Well, both the Grouse and Pheasant seasons have ended. I pretty much missed out on the late (after Christmas) season this year for a number of reasons...a real disappointment.
It looked like we were going to get out the last week of the Grouse season. It also looked like it was going to snow in the Laurel Highlands where we were planning to go. Based on these likelihoods I broke down and ordered a set of dog boots for Sunny. On previous hunts in the snow Sunny has been plagued by iceballs forming on the hair between the pads of her feet. This only seems to happen at temperatures around or just above the freezing mark, but it is annoying to her and on a few occasions has pretty much taken her out of the game. I've tried trimming this hair to a very short length and applying a wax called Mushers Secret. These things help, but in hope of a more dramatic improvement, I thought I'd try boots on her. As it turned out, we did not get out for "one more hunt" but after the end of the season we did get some snow, so I took dog and boots to a local park to try them out.
At first Sunny tried to step out of the boots by lifting her legs very high, which made for a slightly hilarious gait. Once I gave her the OK to run, the incentive of an open trail and smells to explore made her forget about the boots and she ran like her old self.
Other than a slight tendency for her back feet to slip out on hard turns, she didn't seem to be limited at all by the boots. I had to adjust the front ones at one point as I did not have them tight enough at first, but after that she romped through the snow with wild abandon.
When Sunny's initial enthusiasm wore off, she again turned her attention to the front boots and tried to figure out how to remove them. I'm optimistic that in a hunting situation, where her enthusiasm seems to never wear off, this won't be as much of a problem. Maybe a couple more trial runs will help her get more used to them. Anyways, the boots themselves seem to perform quite well, at least in the brief test that we put them through. The boots that I purchased are called DeLuxe Neoprene Dog Boots. I got them from Lion Country Supply
My friend Tony and I traveled to Franklin, Pa. in February to participate in a sporting clays fundraising shoot for The Pennsylvania Northwoods chapter of The Ruffed Grouse Society. We shot on a beautiful, fully automated course at the Sandy Creek Conservancy. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should add that we shot poorly, both of us achieving something like a "personal worst". Not sure what happened there, but I think I was shooting with a mounted gun and trying too hard to "aim". This was the same gun which served me well during the bird season, shooting instinctively, but when pressured to hit in front of an audience I mounted first, and mostly missed!. Whatever, the course and day were great. The included lunch was pretty forgettable, but no matter. We had fun and helped the cause. There were 77 shooters participating - a good turnout, I felt, so I figure the chapter made a few bucks. I'd like to go back and shoot the course in the spring, though it is an hour and a half drive from my place.
