Pennsylvania Game News -November 2008 - 25

weed field near our house always has a few pheasants in it, so that’s where we went. I wanted Lilly to get the scent of some wild pheasants and watch her reaction. All in all, things didn’t go too well. Lilly hunted close by, which was good, but she just couldn’t seem to pin down and point any pheasants. All of the birds we saw flushed wild, either off to one side or the other or far out in front. Late in September, Lilly gave me the scare of a lifetime. I was working her one Saturday morning in my neighbor’s weed field when, for some reason, she took off running and soon was out of sight. I ran after her, whistling and calling, but she didn’t respond. She was gone. I continued searching for her for more than an hour, but to no avail. I was afraid to leave the field because I thought she might come back and I wouldn’t be there. Then, I heard a car horn blowing. It was my wife. Lilly had been found. A lady called our house and told Tana that Lilly was out on the main road with cars stopped in both directions. The lady got out of her car, grabbed Lilly, and took her home. She then got our phone number from a tag on Lilly’s collar and called our house. I was so relieved. Something had to be done. I decided to call a friend of mine, Randy Billmeyer, and borrow his training collar (shock collar). Randy was glad to help out. After he gave me instructions on how to use the collar, Lilly and I headed for the neighbor’s field. The collar administers an electric shock to the dog when you push a button on the control piece. I set the device to deliver a mid-range level shock and turned Lilly loose. Sure enough, after hunting well for awhile, Lilly decided to chase a rabbit across the dirt road. When I whistled and she didn’t stop, I pushed the control button. Lilly stopped in her tracks. When I gave the “come here” whistle command, Lilly came running. I guess she wanted comfort from me. I went right home and ordered a training collar just like Randy’s — an Innotek Model 4500. I’m NOVEMBER 2008 happy to report that I have had to shock Lilly only three times and that she has never run away again. Summer gradually turned into fall and I was getting worried. What if Lilly is a dud? I thought. She would be my first Brittany that was a bust as a bird dog. A little ray of hope appeared when the Game Commission stocked pheasants on our local game lands for the youth pheasant hunt in October. (Starting in 2006, all State Game Lands are closed to all dog training activities from the Monday prior to the start of the youth pheasant season until the close of the youth pheasant season.) The pheasants seemed to be everywhere. Lilly got into more bird scent in just a few days than she had all summer. She often got excited as she saw a flying pheasant or when she found some red hot scent, but she couldn’t seem to put everything together and make that first point. The 2005 general small game season finally arrived and, to be frank, I didn’t expect too much from Lilly. I didn’t even take her out hunting until Wednesday of the first week. Archery season was beginning to heat up, due to the rut, so I was concentrating on shooting a deer. That first Wednesday of the season went pretty much as I had expected, with only one pheasant rooster seen, no points, and no shots taken. On Friday, I decided to give Lilly another try. This time on a piece of ground owned by PP&L. The property is open to public hunting and is enhanced by the Game Commission and the local chapter of Pheasants Forever. There are fields of corn and soybeans, and numerous fields planted specifically with cover for pheasants. Lilly was excited to be hunting. I placed a collar around her neck and then added a small bell so that I could keep track of her in the heavy cover. When I 25

Pennsylvania Game News -November 2008

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