10/20/2025
Last week myself and Calvin Harpe from Oxbow Pudelpointer Gundogs took 11 dogs to the prairies of North Dakota and had an absolutely amazing time. Pheasants were plentiful but the huns and sharptails were not and were very spooky.
The trip was mostly about giving the young dogs exposure to wild birds. 10 month old Oxbow's II Courageous Patriot (Patti) her sister Oxbow's II Charlie Hustle (Chara) and 5 month old Cross Timber's New Sensation (Vrael)
15 month old Packmaster's Ever Hunter's Dream (Freyja) who did not prize in her NA test in August put it all together and pointed the only covey of huns that allowed us to get close but unfortunately my gun malfunctioned (must be a bent barrel or something) and I missed.
On the second hunt of the last day in some thicker cover with Freyja and Native Heart Apache (Volt) we encountered nothing short of 100 pheasants and completed our limit with both dogs getting solid points and retrieves.( Even despite the continued, random gun malfunctions😜)
The more experienced dogs also got some work. Oxbow's Vista worked the edge of a buckwheat field and pointed several pheasants. Oxbow's II Arsenal (Sonnet) and Falling Feather's Cinch (Cinch), Patti and Chara's mom) put on a clinic working a drainage right across the road from the farmhouse we were staying in.
Packmaster's Absolute Carbon Copy (Phin) and Ripsnorter’s Call From Heaven (Echo) took us on the longest hunt of the trip on the windiest most blustery day. We scratched out 2 roosters and a sharptail.
Packmaster's Carries the Flame (Fenix) got a couple hunts in and was successful in pointing and retrieving a few birds.
I used my new Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses to record some of the action. Unfortunately, I did get caught up in the moment sometimes and did capture some encounters.
