My First Hunting Adventure
I am exhausted and overwhelmed with pride and joy. After having a had a great trial at the Rainier Hunt Classic we packed up and drove down to Albany Oregon getting in around 10 pm. We were up before dawn to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and maybe get a jump on some wily Nutria. Lynn put her girl Pepper down first. In less than 10 minutes she disappeared underground and started baying. Christian, our guide and mentor had not arrived yet as he had to make the 3 hour drive from his home. So, for now we were alone with Brent, our JRTCA Hunting judge as Christian was still an hour away. Pepper settled in and we decided to dig to her. Luckily she was only down 3 feet. Bob and Brent dug a large 4 foot square hole and when they broke through Pepper was face to face with a ginormous growling Nutria. Simply textbook. Brent said no need to get her bit as she had done her job, so he put a big shovel between them and Lynn reached down and got Pepper out. We then got Pedey and Epic to let them school and Pedey lost his mind charging in and getting a small bite on his lip, that really pissed him off. Well that Nutria was quickly dispatched and we were all basking in the glory of Peppers NHC success...so I’m walking Pedey, trying to get some control and he is like a kite in a storm, lunging and acting the fool... I was thinking “he wants to get to the dead Nutria”. As I walked by he literally dove into the hole pulling me along with him. Brent said “let him look”. So, I did and he quickly disappeared from sight underground. Soon he was baying and screaming and then as quickly as he went in he came backing out with big Nutria by the throat who by the way, was also latched on to the side of Pedey’s face. Talk about a rodeo. I was trying to get some control, Pedey is hell bent on killing him some Nutria, the Nutria is fighting back and Brent was trying to get a clean swing to put a shovel to the Nutria’s head without hitting my precious boy. Holy hell! I was able to pull Pedey off the Nutria and the Nutria let go momentarily and Brent, like a super hero, with one clean whack got the Nutria. That damn Nutria had bitten clean through Pedey’s cheek right below his eye. There was blood everywhere and one super happy dog. We flushed his eyes and the bites on his face with saline solution. Christian arrived about that time and doctored him up, packing his wounds with Fura-Zone ointment. alone.
Charlie then put Pea Shooter on the ground. She worked methodically for over an hour when she disappeared from view. We could hear her working away and not long after she returned with a small Nutria, which was not considered “formidable”. Kenai was next working through the blackberry brambles. She went into a hole in the side of a very tall embankment. She kept coming out and going back in finally settling and went to work. The guys started digging and had a 6 foot wide by 3 foot deep hole started but Kenai kept moving around and we could not get a good spot to dig to her. After an hour of digging, checking, and waiting Brent and Christian said she was not up to the Nutria and that’s why she kept moving. Christian speculated that there were lots of tunnels on different levels. One time she would be 5 foot down then she was 7 foot down. We were discussing what to do when she came back out and Lynn grabbed her up off the ground. We decided we didn’t want to do a 7 foot dig only to find she had moved again. Epic got down next with no luck, then Fuller and then Pedey. By this time it’s getting warm and the dogs are finding nothing.
We took a break for lunch and afterward Christian had another spot that was shady he thought we could try. We put Kenai down there. She kept running around in a big circle and going to a hole in the bank but didn’t really show much interest. We debated leaving and Kelly wanted to put the experienced Timber down so she could verify that no one was home. She followed the same path as Kenai, except she went into the hole straight away. The bad part was this particular hole was surrounded by thick blackberry brambles and Christian had to take the machete to hack a spot large enough for them to locate. She was back in a good 5 feet from the entrance baying like a hound. Luckily she was only 2 feet down and it turned out to be a somewhat easy dig to another large male. By the time we got to her the Nutria had made a 3” slice in the side of her cheek. She was bleeding pretty bad and kept shaking her head slinging blood all over us. Don’t believe it if someone says that Nutria are not formidable, they are wicked creatures and can really do damage to dog.
Christian was about done cleaning and stapeling Timmy’s wound shut when the cops showed up. They find 5 people toting shovels, knives and big machetes with blood splatter all over them. You can imagine their surprise and concern at what they had just walked into. The look on their faces was priceless to say the least. Once we explained who we were, and we were performing Nutria abatement they were interested, but requested we stay back anyway. Kelly went back to the patrol car with them to show them ID and we all tried to remain cool and not laugh loudly. Apparently, they had gotten a call that we were dumping stuff. They should have known better when they saw my Prius parked there.
It was about 5:30, overcast and not too hot so we decided to go back to the place Pepper found hers. Kelly put the locator collar on Fuller and put him on the ground, he was hunting along the ditch and became very interested in this one area. Fuller is a big boy and it was a very small hole, he sniffed around and literally squeezed his way in. All was silent for what seemed like forever, then we heard him way back in barking. We located him and he was 15 feet from the entrance and 3 feet down working steadily. Brent let him work for about 5 minutes to make sure he settled and didn’t back out before we started to dig. It didn’t take too long to get to him and he was face to face with another large angry as hell male. It was so cool that both Vic and Kelly were there to help dig and get pictures of their boy earning his NHC.
So that was the first day. 3 NHC’s, a baby and a rodeo. I would say it was an epic day.
We went out again the next morning and drove about 30 minutes to a new spot. We are going along and a big raccoon crossed the road. Bob and I was following behind and all we could see was Kelly hitting her brakes and Christian leaping from the moving vehicle. He and Brent came running to my car holding a locator collar yelling “give us Pedey” we got a coon. I’m thinking WTF? A Nutria is one thing but a coon, good grief! Pedey got a good romp but never found the coon so we all loaded up and headed on again. Kenai was on the ground first and did pretty much the same as the day before. She would locate, start to work then come out. It was close to noon and getting hot when Pedey found an interesting hole but couldn’t push his way in. Brent thought it best to help him a little so he didn’t get frustrated. Christian found a small air hole in the field about 15 feet in from where he had been working and opened it up a little. Pedey took one look and dropped inside where we tracked him exploring a series of tunnels eventually pushing his way out through the small hole he originally couldn’t get into. He never got excited so we don’t think anyone was home. He was game and was wanting more, but by this time it is getting hot and Kelly and Christian had to get home. We all went back to our rooms, showered and napped until dinner. It was an amazing few days with the best friends anyone could ask for. I can’t wait to go again. I’m sure Pedey will be super when he finds someone home.