Montana 2014 in the rear view mirror, Part III, the dogs

I have come to really enjoy taking photos while we hunt.  We even have a little routine where I download them onto the laptop or ipad when we return from hunting and while we eat dinner I set it to playback the day's photos in a slideshow.   Lots of fun to relive the moments and discuss details that maybe one of us had missed at the time.  The photos also sometimes point out things that both of us missed, such as additional birds flushing off to the side or a dog backing - or breaking - that we had not noticed in person.  So I hope you all get some pleasure from my photos as well.  This will be the last batch from our MT trip.  But.....stay tuned, because in 2 days we are leaving for a spontaneous trip to Vermont to hunt grouse and woodcock!  

For now, back in MT, it was fun to have 2 pups along again this year.  Belle, one of the Fr Brit pups, was only 9 months when we left.  These first pics show her first points on sharptail.  We think she's going to be a good one: she covers the ground very nicely, handles easily, and seems to have a good nose.

Jazz, our other Fr Brit puppy, was only 5 months and still pretty small in size so we decided to hold off with hunting her until quail season here in KS.  She did get a little exposure to sharptails though, you can see how short she is in the grass.  Look closely to see the sharpie standing in front of her in the grass.  Overall, she is adorable and I can't wait to hunt her.

Often in photos the eye is drawn to the setters since they are bigger and white, but the 2 FB boys Jack and DW always put on a show, we are very fortunate to have them.

Sally is just 1 yr old and it is great fun to watch her speed across the prairie.  She has the darn'dest habit though of going on point only in the densest of cover where you can barely see her.  She reminds me a bit of the TV show Tool Time where the neighbor always had his face half covered.  This year Sally got quilled by a porcupine not once, but twice, but fortunately they weren't too bad and we were able to pull the quills ourselves.  The second time she yelped when it happened I am hoping that she learned to leave porkys alone.  

Can you see Sally on point in the photo below?

Fortunately, Tweed and her daughter Storm are much easier to see.

As always, thanks for looking.