Northwoods Vixen whelps nine (includes short video)

Between about 4 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, April 21, Northwoods Vixen whelped nine puppies by CH Elhew G Force. There are two males (one liver and one orange) and seven females (four black and three orange). The birth process was about as smooth as we could hope for.

Within an hour after all were born, Jerry shot some audio and video. We’ve always liked the tiny peeping, squealing noises newborns make. The whelping process is a messing thing—with plenty of fluids and liquids—and the dam spends a lot of time licking and cleaning her puppies.

By late morning, every puppy was shiny white. And Vixen and her litter were sleeping.

What We’re Reading: Minnesota Conservation Volunteer

No one would rather hunt woodcock in October than I, but since learning of the sky dance I find myself calling one or two birds enough. I must be sure that, come April, there be no dearth of dancers in the sunset sky.
~ Aldo Leopold

Too often woodcock are overlooked for its larger and louder woodland neighbor, the ruffed grouse, but they are amazing little birds. The spring sky dance is famous, of course, but I also like its twittering flush and those big, brown eyes.

The March/April issue of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine has a nice piece on woodcock with information on the sky dance, banding chicks and habitat needs.

Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, a bimonthly magazine published by the Minnesota DNR, has long been overseen and edited by Kathleen Weflen, who deserves, I think, most of the credit.  This outstanding publication is always filled with beautiful photographs and all sorts of interesting, outdoors-y stories.

What We’re Reading: Terrierman’s Daily Dose

Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit.
~ Patrick Burns

Terrierman’s Daily Dose is one of a handful of blogs that Jerry follows with regularity. Patrick Burns, the writer, is erudite, literate and seems to have unlimited time to research and to write his blog. He can’t help himself either, apparently. A couple years ago, he suspended writing but took it up again as, I think, he just has too much to say.

On April 5, he posted How to Go to the Vet. We don’t agree with every point but it’s good reading.

What do bobwhite quail do all day?

A male bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) walks swiftly from its roosting site.

Jerry and I became even more fascinated by bobwhite quail while spending the winter training on a quail plantation in southwest Georgia.

First of all, they are tiny…..and weigh just 6 oz. Like ruffed grouse, they are perfectly plumaged as to be practically invisible, even when looking straight at them. We discovered that they are as wily and evasive as grouse, too. To avoid dogs and hunters, they run fast and far or they burrow in/under a clump of wiregrass or other cover where even the most tenacious Labrador or cocker spaniel will have difficulty with location.

We adore the distinctive “bob white, bob white” whistle. Perhaps most of all, though, we never tire of the exhilaration, fast action and flurry of wings when a covey rises.

Bobwhite quail fly into heavy cover after the flush.

But we wanted to know more so Jerry spent hours studying the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy website. Tall Timbers is located outside Tallahassee, Florida, on a former quail plantation. It is widely regarded for its research and as a resource in the areas of fire ecology and wildlife and game bird management of the Southeastern Coastal Plain.

One of the cool things they researched during a hunting season was “Patterns of Bobwhite Covey Activity.” Workers radio-tracked four coveys of quail continuously, recording their location and activity level every 15 minutes from daylight until dark. They overlaid that data onto weather data collected on the same 15-minute intervals at the Albany, Georgia, airport.

Generally, coveys ranged no more than 200 to 300 yards during a single day and 10 to 15 acres throughout the season.

A female bobwhite quail is hard to distinguish from among fallen pine needles.

And the daily habit?

Second hour of daylight: Covey moves off their roost and enters into period of peak activity. This high level of activity lasts for 1 to 1½ hours and then tapers off.

Midday:  Very little activity for 3 – 4 hours. Coveys often move to heavier cover to loaf.

Around 3:00 pm:  Activity levels start to pick up. Coveys usually have periods of feeding and then going to roost.

The research project also proved that quail covey movements were influenced by weather.

•    Active in cold temperatures and conditions with high humidity and light winds.
•    Inactive in hot temperatures and conditions with low humidity and high winds.
•    Inactive when raining.
•    Very little activity when the wind was from the east.
•    Activity levels tended to increase the day before a change in the weather suggesting that quail can sense an approaching weather event.

Another champion: Houston’s Blue Diamond

CH Houston’s Blue Diamond (Houston x Forest Ridge Jewel) is posed by his owner Ross Leonard, on left.

Congratulations to Ross Leonard for handling his setter male, Houston’s Blue Diamond (call name Sam), to first place in Region 4 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship held recently near Berea, Kentucky. Most of these horseback trials are dominated by pointers and this was no different—18 pointers and eight setters competed.

Sam was whelped in 2006 out of Houston (via frozen semen) and Forest Ridge Jewel at the kennel of Paul Hauge. This was a repeat breeding for Paul…and for a very good reason. The first litter in 2004 produced multiple champion and extraordinary dam, CH Houston’s Belle. Sam is a handsome dog with a blocky head and the distinctive “Houston” mark around his left eye.

Sam was one of five puppies. Two of his siblings, Fireside Fleetwood and Fireside Blue Zephyr, are also field trial winners.

I developed and trained Sam for Paul that first year—on the North Dakota prairie, in the grouse woods and in Texas on bobwhite quail. Ross bought Sam from Paul in 2007 and, after furthering his training, has successfully competed in various field trials.

Landcruiser Scout wins RU-CH at Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship

RU-CH Landcruiser Scout (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle)

Landcruiser Scout, five-year-old setter male owned by Mike and Patricia Cooke of Rochester, New York, was recently named runner-up champion at the Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship. Four setters and 28 pointers competed in the trial which was held near the Virginia and North Carolina border. Scout is trained and handled by professional Jeanette Tracy.

What a family! Scout is out of a litter of six males and two females that Paul Hauge, Jerry and I co-bred—CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle—in 2008. Two litter brothers are champions in horseback field trial competition, CH Ridge Creek Cody (Larry Brutger, St. Cloud, Minnesota) and CH Houston’s Blackjack (Frank LaNasa, Isanti, Minnesota).

In addition to delivering Scout on his way to field trials in Pennsylvania that spring, Jerry met Joe Zimmer of Chamois, Missouri. Joe’s dog, Fritz, is a winner in walking field trials.

Congratulations to Mike, Patricia and Jeanette!

Sights of southwest Georgia

The most common sight here in southwest Georgia is Jerry out working dogs…and when he’s training Northwoods Vixen, our young pointer, it becomes one of my favorite sights.

There is very little about southwest Georgia that resembles home. The woods and lakes of Minnesota seem far away—not only in miles but in cultural differences. Obvious anomalies include no snow and no SA convenience store on every corner. The agricultural landscape consists of peanut and cotton fields and vast groves of large pecan trees; no corn or soybean fields in sight. Sometimes it’s even difficult to grasp that this is part of the United States and people here vote for the same president.

Other basics are different, too. For example:

•    Rather than neighborhoods and communities full of beige vinyl-sided houses, here the majority of homes are adorned with brick, usually some shade of red brick. Architectural features such as shutters and front porches (complete with rocking chairs) are ubiquitous. Few homes have garages and even less has basements.

•    In the upper Midwest, not many broadleaf evergreen plants grow. The landscape here looks green even in January due to the plethora of big live oaks and many shrubs including camellias, kalmias and hollies. Turf grass is even green in winter.

•    Winters are very mild with highs in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Snow is extremely rare. It’s now spring and the sunny, crisp days are more reminiscent of falls days in the north.

•    Speech varies from an incomprehensible dialect to typically southern expressions. Truly, I have, quite politely, asked people to repeat themselves because I haven’t understood one word they said. Almost everyone uses “you-all” although, with their drawl, it becomes a single syllable word pronounced like the two-masted sailboat, the yawl.

Even so, Jerry and I have loved living here. We have met some extraordinary people, all of whom exude graciousness and warmth. Many are courteous to a fault with lots of “Ma’ams” thrown into the conversation.

Even more than normal, our meals are highlights of our days as we eat what locals eat. We’ve had grouper and shrimp from the Gulf, catfish, BBQ, biscuits, grits, cornbread, hush puppies and pecans in bars and pies. From nearby Florida, we’ve eaten terrific grapefruit, tomatoes and strawberries. Jerry has even tried and enjoyed sautéed turnip greens.

The dogs, seemingly, like it here, too. Each has a spacious kennel run (5’ wide by 10’ long) and an elevated dog house that is just the right size—cozy yet large enough to allow for air flow on warm days. Not one dog has become ill with intestinal problems, tick-borne diseases or other issues. The training opportunities on wild coveys of quail and, when necessary, on liberated Johnny-house quail have been excellent.

Here are some of our favorite sights of southwest Georgia.

A classy aspect of most plantations is a simple, understated entrance.

Southwest Georgia, and particularly Thomasville, is the center of quail plantation country. Highways (Plantation Parkway), art festivals (Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival) and businesses (Plantation Propane & Petroleum) are named in their honor. Quail plantations themselves have names, too. Many are Native American in origin—Seminole, Cherokee, Osceola and Kickapoo, while others are evocative:  Sunny Hill, Twin Oaks, Mistletoe, Longpine, Dixie.

Evergreen azaleas are in full, glorious bloom now. Azaleas belong here in the piney woods of the Red Hills region and prove it by happily putting out hundreds of flowers on a single shrub. The most common flower color is deep pink but I’ve seen shrubs with blossoms of light pink, peach and white.

Elements for a successful burn on a quail plantation include: one guy on a four-wheeler with drip torch that ignites the brush, water supply in yellow container and furrowed row that serves as a fire break.

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is the dominant plant of the once-extensive southeast forest that originally (pre-Euopean settlement) comprised an estimated 90 million acres. The stands were rich in numbers of vascular plant species—second only to the tropics—and relied on the natural phenomenon of lightning-started fire for management. Fire continues to be important but now must be set with special permits.

Thick bark on mature longleaf pines makes them resistant to fire.

Some of the nation’s most prestigious shooting dog and all-age field trials—the Masters, Continental, Florida, Free-For-All and the National Open Shooting Dog—are held during January, February and March in this part of the country. A huge draw is the opportunity to run on wild bobwhite quail.

Pots of herbs and a garland of cotton adorn the front of Liam’s Restaurant in downtown Thomasville.

Brick-paved, downtown Thomasville is charming and lively. The buildings have been completely renovated and all now bear a plaque noting the original business name and date. Benches and large container gardens full of blooming petunias and pansies line sidewalks and lovely wrought iron signs mark the streets. In homage to its quail plantation heritage, bronze statues of sporting dogs and 12 bobwhite quail are in various locations. Jerry and I discovered some terrific restaurants:  Jonah’s Fish & Grits, Sweet Grass Dairy & Cheese (& wine!) Shop, Liam’s Restaurant, Savannah Moon Bakery & Café and Grassroots Coffee Shop. No trip downtown is complete without checking out Kevin’s, a very classy store with hardwood floors and old glass cases that sells premium firearms, outdoor gear, sporting apparel and fine china and crystal.

Jerry and I developed an affinity for native longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), the stately evergreen that dominates the landscape in southwest Georgia. The longleaf has a unique start to life. Up to about six years of age, most of the growth takes place below the ground; all that shows above is a very cute, dense cluster of needles that looks more like a grass and, in fact, is termed the “grass” stage. Those needles also protect the young plant from fire.

Mornings in the piney woods are beautiful and May, our Labrador retriever, and I loved the daily walks around our place.

I was surprised but happy to see one familiar tree even though it bloomed about two months earlier than at home. In mid February, red maples (Acer rubrum) became noticeable due to the spectacle of red flowers along bare branches. Tiny samaras soon formed. Red maples have a huge range—among the most abundant and widespread of eastern trees—from northern Maine to the southern tip of Florida.

A guided quail hunt on a Georgia plantation

In a beautiful piece of cover with tall pines, a small field and border of broomsedge bluestem, Lewis, left, and Buddy walk in for the flush of a big covey.

Although Jerry is perhaps most well known for his grouse guiding skills, he has several years of experience on bobwhite quail hunts in Texas. This year, though, is his first guiding in Georgia.

Just after Valentine’s Day, four guys from Atlanta, Buddy, Jack, Lewis and Oscar, loaded up their dogs and drove the easy four hours to our place here in southwest Georgia. They couldn’t have been a nicer group—real southern gentlemen—with soft drawls and easy smiles. Jerry enjoyed his hours in the field with them and we all had a good time at the end of the day with cocktails in front of a warm fire.

Most quail plantations that are serious about guided hunts have special vehicles. Ours has a Jeep chassis outfitted with dog boxes, gun racks and plenty of seats.

With shotguns in position, Lewis, left, and Jack move quickly up a furrowed row to the dog on point.

One beautiful morning, Grits (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis) locates a covey along a picturesque two-track while Lewis, shotgun ready, is set for the flush.

Oscar, left, and Lewis display nice shooting form when the covey rises.

Many quail plantations own an English cocker spaniel or two to retrieve downed birds. One afternoon, our cocker Penny had a stellar performance. She searched tenaciously for 14 minutes (Jerry timed it) until she found the winged quail. Upon the command, “Bring it to the truck,” off she ran and jumped onto the front seat of the Jeep.

During a good day in the field hunting wild bobwhite quail, Oscar finds it easy to smile.

Short report on the National Open Shooting Dog Championship

While a judge watches, Shawn Kinkelaar shoots over Ridge Creek Cody just seconds after the covey flushed.

Besides the opportunity to train on a quail plantation, a compelling reason to live in southwest Georgia for a winter is its proximity to lots of cool dogs and field trials. The most prestigious horseback shooting dog trial, The National Open Shooting Dog Championship, began February 4 on the historic and beautifully groomed Sedgefields Plantation, just outside Union Springs, Alabama. Fortunately for me, Jim and Kathy Tande invited me to ride a morning with them.

You know you’re in bird dog country when a life-sized, bronze statue of a pointer (sculpted by Bob Wehle) that’s mounted on an 8-foot-tall column graces the middle of a main intersection of town; and when that town, Union Springs, claims to be the “Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World.”

Jim and Kathy Tande graciously offered me one of their horses so I could ride a morning brace of the National Open Shooting Dog Championship.

Betsy and I have known Jim and Kathy for a long time—going back to our years as competitors on the grouse trial circuit. Jim and Kathy still have a place in northern Minnesota but now winter near Arlington, Georgia, where Jim trains, competes in horseback field trials and is a sought-after judge.

This trial, now celebrating its 53rd anniversary, is unique in that dogs must quality by placing in specific trials and each brace is 90 minutes. Most of the handlers are professionals but a few amateurs compete, enticed perhaps, by the $10,000 purse. The birds here are bobwhite quail—all wild coveys—and are plentiful due to excellent management at Sedgefields.

Shawn Kinkelaar has an impressive string of championship dogs including Covey Rise Offlee Amazin, Skydancer Dancing Bell, Miller’s Atomic Rain and Ridge Creek Cody, the setter in the front.

This year 47 pointers and five setters competed.  In a strange bit of kismet, Paul Hauge, Betsy and I bred two of the setters. CH Ridge Creek Cody (owned by Larry Brutger and handled by Shawn Kinkelaar) and Land Cruiser Scout (owned by Mike Cooke and handled by Jeanette Tracy) were littermates out of CH Can’t Go Wrong and CH Houston’s Belle in 2008.

Defying even more odds, Cody and Scout were in the same brace! Both dogs hunted hard, looked good running and scored a back. They each tallied four covey finds and stood staunch as their handlers fired blank .410 shotguns. Neither dog placed on this day…but I was very proud of them both.

Sedgefields Plantation built a very nice clubhouse that’s used for The National Open Shooting Dog Championship.

Blue Silk: 1999 – 2013

Blue Silk at 12 years of age. Photo by Chris Mathan.

If you had glimpsed Silk a month or so ago as she eagerly ran up the driveway from the kennel to the house, you would never have guessed she was 14 years old. Upon closer inspection, it still might not have occurred to you for little of her jet black fur had faded to gray. Only if you had looked into her eyes would you have noticed her years. They were full of wisdom, but also faded and opaque with age.

Jerry and I thought this might be a tough winter for Silk so we brought her along on our training trip to Georgia. Wouldn’t the warmth feel good on her old bones? And wouldn’t she love lounging on soft green grass?

Silk adapted well to our routine here and seemed healthy. So we weren’t at all prepared for her sudden illness and end.

One morning last week when we went to the kennel, Silk appeared dazed and disoriented—perhaps, we guessed, like she had just had a seizure of some kind. She recovered and seemed fine all day—even napped in the warm sunshine—until early evening when she had another. She recovered again but by the next morning, she had worsened with numerous, severe seizures. Jerry and I bathed her, wrapped her in a soft blanket and brought her to the vet.

Even though simple blood work and a physical exam ruled out many diseases, our experienced vet explained the most likely cause of Silk’s condition was a tumor of some kind that was growing quickly and pressing on her brain. It was clear that Silk’s long, happy, productive life was at an end. Jerry and I tearfully made the heart-breaking but humane decision for her.

Blue Silk and her sons, Northwoods Blue Ox, left, and Blue Shaquille.

Silk:  the extraordinary dog.
Throughout her life, Jerry and I co-owned Silk with Paul Hauge. Even though she lived at our kennel, Paul was always proud of her. Silk was out of our 4XCH/4XRU-CH Blue Streak and CH First Rate, a multiple champion in horseback field trials. From both she inherited uncommon stamina and a tenacious application but had her own sweet disposition and even temperament. Similar to her uncle, CH Blue Smoke, Silk had a very accurate nose which allowed her to pin birds with precision. She placed in several field trials, one time even besting her famous dam. In 2001, Silk won the Minnesota/Wisconsin Derby of the Year. For several years, she was a first-string member of our grouse-guiding team.

At just a few weeks of age, a female puppy from the CH Peace Dale Duke x Blue Silk litter already shows the sweet temperament of her dam.

Silk:  the dam.
Jerry and I bred Silk just three times. Her first litter was by Paul’s great dog, Houston, using frozen semen. We next chose a talented son of Houston, I’m Houston’s Image, and for her last litter, we went to the East Coast for CH Peace Dale Duke.

As evidenced by this list, Silk was an exceptional producer of both grouse dogs and field trial champions.

2004/Houston x Blue Silk
•    Blue Shaquille, one of our best grouse dogs ever
•    Sweet Dakota Blue, owned by Doug Wenell
•    Kobe, owned by Sam Gary, Sr.

2006/I’m Houston’s Image x Blue Silk
•    2XCH/RU-CH I’m Blue Gert, owned by Dave and Rochel Moore
•    CH Satin From Silk, owned by Greg and Diane Gress
•    Beloved Blue Ghost, owned by Randy and Mo O’Brien
•    Casey, owned by Jim DePolo
•    Blue Spirit & Boomer

2007/CH Peace Dale Duke x Blue Silk
•    Northwoods Blue Ox, our Oscar
•    Northwoods Blue Babe, formerly owned by Paul Hauge
•    Blue Peace Belle, owned by Steve Snyder
•    Zeke The Streak

Silk:  the pack leader.
Silk was our eldest dog and definitely the leader of the pack. No matter which dog was in the house with us—the Labrador May, strong Shaq, macho Oscar, Vixen the whippersnapper or even puppies in for rehab like Carly and Roy—Silk ruled. They shrank away from the water bucket if Silk wanted to drink. And with one significant look, all dogs would scatter so she could claim the big dog bed all to herself.

On Christmas morning 2012, Silk and May begin working on their huge chew toys from Santa.

Silk:  forever.
Blue Silk is gone but she will never be forgotten. Of the 19 English setters we have with us here for training, all but three are out of Silk. Her sweet disposition, spirit and talent live on through all her famous sons and daughters and their offspring, here and elsewhere.