herk’s maiden voyage

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   fellas... some of you may recall pics i put up of hercules, our yellow lab pup... this weekend we finally road tested him to see if he could put everything together, and he did awfully well!
he made several flushes and 2 unassisted retrieves on pheasants. he's certainly not refined, but the general shape is there. i had pretty high expectations for him because his momma is such an awesome hunter, and his father ain't half bad himself, but herk did manage to hold his own. his confidence level started off pretty bad, but as the guns went off and pheasants fell, he seemed to be picking up on the game plan, and you could actually see it in his step as his confidence level got higher and higher...
haven't had a chance to get him after ducks or geese, yet, but w/ temps into the high 70's, we haven't seen the migration yet, either.
there's just something about a hard working gun dog that is plain fun to watch!

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dakotasin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Administrator a TRUE brother-in-arms! Joined: 10 June 2003 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4099	Post Options Post Reply Quote dakotasin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: herk’s maiden voyage Posted: 17 October 2005 at 01:34
	fellas... some of you may recall pics i put up of hercules, our yellow lab pup... this weekend we finally road tested him to see if he could put everything together, and he did awfully well! he made several flushes and 2 unassisted retrieves on pheasants. he's certainly not refined, but the general shape is there. i had pretty high expectations for him because his momma is such an awesome hunter, and his father ain't half bad himself, but herk did manage to hold his own. his confidence level started off pretty bad, but as the guns went off and pheasants fell, he seemed to be picking up on the game plan, and you could actually see it in his step as his confidence level got higher and higher... haven't had a chance to get him after ducks or geese, yet, but w/ temps into the high 70's, we haven't seen the migration yet, either. there's just something about a hard working gun dog that is plain fun to watch!
	Hunting is not a matter of life or death; it is much more important than that.

CB900F Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Administrator Honor, Integrity Joined: 10 June 2003 Location: Eritrea Status: Offline Points: 8857	Post Options Post Reply Quote CB900F Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 October 2005 at 02:32
	Dakotasin; Good for Herk, & good on you too! They are indeed a joy to the soul. I only wish that their life span equalled ours. 900f
	Birth certificate!? He don't need no steenkink birth certificate!!

mtmiller Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List .375 Holland & Holland Magnum Joined: 25 October 2003 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 508	Post Options Post Reply Quote mtmiller Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 October 2005 at 02:53
	Best of luck to herk. Hopefully he will be a good water dog as well.
	Havre, MT

dakotasin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Administrator a TRUE brother-in-arms! Joined: 10 June 2003 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4099	Post Options Post Reply Quote dakotasin Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 October 2005 at 09:47
	thanks fellas. there is something inexplicably special about a good hunting dog. i'm not really into shotguns or birds, but i like to watch the dogs work a field over for pheasants, and i really enjoy watching zeus do water work - he is something special in the water. herk got a little warm in the pheasant fields, and headed over to the dug-out for a drink and a swim. he's comfortable in the water. time will tell if he has the patience to sit on frozen ground waiting for the geese to come in, and the fortitude to go onto the ice or into icy water after a crippled 15-pound goose... zeus has no troubles w/ it. hera does ok, but she isn't as good in the water as zeus - though she is easily twice the dog zeus is on pheasants... when i get enough pheasants in the freezer, it is not at all unusual for me to turn the dogs out in a pheasant environment sans shotgun, just so i can really watch them work. provides a good opportunity to work on weaknesses, but basically, it is just fun to watch a dog work a field. i get a particular joy out of watching a lab do his thing because they go so seamlessly from water in the morning to field in the afternoon to water in the evening... much like an 870 supermag!
	Hunting is not a matter of life or death; it is much more important than that.