Of course I love you more than rabbit hunting. I came in two hours early, didn't I?

my friends.
I've been after deer with a recurve since the 15 of October. I have some news on Sugar and it's not good. It's going to be a hard post to write.

I went in with Uncle NoPass’s grandson, Brag when he called last year to say he had found four good rabbit dogs and did I want to go in since he couldn’t afford but two of them.
That’s the short sweet version of how Sugar, Mazie, Julie and Dixie came to occupy my pen. Sugar was a problem from the start and I developed a strong dislike and constantly urged Brag to take her back or get rid of her. She didn’t travel well and was skittish as all get out. She didn’t want anyone to touch her. But over the course of this summer she seemed to come around. She became a fairly happy dog in the pen and ran the cabin rabbits well. But sometimes you’d see this look come in her eye like “What’s he doing? He’s gonna hurt me I just know it” No amount of coaching would get her to come to me or anyone else.

On the last run, with just Maizie, Julie and Dixie, I looked down and ther she was. I reached down and scratched her ear before slipping the electric pine limb from around her neck. She continued to hunt and they ran a short race before losing the rabbit. A few minutes later, Sugar jumped a deer and was off and running with Mazie, Julie and Dixie in tow.

They split up with Dixie and Sugar running one deer off out of hearing. Julie and Mazie ran short loop. I watched the doe bound by a scant 15 yards from me. Only Julie had her collar on and I knocked her in a ditch with it. She tried to scramble up and I knocked her back in to it again. I repeated once more before letting her climb out.
I found Sugar and Dixie over at the Shady Grove Church but as before, she refused to come.

She had been out a month and members of the club would get a glimpse of her as she got camp scraps and such. I tried two days running to get her last week. I knew it was time for a decision. At the end of the second day, I could still see the look in her eye. There was nothing left to do. I reached for a shell