gibspoon Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Without a doubt my favourite moment of the weekend occurred this afternoon. The farm I shoot on has a ten month old collie, who is about as full of beans as a dog can be. The farmer often says to me to take him out with me if I want, but I've always politely declined. Although he's not likely to be anywhere near guns, I don't want to make him gun-shy and he's never really been exposed to any proper noise, although he'll hear me shoot fairly often. Also to be honest, I thought he'd get in the way. However, today he took it upon himself to come with me and there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. I can usually get him to stay in the main yard, but not today. So I thought, '****** it. I'll take him. If he gets a fright when I shoot, he'll just go home'. I just reckoned I'd need to be careful with how close he was to me if I fired, so as not to do his hearing in. He instantly went about getting into the scrub, and did several full-on points, holding the point for a good twenty seconds or so sometimes. I watched with great amusement as he'd flush and then chase the bunnies. After he'd done it a good few times I thought I'd have a pop just to see how he'd react. He flushed one out and it ran across open ground, with plenty of distance gained by the rabbit before the young lad realised it was doing a runner. A sporting runner at thirty yards, I fired and dropped it. Best of all, from the corner of my eye I could see that the dog hadn't even batted an eyelid from the noise, and was running towards his (unknown to him) 'victim'! I gave him tons of praise and he was loving it, and was very keen to examine the rabbit. A heart, lungs and liver later, I took him back to the farm and left him parading victoriously with the pelt! If that's what a collie will do, I can't wait to get a Vizsla! I spent the rest of the afternoon shooting alone, and it did indeed feel very alone. Just got to wait until circumstances change in a couple of years before I can take the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
station Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) The idea of man and dog is something I am really looking forward to in a few years time when I can give one the time and attention it deserves. Rabbiting like you have experienced just sounds great and I love game days when all the dogs are around us. Superb to hear. Edited October 20, 2013 by station Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aister Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 My last dog was a collie and she was fantastic when it came to rabbits, she would point and stay on point however long I took and never moved until the rabbit either bolted or was shot even if I missed with the first shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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