The morning of Day 2 found us on wildlife habitat land near Warden, Washington, managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Since it used to be agricultural land, the walking was mostly flat, criss-crossed with drainage ditches and rows of wild roses.
The four humans and two dogs were circling back toward the cars, when Russ and Renae heard a pheasant rooster cackle in one of the rose hedges. Rod and Rio went up one side of the hedge, and Russ and Cooper went around to the other side. Rio flushed the bird into the air, where Rod had a perfect shot, dropping the bird into the grass.
At the sound of the gun, Rio and Cooper raced off in the direction of the fallen bird. (Honoring another dog’s retrieve isn’t in Cooper’s mental vocabulary yet.) Fortunately, Rio found the bird first, made the retrieve, and proudly returned the bird to Rod.
Beautiful! We are so jealous!
[…] Russ didn’t shoot a pheasant, we had pheasant for dinner tonight. Rod and Renae gave us the bird Rod shot on Tuesday. It had been cleanly shot through the head, and Rio brought it back with a very gentle […]