First Retrieves

First retrieve I ever saw made was me, retrieving a Mallard drake for my Dad out on the North Fork of the Licking River in Kentucky.  Got scolded for venturing down to the water's edge to get the duck, while our retriever "Boo" was running up and down the creek, clueless as usual.

Chief made his first retrieve when he was just five months old.  During the Teal Season, Dad and I were hunting in Blackbird Basin, at Indian Lake.  About sunset, we were ready to give up, no Teal around at all.  Dad decided to poach a Wood Duck, just for the dog to get to make a retrieve.  Chief made a fine mark on a Woodie that fell in heavy cattails.  The first of many.

Hoss made his first retrieve out at Hospital Point, on the New River.  Hunting by myself, on the first day I got to hunt, I knocked down a drake Bufflehead, that fell crippled a long way out.  Hoss made a long swim to the bird, far enough away that I was watching through binoculars.  Just as he reached for the bird, it turned and pecked him in the face.  He turned and swam straight back to the blind.  Had a bloody spot on his cheek.  Who would have thought it.  125 pound Chesapeake Bay Retriever, who would fight the devil himself, wounded by a one pound Buff.   I rode out in the boat, shot the bird, then went back to the blind and sent Hoss again.  Worked out better the second time.

Cain's first retrieve was pretty amazing.  Some friends and I were spread out in the myrtle along a ditch at Catfish Lake Impoundment.  Just at sunrise, we got a pass on Ringnecks.  Knocked down five birds that were scattered over about 60-70 yards of spotty, open water, and vegetation.  Cain marked all five birds.  Each retrieve, I merely called him to heel and said "Back".  He had all the birds marked perfectly.  I guess that I knew right then, he was going to be really special.

Tully's first retrieve came out at my blind at Rhodes Point, on the New River.  Nothing fancy or complicated.  Just an ordinary retrieve on a Bluebill drake, right at the edge of the decoys.  That was the story of his life.  Routinely fetching hundreds of Bluebills, then anxiously awaiting the next one.

I can remember them all, just like it was yesterday.