first birds over Maggie

Well, I messed up and did not get pictures ...

I spent the fall letting Maggie run in the hills, getting into plenty of wild birds and generally becoming addicted to feathers.  Today I took her out for the first time in a controlled training session with a pigeon in a launcher and a couple friends gunning.

She pointed the first bird staunchly but was only a few feet away when she caught scent.  We flushed and killed the bird and she carried it around proudly for several minutes.

She handled the second bird perfectly.  She crossed the scent about 50 yards downwind, turned and locked up instantly.  Held point staunchly as the gunners got into position, tail high. intense, nose tugged upwind by the scent.  I flushed the bird and several shots later the pigeon was still flying briskly.  Damn, I wanted to reward that great performance with a bird on the ground, but Maggie seemed to be content with the result.

I think I've got a bird dog.