By: Tim Rupard
As the sun began to rise through the clouds and trees on the far side of the lake, light struck long shadows across the foggy water. The mist moved on the same gentle breeze that gave life to the decoys stretched out in front of us.
Darkness began to give way to the glow of sunrise, and the smells of wet grass and mud permeated our senses. Within minutes, life began to stir into action all around us. The youngster sitting at attention beside me took it all in. No level of mocked situation can quite match the first time in the duck blind.
At 6 months old, he seemed oddly ready for the next few moments, although I knew he really had no idea what all of this was about yet. I had worked hard with him for the last four months to prepare him the best I could and hoped good genetics would cover for my inability to relay accurately what he was truly in for.
I am sure you have guessed I didn’t have my 6-month-old son in the duck blind with me, rather my 6-month-old lab, Winston. He is the grandson of the retriever I have been hunting with for the last 12 years, Woodie, and the great, great grandson of the first lab I ever trained and hunted with for 14 years, Drake. The youngster was actually wearing the same camo dog vest his great, great grandfather wore, and we were hunting in a spot I have been hunting for about 20 years.
It was a little early in the season for a lab to be wearing a neoprene vest for cold protection; however, at 6 months old he was still a little undeveloped in the body fat department. There is nothing quite like hunting with a dog you have trained. All the successes, even the failures, burn memories into your mental hunting journal that can lift your spirits in the darkest of times. Yet, for all the hard work, our trusty, dedicated companions need us to step up and protect them from the elements.
I remember being in Arkansas with Drake, in his 11th hunting season. The shooting was incredible at daylight, and though he was wading through a slushy mix in the decoy spread, he worked hard and picked up every single one we had knocked down. I looked up from the pit blind about 35 minutes into the hunt to see him sitting at perfect attention shaking in the cold like I had never seen. He was promptly brought into the blind and wrapped in my wool overcoat. He and I would share that coat for the next hour while we finished picking out a limit of ducks for everyone.
We should spare no expense, no level of sacrifice to protect our canine companions. If we deserve their kind of devotion, they deserve our strongest commitment to keep them safe and healthy to hunt for years to come. Here, in the last cold month of the season, protect your dog. It will pay in great dividends over time.
Tim Rupard is the Owner of Rais~A~Ruckus Game Calls in Monroe, Ga. He handcrafts fine quality game calls for every hunting scenario. He also arranges paid hunting trips. Go online to www.raisaruckus.com, search them out on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
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