Innehållsförteckning för August 2018 från Gun Dog

WITH THIS ISSUE we welcome Tom Dokken as our newest GUN DOG contributor;Tom is taking over the “Retrieve” column following the departure of Chad Mason. As Chad explained in his farewell column last issue, a recent move to a larger city and a diminishing enthusiasm for writing about gun dogs and bird hunting indicated it was time to pass the baton, and we thank him for both his candor and his many years of outstanding service to the magazine. Although this issue marks Tom’s inaugural effort as a regular GUN DOG columnist, he is already well known to most of you as a trainer, seminar leader, author and the developer and marketer of the popular DeadFowl series of retrieving dummies. He’s been featured in a number of articles by Tony…

This is DIESEL sleeping on a gun after a hard day of hunting pheasants at the Black River Fish and Game Club in Clinton, New Jersey. — Roy and Phyllis Billich, Clinton, NJ Good day in the field with our three well trained versatile hunting dogs: REMI, a Braque Francais; VINNY, a Bracco Italiano; and GUNTHER, a Large Munsterlander. —Lance Olson, Kettle River, MN This is our 7-year-old Brittany, PAIGE, on opening day of pheasant season. Paige is fearless with lots of heart and loves to hunt pheasants and chuckars. — Ron and Sharon Vail, Moro, OR This is RUGER, an almost 2-year-old shed-hunting Lab. We took him dove hunting once and he retrieved the lone dove we shot. He loves the dog park and retrieving sticks from the water.…

When it comes to making a good bird dog it sure helps to train and to hunt in a target-rich environment of wild birds. And for me, living in just such a place has made training a pup much easier and an immensely more enjoyable experience over the decades. Alaska is where I make my home, and over the course of a very long upland season for ruffed, spruce and sharp-tailed grouse, as well as willow and rock ptarmigan, I owe much of the credit for training and developing good bird dogs to the birds themselves. My hunting friends with bird dogs share my feelings. Many good hunting dogs from good breeding stock have benefitted from living and hunting here in Alaska, and I’ve been lucky enough to have witnessed…

“You’ve heard of the wonders our land does possess, Its beautiful valleys and hills. The majestic forests where nature abounds, We love every nook and rill.”—“Here We Have Idaho,” Idaho State Song Idaho is one of the best kept secrets in upland bird hunting. Few other states support such diversity and abundance of game. Idaho has nine upland bird species that are regularly hunted with dogs. Of those nine, five are native to Idaho: ruffed grouse, blue grouse, sharptailed grouse, Franklin grouse and sage grouse. Each grouse is a special gamebird in its own right. For more than ten years I had the goal of taking all five of Idaho’s native grouse in one season. I dubbed this feat, “the Idaho Grouse Grand Slam.” I know of very few other…

TYLER DENSFORD IS a retired U.S. Air Force veteran from Mississippi who just received a service dog named Able from non-profit Retrieving Freedom, Inc (RFI). RFI trains service dogs for disabled veterans and children with autism, as well as diabetic alert dogs. I had the great fortune to hunt with Able and Tyler, who became a paraplegic and is remanded to a wheelchair after falling 50 feet from a Black-hawk helicopter during a training exercise in 2016. Before the accident, Tyler had plans to become a pilot, which he still hopes to do. He has not let this disability dictate his life. “Rather than wilting away in bed, I decided to take this crappy situation and run with it,” Tyler said. Katey McClenny | Via email FIRST RETRIEVE This is…

Please send digital images by e-mail to (joseph.genzel@outdoorsg.com), or through online archives, such as dropbox.com or hightail.com; or they may be submitted on disc to: GUN DOG MAGAZINE Attn: Snap Shots 2 News Plaza. 3rd Floor Peoria, IL 61614 • Most modern phones and digital cameras take excellent quality photos, but please make sure your phone or camera is set on the highest quality resolution available—consult your manual. We reserve the right to reject digital images that aren’t high enough in quality to reproduce well in print. • Our minimum size requirements for images are 5" x 3" at 300 dpi, or 1500 pixels by 900 pixels. Again, consult your manual. Submission does not guarantee publication. • And finally...please submit no more than two images, and include your dog’s name,…

MANUFACTURER Mossberg International, Inc., North Haven, CT ACTION TYPE Gas-operated semi-automatic GAUGE 28, 2¾-inch chamber BARREL 26 inches, ventilated rib, brass bead front sight MAGAZINE CAPACITY 4, magazine plug provided to reduce capacity to 2 CHOKES “Sport Set” choke tubes, C, IC, Mod, IM, and F OVERALL LENGTH 46½ inches WEIGHT 5 pounds, 15 ounces TRIGGER Pull weight 7 pounds, 13½ ounces; trigger group easily removable for cleaning SAFETY Cross-bolt behind trigger STOCK Select Turkish walnut stock and forend, cut checkering, semi-gloss finish on forend and buttstock STOCK DIMENSIONS 14½-inch length of pull, 1½-inch drop at comb, 2¼-inch drop at heel METAL FINISH Semi-gloss blue on barrel, black on receiver MSRP $654…

WE ARE OBSESSED with our bird dogs. Think about it How many articles, books and online forums did you pore over before deciding on what breed of dog to get next? How much research did, and do, you do to figure out everything from nutrition and exercise, to raining and hunting? If you’re anything like me, it’s borderline unhealthy. But between you, me and the fencepost, our dogs are worth it. They provide years of loyal companionship and are the cornerstone to making days afield memorable. It’s why we do obsess over them, and why we deserve to have some of the best equipment available to train them. Sure, equipment alone doesn’t make the dog—genetics, you know—but having the right gear to get the job done sure can make the…

THE FIRST WORDS that Dogtra’s Stephen Cho said to me when I began interviewing him were, “I’m allergic to dogs. It’s so unfortunate, but every time I go near a dog my face gets swollen. And I absolutely love dogs.” I think he just wanted to get that part out of the way before he dove into his history as a man who knows how to develop brands and address consumer needs. But he didn’t start in the world of working dogs. “I originally worked as a graphic designer for six years, and then started getting into brand management-related work for a variety of companies before finally ending up at Dogtra,” he recalls. “I was interested in working with a company where I could really help drive growth year-over-year, which…

PROBLEM My NAVHDA breeder inseminated one of her females with the frozen sperm from my Versatile Champion that passed in June. One female pup was delivered by C-section on Jan. 18. After reading your columns for several years, I am concerned about how to acclimate this pup so it learns how to be a dog. The breeder has six other grown dogs in her kennel, has been producing NAVHDA GSP litters for about 20 years, and she is a vet tech. She thinks she has a client that will have a litter of collies on the ground shortly that we could use to acclimate this pup to other puppies. Do you have any advice I should follow to make sure this new puppy will turn out to be a well-rounded…

In the 18th century, the hunters among the Welsh gentry had a secret weapon, a red and white springing spaniel whose talents as a bird dog were considerable. Originally a falconer’s dog, these spaniels were acquired by other hunters in the valleys of Wales, where their exceptional skills enabled local sportsmen to preserve the breed until the end of World War I.Then, however, due to the low numbers being bred, the Welsh spaniel was facing extinction. Fortunately for the breed, a few breeders remained to ensure its continuity. Incidentally, “springing” or “starting” game is actually what all sporting spaniels are supposed to do, although the much more numerous English springer spaniel fanciers more or less appropriated the name “springer.” Only the Welsh springer folks stubbornly insisted upon including that term…

Quail season generally runs from mid-November to mid-February, with a 15-bird aggregate limit, although only five can be Mearn’s quail. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument covers a half-million acres, but there are tens of thousands of additional acres of BLM land in southern New Mexico. Las Cruces, New Mexico serves as base camp for the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. The city of 100,000 has every amenity you need. El Paso is about an hour’s drive from Las Cruces.…

THE HARDESTWORKING MEMBERS of any hunting party are the dogs. They run when we walk, cover three or four times the distance we do and bust head-long into nasty cover we skirt. In the off-season, while they may spend more time napping than we do, they also work through retrieving drills and obedience lessons with vigor. Throughout all this, a dog’s body demands the right nutrition and essentials for proper recovery. It’s up to you to give them what they need because it not only allows them to perform at their peak, but also because it’s the right thing to do. CROWN ROYALE SPORTING DOG SHAMPOO FORMULA Got a full- or flat-coated bird dog? Then you might need to pick up a bottle of Crown Royale #12. Designed for specific…