My dogs might not run deer, but Brag’s sure did.
We were finished for the day and I decided to check one of my deer stands to see what happened to it during the recent tree thinning on the pine plantation near scenic downtown Seale, Alabama.
I saw the two deer down the unused lane that in a previous planting had been a firebreak and kept walking toward them. The “girls” were completely unaware.
Suddenly, her head snapped around when she winded the deer and took off.
I started yelling.
The other four came back when they realized what the excitment was about, though my little Lucy kept looking in the direction of the fading barks with a wistful look. Between my stern voice and the fact she never got out of “hat” range, she decided to behave.
I know of at least one girl that will
Get a dose of this.
Probably Lucy to. Ounce of prevention, you know?
This mornings exercise was a spur of the moment thing. GF has had me working on a new floor in one room as we get a house ready to sell.
2 has me tied up with a couple of boats.
And all of our grass, to include the Church, needed cutting.
When I woke up at four this morning and saw that it was a brisk 78* degrees, I figured I’d better get while the getting was good. My thermos of mother's milk was quickly brewed and the girls (who were ecstatic at getting out of the pen) were quickly on our way.
Dew covered the ground from a couple of showers in Seale.
Good trailing, today.
I counted five holes that should be interesting by the time all those trucks and four wheelers go through them this hunting season
The planned for first race after the three week layoff was the cabin rabbit and he seemed eager to play. I pulled up in front of the shacks that we laughingly call “Cabins” as he raced across the twin beams of light from the pathfinder, only to pause some feet away in the “front yard“.
Lucy, Dixie and Suzie were in the summer box. Kate and Mystery, who I was ticked at for racing around the yards while I was trying to load them, shared the plastic box.
Lucy, the Nose, started barking as soon as she hit the ground. Dixie and Suzie joined in and the race was on. Meanwhile, I thought Kate and Mystery were going to tear their box apart trying to get out and join in the fun.
We had three good races.
After the cabin rabbit gave the girls the slip on the third circuit, we jumped again on the opposite side of the road. This time the rabbit took the girls on a loooong straight away run. As they faded from hearing, I began to get nervous. There was no indication that the “rabbit” was circling.
I hotfooted it to “the Florida boys” road and found where they crossed. Not a deer track in sight, but mixed in with the girls tracks was a rabbit track in the ground, wet from a recent, very welcome, shower. In the distance, I heard the girls again as the rabbit brought them back into hearing. In a few minutes, I saw the rabbit cross back across the Florida boys road.
The third race was at the sandpit and it consisted of a mixed lot of excited barking, confused barking and silent circling. I saw the rabbit a couple of times. It was a really young sager that was doing a lot more hiding and dodging than running.
I decided to check the deer stand since the heat was starting to build some.
A doe and a yearling stood in the trail for a moment looking at us before turning and racing away. As we approached the spot, Brag's dog Suzie winded the deer and took off. Lucy was the one that I expected to have to swat.
I kept the other girls in check till I got them back in the box. Suzie came back 20 minutes later with a contrite look. We’ll see how contrite over the next few weeks while she wears the collar and I look for deer to walk her by.
Posted 08/25/07 by rimfire | Filed under: Pre-season races 07-08
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