Article Database
These page is loaded with Featured Articles
Overcoming In-Season Obstacles with Your Bird Dog
Between dangers in the field and training-related issues while hunting, how do you handle and prepare for obstacles that may arise this season?
The Versatile Beagle
There is a lot of emphasis on versatile hunting dogs in recent years, and guys like me have been running them for decades. What am I talking about? Why, the ever-popular beagle is what I am thinking has been the versatile hunting dog par excellence for centuries. Growing up in the Northern Appalachian Mountains, specifically in the Alleghenies, there were lots of hunters who kept a beagle or two for rabbit hunting. Beagles are hounds, with a powerful nose, and a strong urge to pursue game. Typically, the biggest problem faced by owners of beagles is ensuring that they do not chase off game—deer being the most tempting and problematic off game species. A cottontail rabbit might run in a circle a few hundred yards in diameter. A deer chase might take a pack of beagles so far away that you no longer hear them baying, and it ruins a day afield. Experienced houndsmen do not venture afield for a hunt with a beagle that will run off game.
Opening Day of Dove Season – Are Our Dogs Ready to Go???
It’s that time of year, the excitement has been building and dove season is just around the corner! We have worked our dove fields, gotten our camo out, and polished up our guns. We can hardly wait for opening morning, to feel the rush of birds coming in and the blasts of our shotguns going off!
One too many ( Fiction )
Billy Eanes was desperate for money. To pay gambling debts. Without the money he would be dead—and soon.
Bird Hunting Partners
Few living today knew the days of wild bird (quail) hunting on foot on ordinary farms across much of America. I did, and it kept me sane and gave me much joy.
Comparing Performance Metrics of Bird Dogs by Gender
If you ask any bird-dog enthusiast what they look for when choosing a future upland dog and hunting companion, you are bound to get a wide array of advice. Many bird-dog enthusiasts favor specific breeds and bloodlines that align with the species of upland game they pursue or the hunting methods they use (i.e., walk hunting vs. horseback, etc.). When selecting puppies, they may favor certain mannerisms, such as boldness vs. timidness, or with a preferred conformation or coloration. Most enthusiasts also prefer a specific gender—male vs. female.
Intro to Gunfire
As bird dog owners, we all anticipate shooting birds and watching our dogs fire off into the water, chasing after the fallen greenhead. But, we need to take our time; when they are young pups, we need to be careful of just how we first expose them to gunfire.
Old Friends
Your four legged friend is more than a hunting tool, but friend and family member. Even the hardest of souls crack when it is apparent that their hunting dog is slowing down and entering their final chapter. Growing up we had English Springer Spaniels and chocolate Labradors; chasing Valley Quail and waterfowl through the hunting seasons in the green Oregon valleys. During our Springer Jennifer’s final years, arthritis took hold but her drive to go hunting never diminished. She made sure she was always near the truck when it was time to go on any early morning, that short docked tail wagging furiously in her attempts to jump on to the tailgate, but ultimately not able to make it. The arthritis kept her short legs from making the jump despite repeated attempts that used to be effortless. Her eyesight was failing as well but her nose for flushing pheasants and tracking greenheads led the way.
A Lost Dog
It was July 15, 2003 and Billy Culp was fixin’ to turn loose for a workout his first green derby of the season. He was training this year on a new place just east of Lignite and south of Route 5. There were twenty pointing dog trainers working within a forty-mile radius of Billy , two hundred or more in the state, some serious pros, some serious amateurs, some just guys with a dog or two and a pickup truck.
A CHRISTMAS DEAL
Marshall Loftin was a dog man, pure and simple. Fox hounds, cat hounds, catch dogs, high dollar bird dogs, dogs, it didn’t matter, he could get more out of them than any man I’ve ever known. But, if he was a dog man, and he was, he was more so a keen observer and student of his fellow man. He dealt, with a high level of success, with millionaires, and poor sharecroppers alike. Doctors, slick horse traders, lawyers, wealthy businessmen, weekend rabbit hunters, and even I, counted Marshall as a friend and gave him plenty respect, though I never knew him to request it. Accounts of his interactions are many, I’ll relate one of my favorite.
Understanding Bird Scent – Part 4 The Dead Bird
You’ve just made a nice on-the-wing shot on a flushing bird. The bird drops and your dog even marks the drop of the bird. You release your dog for the retrieve. What’s wrong…the dog is searching everywhere but can’t find the bird. Whether in the forested ruffed grouse woods or the prairies, we’ve all seen this scenario over and over. Why?
Revenge
It was a rainy March Friday with more rain forecast for the weekend. Ben and Sam had endured a horrid week in their practices of law and medicine, but it was finally over. They sat in captains’ chairs in Ben’s library-conference room with a fifth of The Macallan 12 open on the table before them and thick insulated short glasses in their hands, each holding three fingers of the bottle’s contents. They had been silent for five minutes. They heard the outside door close behind Ben’s PIC (“Person in Charge”), Joanne, as she left for her weekly dance lesson.
10 Christmas Gift Ideas for the Upland Hunter
Do you have an Upland Hunter that's difficult to buy for? Below you'll find a list of items that would make any Upland Hunter happy.
