Day 4
1st drive
Birds are now thin on the ground but eze managed to flush a couple and was very good prob slightly more compliant on this drive than any of the previous shoots recall was good with only a couple of deaf occasions but she stayed close at all times. After the drive I managed to get a few pics of my mate taking delivery to hand of a bird he shot retrieved by his ten yr old "pet" sprocker that he adopted from his son and that has had no training at all, he was made up that I managed to get some pics.
2nd drive
usually on this drive I am sent over the fields blanking in and then down the edge out of harms way but on this occasion steve the keeper / shoot manager or whatever told me to follow him in the landy to park at the top of the wood and join him and his cocker and another bloke with two dogs to beat the wood propper. Quite chuffed at this as he is obviously now happy with my work, he later commented on how good eze is and that she is coming on well, another shooter said she was as good as any dog there so I am proud of her. Anyway off we go eze worked well was once again compliant recal was excellent turns to whistle was good she hunted close and flushed a few birds, a good drive.
3rd drive
steve was insistent that I shoot said I deserved it for my help. I wasn't bothered but felt another refusal would be rude so borrowed my mates Beretta 680 game gun with trap stock and off I go to peg 2 to the right of steve who is shooting this drive also. Tied ezes lead to the peg marker and got myself sorted, a few minutes past and a bird came straight to me steve shouts Ian your bird but I didn't know we had started so wasn't loaded... Oops. Five minutes past and a hen pheasant appears coming directly over my peg safety off gun nicely shouldered both barrells given, I thought I had missed but steve shouts over "you hit it with both barrells" no more birds over my direction. Steve accompanied me to find the bird which had landed in a field at the back of us, we searched and searched but bird was nowhere to be found, how good would it have been if eze got her first retrieve of my first ever pheasant. We got back to were we park and everyone congratulates me for my first bird ever with my first shot ever. From a shooting perspective I am made up as I only shoot Olympic trap and have had 30yrs of going away targets never shot an incoming. Another bloke said he would go have a look with his two labs and after ten minutes came back with my bird (have I just had an eye wipe)
4th drive
Long walk to next wood then off we go. Now it may be coincidence and I may be talking utter bollox but eze on this drive was fabulous recall, stop, turns were 100% she hunted close and seemed altogether more business like, could this be because she had just seen me shoot a bird ????
5th drive
again no errors very compliant hunted close but not a single bird in that wood.
To sum up
A really memorable day, I shot my first pheasant on my first go. Eze was better than she has ever been so something is working. I am very proud of her.
The end
