UplandFeathers

I have a grizzled old hunting partner who had a young dog—I won’t mention the breed of his dog for fear my hunting partner disown me. Well my partner thought a year-old pup would be fine for the upcoming pheasant season and come fall the young dog was excited as all get out. She also forgot the reason we were dressed in blaze orange and proceeded to romp through the grassy fields chasing butterflies. Why do I mention this embarrassing incident and potentially have a hunting partner divorce me? Two reasons. One is not to take a gun pup out in the field too soon. Make sure your pup knows who to take his cues from (that would be you). When your pup does make his or her debut make sure you can control their behavior. A pup with flopping ears chasing butterflies is embarrassing to the dog’s owner and his hunting buddies at the very least, but it could also lead to a lost dog since everyone’s concentration is on the brushy edges and birds. The second reason is that the state of NH recently released a record number of Karner blue butterflies into the wild. Some 1,600 to be exact. It’s part of an ongoing species and habitat restoration program. I’m suggesting to my grizzled partner we forego NH this year. That is unless we want to take Cooper or Bella in lieu of his butterfly pointer. Though Cooper is hot on moths at times.