Hobby Sports

Yesterday I received a call from my hunting buddy and he asked me if I was up for some dog training. My intention was to fish carp on my one weight but I decided that could wait another day. Its been some time since Kaiser and have hit Prado dog park for some training so Lous invitation was more than welcome. Having not shot my Merkel 47e since I got it back from the gunsmiths at Steyr USA, it was a good time to make sure they did the job properly (although I had no doubt that they did).

Kaiser definitely was rusty. He no longer is steady at wing and shot. Ill have to rectify that this summer. After the bird training I took him to the ponds and worked on his whistle and hand commands. He had not forgotten those, so I think hell do just fine in the blinds at Wister and San Jacinto. Last season I intentionally left Kaiser home during my duck hunts as I did no training last preseason so I was not comfortable with him in the blind. This year that wont be the case.

Loading my DT Systems bird launcher. Lou has the LCS launcher. One flaw in the DTS is that to arm it requires a magnet tool to lower the lever. Although I attached it to a lanyard that is connected to the launcher, I find that this is a poor design. What if one loses the magnet during training? You essentially then have a useless box as you can not arm the system without the tool.

Scenting conditions were poor. Kaiser is literally right above the bird before scenting it and going on point.

Bird launches as Lou takes the shot.

Lous dog. Two GWPs and one GSP. Each dog had three birds which made for a very long training session.

Sidelined last year, the Merkel 47e is back and ready for some quail this season. It will be nice carrying a light sub gauge again.

With one day away, September 1st marks the dove opener for most of the States.  Most hunters are foaming at the mouth by now.  Not me.  Ill bypass the opener like I have done so for a few years now.  Its simply too hot and there are too many knuckleheads that ruin your day.  On top of that, who knows what yesterdays dessert rains had done to those birds.  They are probably all gone.  I do look forward to September 8th, though as it marks the opening of the early mountain quail season for the northern half of the state.  In anticipation to that I joined Lou for his weekly dog training at Prado.

Lous Darne R10 (take off that damn slip on pad!)

Lou had excess birds and as this was his last time out for training until the season opens he gave me call to see if Kaiser needed some bird work.  He invited me last week as well but unfortunately I was too busy t come out.  With two of his females in heat, Lou brought his three other dogs.  We had 20 birds for four dogs, so each dog was going to get a good workout.  I brought my Merkel 147SL in 12 gauge and Lou brought his Darne R10 in 20.  After telling Lou about Darnes and having bought his first, he is now a convert.  His Darne is lovely but unfortunately its LOP is much to short.  Lou added a slip on pad, which I hate and can not stand, to help increase the LOP to 14.5 inches.  I told him to get rid of that slip on and put on a proper rubber pad but its his gun.

My Merkel 147SL

It looks like my time at the clay range was a big help as no birds escaped my 12 gauge.  If only that will be the case in the field this year.  I even tried the R10 for the last bird.  His Darne seems so much whippier than mine.  As with any lightweight and short gun it is very whippy and as such you tend to stop your swing.  I missed the first shot and just barely made the second after realizing I was stopping my swing.  Kaiser needs work.  He bumped the first bird tripping the launcher right after he pointed.  After a correction he stopped that nonsense.  Since Ive done little bird work in the past off seasons, he is no longer is he steady at wing and shot which is a shame.  Lous dogs did well as they should have as theyve been training all damn summer.  For whatever reason all the birds seemed to launch my way.   Also my damn launcher failed to trip the latch, Im hoping its just the batteries.  If not Ill be pissed.

I videoed the training with my Contour Roam and if I have the time and patience to upload it on youtube Ill post it here.  They came out quite nicely.

I got a call earlier this week to see if I wanted to do some dog training at Prado since Lou has trapped a boat load of pigeons recently. Originally I intended to train Tuesday but since Ed called me to fish I decided to fish instead since Lou was hitting Prado twice this week.



Kaiser showed alot or rust and you can tell I have not been keeping up with his training. He is no longer stead to wing and shot as he was before. I really need to work on this and get him back to being steady at least during training. Lou asked if I wanted to come back on Tuesday, I told him Id have to look at my schedule. If I do Ill bring both my e-collars and attach one to his waist. That should remind him that he needs to be steady.



After the bird session I had Kaiser doing some water drills for duck hunting. He still remembers his hand and whistle commands even in the water. This good so Ill bring him to the blind this year if I end up hitting San Jacinto or Wister with Ed.



I shot my Merkel 147SL today as Ive not shot it in some time. The gun as always shoots like a dream. It fits me perfectly so hitting targets is never a problem.