Hunting Irish Setter - Prairie Training - Aug. 30- Sept. 3

Saturday, August 30, 2008 continued: Bob G. left home early this morning and is due in camp this afternoon. He called as he passed Stan heading home and shortly after, near the Nebraska border, Stan told him his truck was struggling with the hills and making strange noise. Not a good sign. Our gut feeling in camp was the Trubo was going out. He continued and hoped to limp home. Tough call but he had horses and dogs and needed to travel to NYC on Monday so not a lot of options.

Bob rolled in around 4:00 PM and got back in the groove. Wind blowing at 40 mph most of the day and plenty warm. We needed to use the spray mist to cool the dogs down in the heat. We made sure the birds were fed but the rest of the day consisted of light roading & long naps.

Roading:

• Mariah, Lea, Sorrel & Lily - 27 min. and just hot with cactus all over the place.

The County Fair & Rodeo is on this weekend and we plan to wait till Monday and Linda is counting on making it but the wind right now is not pleasant.

Bonnie is due back on Sunday night along with Ed M. hitting camp for the 2nd time. The dogs have had a balaned week with roading , meadows and birdwork. Robin showing a lot of promise to Stan & me. Now a couple days of roading and we'll see how she does.

Bob spent the day with Roger, Jason & Heather at a quarter horse auction near Valentine. Jason bought a young palamino but Bob couldn't find anything the owners would guarantee ' bull proof '. We're not sure what that means but Bob keeps spreading his bull ? stories and admit's it wasn't his smartest move. We'll keep looking though.

Sunday, August 31, 2008 – we heard that Stan made it in and Charlie came down on Ernie to give him some sound medical attention on his foot. Stan's truck later proved to have a damaged Turbo and he had if fixed under warranty – not a bad deal. Charlie felt that Ernie had a lame shoulder but is doing fine a few days later. So the crew is intact.

Winds blew all night – stuff thrown around camp, garbage cans, crates and misc. stuff. All night long and very windy in the morning. Loaded upa a crew to road.

Roading:

• Erin, Brie, Inde & Annie - solid group 54 min. but getting warm already at the end. Took it easy on everyone else.

We put Lea on the IR list with tender pads and Tess is on the 'Do Not Disturb List' as she came in Season. Bart & more seriously Sorrel have made attempts to talk her into something but I think she's resisted so far! We'll see!

Bonnie got here around 5:00 and we had got chores complete. You almost have to lean into the wind to work. Wind is blowing extremely hard. No way a dog can even smell a bird. Bonnie was up in Sioux Falls, SD observing a NAVHDa hunt test put on by the local club with Jean & Joe Rodriguez the hosts. Jean and Joe are very good friends of yours as we all trained together back in the 70's in the west suburbs of Chicago. Joe and Jean had 3 children and we had 4 and raised our young families together. We both owned our first field dogs from Tony Baron's stud dog Norab's Duke. I finished Patti and Joe had Penny who we ended up co-owning as Joe worked for the airlines and couldn't keep it up. There goal was to live somewhere they could fish and hunt and moved to Minnesota and then South Dakota. Great friends that we miss all the time but everytime we talk or visit it's just like yesterday. So when Bonnie comes into our house – here's a care package from our friends. Fresh Tamales - Joe's Mom had come to our house years ago and we all spent the day making fresh Tamales and it's still a wonderful memory in all our minds.

Joe and I have planned a hunting trip for this fall and hopefully a couple of mature ( like that choice) hunters can show these kids and grandkids ' how it's supposed to be done'. I can't wait.

Ed got into camp this afternoon after a successful stop in Reno along the way. He had a smile on his face and twinkle in his eye – must've been a real good trip. Bonnie was pooped but ready to load up in the morning and head home and onto Elk Camp. Dennis has a crew going bow hunting, including Bonnie's son and my son. It's a 1st for my son Bob – he's very excited.

Monday, September 1, 2008 -- Labor Day – Rodeo Day. Still very windy and in the 90's.

Roading:

• Mariah, Suzie, Brenna & Sorrel – solid 60 min for this crew but the wind was ugly. At least we can road.

Back to camp, Bonnie almost loaded up – just getting horses. I went out to check on her and she comes with 2 but the grey is out of the shelter belt and in with the bulls. Not a good sign – Bonnie says they all broke out and Toby is still missing. This ain't good. Search parties were established and off we go – about 8:00 am – 2 of the horses had barb wire slices but none real serious.

We ended up in 2 trucks and 1 atv with Linda maining the radio at camp. By 2:00 pm we had called off the search – no sign of Toby. Bonnie packed up and headed out and we planned on some random searches until he showed up. We doubt that's it's serious but he could be hurt. It appears a herd of cattle from the north broke into a meadow next to us and Roger's bulls decided to check it out and the horses were stuck next to both groups – must've made them a bit nervous – the boys are geldings but not naïve.

We skipped the rodeo –not a fun day anyhow with 35 – 45 mph winds.

Bonnie made it home okay. Ron and Annie due in tomorrow & we're invited to cook – out at McBrides' should be a fun day.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 – no horse as of this morning.

Roading:

• Erin, Lea, Brie, Inde – kinda backing off – the wind is much better. 30 min at a fast pace.

• Blitz, Midge, Shauna & Robbie – 35 min – just Robbie's 2nd day roading but she's doing fine.

Birdwork:

• Erin – good, stylish find w/ a big hope – corrected but looked good. Trying to keep his confidence up – little softness on point.

• Brenna – good point with manners

• Inde – solid level tail w/good manners.

• Sorrel – couldn't get the bird pointed – a borderline bump & a no find.

• Shauna – styled up and good find w/class

• Annie – got a decent picture and a pretty good find – definite progress.

• Suzie – can't make out her hearing. I believe she can hear but can't tell direction very well. High pitch whistle helping on the course. Had an okay find with average style ( not her typical) but mannerly.

• Lily – good point w/manners – a little low in front but handled.

• Clifford & Bart - both are doing good but Clifford is showing his age difference and really starting to roll. He likes birds, hunts hard and reaches front – this is one nice pup.

Ron & Annie rolled in around 5:00 and they got set up and off to dinner. What a night – just a great meal and lots of stories with some great Music by Joe along with some singing from Rea'Ann and Whitley – then an awesome desert. Just a fun time.
Still no sign of the horse – you keep driving into camp expecting him to show up – Bob and Ed took some trips looking and went up through the Graf pastures looking for him but no luck so far.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY RON!!!!!!!!! cool this morning – actually cooled off yesterday evening and need to put the small heater on in the trailer. Light patches of frost on the ground and 40+ degrees at best – what a difference – the wind had dropped bigtime. It sure is great to have Annie and Ron in camp. First time in 3 years. They're taking a bit of R & R trip and just enjoying life.

Roading:

• Suzie, Brenna, Lily & Midge - 52 minutes of strong run – all but Lily enjoying herself. She just can't find her best spot but she's trying.

Meadows:

• Mariah & Robbie – well Robbie did surprise – no birds but she rolled – very nice speed and drive & big but immature race. This dog has a leg – Stan and Charlie are going to have fun with her. Mariah – in the cover showing lots of hunt and needs front a bit but she's close. 27 min.

• Sorrel & Annie – Annie showing some signs of improvement but Sorrel was flat today and way too many pit stops – not up to his usual performance. No birds under ideal conditions but his head just not into it. 28 min.

Bird work later – now getting caught up with things and some work too I hope. No sign of the horse and Tess is still looking not quite prime so we're not too worried about her being bred. Got to keep a close eye on her though.