Mearns and gambels hunting in the southwest

Last January, Betsy and I spent time in the country south of Tucson and I fell in love with it. The vast rolling oak savannas, beautiful desert and one million acres of public land with its three species of native quail are a bird hunter’s dream.
 
A friend, Rolly Reidhead, and I recently returned from a trip to the area both to hunt and to get out of the Minnesota winter. In years past, Rolly hunted there with his father and was excited to go again.

Jeff Hintz is a good friend and Minnesota neighbor and he and his wife, Carol, migrate to Tucson every year. He is a serious dog guy and avid bird hunter and works his experienced pointers on quail several days a week during, before and after the quail season. He provided invaluable help to Rolly and me.

My favorite Arizona quail is the mearns—over gambels and scaled. Compared to last year’s mearns population, the numbers are dramatically lower and we truly hunted for them more than we found them. We had better success with gambels quail when, for several days, we hunted their cover. 
 
Rolly and I brought seven dogs and all performed quite well, considering the conditions. Traveling 1,600 miles from their snowy kennels and freezing temperatures to sunny, warm, dry Arizona was a big change. But it was fun to see young dogs in new country and witness their first contacts with the various quail.

We didn’t find as many birds as we hoped but had a great trip nonetheless.  As Arnold Swartzenneger said in The Terminator:  “I’ll be back!”

Observations on using a Garmin Astro 220

I bought a Garmin Astro 220 dog tracking unit in June and have been experimenting with different features and putting it through its paces. Using this unit in different dog training and hunting situations has given me some interesting and useful insight.

The Garmin Astro 220 is a high-sensitivity, GPS-enabled dog tracking system for hunters and sportsmen. This unique system pinpoints dog location—especially valuable when the dog can’t be seen or heard. The unit records the distance the dog has traveled and average speed.  It is also a full-function GPS that can be used to navigate, mark vehicle location and record miles traveled by the hunter and total time out.

Flushes per hour or flushes per mile

Traditionally,
grouse hunters account for bird contacts in flushes per hour. I tried
something different. Using the Trip Computer feature of the Astro, I
tracked the number of miles I traveled, counted grouse flushes and then
computed grouse flushes per mile.

Another take on this
calculation is using the miles the dog has traveled compared to grouse
flushes. Is the dog that finds the most birds in the least miles
traveled the better bird dog? Certainly, it is more efficient!

Speed

Discovering
dogs’ average speeds in various terrains was enlightening. The first
thing to understand, though, is that the dog’s average speed is
calculated by dividing the miles traveled by the total elapsed time
without regard to time the dog is stopped on point.  

Over
the course of a one-hour workout in fairly open, brushy terrain, my
dogs galloped 12 – 15 mph. Amazingly, my pace was 3 – 3.5 mph so the
dogs covered 4 – 5 times as much ground. In the woods, both speeds, as
expected, were slower. When I walked about 2 miles an hour, the dogs
galloped 5.5 to 7.5 mph. Also, my dogs were on point more often in the
woods, so the average speed was probably one or two mph faster than the
Astro calculated.

Putting those speeds in perspective, my dogs trot at about 8 – 9 mph when I condition them from a four-wheeler.

Fast or quick?

During
a day of guiding grouse hunts, I usually take three dogs and hunt each
separately for about two hours. Several times last fall, I started with
Shaq, a 54-pound setter that moves smoothly and easily through the
woods. Shaq is a medium-to-wide ranging dog and at times was 200 yards
away.  His moving average was about 7 mph.

Often, Maggie
followed Shaq. Maggie is a 40-pound, hard driving pointer female that
rarely ranged farther than 100 yards but continually crossed the path
in front. Many hunters commented on how “fast” Maggie was compared to
Shaq. The Astro told me that Maggie was moving at only about 6 mph so
she perhaps was “quicker” but not faster.

For more information on the Astro, you can visit their website at www8.garmin.com/astro/

Using grouse dogs on pheasants

Proud Austin with a pheasant pointed by Blue Riptide.

I am often asked the question:  “Should I hunt my grouse dog on pheasants? Or will that ruin it for grouse?”

My answer is another question about goals:  “Do you want the ultimate grouse dog or do you enjoy hunting pheasants as much as grouse?”

If you want your dog perfected on grouse, my answer is no. Don’t use your pointing dog on pheasants. If, however, you like to hunt both grouse and pheasants, then I say okay. There are key differences between pheasants and grouse and one, rather unfamiliar, similarity. Pheasants tend to run out from a dog’s points and to not sit well. But so, occasionally, do grouse, especially wily, adult birds in late season. Many times I’ve spotted grouse running ahead of the dog in dense cover. When a pheasant does hold, it allows a pointing dog to approach it more closely. Most ruffed grouse don’t. The ability to point a grouse accurately—but at a distance—is what separates real grouse dogs from those that occasionally point a grouse.

Pheasants have a stronger scent because they are larger than a ruffed grouse and are likely to be in a group. Grouse are smaller birds and tend to be solitary which makes them more difficult to locate. Despite those distinctions, though, there are pheasant hunting conditions that favor pointing dogs…and those that don’t. The ideal situation is an expansive, grassy piece with mixed terrain. A running pheasant could stop and hide at various breaks in the cover and, thereby, provide a spot for a pointing dog to pin it.

I wouldn’t hunt my pointing dog where it’s unlikely the pheasant will ever hold—such as cattail slews, standing corn or sorghum feed strips. Even if my dog points a rooster in such cover, it usually evolves into a cat-and-mouse game that only serves to frustrate the dog. Another tough scenario is many birds in a small area, i.e., a food plot, when too much scent is difficult. A flushing dog is the better dog in these situations.

Ultimately, if you want your dog to be the best grouse dog it can be, then avoid more than the occasional pheasant hunt. If the goal is a good wild bird dog and you enjoy hunting pheasants as much as grouse, use you’re pointing dog.

A special November day in the grouse woods

Ben, Addie, Jerry, Chablis and grouse

There are grouse hunting days and then there are those special days when everything just goes right. November 2 was one to remember.

Ben McKean is a friend from Minnetonka who was able to slip away from a day in the studio of his commercial photography business. We met at our kennel around mid morning, loaded dogs and packed a lunch of bread, cheese and apples in my truck and were soon off.

The weather was perfect—clear skies with slight westerly breeze and
temperature in the 40s. The forest was damp from previous rains which
also meant plenty of water in the woods.  

Ben and his English setter, Merrimac’s Adda Girl, were the first to put
on a show. Addie literally tore up the cover searching for grouse. Five
times she pointed grouse in an hour and a half. Two times she relocated
perfectly to pin running birds. Several times we fired and finally
managed to connect on the last bird as reward for her outstanding
efforts.

Next on the line was our veteran, Blue Silk, also an English setter,
braced with her 10-month-old granddaughter, Northwoods Chablis. We ran
this pair for two, action-packed hours. Several times Silk pointed
grouse and was backed beautifully by Chablis. Twice Chablis was found
on point and stood until we flushed the grouse in front of her.
Together, Chablis and Silk worked running grouse, following the scent
cone in lofty walking points until pinning the bird.

Because I winged Silk’s final point, the bird ran for about 100 yards
and then buried itself in swamp grass. Both dogs searched hard for the
hiding grouse until, finally, young Chablis dug out the bird and
retrieved it to hand.  

It was a day full of smiles and one that, for both Ben and me, won’t soon be forgotten. 

Grouse hunting report: 2009

So far this season, my days in the woods have produced more flushes than last year by not as big a bump as predicted but an obvious increase. This is corroborated by many of our clients, guiding customers and other serious grouse hunters.

And I do mean “flushes.”  A majority of the grouse encountered were heard but not seen due to the latest leaf fall I have ever experienced. Leaves of most trees and shrubs hadn’t even begun to fall until well in mid October—and then many were still green. Later, the culprit was the foliage of hazel, the brushy shrub with foliage at just about eye level, which didn’t drop leaves until late October.

The season has been unusual in another way. Though the prediction was for higher grouse populations, during September I found fewer birds and broods than last year. Or at best, hunting was spotty. By the second week of October, though, I found substantially more birds. Where did they come from? Why couldn’t I find them earlier?

Despite years of research, no one really seems to completely understand ruffed grouse. They are still somewhat of a mystery. But that is okay with me and one of the reasons the ruffed grouse is called king of upland game birds.

Best year to hunt grouse? This year.

With monster drumming counts last spring and evidence that Minnesota and Wisconsin are approaching the peak of the 10-year grouse cycle, this seems to be the year to hunt ruffed grouse. But I have other reasons.

#1.  There are only so many autumns in one’s life and whether at the peak or in the valley of the grouse population cycle, there will be grouse in the woods.

#2.  Fluctuations in grouse populations don’t matter to dogs. They will hunt their hearts out and search for birds like they do always. They will carefully select which cover to hunt by following their noses along damp alder edges and into aspen cuts. Excitement will mount when one dog catches a scent, gets birdy and stands on lofty, intense point.

#3.  Autumn is a fine season to be in the woods. The dogwood berries will be white on bright red stems and the aspen leaves will turn golden and, permeating the entire forest, will be the evocative smell of damp, fallen leaves.

I can’t predict if my dogs and I will find few or many grouse in a given day. Some of my best days were in “low” population cycles and, conversely, the biggest disappointments have been in “high” grouse years.

But it doesn’t matter. My dogs and I will be out in the woods and we will be hunting for them. For me, the sport is in the pursuit.

See you in the woods.

Northwoods Lager in his new home

Lager was raised in our kennel but obviously had no problem adapting to his new home and new life…..and Betsy and I are very grateful!

"It’s going great, we just love him and he is adjusting so easily to everything. My only concern is he is getting petted so much he may not have any coat left soon. He loves his 4 mile runs in the morning, and we have been walking him at night. He and Sam are like long lost friends, and the kids adore him.

"Thanks for everything, you guys are very good at what you do."
 
Jim & Nina

Pre-season conditioning from a four-wheeler

Our clients are bird hunters and owners of field trial competition dogs. Since both seasons start in September, I’ve been on a serious regimen of pre-season conditioning.

I exercise our dogs using four-wheeler workouts, free runs, training time on wild birds or some sort of combination, depending on the age and experience level of each. So twice per week, I’m up early in the morning—while it’s still cool—to “road”—as we call it—our dogs. While I’m gathering equipment and readying the four-wheeler, the dogs are going wild, barking and bouncing around their kennel runs. They love roading and can hardly wait to go. Over the years I’ve developed quite a system—most of it custom. (I’ve gotten to know a local metal works guy quite well!) Two bars extend from each side of the four-wheeler and one longer bar extends forward from the front bumper. With room for two dogs per side bar and five dogs off the front, I can safely accommodate 13 dogs.

Each dog wears a roading harness—similar to a sled dog harness—which is clipped to a heavy-duty bungee cord which is then clipped to the bar. Just like a sled dog race, I work quickly to harness the dogs and start. As soon as I move forward, all is quiet as the dogs start working.

My goal here is building a cardiovascular base for endurance so I road for long times at a slow speed, say 8 – 9 miles per hour, which is just fast enough to have the dogs leaning into their harnesses but moving in a pace gait. I start with a mile or two and slowly increase it to about nine miles.

It’s vital to keep the dogs cool and hydrated. After 10 minutes, I stop at a deep pond and let all dogs loose to drink and to cool off. At 20 and 40 minutes, I drive the four-wheeler right into a shallow creek and let them all rest for a couple minutes. Most
won’t drink much at 40 but all relish splashing around in the water.

After about an hour, we’re headed back to the kennel and the dogs are tired but happy. I can’t say who likes this early  morning routine more—the dogs or me.

Summer puppy training on liberated birds

In addition to ‘flocking’ puppies for exercise and handling, we also work them together at times on liberated birds.  During these workouts they learn to read what the other dogs are doing by observing their body posture and tail action.  They also get used to having other dogs around them and to stay focused with distractions.  While reading the other dogs, they are attracted to one that is acting birdy and naturally learn to back (if they have it their genes), as the above puppies certainly do! Clockwise from left to right they are:  Chardonnay, Moose, Chablis and Lager.  Moose is by Long Gone Murphy and CH Long Gone Madison and the other three are by Blue Shaquille and Houston’s Belle’s Choice.  What a fun group of puppies!!

Northwoods Porter and his new family

Betsy and I try very hard to match our dogs with the expectations and requirements of our buyers……and to make sure the dogs go to good homes where they will have a great life. We are extremely happy to hear from new owners like Jim.

“Snoop (Northwoods Porter) is adjusting very well with his new surroundings.  His kennel mates are accepting him pretty well.  His human sisters are spoiling him rotten.  He may have forgotten how to walk since he was picked up and carried so often.  Thanks again for picking such a nice dog for our family.”

Jim