We pulled into the parking lot and I could hear the gravel
under the tires as we made our way to the lodge. The noise of the gravel was
quickly drowned out from the excitement of the 106 pound yellow lab anxiously
anticipating a chance to stalk a cock bird. The cold December air immediately
hit my face as I stepped out of the warm Ford Expedition. My friend and I both
reached for our heavy orange hunting coats on the back seat to make the walk to
the lodge door. The freshly fallen snow was barely stomped off of my hunting
boots when the aroma of freshly brewed coffee activated the olfactory senses.
The next sent was that of pine logs that the proprietor, Bill, was feeding the
wood stove. Ah…what a moment, the warmth from the fire, coffee, and the
mystique of the lodge was worth the trip by itself. The lodge is a perfectly
decorated cabin with multiple duck mounts, old duck decoys and seven monster
bucks. Oh, we can’t forget the pheasant mount! As you walk in you see the
beautifully finished wooden table with every magazine you would want to read
about all shooting and hunting topics. There is a refrigerator by the front
counter stocked with soft drinks, water bottles and candy bars. Next to that is
the all-important room of the porcelain receptacle. There
always seems to be a least one small group of hunters drinking coffee and
laughing about the ineptitude of their shooting prowess! I could write about
this place for pages, and someday I may, but not today. We signed in, received
our field assignment and headed out to gather our guns, ammo and Gunner.
The fresh snow was the reason we called Bill’s establishment
that day. New snow makes the birds hold their position better for the dog. If we get a
runner or a cripple, we can see where he is headed is the white powder.. My lab wasted no time working
that field. He was back and forth on the prowl. No commands were necessary. He
know why we were there. He worked in front of us about 20 to 25 yards. His walk
was more of a bounce with a quick trotting pace. He lifted his head and sniffed
the air occasionally then back to the snow, head working side to side.
Suddenly, his head jerked to the left and his entire body fell in line! His tail
went up, neck stretched out and he froze like a statue! “Point”, I yelled over
to my companion and I let him get into position. Gunner held point as I walked
into the brush. A large rooster erupted into the air with a cackle! One
thunderous response from my orange clad hunting partner, and Gunner made his
first retrieve of the day.
We released 8 birds that afternoon, shot 9 and had 11
flushes. Gunner worked the field magnificently. The birds held for him and yes
he held point! He is a “pointing lab”. I am told that some labs have a genetic predisposition for pointing. I am not
here to argue that point (no pun intended), but I know his father and
grandfather do not point. I can tell you that as a 10 month old pup, I took
Gunner pheasant hunting with my friend’s English Setter. The setter was a
seasoned pheasant dog. We took the dogs on two public land hunts. Both times Gunner
followed the setter for 4 hours, when Apollo would go “on point”, Gunner would
stop and sniff what was ahead. The bird would flush, we shoot it, and Gunner
would retrieve it. This went on for two state land hunts and one pheasant farm
hunt. We thought we had a good team.
Apollo pointed and Gunner fetched, for some reason, Apollo would not fetch. The
fourth time out I got the surprise of my life. Gunner went on point! He has
been pointing ever since. The second remarkable thing was that by the end of
the pheasant farm season, Apollo was fetching birds!
I have no idea if this was bred in him and Apollo just
brought it out, or if Gunner just flat out learned it from Apollo. Furthermore,
I don’t care! Two weeks before the pheasant hunt that I described in the
opening paragraphs, we were on Buckeye Lake duck hunting. Gunner jumped in the
water with skim ice on it and retrieved 5 ducks. I tried to keep him dried off,
but he had icicles hanging from his vest and fur and he didn’t care. The
next week we went goose hunting. We couldn’t find a good field so we walked out
on the ice. I have a snow camouflage poncho that I use on Gunner. He loved it,
and we appreciated the long retrieves across the slippery frozen lake water!
The bottom line is, I don’t know what else you could ask
from a dog! I do not pretend to know what the best bird dog is for every
hunter. But you better believe that the next Lab I get is going to be spending
some quality time with a good pointer!
