Charley and I spent 8 days hunting in a Northern prairie for pheasants, sharptails, and even managed a couple of huns. She is 16 mos old and hunted for pheasants last year a few times, but this was the first multiple day (with multiple bird contacts each day) hunt. I laid back and watched her brain absorb and then process what all we were doing. I am guessing she had contact with 200 birds over the whole trip. She retrieved 24 roosters to me, and another dozen or so to other hunters. She also got to bring in a few sharpies and one very much alive hun.
I was not concerned with the retrieve in her, I was attempting to cultivate the bird hunt in her. She did incredibly well. I was asked how old she was by several people who figured she had played the game for a few years minimum. There is still a long road ahead of her and I but what a fun trip it was...

First bird was a sharptail


She was hooked immediately...


We hunted some pretty country


She learned when to put her head up in the air for scent


She really enjoyed bringing me along, since every now and again I managed a bird for her to retrieve.


I didn't like being gone from my family for 9 nights, but Charley turned into a pretty good upland dog on this trip, and that was worth it. Now we'll be readying ourselves for some woodcock, maybe even a grouse, and waiting for the big ducks to fly down to Kentucky.

Looks like a grand exercize.