The 09 Season PART 1

The above photo features Maizie pointing her first covey of Hungarian Partridges. Many people believe that the classic pointing position is with a raised front paw. However, most pointing dogs never raise any paw while on point. They keep all four feet on the ground. In this shot, Maizie is actually raising her rear paw which some dogs do from time to time.

Two weeks later, that same leg was nearly run through with a stick! Read on to find out how...

Two words best describe the 2009 hunting season so far:

Roller Coaster.

There have been plenty of ups and downs since opening day way back in September. One day we’d see plenty of birds, the next day, none. Then suddenly we’d find a bunch more a day or two later!

And it’s been that way for grouse, partridges, geese, ducks and snipe all season long.

The weather has also been highly variable. In Saskatchewan we had to deal with +30 degree temps while back in Manitoba, only a week or two later, we were hunting sharptails at -5 as the snow fell sideways.

The fact that my shooting has been hit and (mainly) miss is par for the course, but even the dogs have had their share of good and bad. Lovely Miss Maizie (Uttara vom Fenriswolf) injured herself on what must have been a fallen tree branch. She was hunting a thick piece of cover for grouse when I heard a yelp. She came back to me limping, and I noticed a puncture wound on her inner thigh near the groin. It did not bleed very much but it looked rather deep. Upon further inspection at the clinic (Maizie’s owner, Dr. Skavinsky is a very talented vet ) it was discovered that whatever poked her, went waaaay in there...almost exiting the other side! Even more shocking was that it only missed the femoral artery by about a quarter of an inch!!

Ten days later, I’m happy to say that the wound has healed over quite nicely. Maizie is now 100% fit to resume the hunt. The only difference is that she’ll be wearing a skid plate in the woods from now on. Oh, and I have vowed never to return to the scene of the accident which coincidentally is exactly where Uma’s mother “Rage” received a similar injury several years ago.

Next up: Part ll Henri's Hankerin for Venison Lands Him in Hot Water!