Maggie’s Day

     The day was planned in woodcock country, hoping to find steady birds for our younger dog to work on. Most of the time Maggie held point reliably, but on grouse she was far from flawless. There’s no better bird than woodcock to work a young dog on.

     We had no sooner entered the alders and Maggie locked up on point. A woodcock came up as I walked past her and she retrieved it after the shot. The day began the way I hoped it would.

     Weaving through the alders, we hunted hard and covered a lot of territory, but we found no more woodcock. Where could they be? A beaver had been busy and created a large pond. And then we found a second new pond made by another beaver. Moose had crossed through and deer had a trail parallel with the stream. Finally we turned inland to work our way back.

     Maggie locked up on point far ahead. I could see her, but getting there through the alders and blow down fir trees was a struggle. Finally stepping past her, I expected a woodcock…grouse never hold that long.

     Old mister grouse exploded skyward. I fumbled in the tangle of cover, never getting to fire a shot. Maggie had held that bird for an unbelievable length of time. I was ecstatic.

     After several minutes of praise we hunted on, walking a meandering course more or less following where the alders met the forest. Atop a bump on a knoll Maggie locked up again with Colby backing.

     Not sure what to expect, I hurried past her with my gun up. A grouse flushed twenty feet from her nose. It was an easy straight away shot, but the bird ducked behind a fat red maple as I pulled the trigger. The tree will live to tell about it, and so did the bird.

     Again I praised her. We had found three birds, two of which were ruffed grouse, all in an hour or so, and she performed like a wise old bird dog. Even without a ruffed grouse in the bag, I went home a very happy hunter.