I was browsing the magazine section of The Bookshelf, a very nice shop in Thomasville, Georgia, where Jerry and I are living for the winter. On the cover of the December 2014/January 2015 issue of upscale Garden & Gun, was Shadow Oak Bo, sire of one of our 2014 litters.
But Bo is a cover dog because he’s the champion in back-to-back wins of the National Championship (2013-14) and the first setter to do so since 1901-02.
The photograph by Robb Aaron Gordon is a beautiful close-up of Bo from the front. His dark nose and upper body are slightly blurred so the focus becomes Bo’s eyes—brown and fringed with white lashes. To me, those eyes reveal an inner calmness, kindness and sensibility.
The feature section is titled “Best of the Sporting South” and Tom Keer writes a good story about Bo and his triumvirate—Butch Houston and John Dorminy as owners and Robin Gates as trainer and handler.
All eight puppies (here at seven weeks of age) out of Northwoods Chardonnay by CH Shadow Oak Bo are tri-color.
When Paul Hauge, our partner in many ownerships and breedings, bought Northwoods Chardonnay early last summer, Paul and Jerry agreed that Bo would be a great fit for Chardonnay. Using frozen semen, we bred her via surgical implantation and on August 8, she whelped three males and five females. Paul picked two females and we picked two females and all four are with us now in Georgia.
The puppies are barely four months old but we’re impressed so far. They inherited Bo’s calm nature and the light-footed grace of Chardonnay. It will be fun to develop them and interesting to see them mature.
Who knows what we’ll have, but we’re always optimistic. Especially with a sire like Bo.
This was the first grouse Ellie (Northwoods Grits x I’m Blue Gert, 2014) pointed. She is a very bold pup, and the check cord you gave us is key to catching her! She is one super little puppy. ~ Tom, Indiana
Autumn is every bird hunter’s favorite season. Judging by the plethora of emails, text messages and photographs Jerry and I received from friends and clients, they spent as much time as possible in the woods and fields with their bird dogs—dogs ranging in age from three-month-old puppies to gray-browed, experienced grouse dogs.
Themes for the season seemed to be:
• lots of birds in the bag
• puppies having a ball and learning lots
• kids with their first grouse
• passionate hunters afield with multiple dogs
• dogs on point in the western U.S.
• dogs on point in the north woods
• suburban dogs yet to get out
• bird dog owners who wish they were better shooters
• lots of happy dogs
Finally, the bittersweet end of the grouse season in the central part of the country was sealed with a blanket of snow.
Cool and calm after a grouse hunt in western Wisconsin, CH JTH Izzie (Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, 2011) is ready to go again as she scans the terrain for more likely spots.
“Oh my God!! There is an aviation term we use for some new guys…..all velocity and no vector! That is Lucy (Shadow Oak Bo x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2014). She is so calm and nice when you stop and pet her…..she just soaks it up…..but take her out side and she is all systems go! And I could not be any happier! Thank you for all your help, and another wonderful dog.”
~ Mike, Minnesota
That’s our youngest, Rece, with his first-ever ruffed grouse in central Minnesota. Both he and Finn (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2014) were elated. So proud of him for a 9-month-old pup! He’s bumping birds frequently but is learning from each encounter. On one bird he locked up 70 yards in front of me and held 5 minutes or more until I busted through a bog to get to him and flush the bird. And then, he won’t even give me time to praise him afterwards – he retrieves and then takes off looking for more! Feeling pretty fortunate to have one of your dogs – especially from Oscar. ~ Todd, Minnesota
Here is a photo of our youngest son Ryan with his first grouse. It was shot off a beautiful point by Tia (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011) a few weeks ago. We’ve been out hunting grouse every weekend. Tia still lives to hunt. Wish I was able to shoot better for her. ~ Ken, Minnesota
“Just wanted you to know that Rose (Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost, 2010) is killing it this year. She is not only a delight at home—but a first-class grouse finder. Chris could not be happier with her and I just overheard him telling her in all earnestness how proud he is to have her as a partner!”
~ Laura, Illinois
Took the dogs (From left: Prancer (Dashaway x Fallset Fate, 2008), Jordy (Elhew G Force x Northwoods Prancer, 2014), Timber (Westfall’s Black Ice x Nothwoods Prancer, 2011) out on a morning woodcock hunt on Sunday. It was a memorable day. Each dog had some pointed birds and each dog had retrieved birds. Could not ask for anything more. ~ Mark, Wisconsin
Kate (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2010, on left, with Cooper (Blue Chief x Blue Blossom, 2007) was on fire Sunday! For the record, Kate and I had 15 birds in one hour and 30 minutes. ~ Barry, Minnesota
Steve couldn’t be happier after a day in the northern Minnesota grouse woods with his older dog, on left, and Bryn (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014).
Eastern Montana bird season is in full swing with pheasants opening last weekend. Thank you once again for allowing me the opportunity to own one of your fine bird dogs. I’ve had the pleasure of hunting over a number of dogs in my lifetime. Zada (Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) has drive and intelligence, a rare combination in a young bird dog. ~ Tom, Montana
Charlie (Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) has been lighting it up a bit. Was 3rd in the Larry Brech Memorial Open Derby Classic with 18 entries – quite a few from pros. Then won the derby held in conjunction with the the Cascade All-Age Championship. Took him chukkar hunting after trial. Had 9 finds in 90 minutes!!!! ~ Steve, California
“Had a great pheasant hunt with Piper (Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) in South Dakota last week. She was able to pin them pretty tight most of the time. She’s a workaholic who just keeps finding birds and points them beautifully.”
~ Chuck, Minnesota
I thought I would drop you a line to let you know Frisco (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014) is loving her new job…hunting. She naturally loves retrieving and the size of a pheasant is no problem. Other hunters are very pleased as well as us with her disposition; she is so pleasant and well mannered. Frisco listens well and doesn’t go hunting off on her own. She also gets along with other hunters’ dogs. ~ Rick, Minnesota
Tired-but-happy Mac (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) poses with two beautiful ruffed grouse after a hunt in Minnesota.
Experience counts. At the age of nine, Jake (Gusty Blue x CH Houston’s Belle, 2005) proudly stands over his birds after hunting in Minnesota.
It’s hard to believe Boomer (I’m Houston’s Image x Blue Silk, 2006) is already eight years old. He is still running like a five-year-old, and lots of hunt still in him! Boomer has been a great dog, and I’m hoping his good health will last a few more years. ~ Scott, Minnesota
Duke (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) has had a fantastic season with several points, but this one tonight on a woodcock is about as “classic” as they get! He pointed 19 woodcock this evening and a ruff. At this point in the season he has pointed sharptails, huns, ruffs, woodcock, and pheasants; and he’s backed on all of these as well as sage grouse! Still looks at me when I miss though… ~ Tom, Minnesota
In our one-hour hunt, we had 4 grouse contacts, 2 points, 1 bagged; 17 woodcock contacts, 8 points, 1 bagged. Tana (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012) pointed and held steady for her first woodcock, but it flushed wild before I could get to her and she was off to the races. Her points were as intense as I’ve seen from her. ~ Brad, Minnesota
“…Bates (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014) is doing well. He has been running in the woods 4 times a week off leash, and becoming a nice family dog. Thanks for the great dogs.”
~ Jeff, Minnesota
Whatever you two did, you did it right. Rae (Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) has acclimated to suburban life seamlessly. Not one house accident, trained quickly to the electric yard fence, obeys, very trainable to further commands. She is my constant companion and she is the most stylish dog at the dog park. She and I are the best of pals. ~ David, Minnesota
Belle (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014) is getting so big and is always the center of attention. She apparently likes to pose. ~ Robby, Minnesota
It was truly a magical weekend as the weather cooperated and the birds were abundant! Like the birds at my feeder, the grouse knew the weather was making a major turn for the worse and were busy feeding on the ground. We did have a blanket of snow Sunday morning, but it was actually warmer than the previous days and made for a wonderfully peaceful hunt before we all departed. ~ Chris, Wisconsin
Nick Larson, on left, and his hunting partner Garrett Mikrut, on right, were joined for a day of grouse hunting by Sam Cook, center, Outdoors writer for the Duluth New Tribune, who also reported on the hunt. Photo by northwoodsr.com.
What a cool idea. Nick Larson and his friend, Garrett Mikrut, recently completed a grouse hunter’s dream—seven days pursuing ruffed grouse across its northern Minnesota range. They traveled from Duluth, Two Harbors and Ely to Hackensack. Completing the hunting party were two German shorthairs owned by Mikrut and a 4½-month-old English setter puppy, Hartley, owned by Nick and his wife, Lacey MacLean.
Thanks to Nick Larson’s passion and dedication, his English setter puppy Hartley has gained invaluable experience in the woods this fall. Photo by northwoodsr.com.
Hartley is out of our Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice litter, which is how Jerry and I met Nick and Lacey. Whether through breeding, training or guiding, we come across many, many people interested in bird dogs and bird hunting but those as passionate as Nick are rare.
In addition to their exploits in the field together, Nick and Garrett maintain a lively blog, Northwoods’R, with beautiful photographs and posts about hunting, fishing and dogs. http://www.northwoodsr.com/
We still store the traps Jerry used when he was young. The collection includes snare, leg-hold and Conibear traps as well as the necessary chains and stakes. The large trap in front is the 220 Conibear that caught Jerry’s Brittany spaniel in 1985.
Jerry will never forget the day in 1985 when he saved the life of his first bird dog, a female Brittany spaniel. While pheasant hunting in the river bottoms of southern Minnesota, he heard a brief, odd, exhaling yelp and then nothing. The sight was horrific. His dog’s neck was caught in the jaws of a 220 Conibear trap.
After a moment of panic and a good kick of adrenaline, he worked quickly, cursing a broken safety catch on one side, and pried the trap open. She was free but not breathing and her gums and tongue had turned blue. Jerry performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as the final step.
Fortunately for the dog, Jerry knew about traps and CPR.
From the ages of 11 to 18 years of age, Jerry was a trapper. He used Conibear (although never as large as a 220), snare and leg hold traps, matching trap to quarry—whether fox, raccoon, mink, beaver or muskrat. As required by law, he walked his trap lines every day during the season with a wicker pack basket on his back and gained valuable knowledge about the intricate workings of many kinds and sizes of traps.
Even though Jerry and I haven’t known of any dogs—either ours or dogs owned by friends and clients—killed in traps, we do know of some who were injured. But dogs do die as Doug Smith, outdoor writer for the Twin Cities-based Star Tribune, reported in a piece on January 15, 2013. http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/187053051.html
We think it behooves all hunters to become familiar with the types of traps they might encounter and how to free a trapped animal.
Snare Trap
Cut the wire (Carry a Leatherman or other tool capable of cutting wire.)
Leg-hold Trap
Step on the spring(s) and the trap will release.
Conibear, also called Body Grip Trap
Print the instructions from the website below and carry with you, along with heavy-duty zip ties as specified at the bottom of the document. http://www.mntrappers.org/_fileCabinet//bodygrip.pdf
Another life-saving technique that worked for Jerry and his Brittany spaniel is CPR. In addition to resuscitating a dog from a trap, CPR can be useful in other emergency situations. http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/cat_dog.html
Many thanks to Chris Bye for the idea of this post.
The play story in the Outdoors Weekend section of today’s Star Tribune, “For the love of bird dogs,” features Northwoods Bird Dogs. Outdoors columnist Dennis Anderson wrote the piece after he visited the kennel and hunted over Shaq and Oscar last week. He also shot the photographs.
Dennis has written about Jerry twice before but those articles centered on training and developing pointing dogs. This time he focused on the background of our business and the significance of our breeding program.
Dennis is an excellent writer no matter whether he’s taking on tough conservation issues or reporting on a fishing trip to a northern lake. I’ve always especially liked his pieces that are essay-like in style and cover subjects not necessarily outdoors-oriented.
In the final paragraphs when Jerry releases Oscar from a grouse point, Dennis perfectly captures the desire of our dogs to find and point birds: “Racing ahead, and quickly up to speed, Oscar was intent on finding still another bird. It’s what he lives for.”
The main photo by Dennis is good, too. Shaq is as fine a bird dog as we’ve owned and Dennis caught the handsome head and breath-taking composure on point.
Most of the dogs we sell are as much beloved pets as stalwarts in the woods and fields. Northwoods Grits (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011) is large for a lap dog but manages to get plenty of attention from Chris Senkler.
Even though Jerry and I focus on breeding bird dogs used in the pursuit of ruffed grouse and woodcock, families who buy dogs from us hunt other birds. In fact, September found many hunters and their dogs heading west to the prairies of North Dakota and Montana. (First group of photographs.)
September is still a busy training month for Jerry and Dan…..and there’s almost no place they’d rather be than out in the woods and fields training bird dogs.
The CH Shadow Oak Bo x Northwoods Chardonnay puppies and three neighbors out of Northwoods Rum Rickey by Northwoods Parmigiano watch kennel activities.
Then, of course, I must include photographs of puppies. Our two August-born litters are coming of age and ready to go to their new owners. The last group of photographs is from buyers of 2014 litters. These puppies are getting plenty of play time with their new families and their first introductions to birds and hunting.
Jack (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Highclass Kate, 2013) after a long Sunday, with the afternoon’s work on the tailgate! ~ Barry Frieler
This was Finn’s (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2014) first-ever pointed wild bird – cold, wet and windy in endless native grasses 5 miles from the northeastern corner of Montana. It was a short point; but an excellent find and retrieve right to hand. PRICELESS! ~ Todd Wiedmann
Look who I ran into out in Montana! ~ Joe Montgomery (on right) owner of Buddy (Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013), on finding another long-time friend/client of ours, A. G. Murray, Jr., from Oklahoma, who is now on the fourth NBD-bred setter.
Piper (Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost, 2010, on right) still ranged, but was in control and purposeful and she was the same bird-finding machine she is in the grouse woods. Roy (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012) is an extremely good “warm weather” dog, and everyone who hunted behind him wanted him or a puppy from him. ~ Chris Bye
What a pretty sight! Jerry often braces two dogs together because it offers many training opportunities. Occasionally, he runs three dogs, especially when one is experienced. Morris (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2011), on left, has a beautiful find on a wild covey of sharptails. Veteran setter Choice (Gusty Blue x Houston’s Belle, 2005) and derby Smooch (Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013) honor Morris’ point.
From the age of eight weeks, we put puppies on the training barrel for initial lessons in whoa training. Five-month-old Northwoods Platinum (Elhew G Force x Northwoods Prancer, 2014) shows extraordinary poise and composure.
During one of those perfect mornings to be running dogs on the prairie, Frank LaNasa flushes for his multiple champion Homemade (on right), who is backed by Lucy (Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, 2011).
Franny (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle, 2010), on left, and Gus (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2011) score a divided find on sharp-tailed grouse in a scrub oak patch on the barrens.
I took Frisco (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014) out for her first walk in the wild last weekend. We found grouse immediately and she got her first taste of feathers. She was not going to give up the grouse and ran around showing off with a lot of pride. So let the training begin….which will be all fun! ~ Rick Buchholz
We took Ellie (Northwoods Grits x I’m Blue Gert, 2014) for a walk at the club today and she backed Betty…..pointing what turned out to be a covey of 20 chukkar that must have been released last week. When they flushed Ellie went charging in the woods and was pretty amped up on the scent. ~ Tom Beauchamp
Elmer (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014) continues to do well… everyone who meets him comments that 1) his name is very fitting; 2) he is so nice and sweet and calm; 3) he’s soo soft!! ~ Kjellrun Olson
Boatswain (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014) is doing great, doing just what puppies should—tearing up anything he can get his mouth around, and exploring and learning lots everyday! He seems to be a natural retriever, because he is always carrying something around in his mouth and loves to come show it off. ~ Ben Whitten
Roxy (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014) has been an outstanding addition to our family. She is full of life and our children absolutely love her. ~ Joe Byers
The very first covey of three grouse we ran into, Hartley (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014) clearly indicated he scented birds. He was very excited and attempting to bust through some very thick cover on his own…I know he’s still very young and I just want him to have fun out there, which he did. ~ Nick Larson
CH Houston’s Blackjack (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008). Photo by Ben McKean.
CH Houston’s Blackjack was recently acquired by Dr. Paul Hauge from Jack’s co-owners, Frank LaNasa and Leroy Peterson. Jack is a six-year-old setter male out of Paul’s 2X CH/4X RU-CH Houston’s Belle by CH/RU-CH Can’t Go Wrong, so it’s a very cool and fitting purchase.
Frank handled Jack on the horseback shooting dog circuit and earned placements in many trials, including a championship and runner-up championship.
Paul placed Jack with Luke Eisenhart, a professional handler in all-age horseback field trials. Luke is one of the best and was the Purina Top All-Age Handler in both 2012 and 2013. Luke will enter Jack in wild bird trials in the Dakotas, in addition to quail trials in the southeast.
The all-age circuit is the highest level and most demanding of pointing dog field trials. It takes a special dog to to compete with the likes of two-time National Champion, Shadow Oak Bo, a setter, and many, many winning pointers.
