Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Gun Dog

WHEN THE FIRST of September hits, it’s like there is an extra spark in the air. Don’t get me wrong—the summer months are great. It’s a time to reset mentally, work on new skills—or refine old—with your bird dog, and spend time with friends and family. But when August comes to an end, it’s go-time. Early mornings in the uplands to beat the heat come with a serene solitude unmatched by anything. In the silence, the busy sounds of summer fade away and are replaced with the noises of nature waking up—songbirds singing at first light, and wind rustling the dew-covered foliage. If you’re really lucky, you’ll hear the drumming of a grouse cut the silence, the noise reverberating in your chest; or the wing beats of a sharptail beating…

WITH HUNTING seasons opening, plans are being made for some great time in the field. Vacation time is being set aside for hunting and road trips are being plotted to new and familiar destinations. The rewards for patiently waiting through the long off-season are nearly upon us! As we look ahead to those highly anticipated hunts, and as we dig into the necessary preparation, we need to be sure that we don’t overlook the true stars of the show: our bird dogs. These may be dogs that finished their formal training this past year and are about to enter their first hunting season, or they may be dogs that have multiple seasons under their belt and extensive experiences. Whichever the case may be, there is a degree of preparation that…

WE’RE ON to the final steps of our three-part series highlighting the steps you need to take to train your sporting dog to reliably and consistently fetch an object or bird. So far, we have worked through a progression of understanding and obedience with your dog to the point where, on the command “fetch,” the dog moves to grasp and correctly hold a training dummy. Your dog should now walk on heel and continue to grasp the dummy correctly until demanded to “drop.” By now, the dog should obey fetch without much need for pressure and is rewarded with a little praise. At this point, you should have established your release command—whether it be “drop,” “give,” or another word of your choosing—but the command is for your dog to immediately…

WHETHER YOU’RE reveling in the recent achievement of taking your first upland bird or celebrating another successful season with your veteran gun dog, we all share a common thread—that primordial pull that keeps us venturing into the uplands time and time again. A deeply rooted drive embedded in our DNA that compels us to push our passion, following bird dogs and finding the next flush is just something we have to do. The kind of gumption that makes one drive 2,500 miles and four days to hunt birds in one of the most obscure and overlooked places in North America—the flyover states of Indiana and Kentucky—for a unique opportunity to target wild bobwhite quail on public land. UNSUNG UPLAND One of the aspects that originally drew me into the uplands…

LET’S SAY you live in the Midwest, and you’ve got a dream chukar hunt booked in Hells Canyon of Idaho, or some other tough-as-nails, up-and-down environment. You would not decide a week before the trip to lace up your hunting boots and head to the gym to use the stair-climber to prepare. You would start weeks, or better yet, months earlier. The same rules apply to hunting dogs and the early season. And just like with ourselves and real physical challenges, the main concern right off the bat is weight and starting condition. To put it bluntly, it’s hard to get a dog into shape for hunting season when it’s carrying extra pounds. This is why I preach the benefits of keeping a dog active all year, and really paying…

THE COYOTE coolly scanned my old dog and me, focusing laser-like on my pup as he charged. My right barrel rolled him, his assault barely slowed. A second shot knocked him back again, and he limped off to die as prey, not predator. To deliver a merciful coup-de-grace, I searched but never found him. After the adrenaline subsided, I hugged both dogs and we swung uphill to a saw-toothed lava outcrop. The wirehairs tip-toed, stopped, and chukars erupted in a roar from all points of the compass. Dogs ran and shooters missed. On the way down slope, we found a crumbling stone dugout in the hillside, surrounded by valley quail. The shooting improved. Such are the gifts of the Great Basin, bitter alongside sweet, a ragged edge in a bubble-wrapped…

ALL PEOPLE and animals have a dominant sense, and that’s what makes the hunter/gun dog combo so powerful. People have great vision, while a gun dog’s sense of smell is in the top one percent of all animals. Send a Lab on a blind retrieve and he’ll return with a duck. Cut a bird dog loose in a covert, or a flusher or versatile dog in a field and if there is a bird there, they will deliver. We go together, like peas and carrots. The dog’s sense of smell is the key to our combined success. But bears, elephants, sharks, and rats also have a keen sense of olfaction, and their ability to discern scent is what has helped them locate food not only to survive but also to…

ALASKA has long been thought of as an “exotic destination” where only those with a lot of money went hunting for big game like brown bears, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep, but not to hunt upland birds or waterfowl. But that's all changed, and the secret is out. Some of the best wingshooting available anywhere is now just a “frequent flier” ticket away. Ptarmigan hunting seems to be at the top of most traveling hunters’ “bucket list.” And since only white-tailed ptarmigan are found in just a couple of Lower 48 states and are high up in the Rocky Mountains, the allure of hunting ptarmigan in wild Alaska has filled the dreams of many bird hunters. However, Alaska has even more to offer the visiting upland hunter than just ptarmigan…

Other than a mountain lion scare, torn pads on your dog will be the most likely kibosh to your hunt. This strategy has paid off with three injury-free seasons: Daily application of a good human heel cream all year keeps pads supple enough to fold over sharp and pointy stuff where a hard crusty pad will crack. Think green, flexible leaf versus brown and dry. Every morning of a hunt, my dog gets a generous application of commercial pad conditioner (I like Happy Jack Pad Kote). It does much the same as the cream, but on steroids. Then, put cream on each night as you’re doing your tailgate exam.…

CAROLYN MEHL was desperate. Her three-year-old Weimaraner, Jake, was strangling to death in her arms but Mehl’s Leatherman multitool pliers couldn’t make so much as a dent in the cable that tightened on his windpipe and carotid artery. She yelled for her husband and hunting partner, Jon Haufler, to come help disable the snare that Jake had tripped in a patch of creek-bottom snowberries and willow in northeastern Montana. Together, working against time and with three different pliers, Jon and Carolyn managed to disable the spring that locked the device and freed Jake. But where was Riley, their pudelpointer? “He was trained to come on a beep, and when we realized we’d be awhile with Jake, Jon beeped him,” says Mehl. “Once we managed to get the snare on Jake…

ON THE WINGS of a woodcockShe learned how to play the game.She could find those old feathersBefore she even knew her name. She blessed our lives with puppy breathAnd energy to spare.Nose prints on the truck windshieldMuddy footprints everywhere. On the wings of a woodcockWhen autumn leaves turn goldAnd cold and frosty morningsFollow all the campfire stories told. She always knows it's time to go.She is always readyFor the big woods and “the show.” I have to watch her closely nowTo be sure she hears my call.For on the wings of a woodcockHer spring has changed to fall. The old girl is patient nowBut still I see her pace the floor.And when I don the upland vestShe sits patiently by the door. When her time on earth is over,The coverts…