I turned out Denny and Deuce on this fine morning with a lot of optimism. I had seen vast improvement in both of them the last time out. I was starting to feel like at any moment, for either one of these dogs, it was going to happen. I could see that their sense of the wind and what the birds were doing was growing with each wild flush. Their confidence was growing and their brace was getting bigger. It wasn't long before both of them were stopping to flush on their own and you could see the wheels turning in their little bird dog minds. Just like that with my trip winding down and running out of days. Deuce made a 300 yard cast to the front not 20 minutes into our hunt. The temp and the wind were just right. I looked down at my GPS for a second and when I looked up all I could see was the moment I had been waiting for. A picture perfect Setter on point. This covey of Sharptails even cooperated long enough for me to snap a few pictures and get close enough for a perfect covey rise and a clean shot. I hadn't really noticed prior but Denny was backing which put him in a perfect position to make a retrieve. So having had both these young dogs involved in this picture perfect moment had me smiling ear to ear.
With hopes of still catching up with a few old friends and reliving some more Montana memories from back in the day. I headed East.
- Ryan Fortier
