Kansas Day 1- Birds 7, Me 0 (This is Hunting, not Shooting)

Cap- 6 mos old in Kansas

The dogs were eager and the land was perfect for quail and pheasant.  I had some pre-mission Intel on the area from some pretty good bird hunters and was confident we would be able to get into some birds.  I started with my main man- Ace.  We made a 2+30 cast and covered the chosen area pretty well.  He pointed  several roosters and I let them go.  I was particularly interested in quail, this trip. Food was plentiful: ragweed, deer vetch, sunflowers, and the area was managed for the little buzz bombs.  The problem, I think, was the area was hit pretty hard opening week and steadily after that.  I saw lots of evidence of footprints, shells, dog tracks (all pretty good indicators to an old Indian tracker like me). These birds were survivors- the dumb ones were dead. (Of course, the alternative to my assessment was too awful to contemplate- that my dog wasn't worth half a bag of Ol' Roy.  That may be the case, but I suggest you keep that news to yourself.)  We were almost back to the truck, when Ace's pager alerted in my vest.  (I gotta say, that is exactly what it seems like with the new garmin!)  He'd been out of sight for maybe 30 sec and I knew he was working some cattails near a pond.  I was sore and tired as I ambled on over that way.  I was halfway thinking he was in the pond drinking.  But as I made my way over there, the "on point" signal repeated.  That dog was locked up in some of the thickest brush I'd seen in this area.  In fact, I couldn't get to him.  A deep, 10 yard across cattail slough kept me from entering the brush pile.  So I got as close to him as I could (figuring he was on a rooster and I'd catch him when he flushed up from the pile) and just started talking to him.  I knew the bird was nervous already- he was trapped on a spit of dry land.  Sure enough, the brush moved and 20 quail blew out of there headed to a stand of spruce trees.  I threw some lead, but these boys stayed low and kept the brush between me and them (hence, they were still alive from opening day!).   Ace came out, looked at me and said, "How many do we have down, Boss?"   It was a bad day at Black Rock explaining how the "sun got in my eyes, sand obscured the birds, the Coriolis Effect threw off my aim".  He was not amused....

Paws on the Ground in Kansas Tomorrow

My co-pilot is on a rest break. Can't get good help anymore.

My Latest Field Trial

Having a few of my NSTRA friends over for a field trial in the back pasture is an awesome thing.  I thank God that we can still enjoy this wonderful sport right in my back yard.  Take a look...Field Trial. 

Here's A Picture of a Rooster's Worst Nightmare

Caught Rooster!

That's Dad (Ace) and son (Bandit) on a Rooster Pheasant.  It was that bad boy's end of the road.

Short Kansas Hunt on the Horizon

So, I'm sitting around the estate, you know, all the workers are off cleaning the stables or stocking the fishing ponds, or counting the wild coveys out in the back 10,000, and I suddenly realize I haven't been on the road in more than a month (well, almost)!  I buzz up a few friends and got the readings on Kansas.  They all pretty much say the same thing- some good days, some bad days, but any day in the field with a dog is better than any day at the office.  So, I ran the possibility of a kitchen pass by the Old Ball and Chain and managed to get a signed pass for one week commencing on the 14th of Dec.! (Didn't cost me much more than a Lexus LS 460 delivered by Christmas!)  My pups are ready for some wild birds and my broke dogs are ready for something more than field trials.   By the way, my two pups, Cap (Brit/M) and Ruby (Brit/F) and really progressing nicely with solid points and OK retrieves. I wish I could get more pictures of them, but I'm training alone and carrying a camera is tough.  I really need to video Cap when he hits scent- wow! Yesterday, he acted like a broke dog twice his age as he worked with me to find a bird that moved after I planted it.  It was a picture for the books! 

Quick Video- Just For Fun

Want to see a dog lock up? Click This!

James Rutland: Instinct Shooting

James Rutland

I call these "Shooting Balls"

 Let me say this about that......This course is exactly what it is purported to be.  I learned to shoot a BB gun with no sights and without even sighting down the barrel.  I started on large plate targets, then smaller orange circles on the plate targets (until I bored a hole at the 1230 position on one of them), then started shooting at the balls on the ground. As James gave me a color, I would hit the ball- from big ones down to the size of golf balls!  Then he started throwing metal disks in the air- from 3 inches on down to a quarter (see last picture) and a Tums (which I shattered on the first shot) and, finally, another BB.  It took about 20 tries, but, after nicking it 3 times, I finally nailed it solidly and it disappeared! (I am NOT exaggerating.  This was a shot that could not be done and I did it 30 minutes after driving up to the cabin.)

Then we moved on to the shotgun.  I pulled out my trusty SKB 20 ga. Model 100 that I field trial and hunt with.  James immediately noticed the gun was too small for me, so we put a rubber, removable kick plate from one of my other guns on it.  The fit was better.  We worked on stance, smooth movement, head and foot location and focus and concentration.  Then he started throwing the clay targets.

The Training Cabin on the Lake

I started breaking them.  I missed maybe one out of 25.  James was saying to not just break them, but powder them, "And here's how you do it", he would say. I took his advice and I've never powdered so many clay targets in my life. I mean, they were GONE! He threw them from behind me, high and low, 45 degrees to either side of  straight ahead, curving and straight.  After 4 boxes of shells, James says I only missed twice, but I'm pretty sure I must have  missed about 4 times.  I did all this in  the space of an hour and forty five minutes!

I shot this quarter.  IN THE AIR! Check the dents.

This is the bottom line.  This works.  It is for real. I used my own gun and I wished I could have stayed all day.  I've never shot 4 boxes of shells so productively in my life.  This method is perfect for the field trialer and quail/pheasant/upland hunter! Click Here for James Rutland Instinct Shooting School Website

Field Trial Buffoonery

Ace is my champion NSTRA (www.nstra.org) trial dog.  Once I tune him up after a hunting trip, he makes the transition to the field trial game very well.  We've been working the last two weeks on the little things that make a good trial dog.  Today he showed me something I've never seen before in a field trial and only rarely in any situation. 

We came off the starting line and Ace sprinted 30 yards and locked up!  I flushed the bird, shot it and he made a good retrieve.  "Good boy" I said as he handed me the bird, "Let's go!" and he turned and started looking for more birds.  He handled well and listened to me.  In the back of my mind, I  was thinking he looked very good in his ground coverage, hunting objectives and working with me.  He nailed another bird within a minute and I flushed it up and shot it, as well.  The bird landed perhaps 50 yards away and he was on it only seconds after it hit.  I watched as he picked it up, turned away, dug a hole, put the bird in it, buried it and trotted over to me, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sorry, boss!  I couldn't find the bird."     

What?

We went on to take a second place today- by 10 points!  That (zero point) retrieve would have been about 85-90 points and it cost us another First Place! 

Arghh!  Just when you think you have them wound up pretty tight....the string comes loose.

Thanksgiving

The Grill Meister is ready!  We are having two fresh, cage-free, organically-fed Turkey breasts and one free-range, acorn fed, formerly happy Venison hindquarter  (humanely shot in the left ear at a distance of 25 yards in the pristine totally organic, green, environmentally- friendly back pasture) all cooked on the Big Green Egg.  Since we are eating at 3pm, I will prepare pheasant and grouse tasties, at noon, for the hungry ones in the crowd.  All of this will be enjoyed with a Southern liquid, flavored with an organic sweetener made from Iowa corn.  (The recipe for the concoction is stored in a vault in the Coca-Cola tower in Atlanta, GA), and a dessert consisting of Pecan Pie (pecans from from Milner, GA) and ice cream made from contented Georgia cows.  Or, as my neighbor likes to put it, "Dude, we're having grilled deer meat and turkey with Coke and Pecan Pie!" 

Instinct Shooting

I'm not a bad shot. In fact, I do OK in field trials and hunting all the species (except, of course, Ruffed Grouse, where I have about a 1-5 kill ratio).  I know of a guy who teaches "Instinct Shooting" and swears he can have me nailing them spot-on in one day.  His name is James Rutland.  He's a great guy and I think he can do what he says he can do.  In fact, I'm scheduled to see him December 6 for the lesson.  I know, personally, of a young lady who does NOT shoot and she just graduated from his class.  After she shot a Tums tablet out of the air with a BB gun, she went to the 20 ga. she just bought and shot clay pigeons for the first time, very successfully.  I'd give a number but I don't know what it is.  I do know she missed only 5 (out of how many, I don't know).  

Check out the website (He's near Ft. Benning, GA and they love him!)  James Rutland

This Makes a Bird Dog Man Happy

Cap, my 6 mos. old pup, out of Ace, locked down on a Quail!

There is a time in the life of a new pup when it comes down to "It's time to put him on a bird and see what he does.".  Two days ago, I put a quail out in the grass for him and check-corded him downwind of the bird. He was mildly interested, sort of got a little birdy and I whoaed him just downwind of the quail and held him there. i reached in front and picked up the bird by the legs.  Of course, it flapped and feathers flew and we let it fly off while I praised him and let him sniff all the feathers and the scent from the bird..  He went nuts!  Jumping and barking and twisting- I knew then I had a good one. Yesterday, I hid another quail and eased him in downwind, again.  This time, as he got the scent, I whoaed him again- and he locked down.  Again, I let the bird make a lot of noise and motion and fly off.  Today, we did it again.  This time I didn't need to whoa him.  He locked up tight as you see him above.  I just told him "Bird, bird" and walked around him.  He stood there long enough for my wife to go back to the truck and retrieve my phone to take this picture (maybe 2 full minutes).  I reached in, flushed the bird, and we watched it fly.  Then we check-corded back to the barn and pen.  I can't wait to see him tomorrow.....I wonder if he'll be up to hunting in NM in January?  

Field Trial Video

Alabama field Trial Video (Click This!)

I took a short video of the field trial yesterday in Alabama.  We left that one with our tail between our legs.  I was very pleased with the way Ace hunted and covered the ground, but he refused to back (again) and his obedience was a little slack.  So, today, we had a little "Come to Jesus meeting" right here in the back pasture as I reiterated the rules about obedience and backing.  He can do it all, but after all the bird hunting we've done this year, he needed a little brushing up.

Trialing

Ace waiting for the start! 

We are deep in to the field trial mode now and having a great time.  I run National Shoot to Retrieve field trials, when I am not hunting.  It's a good time with good friends all united by the common bond of working with your bird dog.  Many who field trial don't have the time to get away for the hunt, or the money (although field trialing can cost some, too), or the knowledge of how to do it.  Look up a local trial (NSTRA is all over the country) and try it!

Don't leave home without it!

I've written about this previously and I'm a big believer in the capabilities of this unit.  I paid for the tracking feature, also, which allows my wife and friends to follow me as it sends an update every 10 minutes for 24 hours.

Video of Hunting Minnesota with My Young Pup, Ruby.

Click HERE to watch video

The Old Ball and Chain and Yard Dogs.

You gotta love a woman that loves your dogs. I think that's written somewhere.

Colwin Creek

Good bye, Minnesota.
T

Last Day

Walking the Grouse Woods  (click to see video)

We had a good run over the last few weeks.  We shot Pheasant, Ruffed Grouse and Spruce Grouse.  We went through the first blizzard of the year in North Dakota.  My 7 month old Brittany, Ruby, is darn near broke after 4 weeks out of the last 7 hunting.  We met a lot of new people and reacquainted ourselves with old friends. We saw a lot of beautiful country and hunted new territory in Minnesota.  All in all, I'd have to say it was successful in every respect.  Tomorrow, we turn the old diesel south and head back to the farm....field trials coming up for the next month or so.....

My puppy, "Cap", and his first Spruce Grouse

St Louis River

St. Louis River, St. Louis County, MN

And it's in St. Louis County, MN! I know one can fly fish this river. I often wonder about stopping a grouse hunt just long enough to "wet a hook" in a stream like this.
We got skunked yesterday! Only one flush- and that was ear-high about 2 feet from said ear! By the time I recovered from the startle, the gray devil was laughing and winding his way to the clubhouse. Grouse hunting!

Minnesota Grouse Habitat

Bo and Randy with 2 Spruce Grouse and 1 Ruffed Grouse

One worn out old dog and the two Spruce Grouse he pointed.  I'm having them mounted for my den.  Old Bo really did a good job on these birds.  We had a 2 hour cast and took it fairly easy.  He found a sunny spot for a snooze at the end of the walk.