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| < 16ga. General Discussion ~ Fast trip for Faisan |
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 Posted:
Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:32 am
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Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 591
Location: SoCal-FL- NYC
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I wish I had something more exciting to write, but it was just a down and back trip. The main purpose was to get all the details and paperwork sorted out, check out the lay of the land, scout the area to assess conditions, and ultimately to work the young Braque Francais pup.
About the only place it was comfortable to be during the day was in the shade. But that didn’t stop Slim from wanting to breeze a few fields.
Slim wasted no time getting busy. That dog is a pure magic. 95 degrees, high mid day sun, and yet he managed to trap a few roosters to show the young dog how to do it. It really helps having a veteran dog like him on the truck. He is easy to read, does his work diligently allowing the young dog to cut line and get up on birds right from the start.
We hit a small grass field that ended up producing a few roosters, one of them the largest bird Ive ever seen.
It was so hot, and the dogs so run out of gas after only a short walk, that it was impossible to get the pup to pose with the bird. On a side note, I was using a vintage low pressure 1&1/8oz of No.5 re-load recipe that just seems to work well in the old model 12 16ga.
Much of the area was turned under, and many of our normal grass fields were dirt. There was also large tracts of Cotton, in fact most of the fields were planted in juicy green cotton.
We tried to set ourselves up to be in a nice grass field around sunset. The hope was that as the day came to an end the temperatures would drop. No luck there as we headed into a perfect dirty swath with temps still holding around 95 degrees.
The Braque didn’t seem to mind and hunted like a champ. He stayed out front, had some great honor instinct and managed to keep his nose down working steady the entire outing. There is nothing better than watching a young dog come to life on their first hunt.
We tried to squeeze every bit of hunt out of the day and worked right up to sunset. The last field did not produce many roosters, but we did get lucky enough to catch one of my favorite photos to date. The colors of the sunset in the valley are something special, and yet there is a peaceful finality that comes with the dark. Knowing that the day is over, a sort of quite calm, reflecting on the events of yet another great day in the field.
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| Posted:
Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:47 am
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Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2011
Posts: 1697
Location: Minnesota
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| Nice pics! I hope you are getting that Rooster mounted. Did you measure the tailfeathers? |
_________________
Great dog, Great friends,Great guns |
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| Posted:
Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:08 am
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Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 591
Location: SoCal-FL- NYC
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| Savage16 wrote: |
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Nice pics! I hope you are getting that Rooster mounted. Did you measure the tailfeathers?
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No mounting for me. I went through that phase of life and after a couple of moves and dusting off the birds, I realized a good photo and a journal log is much more of a memento.
I did save the tail feathers and gave them to my daughter, Ill have to measure them and see.... |
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| Posted:
Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:17 am
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Member
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 1943
Location: Lowcountry Ga.
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| bmc wrote: |
No mounting for me. I went through that phase of life and after a couple of moves and dusting off the birds, I realized a good photo and a journal log is much more of a memento.
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I understand. Other than in my freezer, there's not much evidence of death in the woods and fields in my home. |
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| Posted:
Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:52 pm
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Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 1358
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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Where were you hunting? I believe I can safely assume it wasn't North Dakota.
Thanks,
Jeff |
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| Posted:
Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:51 am
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Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 591
Location: SoCal-FL- NYC
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| JNW wrote: |
Where were you hunting? I believe I can safely assume it wasn't North Dakota.
Thanks,
Jeff
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You aré correct. That's ol mehico |
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| Posted:
Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:27 am
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Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1257
Location: Nebraska
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Very nice shots!
Saw my first Braque two weekends ago at our hunt test, running for a JH title. She'd passed both days the previous week at another test but had no finds on her runs with us. Good-looking dogs. |
_________________
Bore, n. Shotgun enthusiast's synonym for "gauge" ; everybody else's synonym for "shotgun enthusiast." - Ed Zern |
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| Posted:
Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:24 pm
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Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 591
Location: SoCal-FL- NYC
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| kgb wrote: |
Very nice shots!
Saw my first Braque two weekends ago at our hunt test, running for a JH title. She'd passed both days the previous week at another test but had no finds on her runs with us. Good-looking dogs.
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Nice looking and really great temperament. A little less hot than a GSP, a little more willful too, but for the average home they are plenty of dog. Ive had my challenges with this one, especially when comparing them to all the GSP's I've trained. But in the end the dog will do just fine. |
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| Posted:
Fri Oct 24, 2014 3:28 am
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Member
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 1943
Location: Lowcountry Ga.
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| BMC, I have not seen the Braque around these parts. Nice looking dog. I did a quick look-up of the breed and in France they distinguish lines--Pyrennees and Gascogne (SP). Is that distinction blurred in the US? How old is Fasian? Gil |
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| Posted:
Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:10 am
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Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 591
Location: SoCal-FL- NYC
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| Gil S wrote: |
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BMC, I have not seen the Braque around these parts. Nice looking dog. I did a quick look-up of the breed and in France they distinguish lines--Pyrennees and Gascogne (SP). Is that distinction blurred in the US? How old is Fasian? Gil
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You know Gil, I don't know much about them. In almost 20 years of training dogs this is the first one I have ever encountered. Just on the outside, they appear to be much of the GSP/Pointer blood. They look just like a smaller GSP, but they lack the hyper, nervous energy and not as much drive. Really great for city living where the dog is around family and smaller spaces.
Faisan=Pheasant in Spanish. The dogs name is Mason and he just turned a year old. All of his early obedience and house training went smoothly, about the same as a lab or GSP. However, water introduction has been a challenge, so was force fetching and some of the more technical field commands. Biggest difference is that if Mason isn't sure he wants to do something it takes a lot of soft handed convincing. Also, Ive noticed that he is not very forgiving if you use a heavy hand or make a training mistake. Sort of like a cocker or a britney, but not nearly as sever. Also, he is sight pointing almost everything, but I think that is more of a environmental problem, as we in souther california don't have any natural game and growing up his walks and outings tend to be in areas where the dog can see meadow larks and seagulls. Lack of training birds and fields in southern cali make it hard to start a pup outside of the hunting season.
The one thing that makes his personality redeemable is that he has a ton of desire and drive, not as much as a well bred field GSP, but enough to keep him moving forward.
As far as I know there are very few of them here in the USA, numbers in the low hundreds I think. I believe there are only 2 sources for breeders here. I will add, I have enjoyed his personality so much that I would even consider one for myself personally, but Im not sure Ill ever be convinced to be anything but a GSP and LAB man. |
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