St Judes Quail and Gracie the Wonder Dog

[Terry Green]

And here's a couple of more pics of Joe and Gracie the Wonder Dog......

Joe Praising Gracie.....and she don't need it as she knows she's the gal!!!!! ( but takes it anyway as a 'yeah yeah yeah' 'I know'.)  

She was a real trooper as I would find out......

     

And of COURSE she can pose!!!!!

     

[Terry Green]

This scenario played out over and over for the entire afternoon...well....for 2 and a half hours at least as we didn't want to wear out Graice for the next mornings hunt.

Gracie was all over the field, and was amazing to watch....much less killing birds....man was he a hunter!!!!

Points were solid...and I witnessed her creeping on birds that were walking.....that was REALLY cool!!!!  She IS the price of admission!!!!!


   

[frassettor]

   

[Terry Green]

Oh....don't leave yet....MUCH more to come!!!!!!!!

[smokin joe]

A few facts about Gracie:

She is a French Brittany Spaniel. This is a slightly different breed than the American Brittany, though the genetic stock of the American Brittany has its origins in the French Brittany bloodlines.

French Brittanys are slightly smaller than the usual American Brittany, and Gracie is on the small side of the breed standard. She weighs in at about 27-28 pounds and stands about 18" high at the shoulder. She has long legs for her body length and she can cover ground with good speed.

The French Brittany can have white, orange or black in the coat. Gracie has all three colors -- known as a tri-color.

Like all pointing breeds, she covers ground quickly searching for bird scent in the breeze. When she hits a scent stream she points the scent. She has learned through experience to execute a "walking point" on birds that are moving thus keeping the scent stream in her nose.

I am glad that Terry posted those photos. Other than the posed one, I had not known that he took those.

Stay tuned... There is a lot more for us to tell.....

[Terry Green]

In Atlanta for Rachel's showcase....hope to post tomorrow....but it's Mother's day.....bear with us....much more to come....

[SELFBOW19953]

Hunting over a good dog is great.  Hunting over a good dog that you trained, is unbelievable. Having others hunt over the dog that you trained is the most wonderful feeling!!!  Congratulations to the 3 of you-Gracie, Terry, and Joe!!

[Terry Green]

Sorry my youngest daughter had a play last night the.... last one of the year so I'm back available now to post for a little bit until there's another thing tonight for the retiring band director which my daughter is the drum major also so May is very busy for me as any any parent that has a child in the school will know

Anyway I have many more pictures and Gracie was really really a champ in the field I have been bird hunting once before in my life and I've been pheasant hunting before and Gracie is the best dog of hunted over ...

 She hunted her tail off literally she was all over the field back and forth and pointing with authority and creeping and just just a joy to watch if anyone is not really into hunting over a dog like that but it is shotgun savy  will really appreciate the work of a dog like that....

And she retrieved every bird we killed more on that later some of those were after the fact .....more pictures to come..... it's one of those st. Jude's hunts that keeps giving and giving

[Terry Green]

As the afternoon progressed Gracie continued to point and we continue to shoot it was a beautiful afternoon and More Beautiful watching Gracie do her stuff.... we ended up two and a half hours into the hunt with 9 quail....

It was a great afternoon and now it was time time for dinner, and Gracie needed to rest for the morning hunt....

Again it had been many many years since I've shot a gun but I rethought a lot of memories on the way back to Joe's house of the day we had ....and the shots that were.... made even some of the misses were memorable..... yep to this day I will never figure out how I missed the quail that was in the Ravine .......I have no idea what happened but I had to laugh at it then.....and I laugh at it now.

[Terry Green]

That evening we would have Quail Stew after Quail 'poppers' and let me tell you this is also worth the price of admission.....don't get me started on the poppers!!!!

 pictures to follow in the morning as they are being uploaded.....

Along with a few more tales and pictures Gracie on point and retrieve as well as meals

[smokin joe]

The recipe for quail poppers:

Ingredients:
filleted quail meat
sliced banana peppers or sliced jalapino peppers
sliced bacon
toothpicks

Process:
-- soak toothpicks in water (this is so they won't burn)
-- fillet the quail meet off of the bone and cut into bite sized pieces
-- roll a piece or two of quail, together with a slice of pepper, up
in a half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick

The above makes one popper. keep making poppers until you run out of ingredients.

Place the poppers on a rack or broiler pan and bake at 400 degrees for about a half hour, or until the bacon looks crisp on top.

Remove the poppers from the oven and let them cool a bit and then ENJOY. They are G-O-O-D.

Quail poppers are a guaranteed part of the St. Jude's Quail Hunt.

[smokin joe]

And if you use thick slices bacon, zap the bacon in the microwave a bit to give it a head start so you don't end up over cooking the quail.

[Terry Green]

OR....On the Grill.....

   

   

   

[SKITCH]

Those look good.  Might just need a very cold quality beer to wash them down!!

[Terry Green]

Here's the Quail Stew!!!

   


And Gracie on point in the edge of the wood line....  

   

And Gracie and I with 6 of the 9 for the 1st day...hard to see them birds in the woods, ...but they are at our feet.

    ......


More pics and stories tomorrow!!!

[smokin joe]

After a dinner of quail stew and quail poppers, we sat in front of the fire place and, with a tired dog at our feet, and talked well into the night. We talked about quail, pointing dog training, and bow hunting. Terry and I, and my wife Deborah, also talked about show business and Terry's incredibly talented daughters and our families.

Eventually it became clear that it was time to turn in and get some rest because we had another hunt scheduled for the morning.

[Bill Turner]

What a great time. Thanks for sharing. Bet you this hunt will be a hot item this time around. Can't beat the TG St. Jude auction for a way to give back to a great cause.  

[Terry Green]

Yes, the evening spent with the Tilford's that evening was icing on the cake.......

Next up, ....breakfast and a beautiful morning hunt....

[Terry Green]

As my Uncle from Michigan use to say....we need to get 'fortified'!!!...and so we did.

Breakfasted up, well, Gracie and her two running buddies got served 1st    :D .  That was a hoot to watch them all line up and act so proper waiting for their bows from Joe.

He's got so really great dogs.

Anyhow, the morning was crisp, so I donned my Asbell Anorack instead of the older field jacket....that was the perfect attire for this morning that had a slight breeze starting out but picked up as the morning progressed, plus we were on a higher field.

[Terry Green]

The birds were a little spooky this AM from the wind, and we must of seen 8 or 10 just spook on their own from the rustling in the wind rows....but it didn't take long before Gracie did her thing....

POINT!!!

     

Joe made haste with the 1st shot of the morning....and Gracie was off for the retrieve.....