I guess it's a good thing when you pick up right where you left off last season. Slick showing his moxie, Lefty showing his malady. The two of them live together every minute of everyday. They eat together, sleep together, play together, bark at the mailman together, ride in the car together, etc., etc., yet Lefty will not hunt right with Slick. It is a very disappointing and frustrating circumstance. Lefty is a serious encumbrance to Slick, and I cannot allow this to go on another second as I see Slick blossoming into a dog that will become a real star, perhaps eclipsing Lefty's prowess, and without the baggage. Alone with me in the woods, Lefty is the squirrel dog that you dream of. He has all the skills and uses them effectively, does not run across the county at will and generally is extremely obedient. In the presence of other dogs and even some people, he is, at best discombobulated, at worst completely dysfunctional. His dysfunction has a very visible ill-effect on Slick. I think that the effect on Slick will become less and less as Slick becomes more and more confident in what he is doing, but for now, I cannot hunt them together much. Lefty is going to suffer.
I've been itching to get out with the dogs for a few weeks now, but it is hard to put down my trusty stick in the midst of the whitetail rut. After another less than exciting morning deer hunt, I decided to cut it short and ran home to get the dogs and rifle. The first time out the dogs are always excited and I let them run around and do whatever for a little while. After a couple of den trees Slick found a live one. Took me a minute but I finally found the squirrel, well, it's tail. Rat in a hole with its tail hanging out. Slick slamming the tree, so I went about making something happen for him, firing a total of 4 shots near the hole before squirrel evacuated. I made a hasty off-hand shot at an antsy squirrel. the wounded squirrel ran down the tree to the ground. A very entertaining chase ensued before squirrel nearly ran me over and up a tree next to me. I can't think of last time I saw Lefty move that fast. Slick, on the other hand, is a natural born sprinter and loves to run. There has got to be some Whippet or Greyhound in there someplace as this dog can flat out fly. I've never owned a dog that can go like Slick. Anyway, I fired another shot nearly straight up the tree trunk at the running rat, which sent him to the ground. This is a pretty good start with a solid treeing for Slick, a good foot chase and a rat in the bag. Dogs fired up, game on. After a couple more dens, we loaded up and moved on. Lefty would not do anything in the next woods, and Slick was doing it with him. I walked them on until I could not take it any longer and started marching back to the truck. Lefty did tree a squirrel, and I shot it out, but he was not hunting at all. I decided to get them out of there and Lefty would spend the rest of the day in the box. Slick made four trees on our last stop, hunted like a different dog without all of Lefty's negative energy. Two were giant red oaks with lots of leaves. I'm sure there were squirrels in both, but I could not find them by myself. He did a great job on the last squirrel. It took him a minute to figure out the track, but he figured it out, made up his mind to commit to the tree (which was the correct one) and stayed on it hard while I located the squirrel and made a nice head shot. I only saw three squirrels all afternoon, but they all came home with us. Dividing field time between the dogs is going to suck, but I see no other way to deal with this for now. Maybe being left behind a few times will be good for Lefty. I know it will be good for Slick.
I've been itching to get out with the dogs for a few weeks now, but it is hard to put down my trusty stick in the midst of the whitetail rut. After another less than exciting morning deer hunt, I decided to cut it short and ran home to get the dogs and rifle. The first time out the dogs are always excited and I let them run around and do whatever for a little while. After a couple of den trees Slick found a live one. Took me a minute but I finally found the squirrel, well, it's tail. Rat in a hole with its tail hanging out. Slick slamming the tree, so I went about making something happen for him, firing a total of 4 shots near the hole before squirrel evacuated. I made a hasty off-hand shot at an antsy squirrel. the wounded squirrel ran down the tree to the ground. A very entertaining chase ensued before squirrel nearly ran me over and up a tree next to me. I can't think of last time I saw Lefty move that fast. Slick, on the other hand, is a natural born sprinter and loves to run. There has got to be some Whippet or Greyhound in there someplace as this dog can flat out fly. I've never owned a dog that can go like Slick. Anyway, I fired another shot nearly straight up the tree trunk at the running rat, which sent him to the ground. This is a pretty good start with a solid treeing for Slick, a good foot chase and a rat in the bag. Dogs fired up, game on. After a couple more dens, we loaded up and moved on. Lefty would not do anything in the next woods, and Slick was doing it with him. I walked them on until I could not take it any longer and started marching back to the truck. Lefty did tree a squirrel, and I shot it out, but he was not hunting at all. I decided to get them out of there and Lefty would spend the rest of the day in the box. Slick made four trees on our last stop, hunted like a different dog without all of Lefty's negative energy. Two were giant red oaks with lots of leaves. I'm sure there were squirrels in both, but I could not find them by myself. He did a great job on the last squirrel. It took him a minute to figure out the track, but he figured it out, made up his mind to commit to the tree (which was the correct one) and stayed on it hard while I located the squirrel and made a nice head shot. I only saw three squirrels all afternoon, but they all came home with us. Dividing field time between the dogs is going to suck, but I see no other way to deal with this for now. Maybe being left behind a few times will be good for Lefty. I know it will be good for Slick.
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