A Funky Safety/This Bird Has Flown
It was mid morning of a late October day. The sun was just warming the damp forest floor. The leaves were just wet enough to be quiet and a first season Setter was on the lane to becoming a bird dog. Coming around the corner of a mostly grown in tote road, the man saw the Setter still and near rigid. His nose visibly active and his gaze fixed.
As he cautiously approached, his thoughts of a pup deserving his bird had him nerved up. The bird must be close. Yes behind that clump of spruce. Two more steps. Maybe it will choose to fly ahead down the old lane.
In the middle of that thought its wings slammed the ground and rose from the black growth and into the sun streaming into the lane. An easy going away shot. The man could see the grouse fall in his mind’s eye as the 20 gauge 101 came up smoothly from port of arms to mount.
In one practiced series his thumb and finger worked in concert.
Both dog and man watched the grouse fly on to safety.
Of Upland Birds, Setters and Trout 