 10 ft from me laying down in the grass camo'd out and we keep good eye contact . he doesn't move, wanted to but I signal to stay. I think it's our unorthodox methods the reason he does not bring to hand but I just love everything else about our style of hunting. Bcgamebirds I'm gonna call you again tomo .

Come to think it this was Mater first double. He marked both birds. Pu the 2nd bird first then was sent for the first bird to fall which he knew exactly where it was.

With the live birds now as decoys we just sat and watched a coyote walk across the field to the service rd and come straight at us. I signal mater to come over and sit and held his collar. I let the dog come in to 10yds before I jump him. He jump sideways and right into the big deep ditch next to the service rd. I was laughing my bag off when he came up in the other side having to shake off the ditch water a 1/2 dozen times looking back at what the heck just happened. I'm going carry a few oo buck I think.

So I sat for another 15 min and drop 2 more birds before I packed up at 730, ill save a few more birds for night flight and get home to make breakfast for the wife and kids before they wake up :)

[yamadirt 426]

Oct 18
My Dad came out with Mater and I and brought out my nephew today. Its been about 20 yrs since Dads been hunting and he couldn't find his hunter number today. But he was excited that Dayton got some birds on the heritage hunt so Grampa bought him his jr license. Once he finds his hunter number I will finally get to hunt with my Dad Nice ! Mater had 5 birds to bring back tonight. I pulled him off one dead bird he was looking for and sent him on a runner (more of a flapper) in a completely other direction. I didn't want to lose him as it was Daytons bird and his first bird he got to shoot in front of Grampa. His nerves got to him but he was able to loosen up after a bit. I sent Mater back after the dead duck behind us and after some searching he calmed down and looked at me . I made a motion with my arm and he went straight at him for the pick up. Still working on bird to hand. I tried a few things but with all of us there and me working the dog its tough. Need the one on one training.

Oct 17 went grouse/deer hunting . Nothing but a good sniffer workout. He just blew up a few times . No clue what over I wish I knew but something and we must have just missed it.

Oct 20
We got out for our morning coffee and retrieve this morn. Woke up a 650. Dressed, coffee'd and in the blind by 725. I worked the 20ga today which I just love and I was looking to get Mater a long retrieve. Something 30+ yds. I didn't have to wait long for the right shot at a passing 20yd bird. 1shot drop. Mater had a good retrieve but to the blind. Still working on hold.

Oct 21
Today we got up 25 mins later and went straight to the office. I've got it raised out of the water now. Lots of birds and shots on our walk in as the guys from the other fields were pushing the birds my way. Mater sits high on the bank and lays down while I'm down in the ditch. It gives him great visual and he can watch my back while I'm watching behind him. His eyes lock on to birds which lets me know every time birds are coming in behind me. We let a few drop in to the robo 20yds from us. I love live decoys and haven't put any out in the last two days. Robo is enough. After a few more mins I took my shot on a group of widgeon, picked my bird and fell him. I think to 12 ga is staying home for a while. This Remington 870 in 20ga is magic. Now to the good part. I let Mater do his thing and I waited in the blind where he couldn't see me. Well he crested the ditch with the bird and just stood there. All I had to do was stick out my hand. Nice. Wether I tricked him or not it was a good retrieve. After that I packed up and left

[yamadirt 426]

Oct23.
Today was priceless, a highlight of my life ! The migration is here, WOW :mrgreen:. To keep it short I brought out my 4yr old today. Set up the video camera, 25mins of magic before it was over. 12 shots 8 birds with my beloved jr model 870. 12 shells was all I brought only thinking id take one or two birds . Today was an exception. Mater did well with 2 doubles to work on today one was a blind retrieve, after doing a massive circle he picked it up. 30/70 to hand/feet. William was doing his part in picking them up as well. We were swarmed and enjoyed the show. Aprox 1000 birds out today. They were landing in the deeks, buzzing us in droves. There were a few times when both the boys were thinking "shoot you idiot" as birds were flaring at 15 ft away. Mater lying down with his head flat to the ground watching the birds waiting for a shot to ring out. I could go on but words cannot express how much fun i had in 25 mins tonight. So after the 7th bird i went to check the camera angle and realized i never did push record, allthough i cannot share this moment with anyone else which would be neat, I will never forget this beautiful day. I did push record for the final bird and took a still pic.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000513.jpg
I know that is a lot of hens which sucks and i will be much more pickier for a while to make up for it.

[yamadirt 426]

Oct 26
I went for morning flight on fri and we had 5 birds down by 830. All very simple retrieves so mater did not have to work very hard at all. There were a good 1000 birds out and we were impressed by another good display. I got 1 out of the 5 birds to hand. After delivering a few bins I went back to the field to meet up with my buddy and his golden lab. There were birds moving all day and the dogs were taking turns on the retrieve. I did end up with another limit so we are all eating well.


Oct 27
This morning we were joined by fellow hbc'er Sasquatch and his Griffon. It was a good morning with lots of birds and a first duck hunt for his pup and himself. Now he is used to upland and pheasant hunting so it took a few mins to burn some energy and realize this is a waiting game, not so much a searching game. He settled in nicely and scored the first retrieve. We put down a few more short retrieves for the boys and then we had 2 cripples that made it a few hundred yards to the river . I took mater and went after them. There were located on the other side of the river and mater scored his first 2 full on water retrieves. His only previous one was in the marsh and only half counted. The first one I marked for him and the second he found on his own , which was far bank tucked in the grass. 2 birds that would have been lost or I would have been swimming. We had a pheasant fly into the bush and I went for a walk but no luck finding him. All in all it was a great morning and a new water fowler and a new water fowl retriever were hooked.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/Ducks20120451.jpg
Mater on his perch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/Ducks2012048.jpg
todays retrieves were much better to hand. Nice pics Sasquatch !

[SambOz]

Great pics Y426, the pup is coming along very nicely ! :-D

Do you have a deer season coming up ?

[Foxton Gundogs]

Way to go Yammy, :-D hows the "other going" :confused:

[Sasquatch]

Was a great morning Yama, thanks again for introducing us to duck hunting - Delou and I are both hooked now. I know I should have taken more pics, but I was too busy watching and shooting at all the birds.

So impressed with Mater and how well behaved he is. He's doing great for a dog of any age, much less one of just a year old. Those cripples were not easy retrieves and he found them both.

[yamadirt 426]

Thx Samboz. We are in the middle of deer season now and Ive had him out a few times but Its much further of a drive so I cant get out as much for them. But Nov is a prime month for deer here. So we will be out as much as possible. Hey Foxton, Its the weirdest thing with my dobe. The vet says on paper this dog should be dead. On top of the lung issue Hes got an oversized prostate and drips alittle blood once and awhile. From looking at him he looks,runs and acts like a 2yr old dog. And i just commented to my wife I haven't heard him cough in a few days maybe more. He would normally start his morning by hacking up a full lung. I though for sure i would have wrote up his RIP by now but he seems to be on a major rebound at the moment. I will take him in for another xray in the next few weeks to see what the mass is doing. Today is his puppies first birthdays so we are getting together at an agility center with Tyrant and Mater and his whole litter (10 puppies) + the bitch dog which is my sisters. Its gonna be fun. And sasquatch. Im thinking night flight :)

[Foxton Gundogs]

Makes me smile Yami, had enough sadness the last couple of weeks. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and treasure every day. Thoughts are with you my friend

Cheers
FG

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks Foxton :)
Oct 28
Went out for a night flight with Sasquatch. 6 Birds on the ground. First 3 were to hand . He is getting much better especially when there is another dog around. Not as many birds out but no shortage. I got some video and it took Mater about a minute to bring back 1 cripple today. He was a squirm-er
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_ExportMPEG2of28102012_165621.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=ExportMPEG2of28102012_165621.mp4)

[Sasquatch]

Was a great night Yama - lots of fun again. Yes, 6 birds because of your fine shooting! If it had been left up to me, the soup would be awful thin.

The more time I spend watching your dog, the more impressed I am by him. Sits quietly on his perch til he sees birds comin' in and then lowers his head to the ground so they won't see him. That dog's got a lot of hunt in him.

[SambOz]

Just wondering how you use him on the deer there Y426, here we train them to work in close in fairly heavy bush in often steep country and point the deer. The biggest problem with young dogs here is them chasing. A lot take their pointers out to young and undertrained and spend a lot of time finding them after they take off on Kangaroos, wallabies, rabbits and deer.

My G.W.P. has scented many Sambar deer for me that I would have otherwise walked past. One stag was over 150 metres below us separated by scrub and trees, the dog got the updraft and his body language told me he was onto a deer. We got the stag :-D

The GWP is probably the most commonly used, and excels at the job !

[yamadirt 426]

Lol that's why we share the bounty Sasquatch. No one starves at this duck camp. I've got that dinky little 20ga dialed in after 2 seasons. But there are good days and bad lol.

Samboz I've never took him out specifically for deer as our deer season runs parallel to our upland bird season. This yr I bought a combo gun just for this reason. If going only for deer he needs to be leashed . So I'm always going grouse hunting with deer on the side in which case I'd leash him before the shot if I have the time. I've got him trained for target practice with the rifle not to move which should be the case with all gun shots but we arnt there yet. So I see it going down just as you have described . Him getting a wind and reading his body language and vise versa. Pls post some pics of your dog and some kills. I would love to see them. Either on here or start your own thread. That would be so weird to be hunting deer and have a kangaroo hop by. Lol

Also he does have an electric collar so we can work together in silence. This is a work in progress but when it's just him and I he is a completely different dog then if I'm with others. We are 1 being ,with triple the senses and always making eye contact. It's incredible.

Oct 30
went for deer today. Mater did well working the game trails. It's a hot area and you could tell he was on scent. We had a shot at 200 yds but a series of rookie mistakes kept both of us from busting our deer cherries. The bummer of the day was Mater tore his front heel pad somewhere on the hike. I though I was tracking a wounded deer for a min. he is out of commission for a few days.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000517.jpg

Nov 2
Mater is almost healed so I couldn't resist a quick hunt before work today. Not as much flying around but we did pull 2 down. They did not go far so the retrieves were quite simple. I tried to get him to chase down a flock of geese and put them up and he did not understand so I walked him out until they flew off. They circled and wanted back in the field but not near us so I sent him off again hoping they would circle over head. He did get the picture this time. He put them up a few hundred yards away but the kept going . It was a long shot that didn't work out :)

Nov 3
Mater , William and I went out for night flight. The weather was good. There were birds about but only one hit the dirt about 150 yds from the office blind. Mater was on him and picked him up as soon as he hit the field. This time there was no dicking around. He picked him up and headed back and placed him in my hand. He got lots of praise for this one. I had missed a few birds after that. All in all a good night with my two boys.

[yamadirt 426]

Well we paid a visit to our squirrel hunting grounds today and its looking good. Lots of booners about. Mater put the run and point on lots today and i could have had a few good shots if i had the sling shot. We need a few more leaves to drop and then we are all good. Its funny he knows exactly what we are looking for. Here is a vid from today that was kinda cool. You can see his focus is in the trees so this crow was a lucky guy lol :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_WP_20121106_213802Z.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=WP_20121106_213802Z.mp4)

Nov 8
Mater and I went out this morning to meet up with a buddy and his dog. It's the golden lab that I hunt with and the reason I even have a bird dog today. I was shooting and nothing was falling today. I finally put a bird down near time to go. Luckily my buddy put a few more down and mater was able to steal a few retrieves from him. Lol .7 green heads fell for the dogs. Mater did bring everything to hand and was being gentle. Now I have to work the steadiness . I can't remember to remind him to stay before the shot.

Nov 12
Mater, Melissa and I went out for her doe draw in 3-17. Conditions were perfect with 2" of snow on the ground. We cut some fresh tracks and off we went. I forgot a lead and his e collar but after 5 min of him stretching his legs i managed to keep him close. He has almost figured out when I want him tight to my trail and was doing ok until we came close to some deer. We pushed one out of its bed, and when we found the bed he could not contain himself and broke after the scent. We had to wait a few mins and i had to call to him which had frustrated the both of us. lol. Its still my fault as I forgot his gear and he is still learning. For deer I want him just in front or right behind me. He got a good lashing for his action and after that was on my heel quite well. You really have to read him and catch him before he snaps and his instinct tell him to GO ! No deer for the trip but Melissa is hooked on the rush she got from being close to her first deer.

[labguy]

Well we paid a visit to our squirrel hunting grounds today and its looking good. Lots of booners about. Mater put the run and point on lots today and i could have had a few good shots if i had the sling shot. We need a few more leaves to drop and then we are all good. Its funny he knows exactly what we are looking for. Here is a vid from today that was kinda cool. You can see his focus is in the trees so this crow was a lucky guy lol :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/th_WP_20121106_213802Z.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/mater/?action=view&current=WP_20121106_213802Z.mp4)

Really like this. :cool:

You have a very nice way with that animal. Every dog should be so lucky....

[WaderGator]

great video!

[yamadirt 426]

We got out for night flight today. Looks like a whole pile of new birds have arrived. Many birds and lots of variety too. I went 2 for 3 and got a super nice looking widgeon and a drake mallard. At first i thought I missed the drake as he was at my farthest reach and kept flying straight until he folded. Mater went the long way around to him and lost his mark. I helped him out and pushed the bird around. Mater saw him from 50ft and just started charging it. I thought he was going to hammer him but the duck dodged him and put mater in a 4 wheel slide for 6 ft. After a small tussle we had our first bird. We missed a few opportunitys while getting the drake but ended up with the widgeon ( a short retrieve) and called it. Lots of teals around and I will be looking to shoot one on thursday if I can get out again. No field pics today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/021.jpg

close up on the widge

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/020.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

Got my first double and a second bird on the 2nd shot so Mater had his first 3 bird retrieve at once. It was an EPIC FAIL lol but what ever, it was super fun day. Also the first bird down today was a fighter and took over a min to bring him in and you can see he was a squirmin. My son Will was out too, you can see him getting pissed at me for not paying attention to the ducks circling us. He is loving coming out with us. Mater is gonna be an old man by the time he can shoot . #5 was a simple retrieve. Here is the video
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/th_ExportMPEG2of15112012_163141.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/ExportMPEG2of15112012_163141.mp4)

FML not sure how long this has been like this or where he did it . He shows no pain or loss of motion. We shall see what the doc says.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000526.jpg
pic is of back leg from the inside. I shaved his leg for a better look which makes it look 10x worse.

Nov 17
Aside from Maters leg being what it is we met up with sasquatch for another hunt for the boys. Mater still shows no ill will toward his bum leg and he has a date with the doc on mon. We got set up about 5 min after legal and birds were already dropping in to say hello. The early birds got the worm as we were still not ready. The late birds got steel. We put 10 down for the dogs to fetch and all went well. We had some runners, short distance, long distance retrieves, and some ducks that tried to hide in the grass and ditches. No one escaped the griffs this morning. Great shoot today
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/LangleyDuckHunt011.jpg

Nov 20
Very cool night tonight. Out with Sasquatch, delou , Mater and my son. Weather was nutz. Hail,rain,wind,lightning,thunder and birds. Although not too many hit the ground it was fun. Finally got into the teals i saw last week. They are fast and furious. First thing william said was, You got a baby dad. lol Both birds dropped close, I almost caught one. Mater brought them both in. You could see they caught him by surprise, Like "what is this thing". I held off on a goose shot. If I had #2`s in the 20ga I would have shot and kinda still regret it. I did have the perfect head shot . One mallard hen also fell.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0578-1.jpg

on another note the vet said Hes perplexed at Maters leg. Its either trauma or tumor. It is not painful in any way and has the fluid characteristics of blood and joint/fluid. If its trauma that caused this much swelling it should hurt a lot. So he smeared a few samples and its the waiting game as it should go down over time. The smeared samples came back neg for abnormal cells .

Nov22
Went out this morning for a hunt before work. I went 2 for 2 drakes right off the bat. The first being my favorite retrieve to watch, a 20yd shot with the bird sailing another 50yds with the dog hot on his heels waiting for the inevitable collision followed by a long jaunt back by the proud dog and his game. The second dropped on the opposite side off the ditch so we had an opportunity for a marked retrieve. Even though the dog jumps this ditch regularly he will go the long way through the blind for this bird. Then i had one of those subtle feelings i should pack up and leave with us both wanting more, I stayed another 45 mins to 3 unanswered shots lol

Nov23
Another morning shoot and another morning being harassed by not one but 2 pheasants. Mater showed some interest to some grass and I wasn't paying attention. The pheasant busted out about 10' away going the opposite direction we were. We put 2 ducks down. One a gladwell with a short but quick retrieve and a mallard hen that I hit on my second shot on our walk well away from the robo. This turned into about a 50yd retrieve that he did fairly quickly. No night flights for the next few days so its gonna be coffee and a morning walk the next few morning. Rain or shine that pheasant has it coming ....

Nov24
Very nice morning out. The robo never left the back pack. We jump a few ducks out of the small pond that starts to form at this time of the year right at legal but they were not our primary hunt. We are after the pheasant that keeps bothering us. So we kick some grass around for an hr & 1/2 until I heard him across the water. We jumped a few more mallards from an opposite ditch but let them be as well. I would have taken a guaranteed shot but I was more focused on dog work (keeping him close and his nose to the ground) and pheasants this morn.

Nov25
The farm is really starting to slow down, at least the morning is. Sasquatch and I got the boys out again. We did put a pair down 5 mins after legal. I had to use all 3 shots to bring the hen down while sasquatch made it look easy with a 35yd shot on the drake. The birds fell on oposite sides of the ditch at a good distance so both the dogs had work to do. About 15min later a flock of 8ish birds folded there wings and dropped in for a pass. We let them have a look and on there second pass we let them have it . boom boom i shot twice i think and Sasquatch the same , the dogs were ready and then we just watched them all fly away lol I think they were too close to hit... And so that was it aside from a few looky loos. Well i guess i did jinx us after the first 2. I said something to the effect "well we might as well pack up now as both the dogs got some action" I scoped out some new turf this afternoon and im really wanting to hunt over some real water for Mater to retrieve in. I think its time to pump up the boat :)

Nov 30
It's been a few days since mater has had some work. He was able to pick up 4 birds. We went out with a pal and his dog. She is a gourgous chocolate lab . She was able to get in on one retrieve. Mater has no manners and has not heard of ladies first and my dumb ass still has drilled steady into him yet. But all was good. And delivered eventually to hand.

Dec1
Morning flight ended briefly with no birds for mater to work so not being one to disappoint my dog we went back for night flight. Well it took up to the buzzer to get mater a retrieve. He was being his ultra patient self and just loves to skywatch . Even while we clean up he sits and waits for birds. Anyhow our only bird was a teal that fell at 25yds in the dark corn field in low light. So I had to send/recall and send again and our day was done. No skunking today. I had a few singles and a couple doubles land or hover within 10 ft after legal , they are completely blind at night. Mater just sits there... On another note I have a new species to add to our hunting. I'll let you know how that works out.

Dec2
A couple of us got out last night for an hr , last minute hunt. Like I said we have a new species to hunt year round in there. So I went for a walk with mater for the new species but watch a hen drop in to the ditch 150yds away. Mater and I crept along until we were able to send him in for a flush.,all went well and I drop her on the second shot across the ditch. In and out of the ditch and through the field he nailed her and brought to hand, about 50yd retrieve. We ventured back to the guys at the blind and put down to more birds, a massive drake mallard and a drake teal. The mallard put up a fight with mater but the teal was stone dead and had to be sniffed out.

Dec6
We got out for deer again this morning. Getting desperate is an understatement. One deer was seen by our partner but not for long. Mater did awesome on the game trails today. He was silent, stayed between 6-10 feet with nose to the game trial. Dragging a leash of course. We were able to communicate with his collar real good today. No talking. We slowly walked and stopped. He would through his nose as high as he could with his eyes peeled for movement ever so often. I just know its for a deer. I need to get a piece of hide one day to work with on a few drags and carry a small chunk the days we are out for them . Bear too !
One day it will happen...

Dec7
Morning flight at the farm and while there are birds around, my spot is totally busted. But I cant beat the 15 min drive so i continue to go back and pick off the odd uneducated bird for mater. While the birds were bust today mater got to get some fur in his mouth so the hunt was not a failure and he was excited. no pix sadly

Dec8
Another brief morning hunt brought in 1 widgeon, It took about 15 min to locate the bird in the tall grass as we all lost eyesight with it. Just as i was about to give up Mater finally pulled the bird out of a tight spot and brought it over to hand. The bird had expired under some cover we had walked over a dozen times. Im sure a dog with a better nose would have found him earlier, lol but it would have been lost with out him today. Not much makes me happier hunting wise than not wasting an animal. He got a party for this one. Thx Mater ! We probably missed a dozen opportunities while looking for the bird though, but still a good way to watch the sun rise !

[pnbrock]

cool video comes with a view aswell!

[Sasquatch]

Was almost too much fun Yama... I am more impressed with Mater every time I see him work.

[yamadirt 426]

well we have been skunked the last 3 times out for duck. The few shots Ive had i missed and or wasn't paying attention and missed on possible jump shooting shots. Mater is being patient but they are waring thin as they say. We went for deer on the 15th of dec. it was our last chance and neither of us will get to eat deer again this yr. oh well.. He stayed in a nice close range to me and generally responded well. We sat for a half our and blew a deer call. i had no clue as to what i was doing but wanted to see how he would do. He watched for a bit but after 10 mins he just curled up and went to sleep on the comfy moss until we moved on. We saw no deer but he did lead me to the honey holes of honey holes on the chahalis river. You would never see it from the road that passes by but 10ft in its a well traveled trail by the few that have known about it over the years. So i would consider this day a success due to this find. Thanks again Mater. Which makes me wonder what other guys dogs had found them when they least expect it ? Ducks this week are a must !! Here is a pic of the honey hole. Looks 10x better in person. Calm deep wide pool , the coho would stack up in here like crazy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000553_zps9453ca57.jpg

[pnbrock]

what did the vet say about the hind leg?

[Sasquatch]

Nice looking spot Yama. See any fish in that pool?

[yamadirt 426]

His leg is still swollen and we can feel some sort of tendon damage/bone chip. But what doesn't fit is there is no pain. So it's just a waiting game. I had him in last mon for the recheck . See how it goes over the next month. But I'm not worried about it like I was. And Sasquatch all the coho (lots) have spawned or are spawning up at the mouth of the lake. I saw them last week when I hiked in there. Mid to late sept next year I will be here setting up my game cam/hunting and fishing this hole.

[britman101]

Just wondering if your vet has taken an x-ray of the swollen portion of the leg. Some dogs can have a high tolerance to pain and can mask how much discomfort they are really feeling. Nothing against your vet, but you could always get a second opinion on what may be going on with your dogs leg. Can't hurt to see what another person feels may be causing the swelling.

[yamadirt 426]

Hey britman. I do fully trust my vet for so many reasons . Too many to mention. And he has a state of the art digital X-ray machine at my disposal but they don't pickup much for tissue damage and it is slowly going down in size. And since he has zero lameness and no discomfort on the injury itself we have decided to wait and watch together. He can standing jump up into my bin truck as well as standing jump a 6ft ditch as well as navigate through the slash and clearcuts no problem. I've got 3 vets right around the corner of my house but I travel 1/2 hr to see this guy without question. He has already saved maters life once. I'm sure it will turn out fine and thx for thinking of him, cheers.

Dec17
finally broke the drought tonight with a second to spare. I took a longer shot than I usually would to get mater into something. I watch as the duck I picked out out of 5 birds start to lose altitude and finally dropped from the sky about 200yds away. Right near the truck :) so I packed up and started walking over. Mater had no clue a bird was down so it was a good time to practice a blind retrieve. I motioned the direction and said fetch as I walked in the same direction. Sure enough he found the bird while he was about 80 yds from me. Picked it up and carried it over to spit it out 10ft from me. A little reminder and he picked it up again and brought it too hand. A northern hen mallard.

[yamadirt 426]

My shooting is in the crapper, confidence is the only thing shot right now but whatever. Not a lot for me to shoot at but when i do i miss. I took out my 12ga for a change a few hunts back and now its for sale. Bottom line is the dog is getting bored. He is starting to wander around looking for his own birds and i just know he is gonna stick the ecollar on me and crank it up to 8 if i keep this up. The most memorable hunt since the 17th was the last one when Mater , William and I. We got out on the Fraser river in the canoe. I did get out with the father in law and Mater for a test run a few days earlier on a jump shoot hunt. I made some mods to the boat for mater so not to slip around on the plastic bottom. It was gonna be a solo mission for Mater and I but William was keen. Now packing up a 4yr and going to the store can be an easy task to a pain in the ass in a hurry, and hunting with a dog and decoys in a canoe on big water with all the gear can also go either way. Put those 2 together and you have either double the trouble or double the fun without the gum. All went well mind you and we will do it again, better when its not 0 degrees out though for the boy. Few shots were fired but no birds were hurt during this movie. Was lots to look at out there for William and Mater, just no work. Here is a few pics from that day and 1 from another bird less day in the bay with Sasquatch and delou. Pic of Mater and I courtesy of Sasquatch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000566_zps00c48b10-1_zps64419795.jpg
on watch, ducks dont often flare at him as he doesnt move and has a nice natural camo coat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000569_zps21cc086d.jpg
on the ride back, also with a 4yr old you have to pack up early to make a safe crossing home. But i would do a short hunt with my boy over a long hunt, even bird less 95% of the time
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/BoundaryBay081_zps1a33fac5.jpg
another hunt and great way to spend an evening with friends.

[pnbrock]

its the primo wench thats affecting your hunt.great pics though!!!

[yamadirt 426]

Today Mater and I got out for some good 1 on 1 training. The Canoe is working great I dont have to go out far in it and ive got it camo`d pretty good. I was finally hitting birds again too. First widgeon went down in the middle of the river so we had to take the canoe out to the bird. Once I pointed it out to Mater he wanted it but need to be persuaded out of the boat with the right foot. He then promptly swam over and picked up the bird and we tested out grabbing him out of the water and into the boat while he held on to the bird. Worked perfectly with the handles on the vest :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/019.jpg
The second bird was a widgeon that didnt quite make the deep water but he still had to wade through the river as it was rising fast
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/021-1.jpg
The 3rd was a drake mallard that folded up about 20` from the boat. Now by this time there was no dry land and we were floating in 1.5` deep water. Mater jumped out for the retrieve and came back and jumped right into the boat with the big bird in his mouth. No pics but it was fun to watch that one for some reason.
The last bird was a drake widgeon that dropped behind us and across a slough so he had a good 25yd swim and had to locate the bird which had swan into the reeds on the far side. Done deal and that was it for the day. If I was on my toes i might have got a limit and i had a chance at a few ducks i havent shot before but today ill gladly call it a good day
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/028.jpg
The final talley
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/033mater.jpg

[Bc Deer Hunter]

Very nice!! Glad you got Mater on some birds :)

[FirePower]

its the primo wench thats affecting your hunt.great pics though!!!

There is nothing wrong with the Wench I have a mate who can sweet talk ducks in all day long with his. Any call is poison if you don't learn to blow it properly and not all calls are for all hunters. A friend gave me a Blacktail call for Christmas and it has very nice tones indeed it will have a spot on my cord for sure.
Very good that you got your pup on some birds, its been a slow last half of the season for most I believe.

[pnbrock]

looks good you need to take me for a tour of ladner marsh.

[yamadirt 426]

In the off season I'll take you for a ride out there Pat.

I did a 1/2 hr stint on CKNW Bill Good Show today at 10:30 about hunting with my son and the fact I'm getting him a mini 22 for his 5th birthday. They called me after leaving a message on the listener line. It's on the audiovault at 1030am today's date if anyone cares to listen. All went well with only one anti out of the 8 or so callers. Jessica said the callers were stacked in my favor which I think shocked them all. I also sent them some pictures of William and mater with a duck limit from this year and a shot of William,Mater and my nephew from waterfowl heritage days this year. Good times as its a tough nut to crack this whole firearms debate.

[Sasquatch]

Listened to the archive Yama. Really well done. You represented the hunting community in a calm, reasonable and sensible light as far as I'm concerned.

I really would have liked to hear a few more antis and how you handled them, but it seems just about everyone agreed with you. Even the host kept saying how surprised he was at the support you got.

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks Sasquatch,

Ya I lost alittle sleep about it and was nervous lol but thought if I could get my message out how it's all about family for me and taking part in tradition somehow it would pan out. 95% agreed with me on starting kids young , they said not so much about the school issue but without that Element i may have never made it on the show. I never had the opportunity to backup why I feel the way I do about teachers but I tried to stay away from that today anyhow. Not my place to comment on it.

[Sasquatch]

If I had known you were going to be on...I might have gotten the urge to call in posing as an anti to rattle your cage a little. That would have brightened my morning.

Good plan to stick to the hunting and kids using guns issues and not muddy the water with arming US teachers - completely separate argument.

[yamadirt 426]

Ya I tried to keep it a secret in case it turned ugly then I could deny the whole thing lol mike is a common name but Melissa already put it on Facebook. I don't Facebook lol

[yamadirt 426]

Went out for a few hrs of sunshine in the morning. Here is Mater getting his tan on with the rising sun. Lots of birds out today
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/015.jpg
Maters first bird was a 10 yd walking in water merg retrieve. I was proud of his second retrieve. Was a 40yd swim out into the fraser. The kind u debate taking the boat on but getting ready just incase. he was about 10yds from the faster moving water but the bird started to dive . On the 3rd dive it came up beside him and he grabbed it and came right back. Nice !
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/019-1.jpg
Maters hero shot sitting in the camo`d out canoe
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/026.jpg
And after loading up at the ramp I got to meet fellow HBC`r Discoverer and his pup Oscar who was nice to pose for a picture with Mater for us. Was very nice to meet and your dog looks even better in person.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/033-1.jpg

[Discoverer]

And after loading up at the ramp I got to meet fellow HBC`r Discoverer and his pup Oscar who was nice to pose for a picture with Mater for us. Was very nice to meet and your dog looks even better in person.

It definitely nice to meet HBC fellas in real life. Matter is a very handsome dog, Oscar says Hi to him :D

[Sasquatch]

Nice pics Yama - looks like you guys had a great day.

[yamadirt 426]

Well as the duck season comes to end and as we await our eastern cottontail season starting in the next few weeks its time to get a few projects done around the house. Melissa has been patient :) I will get out for one more night flight at the farm but with this weather its not going to be very productive but the office must be dismantled. We finished yesterday with 3 green wing teal and 1 widgeon. I almost had my first northern shoveler twice but thats hunting. First bird was the widgeon i shot an inch off the water and was a blind retrieve for mater I just gave him a direction as the bird was floating lifeless amongst the decoys and let him figure it out , which he did. Now the second bird was a pair of teal that landed in the spread. I let them swim over in my direction before jumping them. I hit the drake and watched him sit down in a canal. Mater ran over and he got up and flew, So I thought. I actually saw the hen sit down and fly , the drake was behind a small island. Once i settled down again i looked up the canal and saw the drake 100yds away and swimming into another guys decoys. DAM, i took the camo off the canoe , grabbed the dog and went boating against the current with the electric motor. By the time i caught up with the bird he was in the guys spread. I tried to yell for who ever was there to shoot him but the old timer was hard of hearing. I apologized for encroaching on his turf and after making sure no one was on that side of the bank i finished off the bird and left. I felt bad as some birds were moving at that point but he was very nice and understanding about it and asked how i was making out "down there". Kinda rare lol The final 2 birds were a pair of teal I pulled down from 4 birds that came in and landed behind us. Once they started flying i put the drake down in the water and the hen dropped on the far shore unmarked by mater and myself. Mater jumped in the frigid waters and brought back the drake and was sent back over to find the hen. He swam over to the other side and searched out the bird in the wrong direction. Once he changed direction the bird gave it self away and we had our forth and final bird. Another canoe`r was paddling by and i asked him if hed like my spot and as it was his first trip ever out to that area he took up my suggestion, we exchanged some hunting info and he took our final picture for us.
Widgeon retrieve...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN7292.jpg
Teal retrieve...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN7293.jpg
And most likely the final picture of the 2012/13 duck season
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/RSCN7297.jpg

[pnbrock]

what are you using to camo your boat,is that a tarp?

[yamadirt 426]

Its a painting canvas drop cloth from depot. I layed it down on my gravel driveway way and rolled it with a standard paint roller. Rolling over the rocks made a great pattern. just shift it around for your different colors. One day out in the field with fraser river muddy water on it will season it nicely

Jan 24
i got out in the rain for a rabbit hunt with mater and my son. We went to our usual spot and walk about 500 yds. I did see lots of fresh sign but I'm sure they were denned up with the rain. As the sun fell we were about 100yds away from the truck and I seen a fatty of a bunny hop into the bush about 8 yds away, we couldn't flush him. I totally wasn't ready and didn't want to take a bush shot. It's like packing up 5 mins early in duck hunting. Don't do it lol. Keep your eye on the prize as they say . I've never hunted them this early so it was good to at least see one today. Mater wasn't fazed by all the ducks flying over us. Kept his nose on the ground and worked well with me.

[yamadirt 426]

Went for Rabbit again tonight. Just Mater and I. It was raining when I left home but stopped wHen I got to the spot. Perfect conditions for the bunnies to come out at dusk. 250 yds from the truck Maters tail went from its usually side to side motion to a full out tail wag. Not your typical point but reading him I knew something was up. Heart rate starting to rise, click the safety off and let the dog work. Now I'm on the road and if something is going to flush its gonna be to my left or right. . . . To my right explodes a cottontail at 8 yds I raised and boom, miss, pump ... Dam , Out jumps Mater on the path and so I couldn't get the second shot off. We worked over the area he cut back into but could not flush him again. Was good team work and super fun.

We went another 200yds but only seen one more on the way back which I think was the same one we hunted. He busted us and took off before we were in range. Was a good 45 min walk and better than going to the dog park lol. Some guys on here hunt rabbits with their dogs but if you haven't tried it go for it. The meat is good and its fun . Your dog will love you even more plus you dont have to carry and set up the deeks, robo, ect. Just walk around and push bush. Find some brambles and send in the hounds. Whos been out yet ? Good luck everyone! it's a few months until spring bear.

[FirePower]

My Da always started our spaniels in a rabbit pen and they would flush hares as readily as birds. Great sport, I seem to remember a photo of a Springer retrieving a rabbit on here somewhere but I can not seem to locate it or the post,

[yamadirt 426]

Work has been busy and all last week I've been fighting off the plague, I'm still hurting but was time to get out yesterday. It was the first nice day in a while and we got last minute permission from the "boss" to push some bush.

We parked in our usual spot and loaded the 20ga with 3" #4s. We cut through the grass and not 2 mins in Mater set a point on some tall grass. He is really using his nose now. I steady myself and gave him the nod. He dove in for a flush ... Nothing , next bound out comes a huge cottontail right at me. Boom, miss , the rabbit dodges and turns back but Mater is blocking his exit, it tries to go north, I cycle another round, mater cut him off to the north so he turns to me again then south, boom second shot, miss. Dam lol mater is hot on his heels, I cycle again. The rabbit does another loop and completes its figure 8 and ducks off back into the bush with Mater in hot pursuit. All within 4-5 yds of me . Well he got away to thump another day , these guys are fast!

We continued on down the trail with mater working cover about 10yds ahead. Lots of ducks flying over us and out of the fields as we push our way through but mater does not even look up. I watch as a young nice looking chick jogs by on the other side of the bush but she does not see us. Great I think to myself, she wont like us hunting. Mater flushed one more and I raised and squeezed with the dam safety on as hard as I could, it would not fire. We picked up the scent but couldnt reflush him. I noticed the jogger coming back so instead of being a weirdo and jumping back in the bush I leashed up Mater and waited for her to pass. To my pleasant surprise she pulled off her headphones, greeted us with her name and ask "what are ya hunting" Farm girls are the best ! We chatted about the dog/hunting for a few minutes, wished each other well and went on our way. I had her blessing to wack the rabbits as she won't feel bad when she runs them over in the tractor. Lol

No rabbits again , so kind of a lame post (sorry) but was exciting and mater got lots of praise for using his nose.

[Crimson Viking]

Sound like there was lots of game afoot. Good times !!!

[yamadirt 426]

Ive been out 2 times before today and both hunts i had seen a few rabbits. The one day I had a guy fresh off the south aisan boat pose with the shotgun and Mater, He was stoked and said he was a hunter and the next time there was a couple of cop cars out harrasing a guy and his girl probably smoking some blunts and getting it on . I drove down the service rd to the dead end as far away from them as i could and could see one of them driving my way. i got the dog out and my son and had a chat with him, said we were rabbit hunting , he likes to fish and hunt moose. We flushed a rabbit right away but i let him walk as the cop was only about 30yds away .

Today when i left for work I grabbed a few 12ga shells as i was picking up my tikka from the gunsmith. It was being reamed out to shoot steel for the last month. The rain moved in but on our way home I decided to go for it. Not 2 mins in where there is always a 50/50 chance of a shot Mater was on to something. He worked this 10x10 sq patch of grass and I was ready. Out popped a cotton tail, I took aim and with the single shot 12ga and the first steel shot #4 ever to bark out of the barrel, I hit him. Mater was on him in seconds and he was brought to hand then back in the truck and on our way home in 15 mins with the first rabbit of the year. He got a few hundred good boys for that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000606_zps98f501bc.jpg

[yamadirt 426]

The wife was away and i took the whole crew out bear hunting. Thats a macho way of saying we went for a drive in the bush with the family . lol We werent likely to kill anything or see anything for that matter. Harrison east is very busy on sundays.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000625_zps018e074c.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000625_zps018e074c.jpg.html)

Some fun pics of the different exposure this dog gets. Like a fox guarding the hen house

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000637_zpsf8e6ac60.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000637_zpsf8e6ac60.jpg.html)

Chilling with Woody the Boa

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000639_zps8a01c872.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000639_zps8a01c872.jpg.html)

A pretty chill pup for only 1.6 yrs old. exclaimer ( No animals were killed during the taking of these pictures)

Crappy phone camera pics though.

[Sasquatch]

Great pics Yama. Is Mater ever laid back...mine would have eaten the rabbits and had the boa for dessert.

[yamadirt 426]

Great pics Yama. Is Mater ever laid back...mine would have eaten the rabbits and had the boa for dessert.

That one got me really LOL'ing Sasquatch

[pnbrock]

lets see that snake swallow one of them wabbits!!!!!!!!

[yamadirt 426]

He's a little small for them but I can thrown him a baby from my next litter for ya pat. My tree python can be awesome to watch taking out something from his tree stand

[Alzado]

We've had our Griffin for 12 years and hands down the best family dog I've ever come across. Loyal and extremely friendly. Started out as an awesome bird dog but somehow he ended up terrified of loud sounds like gun fire, thunder, fireworks etc. The only thing we could figure was they blasted very close to our home when he was about 4 years old. Tried for years to change him but no luck! Still wouldn't trade him for anything. Enjoy him as we have enjoyed ours. PS Great pics!

[yamadirt 426]

Hey Alzado Id like to see some pics of your dog. Throw some up here

Since my last post...


Out for rabbit with the wife, seen 5 and just missed one on my only shot of the day. Mater was working a patch and i seen the grass moving in a straight line to the rd 15yds in front of me. I anticipated his appearance and just missed with the tikka.

Out for Bear with Mater in sqaumish. Mater hunted well, nice and tight. Put us on the Elk that I got to see for the first time and flushed 2 grouse. No bears...

Went to chilliwack, no bears ... wasn't much of a hunt

Went for rabbit yesterday. I missed my first shot on a sitting rabbit at 35yds. We worked down another 40yds Mater rustled up the grass and 1 popped out to have a look on what we were at 28yds. Bang flop and Mater who did not see the shot was sent for the retrieve . Lots of good boys and we left

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000669_zpseb37a1b9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000669_zpseb37a1b9.jpg.html)

[yamadirt 426]

Mater got to be my wing man this weekend. It was nice to see him so excited over some rock doves. We took down a nest in the calf barn too. I did not fry up the egg. Im going to trap a few and start working on some pointing over the next few months before grouse opens. There is always something to hunt so get out with your dogs and kids and have some fun !! The second was a good retrieve and the 3rd retrieve was better than the first lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000684_zps35877b10.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000684_zps35877b10.jpg.html)

[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSC_0172_zps0c48908b.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/DSC_0172_zps0c48908b.jpg.html)

Mater and I did not make it out for bear but on the holiday monday morning we were successful on this rabbit. Which will be coming out of the slow cooker in a stew within the hour. We could not flush any out today, this was a spot and stalk with me having Mater stay in tight to me while we hugged the grass line. We got within range and this one made it 3 for 5 now with the tikka. When im in shooting position and he does not know where the target is he switches between eye contact with me and the direction the gun is pointing and if we have to take some steps he does it with stealth. Every inch I move he moves, every pause I make he makes just awaiting his job.

[yamadirt 426]

yeah baby. Finally, first big game ever for both mater and me. He was with me from stalk to finish. Not much of a story. He did brake after the original shot but came back right away. The bear came up to our road we were walking down. He has a look at us and went to turn and walk away when I shot. He ended up about 20yds down hill when we found him still breathing hard. We were not at a good angle for a follow up shot so we watched him from about 10yds. He did try to prop him self up and I was worried he may fall further so as he did it gave me at shot at the back of his neck which i took. Mater sat motionless. The bear was about to expire so mater and I went to get the truck. took me 3hrs to get him up the bank 20yds, gutted and in the back of the truck. Holy smokes thats hard work
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN8207_zps65999ca6.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/DSCN8207_zps65999ca6.jpg.html)

[Foxton Gundogs]

Concrats to the both of you, are you going to try working him on blood trailing? that would be interesting. Nice bear.

[digger dogger]

RIGHT ON MAN, & MATER!!!
Thats an awesome pic...

[Sasquatch]

Congrats Yama - I know you have been looking forward to this!

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks a bunch guys !! This was a big day for us and im sore this morning. We both learned a lot on this trip and I think the next time he will be more tuned into the blood trail and bear scent. This was suppose to be a 2 day weekend alone in the bush for us. I kinda wish i was still out there but glad the work is over with. After 4yrs of trying the anxiety and anticipation of a big game kill is finally gone. When it came to this retrieve Mater found some shade and went to sleep. This ones all yours DAD he said.

[FirePower]

Good job lad, well done for the both of you.

[yamadirt 426]

The last 2 months have been a bit of a bore hunting wise. We have been out for rabbit once since the bear hunt. We did see a half dozen and I was too slow for one of them that ran across the road in front of us at 15 yds. But we have both been running 20-25 km each week getting ready for the up coming upland hunting season. He runs off leash to the dog park for a few laps then back home. We pass cats , dogs, crows ,squirrls, and the odd rabbit. He only broke on the rabbit but came back quickly when called. Im working very hard on his on/off switch, and he is doing great. We are going to put the miles on the boots this year. My wife got us a love bird this aug for our 5th anniversary. Not the best thing for a dog that likes to pick up birds but he is getting use to the fact that he is not to touch, of course i have to push the boundaries a bit to test him. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/2013-08-01031_zps273f38c8.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/2013-08-01031_zps273f38c8.jpg.html)
going rabbit hunting with mommy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/2013-08-01030_zps85806114.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/2013-08-01030_zps85806114.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN9212_zps8d00faa9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/DSCN9212_zps8d00faa9.jpg.html)

The pigeons are over running the barn so its time for some pest control and practice this week.

[yamadirt 426]

I will do a small write up later but Id just like to say thanks to my wife for convincing me to get my first deer ever, first archery deer ever and thank my boy Mater for his retrieve on my first archery grouse ever. its been a fricken good start to the year and i now have the monkey off my back.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN9280_zps6e339323.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/DSCN9280_zps6e339323.jpg.html)

[pnbrock]

very nice !!!to bad that hairy beast won't retrieve deer.

[Foxton Gundogs]

congrats Yammy to both of you .

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks guys ! I know you all know how much this means to me.

So this is how it went down. We left about 1030 to go climb Mt cheam with the dog and bow. Never done it before but was on my short list. So about 500yds from the parking lot I spotted a grouse on the side of the rd. Put the tracker in park and crept on the bird . First arrow just missed and 18yds. It felt like the first time i ever shot the bow. He flew up into a tree and 4 more out of his covey took to the air. I settled for a second shot knowing full well this was a sacrificial arrow. 10yd head shot, i yelled to Melissa to let Mater out of the car. He came running over and down the embankment and 2 more birds flushed out. He was all over the scent of the covey and I had to redirect him a few times to the area i needed him to be and up he came with the first grouse of the season :-D

So off to the parking lot , wow this place was packed. Not knowing what I was getting into before hand , lets say i was the only one packing a bow up the mountain and had to endure the typical comments but met many people wishing good luck after i explained "Im just looking for a grouse for dinner" lol. We paused by a lookout a few mins and were able to spot a BIG bear feeding across the ravine in a meadow eating blueberrys. We also saw what looked to be some grouse flying about some patches of spruce trees in the direction we were headed and seen a lots of bandtail pigeons flocking and flying through the mountains. No more animals were to by arrowed on this mountain but you know its funny that out of the 60-70 people hiking that day, if not more, no one had even seen an animal on their hike. I had to point them all out to everyone. Everyone thinks they are all out enjoying nature while looking at their feet hiking up the mountain, but to each their own. On our way down we sat in the blueberry patch and collected enough blueberrys to make a sauce for the grouse.

By the end of the hike I was nursing a migraine headache that made me want to puke at times. These tend to happen to me on long trips with some excitment like hunting. We got down off the mountain and Melissa took the wheel. While im closing my eyes she says Deer ! I look up and we pass a small spike.

I say " you know, I could hunt that "

Do you want me to turn around ?

" no i feel like crap and dont want to do any work right now"

Are you sure

" aww ya "

Last chance, she says

" ok fine , turn around "

We drove back and passed the dink buck and pulled over. I jump out with my bow and hike in and down the road , crunch crunch crunch through the bush. And she yells from the car. Hes just looking at me. So I found myself parallel to him as he was standing straight on to me. I had not drawn and we were in a stare down. He was young and dumb to people and took a step toward me and to his right. I drew back. He took 2 more steps and went broadside and I let the arrow fly from my 45lbs compound bow. Wack. He jumped and ran up toward the tracker and tipped over and expired in 30secs right across the rd from the tracker. We hugged and were both in a state of shock. Looked for the arrow but was a clean pass through and could not find it. With my head still pounding and the grandparents watching the kids we only had time to put him in the back of the tracker with Mater and get home to do all the dirty work. Was a funny drive home with Mater curling up and using the deer as a pillow. He too was spent from this day !

Again thanks to my wife for the kick in the ass to get our very first deer. Ill never forget. Love you Melissa !!

[Sasquatch]

Congrats Yama! Nice start to the hunting season.

[Rackem]

Cool story! Never heard of a parking lot deer before, congratulations!

[yamadirt 426]

Got out and up the #5hwy with my Dad, Son and nephew for the day, It was a cooker but we managed 3 birds in about 20 Mins. All off a skidder rd about 400 yds apart.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000026_zpsc6efdf58.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000026_zpsc6efdf58.jpg.html)
First was dropped from a tree branch, 2nd had just his head poking out behind a rock :-D, 3rd i felt bad and waited for Mater to flush him for me , bang flop. 3 for 3. Three generations out hunting today in one truck. It was a great day hunting and a great family day spent together. The dodge started to overheat climbing up high today. Going to need some work before next outing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000032_zps3511d1ad.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000032_zps3511d1ad.jpg.html)
The Retrieves need some work. The boy was a little sloppy today. He would get them but only one to hand. 2 were to my feet. All in all it was smiles all around.

[yamadirt 426]

Well another year has come around and Mater is 2 yrs old sept 20. Happy Bday my boy ! We have had a great start to the year so far. Looking to add geese, chukar, pheasent to the species list this year. We are counting the days until the opener for ducks. Id also like to give a shout out to my friend Sasquatch on this site. He wrote a great article about lower mainland duck hunting in the Fall BC Outdoors hunting mag. He wrote some very kind words about me and put up a shot of Mater in the magazine and that is very cool for me . I can remember that hunt very well and its neat to read about it in print. The article is also very encouraging for new hunters. You do a great service for our sport and im proud to share a blind with you my Friend. Not much longer to wait :-D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/DSCN8742_zps367e55bb.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/DSCN8742_zps367e55bb.jpg.html)

[yamadirt 426]

We got out for a training day yesterday with our unofficial Griffon hunting club. It was suppose to rain but ended up almost too hot to work the pups for extended periods of time. Working with dummies and frozen birds and a clay thrower and our guns. We had a 1yr old female out there. I met this couple at the dog park a month ago with their daughters griff. She had never seen a gun yet. We exchange info and i lent them a book. 2 weeks later we had her out around 22 fire and then a bit of shot gun. All went fairly smooth and then fast forward to yesterday which was all shotgun work. The pup did great and wanted to be fully involved in the exercises. Their family is very excited about hunting her this year as its been a decade or so since the father has been out hunting. He is now looking to continue the tradition with his daughter. It was all duck retrieving training, no pointing today. We would hide a bird , try and bust some clays and then send out 1 dog at a time for the retrieve. The elder dog Delou show the puppies whats up with perfect retrieves. Mater was playing a little too much for my liking lol and the young female did good finding the birds, she just needs some work on recall. She was very happy to take her prize off to the shade wagging her tail away. Was fun !!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/Griffest046_zps17033e7f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/Griffest046_zps17033e7f.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/Griffest052_zpsda11327c.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/Griffest052_zpsda11327c.jpg.html)

[ruger#1]

Looks like Mator's picture is in the BC Outdoors magazine.

[Sasquatch]

Was a great training day. I wish I did as well hitting clays as all the dogs did on the retrieves.

[yamadirt 426]

sep 28 . Went on a local deer/grouse combo hunt ... nothing. One grouse seen and checked out by a CO. Thats twice this year so they are out there which is good to see.

oct 5 Had my nephew out, and buddy with his 13 yr old daughter for heritage days. The boy put down 1 with the 12ga. He got bruised that day but took it like a man (only 11yr old). We lent the girl our 20ga and she shoot it like a champ. First time duck hunting and she took 3 that evening. Mater did good on 3 of the retrieves. The forth was picked up by the proud dad of the girl.

Oct 12. The day we have been waiting for, Opening day.....The gong rang with the guy shooting what sounded like a 10ga across the river. Mater was primed as we walked out to our spot in the marsh. A rabbit broke right in front of us on the dike and i called him off just as he was about to enter the brambles. "Leave it boy, thats not what we are here for today" he moved on immediately.

Out to our spot . Hunters everywhere but not at my log, Nice. We were going to do the boat thing but had to call it off and go on foot. First shot, teal down. Mater had to work a min to find him. Second shot teal down . Another fairly easy retrieve but nothing is really easily found out in that marsh. Not like a corn field anyhow. My brother in law put down his first bird ever and it was a blind retrieve for mater. As I was helping him find that bird a pair went by and i sent another teal into the mud near the edge of the river. Mater abandoned the current search and made the long retrieve on that bird. It took us 5-10 mins to find the bird my B-I-L put down. Turns out she was very much alive and hiding under the grass. A dam near impossible retrieve for a human but its hard to beat the dogs nose and he eventually sniffed it out, another teal.

2 more Mallards hit the dirt and were brought in by Mater. We had a guy close by who winged a Mallard and gave up his search after kicking some grass. Things were slow and I walked over and offered my dog services. This duck was also hiding under the grass with only a hurt wing. He was found after working the area for 5 Mins. I love seeing that tail wagging like crazy when he is on a scent and then stiffly points to the sky when he locates his quarry. The fellow hunter was very happy. 2 birds recovered that may have never been. Thats a good boy ! :-D Congrats to all the other hunters out there. I seen lots of birds and geese hit earth today ! Sadly I never saw another hunting dog out there.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000039_zps68c7ec16.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000039_zps68c7ec16.jpg.html)

[BigSlapper]

Nice job you two ...!!!!

[FirePower]

Good for you lad well done

[Sasquatch]

Well done Yama. Sounds like a good start to the duck season.

[yamadirt 426]

Oct 14. We went out back to the marsh with the female griff and her handlers and another buddy. Its was such a nice night and we had limited shooting but 1 bird was brought down. Mater got to run out to the mud. The female was not in on the retrieve but got to watch it all go down and she was a very patient dog . I almost had my first snipe as i was setting up but it set down 10yds away and started feeding. Ill take one on the wing. I also shite the bed on my first goose. I got buck fever. All three of us just unloaded on a flock of geese and were empty, I was out with my wife and she says look at that,

He comes a lone snow flying low at 15yds high about 10yds away. Now if there is ever a gimme in bird hunting, this is it !!!! So i scrambled to find a shell in my pocket amongst the empty hulls, pull one, jack it, i had about 3secs until he was due north. I took aim and fired. He was flying about 5mph and never missed a wing beat. As my jaw was hitting the mud all i could think of was wanting to see that bird in my dogs mouth. skunked


This past weekend I set out to the fraser canyon to specifically target chukar. I did not find one chukar or grouse the whole week end. I seen 2 bird kills, one chukar bed, 1 rabbit (no shot), 150+mule doe,s , 75 sheep. We were hiking 10km in and out of the sage and cactus down low, the older sage brush up higher, in the thicker timber , walking old roads, and driving 200+ kms on the main gravel fsr. Oh well I learned a lot on the trip anyhow and ill go back again.

Here are some sheep and Mater was hanging out the window about 8` away. Also watching muley does from 30' away. He is absolutely silent and just watches intently taking inventory of the smell.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/212_zps434c6085.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/212_zps434c6085.jpg.html)

Here he is pointing at well....... nothing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/214_zps46b1278f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/214_zps46b1278f.jpg.html)

cheers

[yamadirt 426]

Snuck out to the "LOG" before work today. Was a rising tide and went from dry land to standing in a foot of water over a couple hours. I took out a new guy with a new gun, new deeks, new gear. First time duck hunting.

The first flock came in , miss ,miss, miss. Another treo and a few more missis. A single came in and i hit her hard and almost dropped her on top of us. So a short 5' retrive. Another single came in and I hit her but she was still flying and on her way to the river when my other buddy backed me up with a 40+yd shot and mater had a good water retrieve.

Then the rookie turned it on. He hit a double (one of which I hit but again needed some back up). 1 bird was close and Mater went after the furthest one so I told buddy to just walk over and pick his other bird up. It was only 10' away but by the time he got there it was gone. So after I was handed the bird I sent Mater to locate the other bird which he did right at buddys feet. It just dove under the reeds and was hiding like it was sucking air through a straw like the cartoons, but Mater could not be fooled. We had winged another that travelled 100yds and while we were going to look for him the rookie dropped another which was a good 30yds away in the water, not visable. It was going to be a blind retrieve and we could not walk over there to help out. As the dog is not an expert on this I had to use a technique to get him in the right spot, throw 20ga shell in the direction of the bird and in the end the boy came back with a very much still alive bird that surely would have been lost without a dog. Im going to carry some rocks in my pocket for this highly specialize technique. Finally the rookie drops another bird that I had just missed on from about 40yds. All told he took 5 on his first outing and his smile said it all. Another waterfowler hooked !!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000044_zps5a0a1949.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000044_zps5a0a1949.jpg.html)

This is the same log from the opening day pic and you can see how the tide affects this marsh.

[yamadirt 426]

Took out the zodiac today. Packed to the tits with 2 guys, dog, gear. We set up shop just across the river, looking for some big water retrieves. I did pull off a double on my first 2 birds today. First 1 dropped 6' ft away but the second bird was a 30yd swim. Perfect, I got some boring video of it for myself. Next bird we jump shot while we went for a walk, this turned into a blind retrieve. My final bird was also a blind retrieve deep in the reeds which took a sniffer to find him. I missed my opportunity on snipe today, we did flush a couple but i could not shoot for safety reasons. Hope to post a pic of one soon. I think Ill hunt them hard one day, its kinda like up land hunting in the ocean. We flushed a pheasant but no luck. Was a good morning.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000051_zpse4df326d.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000051_zpse4df326d.jpg.html)

[yamadirt 426]

Broke the farm cherry today with sasquatch and the BIL. The dogs got some work. My favorite retrieve was having to pick my dog up so he could see above the brambes, Point out the duck in the middle of the river and then put him down so he could belly crawl under the thorns down for a water retrieve. He also had to rely on just his nose for a long bomb widgeon. Sasquatch was hot with a limit and a pigeon. Which I breasted and its going in the peperoni bag.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000021_zpsac7cf322.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000021_zpsac7cf322.jpg.html)

[Foxton Gundogs]

Cool those "oddball" retrieves will be with you forever.

[Sasquatch]

Great morning Yama - that dogs got a ton of hunt in him.

[yamadirt 426]

Well after going 0 for 3 my patience were running thin.

Went wed the 6th to see how night flight was at the farm. Was a nice night so naturally the birds were showing up late. Like 5 min left of legal late. Most were on the cusp of my limit at present (shooting percentage is down right now ) So I saved my ammo and the dog and I watched the birds work their way in for supper. 0-1

Back out for sat morning to sit in the new fart box layout blind I bought. The highlight of my day was going for a walk with the dog through the tall grass snipe hunting. Mater put a solid point down on one and waited for me to allow the flush. I shot and missed that bird but he got a ton of praise for that. Pointing is something we have spent very little time on, as it is just natural to these guys. Im loving it more and more with each outing. 0-2

My wife, Mater and I took the boat out to the marsh for night flight and a change of scenery. Again it was a pretty nice night which meant for a quiet night. I was really looking forward to bust my wifes 2013 bird cherry out there but we had just one bird decoy and she missed when we flushed it from the river. It was not a high percentage shot. Mater again laid down a solid point on a snipe and this time I was closer and ready, so I thought... The bird flushed and I had what seemed like slow motion time to draw and pull the trigger but I was using my 12ga single shot and forgot to cock the hammer. Doh One of these days I will get one of these birds. One the way back to the boat launch my motor was acting up and cut out at full speed with Mater on the bow. He fell in and got semi ran over by the boat which was not under power at that point and he was fine. That would have been a dry day had that not happened. 0-3

Today I was determined to get that dog some feathers so I got up extra early ( i never leave myself enough time to be step up by legal ) and went to the field. The first half hour brought the most action. The dog had 4 birds to work today. He has been very patient the last few outings and today we were able to break the skunking streak. He had 3 easy retrieves and one blind retrieve that he did very well on. We were snipeless today although we tried.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000031_zps76be2cd0.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000031_zps76be2cd0.jpg.html)

[pnbrock]

Mmmmm snipe and rodent stew!!!

[yamadirt 426]

Nov 15th. Dropped 5 birds on the morning hunt in about 40 mins. It was a nice morning with lots of action early on. Should have limited had I shot better but overall the shooting is improving, I must say its taking long enough. All 5 birds were great retrieves to hand. The best one of the day was a big drake that was mortally wounded but managed to fly straight another 200yds keeping 25yds altitude the whole way and then dropping stone dead. Im not sure why I like these ones but it turns into somewhat a blind retrieve for the dog. Maybe thats why. I had to call him back after the first send and straighten him out. The second send went just as bad... But once he winded him he b lined it from 70yds for the pick up and long saunter back to the ditch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_000004_zpsf4d69b53.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_000004_zpsf4d69b53.jpg.html)

Sat was a bust but today the 17th was a deer mission to the local mountains. We put lots of time on the boots/paws and were able to come up with Maters first shed. All in all no deer, but found some good sign and thx to the dog collected our first shed together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_0000072_zps825e7141.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_0000072_zps825e7141.jpg.html)
He was proud of this one, parading around the other dogs when we got home.

[yamadirt 426]

Night flight, 3 robos, 6 foamy shells, and 20 mins to shoot = 5 birds for the dog. I would have hit a limit but I brought out my single shot 12ga combo gun for its first blood. I think my partner was wondering why I didnt follow up on my easy miss lol. With my pump gun id a missed 3 times and look like a bad shot. I had an excuse this time. 1 bird was a blind fetch for the dog on the far side of the ditch. Was a quick fun hunt. Thanks for coming out
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[yamadirt 426]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_0000013_zps254aee36.jpg

last Sunday I threw the dog a curve ball and went for a rabbit hunt. Kinda nice not to grab any gear or boat. Just dog and gun. Had one great flush at 8 yds and there is me fumbling to cock the hammer on the 12ga. Hey came barreling out of the tall grass, ass end going sideways in a 4 legged drift. I shot a split sec after he hung a left back into the grass.That would be the only chance I got.

My 5yr old bailed on me for his buddy tonight. Said we can hunt tomorrow. Cats in the cradle already ? Oh well just the dog and I.

walking out, there is a lone goose just walking around the corn field. I though for sure the bird was lame but he took off after he let us get quite close.

my walk into the field is becoming my favourite part of the hunt. Mater put a solid point on a snipe at 15 yds. We stalked into 10yds but I still didn't have a visual. Mater knew exactly where he was sitting so I gave the flush command. Up explodes the bird but he stays low and flys directly behind mater and gave me no shot. Eluded again.

we worked another area , came up empty and so went to set up the robo and dekes. Walking down the ditch and mater points. I got ready not knowing what was going to happen and out explodes a hen pheasant . I had a bead on her, safety off and watched her fly away . That's the second time I've seen her this year.

We we continued down the ditch and what's this.. another point. I get closer and now a drake mallard explodes but he cant get more than a few feet off the water but could carry some speed. The duck was gaining but had to touch down in the ditch and mater jump in. But it still was difficult to get him out of the ditch. He was diving and hiding. First bird down , not a shot fired. Very nice looking drake. No obvious damage.

We ended with a second drake that I actually had to shoot. Was a fun unpredictable hunt for sure.

the pic is of maters first duck he bagged by himself .

[Foxton Gundogs]

On good days coming out of the public marshes I have taken to putting my dogs on leads to keep them from putting us over our shot limits with other peoples cripples. It's kinda cool when they really don't need us. Way to go you guys.

[yamadirt 426]

Well the unpredictably continued today with a hint of foreshadowing and slice of irony.

After breaking my boys grip on the ipad with a threat to shoot the ipad we were off. He says "Dad, lets not hunt ducks lets hunt rabbits" . "Not tonight boy, we are hunting ducks " I said. We pulled up to the park spot and got ready . As we started walking out Mater throws a point down by the hay bales. William says "i think hes sees a rabbit" Now I know there are around but tell Mater to move on. Well the rabbit bolts from right under the dog and he snatched him up , 2 chomps and drops a dead rabbit. WTF this dog doesn't even need me anymore. I'm just a chauffeur. All three of us were cheering and William saying "see that Dad, He is so good he just gets his own rabbit" lol We walked in and set up.

The birds were late today so we just watched them swirl all around us and buzz our heads. I thought it was gonna be a multi species night but as it turned out... Apparently we were just hunting rabbits like the boy wanted to do in the first place.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/tyrante/WP_0000092_zps67d66f96.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tyrante/media/WP_0000092_zps67d66f96.jpg.html)

Thanks Foxton. If I lived closer to ladner I would take him there just to pick up cripples. Im sure a guy could limit out without a gun some days.

[Sasquatch]

WTF this dog doesn't even need me anymore. I'm just a chauffeur.

That's hysterical Yammy! Guess he was still pissed about the last rabbit you missed.

When Mater starts shooting the 20 gauge, you are in trouble.