Back on heather – 25th July 2008
Well, rather than bore you with a repeat entry over and over again I thought I would wait until things started to change…and change they did today. I decided to head out onto an area of moorland that is fairly disturbed. I will be grouse counting in a few weeks and I really needed to get Grace back on the heather but still felt that nesting birds may be an issue. This bit of moorland would be fine; few birds but plenty of quartering. We set off at about 5.30 pm. Even at this time it was still 22 degrees C so I knew we wouldn’t be out for long.
I cast Grace off and she ran. She ran like a child let out of a car on the beach. I was amazed. Its been a while since she has been on heather and she hunted immediately and hunted hard. She ran a beat about 75 yards wide which wasn’t great, but it was ok. She dropped to the whistle and overall handled pretty well. There was virtually no wind which didn’t help matters but I was pleased. To make matters even better I ran her in an area of sheep and she totally ignored them. The photo shows this but bare in mind they had moved away to the side as we approached. She looked at them once but wasn’t interested. This shows a level of maturity that has thus far been just a dream. I am pleased. Really pleased. Next time I shall get her quartering further out. I picked her up after about 25 minutes as it was still so hot. There will always be next time.
July 28, 2008 at 11:12 am
Fantastic – You must be well pleased with Grace – looking forrward to hearing how you get on with the Counting – you’ve certainly put in the work. Lucky to have the moorland close at hand. I lived in Mid-Wales in just such country for eight years but busy working full-time then and moved back here before thinking about having another Pointer. Got the ‘timing’ wrong again!
Sue
July 28, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Thanks Sue, I am really pleased (but aware that it could go pear shaped at any time
) I am lucky to live where I live, I know. Saying that though it never ceases to amaze me just how wonderful the whole of the Uk is, albeit in different ways in different places. Fingers crossed for August!