New Tradition

[Bobby Bass]

Bud

Bud

Hard for me today as today it is one year since I had to put my hunting partner to rest. Been a year already since Bud has been gone but it does not seem that long. I still find myself still looking for him at my feet and I expect to wake up and find his head stealing my pillow. A new tradition starts today as I will be taking a walk down the trail with Duncan hunting with the shadow of Bud

[Ufatz]

Bobby, I hunt every fall with a whole crew of tail waggin' wide awake ghosts from seasons back. I've been doing it for many years-but then I have a few years on you probably. While I stroll into the marsh or the raspy brushy cover I am surrounded by Mike, the hard charging black lab who never lost a bird,  even when he had to crash through thin shore ice in and incoming tide, and who was ready for one more hunt when he had to lay down and give it up. Lucky is with me too; the amazing ball of energy who first of all loved ME and second of all loved to cras;h the cover looking for birds.  She would hunt  until I had to stop her and send her to the truck.  And Silly Sam is there too,  he of the crazy sense of humor that found fun and silliness in every hunt but it never slower him down from finding birds downed in stubble fields or soggy swamps. And then along came Mike II,  a rugged burly  no nonsense dog with a big blocky black head and the sharpest eyes I've ever seen on a dog-he could see ducks coming way before we did and patiently marked them down as they dropped in and around the decoys..  But try as we might he would never bring a decoy back to the beach for us.

Then there was Lazy Maizy, who carefully And plotted a route to the downed bird before she moved  a muscle to go retrieve it. She was a dependable as the tides and as lovable all her life as she had been as a puppy. And Mike was there too at that time, as big a Lab as I've ever had and tough as a truck

And then would come Big Jake, running with the power of a big Caterpillar earth mover-if there was a bird in there Jake would get it out simply by destroying the surrounding cover until the bird had no place to go. but up!

And now, close by me,  is the newest girl Abby, She is a ball of love and energy wrapped in shiny black fur withe a bright orange collar and smarter than a moon scientist!  And a few others lesser note  are in the bunch too.  They all gather around me and rub their noses on my old hunting pants and push one another out of the way to be closest to the Boss. And then they move out into the crisp fall color in its golden brown colors, these beautiful shiny black dogs all doing so well what they did for years with me. They are vapors now, just ghosts that sometimes swirl and blend with the morning fog, but they are ALL there with me,,,,,every time I uncase the old two barrel.  And I have them all in my mind as I shuffle along through the crisp leaves and dried stalks of fall and if you were to see me and ask me I would tell you that I can hear every one of them crashing through the brittle straw colored cover.

I am able to hunt every day of every fall with all my friends from all the years.  They have left me in one sense but they are still with me every fall and all season long.  It is a promise I made to them as they passed over into the place where all old dogs go.  I'm sure it is a peaceful place.

If you look closely and those nice fall days you will sometimes get a glimpse of them.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Excellent, I felt I was walking along side of you and your buddies . Made me stop and think about all of my guys and gals who have walked alongside of me. Bud and Barney were just the last ones and maybe because they were brothers and I was there with them for every minute of their lives that they still tug at me so strong. For most of my adult life I have always had two and sometimes three dogs around me, they kept my kids busy and made me smile. Following in your footsteps I can still hear the footsteps in my mind of Lady the black lab, Amy and Whiner. Soda the first Springer and Trouble the Chesapeake, Bob and Art and Sadie, Bud and Barney's ma. Pepper and BIng and Bella and now just Duncan pressed against my knee as I type this. Be one heck of a party if they were all here together at the same time!

[smurfy]

man guys, them stories just brought I tear and some awesome memories of hounds past. THANKS FOR THOSE STORIES!!!!!!!!!!! loved it!!!!

[Snag]

Nice post Ufatz

[monstermoose78]

Getting my first lab in December, because my chihuahua's can't handle ducks or geese