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Looking for a Pointer?
Few breeds have earned the reputation of the Pointer. Known for their speed, style, and natural bird-finding ability, Pointers have been a favorite among upland hunters for generations. Whether you are chasing quail across southern plantations, hunting prairie birds in the Midwest, or simply looking for an athletic companion with strong sporting instincts, the Pointer remains one of the most respected bird dogs in the field.
English Pointer or Pointer?
If you spend much time around bird dog folks, you'll eventually hear the breed referred to by two different names. Some people call them Pointers, while others insist on English Pointers. For newcomers to the sporting dog world, that can be confusing. Are they the same breed? Is one term more correct than the other?
Spaniel Bird Dogs
When most hunters think of bird dogs, their minds jump straight to pointers, setters, or retrievers. Yet for generations, spaniels have quietly earned a reputation as some of the most versatile and enjoyable hunting companions in the field. Compact, energetic, and eager to please, spaniels bring a unique style of hunting that combines close-working efficiency with an enthusiasm that's hard to match.
The Italian American Job
As a third-generation descendant of poor Italian immigrants, I have had firsthand experience with the famed culture of frugality for which they are known. This includes some unconventional culinary habits practiced as part of their peasantry traditions. These traditions were born out of necessity. Not only did they come here in the early 1900’s with nothing, but most left families in Italy who had also lived there for generations with nothing. An outflow of their need to subsist on so little was a well documented custom of poaching. This was also born out of what they saw as necessity, needing to find ways to feed their families by any available means.
How to Build a Kennel That Lasts
I’ve been running Gundog Central twenty years now, I’ve seen a lot of kennels come and go. I’ve seen new kennels shows up strong, produces a few litters, builds some buzz—and then quietly disappears. A few years later, nobody remembers the name.
BIRD HUNTING IN THE FORLOH HOODED “PUFFY” JACKET
The first modern down jacket was invented and patented in the 1930s. It was born out of necessity after a near-fatal outdoor experience with hypothermia. Commonly referred to as a puffy jacket, or simply puffy, is a quilted jacket, typically insulated with either duck or goose down feathers. Soon after its inception it became a popular garment worn during winter sport activities but slowly began to move away from its original utilitarian purpose. For years, outdoorsmen and those involved in the shooting sports seemed to have moved to using soft-shell jackets while hunting.
BENCHMADE FLYAWAY KNIFE
Bird hunters need to carry a knife. A good knife. One that is tailored to execute tasks across a myriad of landscapes and environments where gamebirds will be encountered, shot, field dressed, and ultimately cooked and eaten. For wingshooters, knives that are purpose-built for cleaning, skinning, and breaking down wild fowl are crucial for efficient and safe game processing. The knife needs to be capable of handling basic camp and home cutting chores too – be it deboning a bomber sage grouse on a tailgate or slicing bite-sized chunks of a pheasant rooster around a campfire, and or making delicate work of carving up little quail hors d'oeuvres in the kitchen.
KUIU Precision Gloves Gear Review
I was way ahead of the game when KUIU debuted their new Precision Gloves in the early part of May 2025. Eight months earlier in August of 2024, KUIU had overnighted me a prototype pair along with their new Upland Field Vest. My job – to evaluate both pieces of gear exhaustively as I hunted spruce grouse and ptarmigan in the Alaskan backcountry.
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 significant. Take that dog number, multiply it by 55, and you’ll have one heck of a lot of hours all represented in the dogs that qualified to run across 28 braces in the February 2025 National Championship for Bird Dogs held at Ames Plantation. The first brace of this 126-year old Super Bowl caliber event commenced on February 10th . The final brace ran over two weeks later on February 27, and during that time weather conditions ranged from a soggy, below-freezing 22 degrees Fahrenheit day to a 75-degree Fahrenheit sweat lodge. If you don’t like the weather in Grand Junction then wait five minutes.
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 case. The previous day, a group of mallards were feeding on the far end of the hellish mire, and the decision was made to return with a couple dozen decoys. Behind me, my black lab was having a harder time than I was, the mud was clutching at her belly and legs, and the sharp ends of gnawed-off sticks protruded through the loamy sludge. Up ahead the mallards quacked and whistled tauntingly. Despite the temptation, I decided to turn back. To me, no duck is worth potentially injuring my dog.
Properly Command Your Sporting Dog
Chatter and over-commanding are two common issues between some handlers and their dogs. For some reason, nonstop talking gives some handlers a sense that they’re in control of the dog. They believe the constant communication improves the dog’s situational performance, and that somehow the chatter motivates pups to cast better or to remain more staunchly on point. But most of those commands fall on deaf ears as the dog tunes out its owner. And when it comes to bird dogs, tuning out an owner is never a good idea.
4 Ways to Stimulate Your Puppy’s Mind
A puppy’s brain and nervous system develops rapidly, much faster than their bodies. Sporting breed puppies have a lot to learn, so here are 4 ways to help stimulate their active minds.
Positive Training Methods for Puppies – 4 Tips for Success
Positive training methods are becoming increasingly popular and work well when your puppy is young. This training method rewards puppies for successfully completing a task. Once a puppy understands the kind of behavior that gets him a reward he’ll want to do more of it. Here are four ways to get started using positive training with your puppy.
The Basics of Clicker Training for Puppies
To become successful hunting companions, sporting breed puppies have a lot of skills to master. Clicker training is a great training method for any of the sporting breeds. The method is simple and it marks and then rewards good behavior. Every time a puppy completes a task correctly, he is conditioned with a click. The click is a unique sound that comes from a mechanical noisemaker and marks the precise moment he is doing the right thing. The mark is followed by a training treat to reinforce the correct behavior. Here’s how to use clicker training to teach three basic commands.
Tails We Could Wag
“It's not much of a tail but I’m attached to it,” said Eeyore, the donkey made famous by Winnie the Pooh. When it comes to tails, some hunters require them on their dogs while others do not. But regardless of your breed of choice, did you ever wonder why some tails are bobbed while others are not?
