projectupland.com On The Go (Project Upland Magazine)

When winter sets in, the mornings become considerably colder, and the air feels like a whip against any uncovered skin. No one understands this better than the waterfowl hunter. The season starts where summer and fall meet. As December arrives and winter becomes official, the crowds diminish with the arrival of the ice. The waterfowl hunters who persist and venture into this season often find some of the best opportunities. Open water is a welcome spot for ducks to land. Consequently, the best opportunities for jump shooting ducks arise once the ice sets in.

One of the places I like to hunt in the winter is filled with hot water springs that feed into a lake. When the ice forms, ducks don’t tend to stick around, but they do like to hang out in these open holes. The ice also drives the ducks to streams and canals—really, anywhere there is open, moving water. Most of these places tend to have food available for ducks, which is particularly helpful when heavy snow covers the ground. Access to food is important for ducks to stay warm. Being able to locate these food sources makes jump shooting even more effective.

I worked part-time at a gun shop during my college years, which offered me the privilege of handling hundreds of used shotguns. As I stepped behind the gun counter one day to start an afternoon shift, I spied a unique 20-gauge side-by-side on the rack. Etched on the side of the left barrel I read, “BROWNING ARMS COMPANY.” Stamped on the right barrel was “B-S/S SPECIAL STEEL 20 GA.”

I was instantly intrigued and, after breaking it open to be sure it wasn’t loaded, swung it on an imaginary covey rise of bobwhites. I was abruptly awakened from my dream by Paul the veteran gun salesman barking at me, “You’re too late, kid, your buddy Fritz already bought it.”

Fritz was the nickname of my colleague and friend who had, in fact, purchased it two hours prior to my arrival after it had been taken in on trade. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s bird gun. But covet it I did. More of that story later…

“That’s it. I’m sending my dog away to be trained!” So training didn’t go your way today and you are left with an alarmed dog and a bitter taste in your mouth. Hopefully, you called it a day before impacting the trusting relationship you worked so hard to earn. Time for both of you to recover and reset. Take a break, back up and go back to the basics where you both can find success.

These are the moments we call “pressure off.” It’s those times where we need to reset the brain for both the trainer and the dog. (Read The Five Mental States of Bird Dogs in Training) It’s where all of that time pairing, or bonding, with your dog as a pup pays off! Find some success and have a love fest moment with your dog, telling them everything is alright, repairing and preparing the brain for the next lesson.

As dog owners, we have all heard of bloat, twisted stomach, or, as your veterinarian would say, GDV. GDV stands for gastric dilatation-volvulus. This urgent medical condition occurs when a dog’s stomach fills with gas, food, or fluid and twists. This condition develops with almost no warning, can progress rapidly, and is always an emergency. Remember that “bloat” doesn’t always indicate a twisted stomach, or GDV, because bloat can be a large gas, food, or fluid-filled stomach without any twisting present. 

As a veterinarian and fellow birddogger, I want to stress the importance of discussing and planning for this preventable condition.

As a new owner of a versatile hunting dog, you’ve probably been asked about running in a natural ability or puppy hunt test. Some breeders may request or require that puppy buyers run in a test, while other owners may stumble into the puppy test through local club chapters such as NAVHDA or AKC. For owners of the German-registered breeds—such as the Deutsch Drahthaar, Deutsch Kurzhaar, Deutsch Langhaar, Kleine Munsterlander, and others—the puppy test takes the form of the Verbands-Jugend-Prüfung, or the VJP.

The Labrador Duck was a beautiful black and white type of sea duck considered the first species of North American birds to go extinct during modern times. The last Labrador Duck to be hunted was shot in 1878 in Elmira, New York. It is presumed that the species went extinct shortly after. 

The loss of the Labrador duck is not your typical ecological warning about the dangers of over-harvesting, market hunting, or a general lack of conservation, but a reminder of the fragility and interconnectedness of our ecosystems to the flora and fauna that inhabit them. 

One of the many challenges for biologists and historians when researching past hunting, harvesting, and taxidermy records of the Labrador duck is that it’s a species with many names. It’s an eider-type sea duck, also known as a pied duck, which includes the Golden Eye and Surf Scooter, leading to confusion about which historical entries are appropriate for which duck. Colloquially, it was also known as a skunk duck and the sand shoal duck due to its respective skunk-like black and white appearance and proclivity for sifting through sand bars near shallow estuaries.

Truth be told, there is no foolproof method for ensuring that you never serve shot in the birds that you cook. However, there are several techniques to help reduce the chances of doing so, as well as some things to keep in mind if you’re worried about dishing out a smattering of shot with your upland meals.

You did your homework, picked the right hunting dog breed, and found the breeder who provided you with the genetic package you dreamt of. On the drive home it hits you. Have I prepared for this new puppy? Now what? How do I start? You own the equivalent of a Ferrari but are unsure how to take it for its first spin without scratching it. Too often, folks are afraid to work with a little pup, and before they know it that cute little bundle of fur and teeth grows up and takes over their lives, chewing through slippers, trucks, spousal relationships, and every last thread of happiness. Before that happens, you need to answer the question, How do I start?  

You just start, and you start on day one.

The Florida Everglades represents a unique ecosystem not presently found anywhere else in the world. The subtropical wetland is the largest ecosystem in North America, a natural habitat for a diversity of species you won’t see anywhere else: countless aquatic birds; numerous endangered species such as the manatee, Florida panther, and American crocodile; and a slew of mammals that have been untouched other than by natural predators. It is the only place you’ll see an alligator and a crocodile in the same area. But at present, the Everglades faces many threats that could permanently change its landscape.  

We sat on the tailgate of my pickup overlooking a cover we had just hunted on a late October day as the sunset. The whistling sound of woodcock wings began while the sky still held mute signs of the sun hidden behind the mountains. We counted the birds with excitement. One after another, a tangle of “there is another” and “here comes two” was complemented by big smiles. It did not take long to debate whether they were moving to eat or to migrate. I relish this end-of-hunt tailgate tradition each autumn when the woodcock migration begins.

I love woodcock. Relying on unfrozen ground to eat, woodcock are a fascinating species that migrates from parts of Canada to the southern United States each fall. They are a low barrier of entry for young pointing dogs and new hunters. They provide the best opportunities to train superior grouse dogs in the off-season. When one speaks of the dark arts of the woodcock migration, it is with great debate as they have alluded, defied, and fascinated both hunters and scientists alike for generations. Alternatively, as George Bird Evans said, “You know where to expect them and almost when, but when they show up is something else.” 

The fall woodcock migration coincides with their hunting season. We try to predict the moment of their arrival, and more often than not, we are surprised by the vanishing and reappearance of these wonderful upland game birds. From early classics like The Book of the American Woodcock by William Sheldon, published in 1967, over 38 studies according to the U.S Fish and Wildlife between 1927 and 1978, and more recently, the ongoing Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative (EWMRC), we have taken leaps and bounds to understand how, why, and when woodcock migrate. 

I’m not sure if it was the trendiness of chukar hunting on social media or the fact that 2020 had everyone stuck at home and thinking of new things to try, but it sure seemed like chukar hunter numbers were at an all-time high this season in my neck of the woods. That even includes me, since this was my first season of seriously targeting chukar instead of just going a few times as a change of pace from quail or ducks. If we are truly serious about hunter recruitment and increasing hunter numbers, this growth in interest is great news! Even so, there’s always a sharp pang of disappointment when you arrive at your favorite spot to find another hunter already there…even for the most enthusiastic supporters of R3 efforts.

With the influx of upland bird hunters ought to come an influx of discussions about hunter etiquette while in the field. I make no claims of being an expert, neither in bird hunting nor in consistently good etiquette. I am sure that I have unintentionally done things that have annoyed another hunter or affected their day afield. But along with how-to articles and photos of our time in the mountains, I believe it’s our responsibility to share perspectives on good etiquette to help new (and returning) hunters navigate some of these gray areas.

Have you ever returned to a quail hunting spot later in the season and failed to find the birds that provided such a great hunt just weeks before? Whether it’s a public wildlife area, a Walk-In Hunting Area (WIHA) in Kansas, or any other type of publicly accessible property in whatever state, there are definitely strategies that hunters should consider, especially when pursuing bobwhite quail. 

Fellow wildlife biologist Frank Loncarich and I spend many days afield together each year chasing quail, and most of our trips involve some type of public land. Over the course of our lives, we have hunted thousands of hours, conducted years of research, and observed enough birds to create a pattern that guides our hunts. We often get questions regarding hunting strategy from folks that see or hear about good bird numbers, but then spend several days afield that end with empty or light game bags. Or, hunters that saw birds early in the season but struggle as winter takes hold. 

The afternoon sun sat low through the thick cover. It glistened off the saturated ground, small patches of snow still pushing back against the oncoming spring.

The sound of my Wirehaired Pointing Griffon’s bell came sharply through the undergrowth, occasionally muted by the splash of water as Grim worked his way back and forth. We had been through this cover multiple times in the past week with no signs of life in the way of game birds. My mind wandered, thinking of how exciting it will be to have American woodcock back on our doorstep after their migration from wintering in the South.

The instant it takes to drop your car keys from your fingertips to the floor is all the time you have to relay a message to your dog that they are a good dog or a bad dog. This is all the time you have to tag a behavior. Anything after that simply leads to confusion and resentment.

When you are reward-based bird dog training using food, toys or praise, you must be prepared to reward or correct the dog the very instant it presents either a desirable or undesirable behavior. This requires you to be very attuned to your animal. Being able to read and recognize when they are in the thought process of making a good or bad decision is key. For example, when we teach the sit command on a recall (the dog returning to you), we shape the sit through tagging then rewarding the dog the moment it begins to sit (doesn’t need to be perfectly aligned) and slowly building accuracy over time. It’s very common for handlers to over-command, and when the dog finally performs the action correctly, they are left scrambling for a treat and the reward is now too delayed to be of value towards learning.

September 1 is one of the most popular hunting dates in the United States. In many states, it’s the opening day of dove season, which is the start of upland hunting for many wing shooting enthusiasts. 

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) sets a range of dates, season lengths, and bag limits that states can choose from to harvest doves. Depending on each state’s latitude, there are advantages to selecting early dates, later dates, or even split dates. September 1 is the earliest the USFWS allows any state to open the season for native doves. The list of native doves includes mourning and white-winged doves, although mourning doves are by far the most commonly harvested dove in the country. 

Nearly every state selects September 1 or the first Saturday in September as its opening day. This begs the question: Why would southern states want to open as early as northern states when mourning doves are migratory?

Kids and dogs. It’s a timeless combination. Humans have had an inexplicable connection to “man’s best friend” dating back as far as 20,000 years, according to scientific evidence revealing when domestication of wild canids began. Social media, online games, cell phones, and whatever comes next will not break that bond, though it may lie dormant at times. Let’s narrow it down to kids and sporting dogs. Let’s assume you are reading this publication because your own life has been made inexorably richer through the preoccupation with upland bird or waterfowl hunting, field trialing, bird dogs, or gun dogs of any breed. You are likely also aware of the growing list of factors that may threaten our cherished sporting life. Now is the time to give our children all the opportunities available to cultivate the bond with sporting dogs that places them on the path to the same fulfillment we enjoy and, hopefully, to ensure the same for future generations.  

The reverberation of a ruffed grouse drumming during early mornings in spring forests is one of the most magical sounds. When you hear it, it starkly contrasts against all other sounds found in the springtime. Its unique nature provokes human curiosity and admiration. No doubt, that very same feeling we get today is what sparked naturalist John Bartram to write a letter to his home in England in 1750, describing the unusual behavior of a bird he called the Ruffed Heath-Cock.

Some say the sweetest springtime sounds come from wild turkeys. As many turkey hunters have experienced, real turkeys aren’t always the ones producing that cacophony of yelps. Oftentimes, on crowded small parcels of land, one may be seduced by the sounds emanating from what turns out to be a hungry hunter, not a hen on the prowl. Hunters using turkey calls have tricked birds and humans alike for years.

The two little hounds are whining loudly and scratching at the metal kennel doors. We had just pulled off the road down an overgrown two-track on a mostly forgotten plot of public land. It’s early December and most of the deer hunters have ended their season, so this little piece of paradise is all ours. Struggling to strap the GPS collars on the squirming beagles, I grab my single shot .410.  Its amber finish has been scraped away by the unforgiving miles of raspberry patches and young balsam fir.

As we walk down the path, the fresh snow shows tangles of tracks and droppings weaving through the multiflora rose of what was once a tilled farm field just a few years back before the state purchased the land. 

The English Setter was America’s first bird dog. And rightly so; they’re known for being incredible hunting partners regardless of the terrain or quarry. As a result, they have a long history in North America, and evidence of that can be found in classic upland bird hunting texts like The Upland Shooting Life by George Bird Evans. However, this dog breed was originally developed across the Atlantic Ocean in England. 

Rather ironically, the more time passes, the less English the English Setter has become. “Wildly popular in some regions, more or less unknown in others, they face extinction in their native land,” says Craig Koshyk in his book Pointing Dogs Volume Two: The British and Irish Breeds. Over 15,000 pups are born in Italy each year, and only 250 are born in England. Italy, France, and Norway have taken the English Setter as a breed and ran with it, and their “influence on the development of the breed cannot be overstated,” said Koshyk.

For many of us in the northern snow-covered hills of the United States, hunting season is shortly coming to an end—if not already. Green rolling pastures have now been replaced by a tundra; the woodcock have all traveled down to warmer, worm-filled bayous; and the grouse are retreating to the treetops.

Now entering your home, you will likely be met by familiar eyes: your hunting dog staring back at you for a sign that you are gearing up for a hunt. As your dog realizes that you are settling in for the evening, you can see its disappointment. Soon it slinks to its bed in protest, curling into a ball with a dejected sigh, resigning to the fact that there has been a change in the routine. A feeling of guilt fills your soul as your dog was at its happiest pursuing birds for you, so, of course, you head to the cookie jar to let Ol’ Red know just how sorry you are. Your once chiseled athlete has de-evolved into somewhat of a bratwurst shape.

Ol’ Red—now more affectionately known as “Mr. Weeble Wobble”—needs more than a little attention to get back down to his fighting weight.

“Suddenly into the middle of the coterie of breeders a bombshell was flung, so startling as to cause a violent upheaval of all the old theories, and a complete revolution in setter breeding, the effects of which have lasted to the present day.”  —Walter Baxendale

Walter Baxendale’s “bombshell” was a man named Edward Laverack, now universally regarded as the father of the modern English Setter. Little is known about his early life, but as a young man, Laverack was apparently a shoemaker’s apprentice, but where he worked and for whom is not clear. According to Robert Armstrong in All Setters, Laverack “spent his youth in Hawick, a town in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, but at the age of 17, not liking it after he had been there some time, he ran away.”

To my delight, my time spent on Duolingo, a popular language-learning application, came in handy while reading Craig Koshyk’s Pointing Dogs Volume I: The Continentals. Although I am an utter noob with hunting dogs specifically, I cherished a dog breed encyclopedia as a child. As a result, I was familiar enough with French dogs to know breeds like French Brittanies and Papillons exist. However, I had never heard of the gorgeous Épagneul Français (aye-pan-YUL fran-SAY) or French Spaniel.

“I don’t know what it is about the French Spaniel,” writes Koshyk, “but every time I try to capture that ‘special some-thing’ about the way they look and the way they move, I feel that I come up short.” It’s easy to see where Craig is coming from. His images depict gleaming, feathery-coated dogs with bright eyes, balanced features, and fluid movements. Although his photos are still, I can only imagine how visually pleasing this hard-working bird dog is when working in the field or bringing a bird to hand.

My first-ever interaction with an English Springer Spaniel was when my wife, Emily, brought one home. When considering which dog breed our first hunting dog should be, we ultimately landed on the one with which Emily was most familiar. She grew up with Springers, and consequently, that is where we landed. At that time, we weren’t aware of the differences between bench and field bred dogs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as our involvement in bird hunting deepened, so did our knowledge of the breed.

Our first dog, Dixie, was most likely a bench bred dog. Bench bred dogs are those who are bred with the goal of placing in the show ring. I say most likely because she came from an inconspicuous farm litter but was physically more similar to a bench dog (we’ll get into that in a bit). 

As Dixie got older, we got on a list for a field bred Springer Spaniel. These dogs are bred with the rigors of field trials and hunt tests in mind; hence the term field bred. Our first field bred dog, Timber, died from a gastrointestinal fungal infection before her second birthday. At that point, we got Fern. Then, roughly a year later, Wild, who has the same mother as Timber, joined our family. 

Clapper rails don’t sing. They cackle. It’s a guttural call emanating from somewhere deep within each tiny bird that reverberates with enough force to trigger a cascade. Once one rail calls, every rail within earshot erupts into its own chorus. The cacophony sends a ripple through the salt marsh and shatters its peaceful silence like glass. 

Today, however, there is no peace, and there is no silence. It’s already been shattered. A violent collision of arctic air and Gulf Stream winds just smacked the mid-Atlantic shore. Now, the rails and I are caught knee-deep in the chaos.

Bird dog training at its core is behavior modification reliant upon catching your dog in the thought process and being able to read their emotions. Doing so allows us to predict behaviors before they occur, thereby maximizing the potential for learning. Also, the character of the dog at that moment and the behaviors they are exhibiting dictates the amount of pressure required to gain compliance.

Pressure comes in various forms. Understanding pressure and how to use it is entirely another article in itself. Basically, pressure can be generated in a variety of ways. Food pressure is when the dog feels internal pressure to perform for treats. The leash and collar is an example of physical pressure. Standing in the proximity of your dog places spatial pressure on them and using corrective tones places verbal pressure on them. Social pressure can even come from the competition of using other dogs.

The long-awaited Pointing Dogs Volume Two: The English and Irish Breeds by Craig Koshyk has finally hit shelves. Inside, readers can explore in-depth information about Pointers, setters, and the overall development of bird dogs across the pond. Koshyk features an entire chapter about Irish Red Setters alone; let’s take a peek inside.

It’s believed that Irish Setters are perhaps the oldest breed of setting dogs. “The spaniels that became setting dogs were in Ireland since at least the 16th century,” said Koshyk. It’s easy to imagine this gorgeous dog breed loping across vibrantly green hillsides in search of game, regardless of whether it’s in the 16th century or the 21st. 

Vintage shotguns can be particular with the kinds of shotgun shells you put through them. In a world filled with high-velocity, heavy payload shells, the difficulty of finding lighter loads can take away some of the allure of owning a classic. But it shouldn’t stop you. There’s something warm and cozy about hunting with a 50-, 75-, or even 100-year-old shotgun. 

Only a handful of ammunition manufacturers really make loads like they used to. With the right load, classic guns can work just as well, if not better, than some modern guns today. Whether you’re considering buying one or you’ve inherited an old shotgun from a family member, it’s important to shoot the right shells through it so it will keep working for the next generation. 

Chances are, if you’re reading this during the holiday gift-buying season, someone special has a sous vide on his or her wish list. Let me answer the question that you’re asking yourself: Is a sous vide worth the investment? A sous vide is a must-own kitchen appliance for any hunter who brings home a bird or three, or even big game. 

Let’s explore why you should add this culinary device to your repertoire. Not only does it ensure a perfect cook every single time, but sous vides also help kill harmful bacteria and are more forgiving than an oven or grill.

My Wirehaired Pointing Griffon worked the cover 50 yards ahead of me, his bell sounding gently in the warm, opening day of the ruffed grouse season in New Hampshire. We had hiked a mile and a half to get to a section of early successional growth that we had mapped out months before this moment of enjoyment squeezed between meetings on a busy Thursday schedule. 

My peaceful wait for the silence of his bell was shattered by the sudden eruption of yelping. I sprinted forward through the thick grouse habitat to get to him, my first thought being that he may be caught in a trap, and he could hurt his leg trying to get free. To my greater frustration, my path was intercepted, face to face, by a porcupine.

I would love to say this was the first encounter with those needle pigs but I should have added my dog's nickname is “porcospino.” It may be a curse of “versatile” gun dogs, but in his defense, he is usually steady on porcupines. Despite how prepared I felt myself to be for pulling those quills one by one from my dog's face and mouth, this day rocked my worldview.  

Doves are the highest-harvested game bird in the United States, with over 10 million bagged annually. 

The high harvest rate isn’t surprising, considering dove hunting season is the first hunting season to open for most wing shooters. However, the dove’s widespread range no doubt contributes to the large harvest. They can be found in nearly every state and much of Canada. They breed from the west coast to the east coast, as far north as southeast Alaska and south into Mexico. Such a massive range and the ability to live in urban and rural landscapes have kept the dove population robust. 

Sit and stay is a tall order. I don’t know about you, but this is no easy task for me or my bird dogs. Many of us are now quarantined in our homes. I’m sitting here writing this article with four very patient hunting dogs huddled up beside me awaiting anything remotely training related. And so place training is one of the things that can be accomplished at home and even with some help from the kids.

If you have ever been waterfowl hunting with a young or developmental gun dog, you know how stressful whining and barking can be. Instead of watching that sunrise with your favorite cup of joe, you find yourself wrestling your hunting dog to keep it quiet and still. It’s in those times we realize that we should have better prepared our dog to control its emotions. Blaine Carter from Merrymeeting Kennels has created a series of at home drills that helps eliminate the issue. 

The gentle “Chi-ca-go-go” in the distance caught my attention as I made my way down the rocky wash. A quick glance upward had me convinced that the birds were on the hillside, more vertical than not; a grade covered summit-to-base in loose rocks and cholla. These dang Gambel’s quail were doing their best chukar impressions here in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.

I crept up the wash with a watchful eye scanning for movement up ahead. While my eyes did their job, my ears added to the tale. Multiple quail were calling up ahead, with the concave shape of the hillside amplifying their quail calls toward my unwanted attention. The quail weren’t the only ones keeping my ears busy, however. All around there were noise makers such as rabbits sneaking away in the undergrowth and lizards careening through the dry grass, sounding much larger than their three-inch bodies should be able to sound. It was enough to keep my head turning to distinguish friend from foe.

I’m an adult-onset, first-generation hunter. Over the last five years, I’ve learned everything I can about upland bird hunting. This learning experience has been overwhelming. I looked at the obstacles I encountered as a set of parts to make becoming a hunter feel more attainable. With bird hunting, that challenge is all the greater since the parts are literally moving. 

During a disheartened phase in my second hunting season, I wrote a list of the moving parts for upland hunting. It helped clarify what I was doing well while highlighting the specific areas I needed to work on. I could tell myself, “You were able to find birds. Woo! Now, you have to figure out how to shoot at them,” instead of being frustrated that I hadn’t taken a single shot all day. 

Once I identified a problem, I would implement a solution. In time, my list of moving upland hunting parts has become succinct. I reflect upon it after every hunt. It has four parts: finding birds, maneuvering in the field, shooting, and bird recovery. 

During my time at Deerfield Elementary School in southern Wisconsin, my fourth-grade teacher taught us about Wisconsin’s geological history. I recall learning about glaciers, the formation of our local drumlins, and how unique the unglaciated driftless area is when it comes to midwestern landscapes. However, I don’t recall Mr. Meyer teaching my class about the endangered sandy pine barrens located in the northwestern part of the state. 

This habitat type was also formed by glaciers, although they had the opposite effect. This expanse of poor-quality, sandy soils is exactly where the glaciers scraped across the surface of what is now Wisconsin. Post-ice age, pine barrens covered 2.7 million acres in this region. Sadly, interconnected barrens broken up by young stands of jack pine are difficult to come by these days. In fact, pine and oak barrens are a globally threatened habitat type.

“Red, white, and jack pine as well as oak and some aspen were present in historic pine barrens, but in patches, not large swaths of forests,” said Mike Amman, the Bayfield County forester and the Vice President for the Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society. Amman continued, saying that reforestation created dense stands of red and jack pine, which were and are managed for timber production. However, the tree density and sheer total acreage of these areas came at the expense of the historically open barrens. Barrens-related species’ populations have fallen drastically, including the sharp-tailed grouse.

Like most parents, I hope my children will share my interests so we can enjoy them together. As a passionate upland hunter, I dream of days spent in the field nurturing their curiosity, instilling a desire for conservation, and fostering a profound respect and appreciation for the game birds we pursue. There’s a special kind of magic and responsibility involved with welcoming young children into the world of upland hunting. 

I often get asked, “When is the right time?” I believe it depends on many factors, primarily age and maturity, but it’s important to understand there’s no one-size-fits-all introduction to the uplands. 

The art of choosing a bird dog is the subject of countless words—printed and spoken—including good-natured banter among friends. We bird dog owners dissect the subject with surgical precision, all based on the premise that there is one true answer: the perfect dog. For most of us, the path to our next (or first) bird dog is a journey taken with great care and caution and fraught with anxiety. After all, owning a hunting dog is a big commitment, and nobody wants to get it wrong.

If modern bird hunters all had the same requirements and preferences for their dogs, we’d have a single bird dog breed. The Common Bird Dog would range at the preferred distance, move at the preferred speed, handle birds by pointing or flushing in the preferred manner, and would, of course, have the preferred coat, color, size, and personality. The sheer number of different bird dog breeds, however, points to the reality of human opinion.

“Where were you last night?”

These words strike fear in nearly all adolescent children. Is the parent simply curious? Was it an ambivalent conversation starter or a knowing and accusatory set up? The answer always lies within the subtle tones, expression, and body language of the parent.

The same is true when thinking about the delivery of a command in dog training. It is very important to be cognizant of how we present information to our dogs because they, too, are always studying what we are saying. Know that you can’t hide your emotions within a command, no matter how hard you try. Always try to remain clear, calm, consistent, and absolute when commanding.

Each fall, pheasants draw attention from hunters across the country. Their parrot-like colors strike awe in any bird hunter. Thousands of these beautiful birds are harvested during the first few days of the season. Most birds packed out during opening weekend are young birds born months before the orange army started marching. 

There are two reasons young birds represent the bulk of the early harvest. First, juveniles dominate the overall population. Like most upland game birds, pheasants rely on annual production to sustain the population. It’s not unusual for juveniles to comprise up to 80 percent of the population after a summer of good nesting and brood-rearing success. Second, young pheasants are typically not as wary as their older relatives. However, even though these youngsters have never evaded a hunter following a bird dog, many still have enough instinct to know something isn’t right.

There are several locations where hunters can experience a multi-species outing in one day. Sometimes, hunters encounter multiple species in a single field. Pheasants and bobwhite quail are frequently placed in the same game bag during a single walk. Woodcock and ruffed grouse are probably the most common combination. But there is one combination that I have always found intriguing: greater prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse. Not only can these two species be harvested in the same hunt, but they can be harvested in the same covey flush. 

Getting a willful, prey-driven hunting dog to heel can be difficult at first. It is one of the most common reasons a handler loses their prize one in the NAVHDA testing system. It’s also one of the reasons owners avoid stimulating environments while walking their dog.

The drive within our hunting dogs is the putty from which we play. Because heeling is a drive-based activity, drive can be a benefit or a detriment when it comes to heeling. If done properly, the dog is driven to find its position and its focus is entirely on you. When underdeveloped, the dog prioritizes its natural instincts to lead, protect, and search, resulting in an unsafe and uncontrollable heeling experience.

A decade ago I wrote a book, The Urban Deer Complex. Growing up just outside of Boston, I was fascinated by the idea of whitetail deer being able to adapt so well to human environments. It inspired a whole section of the book I labeled “The Science of Fear.” Through rapid evolution accelerated by an encroaching urbanized environment, whitetails were able to pass down behavior that would allow them to distinguish between non-threatening and threatening human behavior. That ideology would subsequently put many a deer on my dinner table over the years, and although it is more complex than the summary here, I never thought it could apply to ruffed grouse. 

At the time, I had yet to read the classic New England Grouse Shooting, written in my hometown by William Harden Foster. Foster made a clear indication to the increasing evasive nature of ruffed grouse and their responses to human pressures. He even credits this intelligence to the reason ruffed grouse survived the early market hunting days of New England while their cousins the Heath Hen fell victim, unable to adapt.

In May of 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new rules governing dog imports into the United States. The rules are aimed at standardizing the process between countries and preventing the introduction of canine rabies into the U.S., but the broad-sweeping changes will have lasting impacts on breed clubs that depend on imported puppies for genetic diversity as well as dog owners who regularly cross international borders—including Canada.

The CDC differentiates between countries considered to be high-risk for rabies and those that are low-risk or rabies-free. Currently, the rules and requirements for importing dogs from high-risk countries are much stricter than they are for dogs coming from low-risk or rabies-free countries. Starting August 1, however, the rules will be broadened to essentially apply the high-risk protocols to every foreign country regardless of their rabies risk status. 

To bird dog aficionados, names like Elhew Snakefoot, Count Noble, Shadowoaks Bo, and Manitoba Rap are well known. But to the average person, the names of dogs in our hall of fame mean absolutely nothing at all.

But there are a few dogs from hunting breeds that have achieved fame beyond the bird dog world. Let’s have a look at some of the most celebrated among them. 

Dog training methodologies are vast. The long lead’s outward appearance may seem to be a relic of training days gone by. And truth be told, for some, they wouldn’t be wrong. With the invention of the e-collar and the now mainstream training approaches of utilizing classical and operant conditioning, many trainers forego the use of the long lead altogether. 

I’d argue that the long lead is not only relevant today but is also an essential tool in developing new trainers before they touch an e-collar. It reduces the chances of overcorrecting, promotes a connection with your dog the e-collar can’t provide, and develops the timing and focus every trainer needs to maximize their dog’s learning. 

Though a simple tool, there are a few things to consider when choosing the right long lead for you and your dog.

Setters are incredible dogs that offer a wide diversity of type, hunting tendencies, and coat colors. Although some may be harder or softer than others, and some pups may be slightly more hesitant to retrieve, there are two constants that remain regardless of breed or strain: their beauty and amazing companionship in the field and at home.

Llewellin Setters have a bit of a complicated history. Richard Purcell-Llewellin, a figure in the iconic book The Setter, is the father of the Llewellin Setter, dating back to their early years in England. Regardless of their past, there is a strong modern appreciation for Llewellin Setters today. Crystal Powell, the secretary for the National Llewellin Gun Dog Club (NLGDC) and co-owner of Sinking Fork Llewellins, and Paint River Setters’ Kyle Warren have offered in-depth insights about this strain of English Setters and generously shared their knowledge of this impressive, eye-catching dog.

My earliest memory of hunting features a cool fall breeze skating across a remote forest lake. The wind swirled in the canopy, and yellow oak leaves drifted in the wind like a thousand deflated balloons. One landed at my feet as I paddled in a beat-up fiberglass canoe with my dad. He let me skip school that morning, and I remember the paddling keeping me awake. The stars glimmered, and the silhouettes of Atlantic white cedars reached up to them like giant black mountains. A great horned owl echoed from some distant perch, and a beaver slapped its tail against the water right off the bow of our canoe. The noise broke the forest’s serenity, sending my body and our boat into a full-blown reactive jolt. 

By sunrise, I figured out what that whole morning was all about. Whistling wings ripped through the trees, and primordial squeals rang across the water. This trip was no predawn nature tour. The birds flew high against the pink morning sky, and a few broke off over our decoys. As I could make out their brilliant shades of green, blue, white, and chestnut, my dad rang off a few shots. 

Humans and dogs have been hunting together in some capacity for thousands of years. What presumably began as tentative cooperation between the two species eventually led to the development of specialized dog breeds intended to perform specific tasks to benefit the human hunter. Today, hunting dogs play an essential role in assisting hunters in the field and have also found a place in modern culture as beloved companions and competitive athletes.

If I were to ask you to honestly explain to me your expectations of whoa, what would your answer look like? Would you be okay with the three or four step California roll type whoa, utilizing more than a few commands while throwing in a few choice expletives? You know, the kind of whoa where you turn red while the dog sighs and rolls its eyes at you in that teenage “Are you done?” manner. I find that without guidance, this is the typical whoa we see with new clients.

In this article I’d like to shed some light on why a solid whoa command is imperative to your training (even your dogs safety) and provide some simple non-traditional drills that you can add to your everyday routine.  

As each year passes, some of us find enough time to raise and finish our dream upland dog. It is an amazing opportunity to have your dog at the ready, all day long, just begging to be educated. Extra time, whether due to retirement or working from home, has inspired many of us to get out there every day and mold our pup into the finest hunting machine.

Of course, spending lots of time with a dog can have some unintended consequences, like leaving the dog at home for work, family, friends, and other activities where the dog is left behind. For those who haven’t properly prepared for this change, don’t be surprised to come home and discover that your rebellious companion has destroyed its crate and chewed through four different pairs of your shoes while you were away. Worse, you may return to a panicked and shaking dog that didn’t know if you would ever return—a true sign of separation anxiety and not a behavioral problem. Was there something you missed or hadn’t prepared for? Absolutely.

Have you ever hunted over a dog with a sixth sense for finding birds? Perhaps the dog had a higher-than-average drive to push out to find game. Or maybe it was highly intelligent and sought the most productive cover. Its exceptional nose could’ve been dialed in. Regardless of the attribute, it must have had a cooperative temperament, trusted its handler’s leadership, and would follow them to the ends of the world. 

The culmination of all of these characteristics creates a legendary hunting dog. However, the dog knows how to search for a cover in a manner that leaves little opportunity for birds to be missed outperforms all other dogs. 

Developing this level of teamwork starts with a dog willing to hunt for and with you. For me, this begins through teaching it to quarter with the long lead starting at a young age.

During my four-year stint at the Elk Public House in Spokane, Washington, I likely pounded out thousands of chicken breasts to prep for the grill. As line cooks—mostly greasy-haired, chain-smoking, beer-guzzling proletariat—we had our own terminology for such a process, which I’ll leave to your imagination. Nevertheless, taking a meat mallet to a chicken breast had a couple of distinct purposes. Yes, it tenderized the meat, but more importantly—for the purpose of short ticket times—it made sure that the meat cooked faster. With upland birds, both of these functions apply just as they do with chicken, but the tenderizing process brings with it a few additional benefits as well.

Pheasants bring out every emotion for most upland enthusiasts, including awe, joy, and frustration. Add in the difficulty of hunting these regal birds on public lands where roosters can be more intelligent than an MIT grad, and your emotions might include astonishment and downright rage. 

Hunters spend thousands of hours chasing pheasants across public lands each year. State-owned wildlife areas, federally owned national grasslands and wetlands, and state-leased private lands in walk-in hunting programs provide hunters with an incredible amount of real estate to pursue the Midwest’s most prized game bird. If you plan on hunting public land pheasants this year and want to keep your frustration down to a minimum, try hunting good pheasant cover, using hunter pressure to your advantage, taking notes, and being stealthy.

Water spaniels are but a vestige of what they once were. Originally developed in the British Isles for waterfowl retrieving, today only three breeds remain. The American Water Spaniel and its close cousin, the Boykin, are joined by the Irish Water Spaniel as remnants of what was once a broad spectrum of water dogs. 

The origin of water spaniels can be traced to Great Britain. Similar dogs were developed on the European continent, such as the Épagneul de Pont-Audemer or the Frisian Water Dog, but their exact relationship to the true water spaniels developed in the British Isles—and later in America—is not exactly clear. 

What is clear is that a close relationship exists between water spaniels and the retriever breeds. Indeed, recent genome-wide analysis has revealed that the Curly-Coated Retriever and the Irish Water Spaniel are more closely related to each other than to any other breed. The Curly-Coated Retriever—the largest and perhaps oldest of the retrievers—is thought to have descended from crosses between the St. John’s Water Dog and English Water Spaniels, but apparently the amount of water spaniel blood in the breed was largely underestimated. Similarly, the Golden Retriever lineage that began with the Marjoribanks family in Scotland included crosses to at least two Tweed Water Spaniels.

The sinkbox was effective for waterfowl hunting because it was flush with the water’s surface and nearly invisible ducks and geese, particularly to the low approach of diving ducks. Its popularity began early, three decades before the Civil War, and it remained a waterfowling tool for over a hundred years. Originating on the North Atlantic Seaboard, its use eventually encompassed all the East Coast states, the Great Lakes, Salt Lake in Utah, and south to Texas and west to California. Market hunters were the first gunners to embrace sinkboxes, and it later spread to the more intrepid of America’s sport hunters. 

The recall is an extremely important ritual we have with our dogs. When called, the dog quickly and directly finds its position either in front or to our side. It happily and thoughtlessly finds its position, returning as excitedly as it went out and finishing with robotic consistency; something that has been groomed into it since the day it came home. 

READ: Understanding Timing in Dog Training

When properly developed, a dog can’t wait to get to its owner’s side. Even after capturing its most prized possession, a dog with a good recall is laser-focused on getting back to its spot. It does so out of habit and anticipation of the party that will ensue on its return. The cooperative attitude developed from a good recall is everything for developing a consistent retrieve and having good field manners. A dog that is thinking about coming to you doesn’t crunch birds, parade about, or pass you by; it religiously finishes the same way every time.

Being part of the hunting and shooting industry, I get to try the latest and greatest new guns every year. But when I’m not toting a gun for work, I’m usually carrying a vintage shotgun. My duck and pigeon gun turned 100 this year, and my grouse gun isn’t far behind it. 

I have a safe full of old pumps, semi-autos, side-by-sides, and over-unders, and I’ll probably never get rid of them. Sure, I’m a sucker for patina, nice engraving, and all of the little things that make an old gun great. But what I love most about vintage shotguns is learning about where they came from, how they were made, and how they handle in the field. 

The process of fitting a gun to a person and its underlying principles have, at times, been made to seem mysterious and even alchemic. As a custom stock maker and gunsmith, gunfitting is rather simple. Gunfitting is a necessary and integral part of making a custom stock for a client. It also provides the required stock dimensions for altering a client’s existing guns to fit better.  

Gunfitting theory is based on a straightforward concept: using the physical architecture of the stock to control the shooter’s point of aim and make the mounting and firing of the gun feel comfortable and natural. Remember that gun fitting adjusts the stock dimensions to the shooter; gun fitters don’t expect the shooter to adjust to the stock dimensions. 

Depending on where in the world you’re hunting turkeys, you may be fortunate to see other remarkable wildlife while you sit and hammer on your box or slate call. You may even have one or two curious predatory critters come into your calls, hoping for an easy meal. 

For many modern turkey species, their main predators are owls, coyotes, and cougars. But what if they were golden eagles, sabertooth tigers, or dire wolves? What about sitting on the edge of a clearing and watching giant ground sloths, mammoths, and mastodons frolic in the early morning mist while you wait for a big old tom to come in? 

For the extinct California turkey, life, including the flora and fauna that surrounded them, looked very different from today. 

A good duck hunter speaks hail calls fluently, levels a shotgun in pouring rain, stays warm in pelting sleet, and stands firm in hurricane-force winds. These qualities go far for bagging a limit of ducks. Great duck hunters, however, fight half the battle from the comfort of their couch. 

Great duck hunters approach the hunt like a college football coach approaches a National Championship game; they have a playbook and study it cover to cover. They know how to respond to the weather, have backup plans, and are prepared to handle anything the birds throw at them. Instead of hoping for victory, great duck hunters plan for it. 

“Woodcock are neither the hardest nor the easiest bird to shoot.” I am not sure I can sum up woodcock shooting better than those words of George Bird Evans, author of Upland Shooting Life. Over 35 years have passed since I shot my first woodcock, and I have learned from others and my own errors how to get better or at least improve my woodcock shooting skills. 

While the American woodcock can fly upwards of 30 mph through impossibly thick cover, they are also capable of some of the slowest flights recorded of a bird. Woodcock are an unusual bird to wingshoot; their erratic and unpredictable flight patterns have coined them the nickname mudbats. There will be moments where they seem to float to the canopy with their head turned, those big eyes looking back at you, almost convincing you to reach out and try to catch it with your hands. You may ask yourself, “How could I miss that shot?” 

When hunting solo on a large expanse of CRP, time-tested logic will tell you to “hunt the edge.” Pheasants are birds of edge habitat. Roosters are likely to be hiding right where tall grass adjoins a picked corn field. So when faced with a daunting quarter-section of native grass one should skirt the edge, right? Not this day, my friend!

The Superposed was the last gun designed by John Browning, according to Ned Schwing’s opus, which is aptly titled The Browning Superposed: John M. Browning’s Last Legacy. Browning was an engineering genius, with many of his designs still in production today. His vision for this particular gun was for it to be a high quality but affordable shotgun, especially considering the price of European over-unders at the time. Browning’s design took into account weaknesses in other designs in this configuration, specifically looseness in the breech. He reinforced the hinge mechanism in order to ensure tightness for the long haul. Browning went to Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Liege, Belgium with his design, after having great success with the Auto-5 earlier. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get to see the success of the Superposed; John Browning died in 1926. The design itself was finished by other members of the family, including refinements to both the ejector system and a few different trigger designs. The first Superposed wouldn’t be sold until 1931.

July is an exciting month for us, as it signals the approach of our shooting season, which starts on 12 August—known as The Glorious Twelfth—with the opening of the red grouse season.

My husband Ronnie and I live on the northwest coast of Scotland with our ten Hungarian Wirehaired Vizslas. They are a huge part of our lives—they share our house and our sofas and are our family. The breed has a lovely temperament and a boundless willingness to please, making them a joy to live and work with.

Ronnie and I have been married for 32 years and during this time we have had many working dogs including spaniels, Labradors, retrievers, pointers, and an odd assortment of terriers. We finally settled on the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla breed and have not looked back! It all began nine years ago when I decided that I wanted my own dog to train, work, and compete with; now I have four Hungarian Wirehaired Vizslas that I’m proud to call my own.

Dogs that have been trained to hold point until the handler arrives will do so partly due to it being cooperative. However, this is mostly due to the dog fearing that if it moves, the bird will fly away. Steadiness comes into play once the dog realizes the presence of its handler. Before initiating the steadiness process, you would have hopefully provided your dog with a hunting season filled with copious amounts of wild bird exposure. 

Wild bird contacts are unequivocally the best experience you can provide any developing hunting dog. These experiences bolster its drive to find game, its understanding of how to find and handle birds, and provide a foundation in steadiness before you start putting on the controls. I encourage every and all opportunities to get your dog on wild birds no matter where you are in your steadiness process. It introduces the dog to game, and the bird will teach the dog manners. This provides dogs with a deeper understanding that birds can’t be caught. This will strengthen your point and avoid the early-season dog imbalances that most hunters experience. 

I can’t help but stare through the conference room’s glass curtain wall, in awe of some of the world’s most productive wetlands on Earth. This morning, the frozen wetlands are blanketed in snow after this winter’s biggest storms pounded the area, which is great for recharging those wetlands later in the year. During spring, summer, and fall, these Great Salt Lake wetlands are so valuable, that they’ve been recognized as being globally important and critical habitat for millions of waterfowl and shorebirds.

But we aren’t here to talk about wetlands or shorebirds. It’s the sagebrush landscapes beyond the Bear River Delta that this group of researchers, biologists, and ecologists are discussing. As I watch a meadowlark hide under snow-laden cattails, my attention snaps back to the conference room when I hear, “Pinyon jays are where greater sage-grouse were 30 years ago.”

Each hunting season, I can be found trudging across public land in Missouri and Kansas in pursuit of my favorite game bird: bobwhite quail. Anyone who has ever had a covey rise from beneath their feet can attest to the distinct sound made by the explosion of these small brown and white birds. It’s a sound I’ve heard hundreds, maybe thousands of times, but it never gets old. For some hunters, public land is their only opportunity to experience the thrill of a covey rise.

Wild bobwhite quail can be found from Texas, north to portions of South Dakota, east to Maryland, south to Florida, and within most states that lie inside that box. They live in various habitats across their broad range, making them the most widespread of the six huntable quail species in the United States. These states vary in the amount of public land available to quail hunt, but every state within the bobwhite’s range has some publicly accessible coveys for die-hard uplanders to pursue. 

So what if my dog has a wiggle butt and flags a bit on point? It’s kinda cute and still gets meat to the frying pan. If that’s the case and your dog will efficiently hunt, locate plenty of birds for you and stand point, I would happily agree with you. More often than not, however, it will affect your hunt in some aspect as it’s a symptom of underlying holes in your bird dog training. It could develop into, amongst other things, a restrictive search, blinked retrieves, self hunting, ripping birds, stealing points and retrieves—which not only limits productivity in the field, it guarantees relentless ribbing from your hunting buddies.

In my last Project Upland article, we discussed some of the nuances of reading your bird dog’s body language and figuring out what they are trying to tell you. I referenced flagging as a specific undesirable action in a pointing dog. Let’s delve into that a little bit deeper to gain some understanding.

Suppose one found themselves reading a newspaper in 1912. The headlines may have read, “New Mexico, Arizona Admitted as 48th and 49th States,” “Titanic Sank on its Maiden Voyage,” and “First Stop Light Invented in Detroit.” Between articles, you might have spotted a Winchester Repeating Firearms announcement for its new shotgun, the Winchester Model 1912. Its sales team coined it “the perfect repeater.” 

The pump-action shotgun is a staple in the world of American wingshooting. The Winchester Model 12 is among the shooting world’s cast of popular models, and it was bested only by the Remington Model 870 in production numbers. Four years earlier, the unique Remington Model 10 was the first-ever bottom ejector introduced to the market, with over 275,000 produced until 1929. 

The Winchester Model 1912, or simply the Model 12, was the American manufacturer’s first hammerless shotgun. Nearly two million of them were produced between 1912 and 1962. It saw action in four wars: World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. 

Having dealt with so-called “fine” firearms for decades, the question “What exactly is a ‘best gun?’” comes up a lot. Explaining what a best gun is can be challenging because it’s more of a concept or ethos to building a gun, not something that follows a set of rules or criteria. As such, the term is used quite liberally, especially when it comes to shotguns. Moreover, best quality shotguns made by English gunmakers are rare by any measure, giving them an almost mythical status. This makes the term “best quality” even more abstract.

The Farm Bill includes the most significant investment in conservation we make as a nation. Whether we hunt on private or public land, bird hunters recognize that management on private farms, ranches, and forests directly impacts bird habitat and hunting opportunities more broadly. Because of that, groups like the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and our partners put great effort into improving the conservation programs within the Farm Bill. This type of work requires discerning thought on even the tiny details. Minor changes to major legislation like the Farm Bill can lead to massive impacts on the ground. We spend a lot of time sweating the small stuff for good reason. Yet, we mustn’t lose sight of the overall outcomes we want to see because there are often multiple ways to get there. 

Is it a fuzzy face infatuation that pulls at your heartstrings? Or is it that your dog is a bird-finding machine? For most, it’s probably a combination of the two. When deciding to breed or not to breed, be honest with your motivations. That adorable face comes with heavy liabilities and responsibilities. Unfortunately, the fact that you’re in love with your dog doesn’t necessarily mean it has the genetic traits to better its breed and produce a good hunting dog. 

There are temperamental, health, and emotional risks when it comes to breeding your dog. Potentially, your dog could pass along temperment issues that could put the owners of your dog’s puppies at risk. You could pass along skeletal or muscular issues that would limit the dog’s ability as a hunter or even to live a life without suffering. Never let your feelings interfere with you making the right choice. Your choice to breed has the potential to impact a large group of buyers and their families. The impacts of poor breeding is a heavy weight to bear. 

Duck blinds are both simple and complicated. They represent a combination of utility and magic, providing function in the field while also facilitating tradition among duck hunters. At its core, a duck blind is a tool made to hide the duck hunter, the duck dog, and the tools of waterfowlers during the hunt. First and foremost, concealment from the wary eyes of passing ducks is absolutely critical to the success of any duck hunt. Beyond its usefulness as a hunting tool, duck blinds also offer a place of solace, a place of spirituality, and their own kind of enchantment. We witness sunrises, take part in fellowship, and develop our hunter’s hearts all from within the confines of a duck blind. 

In recent years, portable, A-frame style blinds have grown quickly in popularity as well as availability. What is an A-frame blind and why is it so popular? Let’s take a look.

“Why on earth would anyone want to hunt crows?” I often get asked that question when people learn that I am an avid crow hunter during the whitetail off-season. Many hunters wonder whether or not American crow hunting is worth their time and if there is any benefit to it. My short answer to that is “Yes, absolutely!”

But why? How is crow hunting beneficial and why should hunters spend their time in the off-season chasing these pesky black birds?

There are six quail species that comprise the quail slam in the United States. They belong to the Odontophoridae family and are sometimes referred to as New World quail. The six huntable species are the bobwhite, mountain, California (valley), scaled (blue), Mearns (Montezuma), and Gambel’s quail. They represent a broad swath of the United States; however, except for the bobwhite quail, they are all found exclusively in the Western United States.

Fall is the time of year that gives the Pacific Northwest its moody, wet, and misty reputation. It’s also when some of the most coveted edible mushrooms arrive on the scene. Out here, mushrooms are as much a part of the landscape as the moss-covered logs, ferns, and towering old-growth trees. Fungi seem to be everywhere, and it’s easy to overlook them.

I’m sure you noticed that you can’t make a move your bird dog doesn’t notice. It’s kind of creepy at times finding your dog at the door staring at you the moment the thought crosses your mind to go out dog training or hunting, as if they are somehow reading your mind. It’s because they’ve been studying your every move since the day you brought them home. They know things about you that you don’t even realize. They have learned to become a bilingual behaviorist to be able to read you as well as their own doggy world. We owe it to them and it’s to our benefit to attempt to figure out how to read their language to become bilingual ourselves. It’s only then we learn to develop that harmonious hunting relationship we all dream to have with our dog. 

This gun has versatility and reliability for the price. That above all is why I would recommend it to any new hunter out there. This is not a specialty shotgun, but when used correctly it can be good at anything to which it is applied. If it were a gun dog, it would certainly fall into the versatile breed category. The interchangeable chokes, standard since 1986, will allow you to explore various upland game and also the beloved wild turkey. Its ability to swap out barrels allows you to add a slug barrel for big game hunting and open sights.

I have a penchant for watching the weather. My childhood home had a large glass sliding door. It looked west across an open prairie for nearly a mile, and I would stare intently out as spring storms rolled in. My parents called for me to hide under the stairs the entire time, but I just couldn’t get enough. I still can’t, and I love to look at extended forecasts and predicted weather patterns. But now, I use my love for the weather to predict my favorite pastime: bird hunting. 

While habitat quality is still the main driver in game bird populations across the country, weather plays a close second. Most upland game bird species are short-lived, disturbance-dependent animals that rely on high reproductive output to grow populations. Favorable weather conditions and proper timing of these conditions often make or break a successful hatch. However, it’s not that simple. Certain species need favorable conditions at different times of the year than others, and even factors such as too much or too little rain can impact the same species depending on where it’s found in the country. 

Understanding these relationships and watching weather patterns many months in advance can give a hunter a leg up on what to expect for the upcoming season and what species to target from year to year.

When it comes to evaluating hunting dogs—whether for breeding purposes or bragging rights—the methods and philosophies are as varied as hunters themselves. What constitutes a “good” hunting dog, and whose opinion counts? One hunter’s ideal dog could be a terrible match for someone else’s style, and vice versa. 

Non-competitive hunt tests came about as an attempt to standardize the evaluation of hunting dogs at various levels. The tests aren’t perfect, but they at least provide a consistent measuring stick for assessing the natural and trained skills of a hunting dog. For the versatile pointing breeds, perhaps the most well-known system is the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) testing system.

NAVHDA offers four levels of non-competitive hunt tests: the Natural Ability test, the Utility Preparatory Test, the Utility Test, and the national-level Invitational Test. Each of these tests is designed to mimic real-life hunting scenarios and assess the dog’s ability to focus and complete a given task. While the Natural Ability test is focused on the innate skills of pointing, tracking, and swimming, the higher-level tests introduce more trained subjects such as retrieving and steadiness.

When your dog is in a calm state, they are ready to learn and will do so even if you’re not intending to teach them anything. I was at a sportsman club in Maine chatting it up with folks when my German shorthaired pointer started tugging at the lead. Without much thought I reached in my pocket, called her in and treated her throughout the day. What I had inadvertently done is intermittently reinforced an undesirable behavior of lunging on the lead. The dog learned that if she goes to the end of the lead the doggie Pez dispenser unloads its payload of treats. I’m to this day trying to extinguish that behavior.

Nowadays, when we think of duck hunting, we imagine scenes of wing-shooting mallards in a marsh or stubble field. However, before the invention of firearms, ducks were not shot on the wing. They were caught with snares, shot with a bow and arrow or driven into nets. Eventually, techniques were even developed to lure ducks into cages.

So for centuries before the invention of the modern shotgun, the main goal of waterfowlers was to get as close as possible to sitting ducks. And even when the first shotguns did appear, they were too heavy and inaccurate to use for wingshooting, so hunters still had to somehow get close to sitting ducks so they could shoot them on the water. They had two choices: crawl, wade or paddle closer to where the ducks were or, somehow, lure the ducks closer to shore. One such luring method was ‘tolling,’ a technique that hunters learned long ago by watching wild foxes draw ducks closer to shore.

I grew up during what appears today to be the stone age of upland hunting. It’s hard to believe we could simply throw on a bell and go out hunting. Admittedly, there were plenty of frustrating days when the dogs were having a really good time without us. It was just part of the gig back then. We talked to our dogs a lot, constantly commanding to keep them close and if possible, correcting what we could see and more often what we could hear. We were trained to follow the bell and never let it out of hearing range. When a dog went on point we would break into search parties to locate it. If we couldn’t find it, a shot would be fired into the air in hopes we would hear a ding of the bell. 

With the development of today’s hunting technology, we now have the luxury of knowing more about our hunting dogs than ever before. We can hunt comfortably, saying very little to our dogs while enjoying all the sights and sounds our covers have to offer. We know where our dogs are, where they’ve been, how fast they are moving, when they are pointing, or when they are not. We are even able to extend our physical influence out for miles. Though electronic collars (e-collars) are amazing, it’s important to recognize that they are your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time.

Upland hunting, for me, is as much about enjoying the outdoors as it is about hunting. For this reason, I tend to hunt very quietly, speaking to my dogs only as much as necessary. I don’t run a bell for the most part, though I will on windy days to keep better tabs on them. 

Being from the northeast, wind storms can drive birds away from primary feeding areas towards more protected grounds such as conifers. Both woodcock and grouse rely heavily on conifers for their survival. On windy days, woodcock tend to tuck themselves under planted pines or protective thickets. They also are more inclined to run before taking flight, whereas grouse are quick to take flight, retreating to the security of the treetops at the first sign of trouble. Due to the dense covers we hunt, we depend on hearing wing beats to gain directionality on escaping birds. Wind can make this very difficult, particularly in the early season when the leaves are still clinging to their branches. 

Sharp-tailed grouse, often known as sharpies, sharptails, or sharp-tails, are iconic birds of North America’s prairie landscape. Their spring mating ritual takes place on breeding sites called leks. At these sites, sharpies put on an amazing display of calling and dancing called booming. Those same general areas are where broods are raised, and early fall activities occur. 

Their survival requires large tracts of unfragmented, treeless landscapes. This is a trait carried into modern times; these birds evolved in what once was millions of acres of ideal grassland habitat that existed before European settlement. Hunting sharp-tails can take hunters to some of the most beautiful landscapes on the continent. Here is a guide to help you get started on a new adventure.

Sometimes, hunting tidal creek marshes becomes more about fighting the terrain than it does shooting ducks. My earliest memory of losing a fight to the marsh came when I was only ten years old. I nearly drowned in a bottomless tidal pool, and if it hadn’t been for my dad plucking by my coat hood, it would’ve been my last hunt ever. Then, there was that time in high school when the current swept away my favorite pair of mallard decoys. They became the first of nearly a dozen lost to the tides. Then, a few years later, I suffered my most humiliating loss.

I will never forget it; I dropped a drake mallard, belly up, on a slick, wide mudflat right along the river bank. Sparing no time to think, I trudged out there to retrieve it and sunk in pluff mud up to my chest. In no time, I was unable to move, and the tide was coming up quick. My buddy had to toss me the bowline of his boat in a desperate rescue attempt. He revved his engine so hard that the water churned into cloudy chocolate milk. I held on for dear life as my legs and boots popped free. As I slid on my belly across the mud like a salt marsh penguin, I promised I’d never make that mistake again. 

I stood stock still, staring at the wall of ammunition behind the counter. Glancing over the multi-colored labels of flying pheasants, committed ducks, and scampering rabbits, my eyes glazed over. What did all of those numbers on the front of the boxes mean? I knew my shotgun was a 12-gauge, but beyond that I had no idea what I was doing. I was kicking myself for not asking more about the shells my mentor had handed me over the weekend. After several long moments of silence, without an attendant in sight, I lost my nerve and left empty-handed. It was a pretty rough day in my newly-fledged hunting career.

Humbled, I reached out for guidance. That evening we dissected a shotgun shell from packaging label clear to the wad. Holding the pellets in my hand and seeing the gunpowder made it all click. The next time I was at the gun counter, still a bit awkward, at least I knew which box of shells I wanted.

A dog conditioned for big runs in the open prairie with relatively flat terrain may not fare as well in the mountains chasing chukar or the thick brambles of the north country chasing ruffed grouse and woodcock. When the training grounds don’t match the hunting conditions, it’s like training for a marathon but running a Tough Mudder instead. The body will eventually adjust, but not before shortened or lost days in the field due to fatigue or injury. 

Our bird dog training routine has been completely uprooted, though my dogs are thoroughly enjoying all the extra training. Unfortunately for many people, what would have been the start of training season with friends and professional trainers has now become a stay-at-home DIY situation. Nevertheless, we can take this extra time to get some excellent training drills put together and maybe even include the family in the routines. For starters, we will look at building up one of the most important commands in the pointing dog world – “Whoa.”

Just like with other forms of hunting, there are enthusiasts that prefer different methods of take for their game of choice. Squirrel hunters tend to fall into two distinct groups along a strong dividing line: those who use shotguns and those who use rifles. Within these camps you can break them down further into people who like the various gauges, calibers and the like. Particularly for rifles, there are hunters that pride themselves on skill with open (iron) sights and those that enjoy the technical side of scopes.

It’s not quite U.S. domestic politics or dog food, but raise the topic of “force fetch” or its euphemism, “trained retrieve,” and you’ll quickly discover that pointing dog folks have lots of feelings about it. You’ll generally find four camps: a camp of those who say they don’t need it because they don’t need their dog to retrieve but only help them find a downed bird; a “natural retrieve” camp of folks who abhor the idea and claim you don’t need to do it with a good bird dog; a camp of those who say you can’t finish a great bird dog without it and attribute to it all sorts of benefits for the handler/canine relationship; and finally a camp of those who are confused by the divide between the proponents and detractors and aren’t really sure what force fetch is. I’ll confess I’ve spent at least a little time in each of those camps before settling in as a converted proponent of force fetch, and though sometimes I need to check my evangelistic zeal and admit it might not be necessary nor even desirable for every pointing dog / handler combo, I can speak to the positive experience I’ve had with it in training Lincoln. Here I’ll make the proponent’s case for anyone who might be considering employing it with their pointing dog.

A short while ago, I spoke with a behaviorist friend of mine, Matt McKenny, who also owns versatile hunting dogs. I specifically asked him his thoughts about his relationship with his dog and how behavioral science contributes to his ability to work with, train and calm his dogs. He provided an in-depth perspective of how we use science knowingly — or not — in our training.

If you have spent any time in the dog world you are very familiar with the fact that there are many strong debates about using bait. People on either side of this debate are very passionate about on which side of the fence they find themselves. This debate isn’t so much about using edibles as it is about people wanting to feel good about their training, sometimes ignoring the outcome. Even within our hunting circles, there are some who avoid the use of edibles whatsoever, and those who rely too much on them.

Now in fairness, we all want to feel good about our bird dog training. I’m just as human as anyone else in making my fair share of mistakes. But when we understand the process of learning, whether it’s human learning or canine learning, hopefully we’ll be more attuned to what processes work and why they work.

When acting selfishly while playing youth sports, the common phrase “there’s no I in team” was repeatedly thrown around. My coaches insisted I trust others with the ball to develop good teamwork. But giving up the ball didn’t come naturally. I often got “the eye” from my coaches, revealing their disappointment in my lack of team play. They’d use various positive and punitive techniques to get their points across, though eventually, “the eye” was all it took for me to know what needed to be done. 

Young pups naturally follow a similar journey to learn to obtain items they cherish and identify gestures that lead to things they don’t like. As a good coach, your job is to teach your dog how to be a good teammate through eye contact.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the federal agency responsible for managing the National Wildlife Refuge System. To manage the hundreds of refuges that expand across the United States, the USFWS establishes regulations and implements federal laws.

For those unfamiliar with federal regulations or the regulatory process in general, it would help to understand the basics of what federal regulations exactly are. 

The venerable ring-necked pheasant, the most-hunted upland bird in America. Most of us are likely aware the bird hails from East Asia and, despite its popularity in the United States, is not native to our country. Nevertheless, hunters young and old, bird-dog fanatics or bird-dog-less, head afield in the hundreds of thousands each year to chase that unforgettable cackle.

Millions of these birds are plated each year, so logic dictates some general culinary info might benefit us orange-clad diehards that chase this bird’s iconic luminous plumage.

A black slash slices over red-lined eyes, streaks down the breast, and connects at the keel as it cuts across the body of a flashy chukar partridge. Gray-blue feathers blend seamlessly into shades of dust-brown across its breast and back, but not its sides, where chukar apparently took some inspiration from zebras. Besides pheasants, chukars are arguably the most exotic-looking game birds in the United States. These birds have something in common: they didn’t evolve here.

Chukar are not native to North America. This bird’s home range spans the Middle East and Asia, including Turkey, Jordan, Tehran, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, and Mongolia. In their native range, these birds have a penchant for steep, rocky outcroppings in arid landscapes. Their preference for rugged places translates to their North American range as well.

Since its introduction to the United States decades ago, chukar have become an iconic North American upland game bird, and those who hunt them are lovingly referred to as “not right in the head.” Let’s take a gander at this species’ life history, habitat preferences, and robust hunting culture.

Inside a multi-million dollar mansion, I took a seat around a large wooden table in such pristine condition that I was afraid to touch it. A glass of water sat in front of each occupied seat, giving the space the air of a boardroom. The year was 2017, and my unfamiliar surroundings gave me the sense that I was struggling to translate my idea of what Project Upland Magazine should be.

“We have to change the name. It cannot be called Project Upland.”

The Ojibwe, the indigenous people of the Great Lakes region, tell a story of how they were starving and aninaatig (sugar maple) fed the tribe with syrup (zhiiwaagamizigan) that gushed forth from its wood. Soon, the people took the gift of sugar from the Creator for granted. They lay under aninaatig all day and just let the syrup drip into their mouths. 

One day, the trickster Nanabozho saw this and poured water into aninaatig, diluting the syrup into watered-down sap. He wanted the Ojibwe to work for the blessing of maple syrup and make them truly appreciate it. Today, this is why it takes about 40 gallons of sap and a lot of effort to make a gallon of syrup.  

Sprinkled here and there throughout the sporting literature of the 19th century are references to Russian Setters. Despite the references and the fact that there were a number of dogs listed as Russian Setters entered into studbooks in England and the U.S., such a breed never actually existed. Be that as it may, for a while, sportsmen did breed and hunt over dogs that they called Russian Setters. From writings of the time, we can form a fairly clear picture of what those dogs were like. 

In terms of appearance, everyone agrees that dogs called Russian Setters had long, rough coats and facial furnishings. Edward Laverack once said that he once saw “a magnificent type of the Russian Setter buried in a coat of a very long floss silky texture; indeed he had by far the greatest profusion of coat of any dog I ever saw.” 

Hunters throughout the uplands walk many miles each season in pursuit of various quail species.  From the bobwhites in the Southeast, Gambel’s and scaled quail in the desert Southwest, Mearns and mountain quail in the hills, and California quail throughout the west, several million birds are shot on the wing, loaded in game bags, and eventually cleaned and consumed. Sure, most hunters will note the sex of each bird harvested, but there is one more piece of data that is often skipped by most hunters: aging their birds. For many game birds, distinguishing between juvenile and adult is fairly easy, and quail are no exception. In fact, quail lend themselves to determining the actual hatch date of a juvenile to within just a few days of when the bird pipped its way out of a quarter-sized egg. This information can add a bit of scientific fun for an upland junkie, but can also be useful information to help explain previous reproductive output and possibly even help guide future habitat management.