Hunting on the HiLine, Part II: Harvey and his Hunting Skills

Yesterday, the second day of our Hunting Lodge weekend, I joined Jeff and his friend for some bird hunting, with Harvey.  

Harvey is a Hungarian Vizsla, which is a breed renowned for bird hunting ability.  I have to admit that our training with him has been fairly minimal, but in this, his first hunting season, he is already showing his instinct and skill.  It is really amazing to watch him work.  His nose is constantly on the ground, sniffing out bird trails.  Once he is close to one, he "points" at it-- holds a stiff position with his body and tail.  He points right at the bird, from only a few feet away.  He will hold his point for a few seconds until we tell him to "go get 'em," at which point he will pounce towards the bird, flushing it out of the grass, and thereby allowing the hunter to get off an excellent shot.  

We took Harvey to another farm about twenty five minutes from our house, where we knew there would be pheasants and birds in great numbers.  Harvey did great. He pointed and flushed many birds. Jeff and his friend ended up with three pheasants and one Hungarian Partridge.  I had fun hiking along with them for the three or so hours we were out.  Looking forward to next time! 

Some grouse near a grain bin.  We spotted them while on our drive to the place where we hunted.

Cattails in the morning light. 

Harvey is leading Jeff on the scent of some birds. 

Shortly after the previous photo was taken, Harvey flushed some pheasants and Jeff pulled off this shot.
A beautiful, large rooster. 

Later, we also got a Hun.