ATB: Kezar Falls Youth Hunt

Today (October 10, 2012) the Kezar Falls Rod & Gun Club offered a fun hunt for youth.  John is a member of the club and has enjoyed getting more involved there. He helped out at this event as an instructor. A manageable and eager turnout of about 8 youth ranging from 10 - 14 years old participated. All had State of Maine Junior Hunting licenses. Parents, uncles, grandparents and friends accompanied the youth who were there to have a chance to do some bird hunting with hunting dogs. John brought along 4 of our trained, experienced Brittany bird dogs to help. A couple of German Shorthair Pointers and English Setters were also part of the event.  

 

Each instructor and their dog(s) took a small group of junior hunters.  Each junior hunter had 2 adults with them. The instructor took each junior hunter through the steps of bird hunting with a dog.  Hunting safety was the primary focus for working with all of the dogs.  Of utmost importance of course was teaching them when it was safe to fire and when not to.  The adults supervised very closely with youth that were very eager to learn.  In the group that John was working with Mitchell was the only one who actually shot a bird and he was very excited and proud! I received a phone call from John and his new young friend. I was happy to have a chance to congratulate him personally.  John told him his picture would probably show up on the Internet somewhere!

 

There is also a story behind the above photo.  John wanted to take a picture of Mitchell with his first bird and of course with Scooby, the dog he shot it over.  To do so John folded up Scoobys lead and hat Mitchell stand on it. When John requested Scoob to 'whoa'  his reaction was to raise his front leg up and look around very seriously, looking quite impressive. Well, I have to confess that Scooby's expression and pose in the photo simply makes me laugh out loud!  You see, I clearly remember when this now 5 year old beautiful Brittany boy and his littermates were first introduced to actual live birds when just 6 weeks old.  Scooby and his litter mates first smelled and then saw the bird hidden in the grass in our front yard.  Each puppy froze like a statue and raised their front leg in unison staring at the bird in front of them. Scoob has come a long way since those days but he is still just a kid at heart and one who  does take his job very, very seriously.  Congratulations Mitchell and way to go Scooby!