Katie In Her Element
She hates hunting rabbits… She always has and as she walks over to see the rabbit that I had shot she confirmed that with the “look”. Katie, our 14 year old German Shorthair Pointer and I were out for a hunt, more to get her outside than to shoot things. It was too nice of a day not to go out and also because I am not sure how much longer she will be around. I loved seeing her work and run, it was her element and where she felt at home. I am not sure who needed this walk more, her or me?
This got me thinking back to all the memories that Opie and I share with this wonderful and sometimes neurotic dog. If any of you have ever had a shorthair then you know how much energy they have and also how much “hunting” is in their blood. I have never seen a dog hunt so hard; it didn’t matter if she had hunted the last 5 days in a row and her chest was raw from the brush, if she saw a gun and some blaze orange she was bouncing off the walls.
When she was a puppy we had to put a 20 foot leash on her with a knot at the end so that we could catch her as she ran by. I have seen her practically climb a tree trying to get to a cat, I have seen her point 40 woodcock in a day, I have seen her run over 25 mph, she loves to bury things that she kills in my moms garden, not once but over and over again. she pointed her first bird when she was 9 weeks old, she could be grouchy, she hated the water but loved chasing muskrats and raccoons, and under no circumstance would she every retrieve a downed bird for someone she didn’t like…she was already looking for the next one. If you missed an easy shot on a Pheasant she wouldn’t point another one for you, she would instead point birds in front of everyone else for the rest of the day. She had an amazing personality and was adept at any task that was placed in front of her.
My favorite hunting memory with her was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in early October. Opie and I were up there for work and decided to bring our hunting dogs and our gear along. I had my 2 year old Chocolate lab up there as well as Katie and somehow we stumbled into the Woodcock migration. It was the most amazing week of bird hunting that I have every had. Watching those 2 dogs work together, Katie running perfectly sized figure-8 patterns and pointing one woodcock after another and Georgia retrieving every one. We shot our limit of birds for four days, but for me the best part was watching a bird dog in her element. She lived for that, and still after 14 years when she saw my blaze orange she was wagging her tail like a puppy.
I don’t know how much longer Katie will be around. She is blind in one eye, has a trouble standing up, she has trouble just laying down and often gets stuck just trying to get up. Sometimes she cannot even bend down to eat. It is beyond hard for me to see her like this and sad that I might never get to hunt over her again. But I will always look back on her life and remember those hunts and the times that we had together. She is a pure hunter and an amazing friend, maybe we will get to hunt together on the other side.
For Katie– One of the best hunters I have every had the pleasure of hunting alongside….
PT