Although it might look more like a B!t@h and moan session...
I don't watch much "outdoor" stuff on TV, either it's infomercials or,uh, infomercials. I was flipping through the channels yesterday,tho and stopped when I saw a teaser about a southern quail hunt.
The show featured a fresh faced kid named Page who toted a fine looking Parker, and the dogs looked good, so I figured to while away a little time.I love to watch bird dogs work.
A few minutes in, the dogs locked on point,and the sports moved in to shoot. One guy was fast as heck, firing off a shot while the quail were only a couple of feet off the ground,and right over a dog's head! Another guy swung on a bird, and had to abort, because the shot would have gone very close to, or hit, a cameraman.
Now, angles reduced to the two dimensional world of TV can be deceptive, but this was unmistakeable.
And, there had been a blurb earlier, from this Page kid, about how one only loaded up when the dogs pointed, but these safety problems turned up anyway.
A couple of lessons to reiterate...
First, keep the muzzle of the weapon pointed in a safe direction ALL the time.
Second, when birding, KNOW exactly where all the members of the party and the dogs are at all times, and only take those shot opportunities that occur in YOUR segment of the area. If it's a possible for two of you, let the other guy have the shot. I'd rather not shoot than A, create a situation more risky than it has to be and,B, stimulate any actions where someone else figures they NEED to BEAT me to a shot.
If both of you do shoot, the next thing to say is,"Your bird" or "Good shot". Game hogs and unsafe shooters are egregious...
There's no bird on earth worth hurting a dog or even worse, a person.
I don't watch much "outdoor" stuff on TV, either it's infomercials or,uh, infomercials. I was flipping through the channels yesterday,tho and stopped when I saw a teaser about a southern quail hunt.
The show featured a fresh faced kid named Page who toted a fine looking Parker, and the dogs looked good, so I figured to while away a little time.I love to watch bird dogs work.
A few minutes in, the dogs locked on point,and the sports moved in to shoot. One guy was fast as heck, firing off a shot while the quail were only a couple of feet off the ground,and right over a dog's head! Another guy swung on a bird, and had to abort, because the shot would have gone very close to, or hit, a cameraman.
Now, angles reduced to the two dimensional world of TV can be deceptive, but this was unmistakeable.
And, there had been a blurb earlier, from this Page kid, about how one only loaded up when the dogs pointed, but these safety problems turned up anyway.
A couple of lessons to reiterate...
First, keep the muzzle of the weapon pointed in a safe direction ALL the time.
Second, when birding, KNOW exactly where all the members of the party and the dogs are at all times, and only take those shot opportunities that occur in YOUR segment of the area. If it's a possible for two of you, let the other guy have the shot. I'd rather not shoot than A, create a situation more risky than it has to be and,B, stimulate any actions where someone else figures they NEED to BEAT me to a shot.
If both of you do shoot, the next thing to say is,"Your bird" or "Good shot". Game hogs and unsafe shooters are egregious...
There's no bird on earth worth hurting a dog or even worse, a person.