Hunters Dick Taylor, on left, and Henson Orser happily pose with their birds after a successful hunt behind Blue Shaquille. High stem density of the aspens combined with a rather open forest floor is a favorite habitat for ruffed grouse.
No one who is at all sensitive to criticism or who does take kindly to being disagreed with, should speak openly of his grouse dog ideas; much less permit them to become recorded in lasting print. ~ William Harnden Foster, New England Grouse Shooting, 1942
Ruffed grouse tend to inhabit wooded areas with high stem density which makes it more difficult for ground predators to approach. Generally, they prefer a bare forest floor with good visibility and an over story for protection from aerial predators. Grouse live singly and are therefore responsible for their own survival. Their preferred means of travel is walking. When threatened, evasive options are many and grouse will run, flush, fly into a tree, sit tight or any combination.
What Betsy and I seek in a grouse dog are qualities that allow the dog to find the most birds and the ability to point them in a manner that provides the best shooting opportunities. We choose our grouse dogs based on the habits, and habitat, of the birds.
Ruffed grouse are solitary birds that live in big woods.
Even though the woods are vast, only a small portion holds grouse. We require a dog that will cover a good amount of territory searching for these individual birds while staying in contact with the handler.
Ruffed grouse inhabit some nasty areas.
Not only does a grouse dog have to penetrate the bird’s realm but it also has to get there. This includes traversing rough cover of debris-strewn, moss-covered, logged-over areas, tall grass, thorny berry briars and lots of water—whether in swamps, streams, marshes or ponds. A grouse dog is constantly ducking under, jumping over or otherwise dodging something in its path. We want a tenacious dog that is not deterred by tough terrain.
Ruffed grouse also like bare forest floors.
A grouse leaves little scent on a bare forest floor. That open-ness at bird level also gives grouse a good view of its surroundings. We require a dog with superb scenting ability that can follow a bird’s movements. The dog should have the dual qualities of strong pointing instinct and boldness to engage the bird.
After a good hour or two in the grouse woods, Blue Shaquille has had to ford streams and search large areas for his quarry. Among many points this day, he pins a bird in a very likely spot.
In addition to those qualities that are bird-oriented, Betsy and I want a tractable, intelligent dog with physical ability and style. It should have good hearing with natural ability to orient to its handler. It should effortlessly adapt to different cover. It should move easily and hunt for long periods of time, even under hot, dry conditions. Finally, we want a stylish dog that hunts with zeal.
We know that’s asking a lot of a dog but we’ve seen many dogs do it.
And the only way to find out is to work dogs on grouse. It takes time, knowledge of the bird and boot leather. Some abilities can be ascertained when a dog is young but most will be at least three years of age before its true capabilities are known.
Northwoods Carly Simon points a good distance from a single ruffed grouse in northern Minnesota.
The goal of the breeding program that Betsy and I began 19 years ago has always been to produce the best grouse dogs anywhere. To make our string, a dog—whether English setter or pointer—had to prove that it could find, point and handle ruffed grouse. Further, it had to point not just one bird or two, but grouse after grouse after grouse.
Since our focus was ruffed grouse of the north woods, we didn’t consider southern birds. For the past two winters, though, Betsy and I have lived in southwestern Georgia and have trained on bobwhite quail. During recent hunts on several beautiful quail plantations, we had the opportunity to directly compare our setters and pointers to those used by professional guides. It’s clear (and gratifying) that our dogs do extremely well here on these wild birds.
We think several similarities exist between grouse and quail dogs.
Wild birds in the woods.
Habitat for bobwhite quail in southwest Georgia consists of tall, longleaf and loblolly pines with low-growing shrubby and herbaceous plants. In other words, it’s similar to woods where ruffed grouse live.
In typical bobwhite quail cover, Northwoods Carly Simon points a covey on a southwest Georgia plantation.
Scenting ability.
A covey of 12 or more quail can be as difficult to find as a single grouse and a dog needs a discerning nose to consistently find them. While bobwhites do allow a dog to get closer, they can be touchy, especially in January and February, about the approach of the dog. A good dog points from a distance.
Desire to find birds under tough conditions.
Grouse dogs are constantly getting hit by sticks, grasses and briars and their feet take a beating from all kinds of debris on the forest floor. Too, early in the season, weather conditions are often warm and dry. Circumstances are similar for quail dogs. A good quail dog must have tenacity and desire to keep hunting when cover and conditions are tough.
Hunting range and pattern.
The wooded habitat for both ruffed grouse and quail is quite uniform and birds can be found anywhere. The key for finding both is coverage, not range. Plantations mow the underbrush in a grid pattern and a dog should hunt these strips in a forward, crisscrossing pattern at an ideal range of 50 – 100 yards.
Evasive tactics.
Early in the season, both ruffed grouse and quail are easier for a dog to handle. By late season, both birds are wily and wary and use every tactic possible to avoid detection—from sitting tight to running away to flushing wild at the approach of the hunting party.
One advantage, though…
Quail do one have one distinct advantage over ruffed grouse when it comes to survival. A ruffed grouse is a loner and relies on its own individual instincts and experience. Since quail are covey birds, they are dependent on each other and usually react as a single unit. Further, the wariest bird enhances the survival of the entire covey.
In January, Betsy and I discovered a beautiful spot to live and work during the winter months. Southwest Georgia not only has desirable weather but it’s the heart of bobwhite quail plantation country and the lofty pines that dominate.
During a morning training session in February, Bob Senkler’s Northwoods Grits (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011) finds a covey of quail in native wiregrass (Aristida stricta).
Betsy and I became even more enamored of bobwhite quail in March. We saw countless wild coveys and dozens of released and Johnny house birds. We never tired of watching them on the ground, listening to them cluck and call, and ultimately to feel the excitement of a covey flush.
Northwoods Vixen (CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, 2011) takes a well-deserved nap after whelping nine puppies by CH Elhew G Force in April.
May begins our summer training programs. Jeff and I work Steve Snyder’s Dusty (Blue Shaquille x Snyder’s Liz, 2012) on pigeons.
Our last puppies for 2013 were whelped on June 22. The CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Highclass Kate litter included two females and four males.
Scott Berry’s pointer Dagny exhibits excellent staunchness during a training session in June.
Vixen is back at work in July. She shows outstanding posture and intensity pointing bobwhite quail.
In August, a whole new routine begins. I begin training dogs on wild birds both from home and at our North Dakota camp. Dan conditions adult dogs from a four-wheeler.
Frank LaNasa and I have trained off horseback in North Dakota for 12 years now and we both love our time there. Frank’s CH True Confidence is backed by Dan Stadin’s Northwoods Guns N’ Roses (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2011), on left, and Sam Gary’s Northwoods Anhiwake Grace (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2010).
For most of October, I guide for Bill Heig out of Bowen Lodge northwest of Grand Rapids. At the end of month, though, Ray Marshall and I enjoyed three days in the woods, here with Northwoods Carly Simon (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2011).
Our November Puppy Quail program is always a great way to wrap up training in Minnesota. The birds are seasoned and the puppies exciting. Dale and Jess Robinson’s Mac (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) and our Beemer (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chablis, 2013) share point.
The year has come full circle; Betsy and I are back in southwest Georgia for the winter. We brought several client dogs and all our own puppies to train on bobwhite quail. One morning in December, I was invited on a hunt on the private Sunny Hill plantation. It was thrilling to see such good bird work by several of their well-trained pointers.
The piney woods of southwestern Georgia are gorgeous…especially in early morning.
A big contingent of Northwoods Bird Dogs will hit the road soon for the long drive to the southwest corner of Georgia. Jerry and I will bring a select number of client-owned dogs and, with the exception of two, all of our own dogs.
We’re excited to get back to our southern training grounds just outside Thomasville, Georgia. The location is ideal in so many regards. Not only is it smack dab in the middle of bobwhite quail plantation country but there are many field trials held in Georgia and nearby Florida and Alabama. Thomasville is a charming small town. The weather is ideal. The piney woods are beautiful. And the Gulf Coast is a short 80-mile drive.
Back in Minnesota, the kennel will be in the very capable hands of Dan Stadin, the guy who works with us throughout the year. He’ll be busy with Northwoods Chardonnay, who is scheduled to whelp her litter by Blue Chief (frozen semen) in late December. Since Northwoods Chablis is due to be bred to Northwoods Blue Ox early winter 2013, he needs to be in Minnesota.
Jerry and I will make a quick trip back to Minnesota in mid January to pick up a fresh group of client-owned dogs.
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.
Good friend and client Ben McKean recently sent a link to a YouTube video with incredible footage and audio of a male ruffed grouse on his drumming log. It is extraordinary!
Anyone who has visited our kennel has probably bumped into Jeff Hintz at some time or another. Jeff and Ron Watson own a very cool hunting lodge about 400 yards to the east of us. Both have been friends of ours for many years through dogs, field trials, hunting and other shared interests. Jeff and Ron are retired now from successful careers in the Twin Cities and so have lots more time to spend as our neighbors.
Jeff is also an invaluable member of our training team. He joins Jerry and Dan during the summer months when our programs are in high gear. He gathers pigeons from the lofts, places them in releasers and then plants them in the field. Too, Jeff is a crack shot with a shotgun when the training calls for dead birds.
Jeff is a pointer guy and usually owns several at a time. Currently he and his wife Carol have Cassie (CH Front ‘N Center x Dancing Queen), Hershey (CH Front ‘N Center x Chickadee) and from our 2011 litter of Northwoods Prancer x CH Westfall’s Black Ice, a beautiful black-and-white female named Izzie.
Like the rest of her seven littermates, Izzie is a sweetheart in the house and a tiger in the field. She was quite precocious and last year Jeff successfully hunted her on grouse, woodcock and the quail of southern Arizona. In addition, Jeff has gathered a couple of nice placements in field trials, including a recent second in the Region 19 Amateur All-Age Derby.
After Jeff’s work for us is done for the day, he usually heads home for some lunch and returns about an hour later at the helm of his gas-powered golf cart. He pulls up close to our front door, opens the cover to his Ipad case and logs onto the Internet using our wi-fi signal. (We joke that he works for free wi-fi.)
Perkily riding shotgun, wagging her tail and acting as if she owned the place is Izzie. She calmly waits while Jeff works. Soon Jeff cranks up the golf cart and the pair head back home.
Silk has exalted status at Northwoods Bird Dogs. She is the eldest dog at 13 years of age and at the top of the pecking order. Much like a Dowager Duchess governing her estate, Silk rules our kennel with gentleness and wisdom but will tolerate no fools.
Silk was only bred three times but whelped our two best-producing setter males. Blue Shaquille is out of a frozen semen breeding to Houston in 2004 and from CH Peace Dale Duke, Silk bore Northwoods Blue Ox in 2007. Through her sons, she has shown up in every setter puppy’s pedigree for many years.
Silk herself has an impressive pedigree. Her dam was our extraordinary Blue Streak, a four-time champion/four-time runner-up champion, and her sire, First Rate, was a multiple champion in horseback field trials. Besides a very sweet disposition, Silk inherited an accurate nose, uncommon stamina and a tenacious application. Prior to retirement, she amassed several placements in grouse trials and was a first-string member of our grouse-guiding team.
Silk has earned her special treatment and now spends evenings and nights with Jerry and me in the house. But before we head to the house and while we’re finishing feeding and kennel chores in late afternoon, Silk is free to roam. She trots outside the building and seemingly inspects everything—puppy pens, gates and perimeter fences. She then comes back to do a quick look-see at the dogs and runs inside the kennel.
One hot afternoon last week, Silk rested in front of the fan while she waited for us to finish.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page.
–St. Augustine
Earlier this winter, Jerry and I took some time off and traveled to Georgia. The warm climate was one draw, as was the opportunity to see historic quail plantations set in piney woods. Several days in a cottage on an island off the coast near Savannah was also on the itinerary.
Here are the highlights of our trip.
Best puppy/exercise pens
Dog trainers in Georgia are serious about their puppy raising. At most of the plantations and training facilities, it was clear that much time, money and energy is spent on giving puppies a good start in life.
What struck us most were the really big, really nice puppy pens. There was ample space for a dozen or more puppies to exercise, play, rest and find shade. One plantation had fenced an area about the size of a football field.
For the record, all the litters we saw were pointers.
Chance to see old friends
Jim Tande and Chuck Wingard have been friends of ours for a long time—going back to the late 1980s/early 1990s when we were all field trialing in the grouse woods. We’ve gotten puppies from their litters and they’ve bought from us. We’ve bred dams to their sires and vice-verse. An auspicious start to our pointer line was when Jim’s extraordinary CH Northern Dancer (call name War) was bred to a 6X grouse champion from Maine, Vanidestine’s Rail Lady, and produced our CH Dance Smartly.
Jim and Chuck have moved on to horseback shooting dog and all age competition and, since both are now retired from careers with the U.S. Forest Service, they spend winters near Arlington, Georgia.
Jerry and I spent a fun day with Jim and his wife, Kathy. They gave us a fabulous tour of southwestern Georgia and many of its plantations.
Venerable quail plantations
The main quail plantation area stretches from Americus in the north, through Albany and south to Tallahassee, Florida. The heart is Thomasville, Georgia.
We saw fancy gates, long driveways lined with live oaks, beautiful plantation homes complete with tall columns and wrap-around porches. We saw original dog wagons, vast stretches of piney woods and even a dog cemetery.
We toured the famous Pinebloom, a 20,000-acre plantation that was the setting for Tom Wolfe’s excellent book, A Man in Full.
The history of quail plantations is equally fascinating. As far back as the 1880s, newly rich, northern business owners discovered the area.
Finding plentiful game birds–particularly turkey, dove, and quail–they first leased then began purchasing small parcels of farm land and forests, consolidating them into thousands of acres of hunting plantations–larger than any of the antebellum cotton plantations…
Because the area remained somewhat isolated after the Civil War, it retained many vestiges of antebellum plantation life, a life that the new plantation owners sought to emulate and the old ones wished to preserve. The region today contains more than a hundred working quail hunting plantations, proving more durable than the cotton kingdom they replaced.
~ Susan Hamburger, Ph.D., from a paper presented at the North American Society for Sport History Annual Conference, May 27, 1996
Tybee Island and Savannah
We squeezed in some days at the beginning of our trip to spend time on Tybee Island and tour the area.
Tybee Island is a small island connected to Savannah and the mainland by 18 miles of bridges over marshes, the Intracoastal Waterway and various channels and rivers.
Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia. It was founded in 1733 by a group of English colonists who traveled under the auspices of King George II, after whom the state is named. The city plan was agreed upon before the ship left England and was based on London’s squares. Twenty-two of the original 24 squares remain.
Savannah had block after block of beautifully maintained townhomes. I could live in any one of them, although preferably one with a curving staircase and plenty of intricate wrought iron.
