I took a break from fishing today to work the dog a bit. There was a field trial near the house over the weekend so I knew the fields would have plenty of missed quail left over.

It was a great morning. A buddy joined me and my springer pup with his lab and our two dogs worked for about 2.5 hours. We managed 3 quail and 2 woodcock! All were catch and released My springer flushed both woodcock, Johns lab got 2 quail and they split the flush on the 3rd quail 50/50. We both were sporting starter pistols w/ blanks to simulate the shot for the dogs. All birds were flushed well within shotgun range.

My springer took a stick in the mouth that caused a few tense moments, but it turned out to be pretty minor and other than a small gouge under his tongue and a few specks of blood he was good to go and was eager to get back on the hunt.

While I like gunning over the dog, the whole C&R thing still gets me pumped. Nothing like a cool early morning watching a birdy dog make an aggressive flush

Both dogs worked well together. Johns lab is about 7y.o. my springer is only 10 months old. Other than a little sniffing at first they both went about their business and did a great job.