Hunting Articles

Article

Adjusting Your Training

When you have trained multiple dogs, once you find what works for you, it is natural to stick with the same method for each dog you train. If the way you introduce them to gun fire works, why change? If your drills for steadiness are succes.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: August 24, 2025

Article

The Smith Setter Celebration

It’s tough to beat the warm days and cool nights of Georgia in the Spring. The high heat and humidity, the kind that drives field trailers in droves to the Dakotas, the Rockies, or Canada, hasn’t yet hit. The sounds of songbirds float o.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: July 6, 2025

Article

Two Men and Two Mules

This is a true story. It is set in a time of many transitions, including in Sussex County, Virginia, the transition from mules to tractors in the cultivation and harvest of peanuts. The time was 1945. The characters were Richard Spain, just.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: May 3, 2025

Article

Tall Timbers: Burning Down the House

I’ve heard of folks figuring out the price tag on costs to raise wild quail, but I don’t know of anyone who has kept track of the amount of time that goes into the breeding, training and developing of a championship gun dog. Both are si.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: April 15, 2025

Article

See You At The Dance

Arguably, the most coveted days on a bird hunter’s calendar are the ones where he or she is actually hunting. Those days are the summit of a year-long hike through the day-to-day of dog training, vet bills, hard earned paychecks, and shee.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: March 25, 2025

Article

Retriever Safety

With a heave, I pulled my foot free of the thick muck, I wondered if another half mile of this was worth the trouble. The edge of this particular beaver pond seemed solid enough, but I had slogged far enough to find out that wasn’t the ca.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: March 18, 2025

Article

DRIFTER HYDRATION

No matter the environment wingshooters and the bird hounds that accompany them find themselves in, it is essential that both man and beast stay hydrated. Even more so as temperatures fluctuate and the sun beats down, both humans and dogs can be susceptible to dehydration in any kind of weather condition. A lack of drinkable water can have serious health consequences, so taking proactive measures to prevent thirst is something to take seriously. Having the ability for a constant source of H2O is detrimental in maintaining a safe, functional, and enjoyable bird hunt. It comes down to having enough water in a capable carrying system that is flexible in its configuration and use. The best way to do that is to procure it from a water source and have the ability to filter it easily for consumption and allow for refilling. Enter … Drifter Hydration.

By: gundogcentral
Posted: February 24, 2025

Article

The 2015 Florida Open All-Age Championship

All trialers know how sometimes and rarely things come together at a field trial to produce a magic event. So it was at Chinquapin Farm in January 2015.
.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: February 3, 2025

Article

A New Grouse Hunter

Sam Scales had just sold his AI Startup to a consortium of Private Equity firms for $1 Billion (his share) and embraced a new-to-him sport: Ruffed Grouse Hunting. He brought to it the same intensity he had to the Startup. He was a math geni.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: December 23, 2024

Article

Meet Gen Next

Everyone loves puppies, but not everyone likes dogs. It’s unsurprising that the same holds true in the canine world. Many adult dogs don’t care that much for puppies, and some downright despise them. Making sure that the introduction is.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: December 15, 2024

Article

Don’t Lose Your Birds

Almost every bird hunter has experienced the desperate disappointment of losing a downed bird. We all have had to walk away. It is not a good feeling when a bird is lost. Whether using dogs or not, knowing that a bird has been shot and the .. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: December 2, 2024

Article

Booty Blevins and Marvin Means

It was 1946. The War was finally over, and Booty was back in Alabama after duty as a duce-and-a half driver and then infantryman at the Battle of the Bulge, mustering out as a corporal. Before the War, he had worked as a hand on Mr. Mayta.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: November 25, 2024

Article

C-C-C-Cold-Weather Canine Care

Our October and November waterfowl hunts weren’t anything to write about. Air temps north of us hovered between 70-and-82 degrees Fahrenheit, and with all of that open water those birds weren’t in a hurry to go anywhere. A bone-chilling.. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: November 18, 2024

Article

Read Your Dog

Just because a gun dog can’t speak doesn’t mean he’s not saying anything. Reading the dogs’ body language is key for elevating performance levels, so here are some things pro trainers look for when they cut loose their string.

By: gundogcentral
Posted: October 21, 2024

Article

Losing It

Harry Bain had been an all-age for-the-public pointing dog trainer-handler for thirty years. In that role he had lived in south Alabama, trained trial and hunting dog's mid-July through mid-September in North Dakota and traveled the major .. more ..

By: gundogcentral
Posted: October 5, 2024