Bonus weather

[Anna Scott]

Our November has been really mild so far so we have taken every advantage to get out and train during this time.
We are a small group now o have been spending time on drill work and concept building.


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Not sure what is going to show up here first attempt at posting a picture

[Anna Scott]

Guess it didn't work will have to keep trying. An old dog learning new tricks.

[charliebbarkin]

I noticed that the Photobucket IMG code link isn't working properly. If you use the link, choose the IMG code and when you copy it over erase everything before the first [ IMG ]

And the [ / URL ] at the end

So you want it to start and end with [ IMG ]

[POPTOP]

That's what I do ^. Highlight the IMG (cont C) in photobucket and paste (cont V). Sorry if I offend with the control instructions but I'm the ultimate technodummy and need all those steps spelled out for me.

[Anna Scott]

Thank you for all your help. I to am technically challenged will give these helpful hints a try.

[TuMicks]

Well, we had a wet October (Lake Tahoe within a few inches of the rim... hooray!) and a November that bordered on summer only with shorter days. Now we are in the teeth of winter. Maybe 24 degrees is chump change up in your neck of the woods ( what is that... minus 4 or so?). But yesterday it was in the high 60's. It's the radical changes that are crazy here.

[charliebbarkin]

Sent you a PM

[Anna Scott]

Thanks for the PM's Charliebarkin I didn't have time to work on my problem today as it was like Grand Central Station around here. Started the morning with a small group training. While we were out the trapper arrived and he was so excited. When he checked his back traps he had a huge fisher. I am glad he got it as these animals are nasty. They kill anything they can. As we finished up a friend arrived with his clay thrower. He and a couple of others were practicing for a pheasant hunt tomorrow with our dogs. He also had pheasants with him just to tune the dogs up. I left them to their clays and when I got up to the house another friend was there. He has been deer hunting so his dogs just needed a real good run. Another friend was also there with her daughters as well. After a brief visit it was time to dispatch some pheasants. By 5:00 I was done in, supper was fish and chips from a local restaurant. I took some pictures of M and Huggie with their pheasants . Will take a crack at getting them posted this weekend. Tomorrow is a proper pheasant hunt.

[Scoutpout]

It has been fabulous. I am fighting off (I hope successfully) a cold. we are supposed to have field training on saturday, I just pulled the ducks out of the freezer. and then it's the agm, but if I'm feeling crummy, may skip the lecture and lunch and show up with a mask to the meeting.

Sunday winter is supposed to arrive with colder temps, wind, and mixed ice/snow/rain. it could stay away away while longer....

[Scoutpout]

wow, talk about a Fabulous Friday! Nov 18th was incredibly warm and sunny. I unfortunately spent it sitting at the Windsor airport, but oh well, it was still incredible! 20C. We had a flight supposed to go out Sat 8am to Kingston, the pilot doing the trip called at 7am and said well have you looked at the weather... no problem to get there, but the nasty weather was to start a bit earlier than planned, causing big icing issues for the return trip. They elected not to go.

Went to field training, at just before 8am it had started to rain, but was a warm 15C. by the time we were wrapping up at 11am, it had dropped to 3C, raining steady and was windy as all get out. Dogs had a really good day with some long back-to-back singles in fields we've not run in before. We've identified some issues, and training plan moving on has been roughed in. We do hope to train thru the winter as best we can.

Last bird of the day had all 5 dogs thrown off. Line was at top of a hill that went down into the field, with a "valley" parallel to the line, with fairly steep upsloping terrain divided into 2 hills to the left and right of the line. the one on the right was much steeper, all the way back up to the laneway the line was on. STRONG wind from the left. Roughly 90 degree split for the birds. 1st bird dogs had to go down the hill, across the valley and back up a bit to the left. 2nd bird was thrown from the edge of the valley back up the hill and away from the line, so they needed to go across the hill without going all the way down to the valley. 3 hunted way high, Scout didn't see the bird thrown (distracted at just the wrong moment by a branch falling behind us) but thankfully went out when sent (yay for that- its a big improvement) went low, went to gunner, then caught the scent from the #1 bird thrown that had been way to the left and started back to that fall. Gunner had to call, then he hunted it up. Last dog went low, but stayed in the area, finally worked downwind (which meant working uphill) and found it.

So, besides the discovery that my Arc-teryx jacket really is waterproof, and that my rain pants leak horribly in the seam down the back of my butt, (i looked like i'd pee'd myself! rest of me bone dry), its clear that Scout is using the gunner as a "guide" to where the bird may be if he's not trusting the line he's on. Also that the dogs like the challenge of the differing terrain, and the cooler weather!