I was hunting with a buddy in 2005 and we had borrowed his dad's english setter for the day. She needed a bit of field to calm down, so before we got into the good ground (peach orchard with quail galore) we elected to run her down the railroad tracks about a quarter mile, then hunt the bluffs above the tracks for pheasant on the way back. This was in the Snake River above Penawawa, WA, so the bluffs run right down to the river bank. The railroad grade is cut into the hillside along the river, and this leaves a series of cuts that end in a cliff above the railroad bed, ranging from 40 to about 100 ft high.
I elected to stay on the grade, and my buddy and dog cut up above to work the fields. I was suppose to catch any that ran down the gulleys to the river.
Instead the dog was casting out and running about 30 mph directly at a cliff. She ran right off that cliff, full speed, and went like a lawn dart about 80 feet (yes, I said 80). It was sickening to watch. It was long enough that I sincerely though, "I am going to watch this dog die!" it was a conscious thought.
She hit the stone grade and bounced, I kid you not, a full 8 feet in the air.
Tore her lip open, and se was bleeding like a faucet was turned on.
We got her back to the truck and we were both completely covered in her blood. I managed to first aid her to a point where the bleeding stopped. We got her back to town and I'll be damned if she didn't drop down from the truck and start hunting the shrubs around our parking spot where we met her dad. I though she was dead, for sure. She was a little sore and stiff the next day and hunted 3 days later.
I've seen some dogs take some serious hurt and never even flinch. Amazing what they get like when they are in the field.
Nice save.
