I ran the dogs for 30 minutes in the field next to our house. The cover is fairly decent but we haven’t released any birds yet so we were just running for exercise. The flys were driving me crazy so I attached a Deer Fly Strip to my hat and it made the run a lot more enjoyable. It ended up being out last run before the mega heat kicked in.
You can pick up Deer Fly Strips @ https://deerflypatchstore.com/categories/deer-fly-patches
Besides Backing I asked Jerry @ Northwoods Bird Dogs to work on Sweep’s
Whoaing. She does ok but can sometimes break when there is a lot of
action going on like other hunters or dogs. Just got this picture of
Sweep on a whoa. She is doing it much better now and I also know that
if need be I can put on a belly band and she will be more diligent about
it.
Just got the latest picture of Sweep from our trainer, Northwoods Bird Dogs, one of the things that I asked to have Sweep tuned up on was backing. We don’t hunt with other dogs but it is nice knowing that they will back if we do hunt with someone else or if I run her with one of our other dogs.
Tasha, the 13-year-old, got the call this morning. We went to her favorite spot, and I was surprised to see no one else parked there. This loop usually takes 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the number of birds we see and how often she roams the woods. A nice breeze was in our faces, and she pointed a grouse within the first five minutes. It flushed low and away, offering no shot. Moments later, a second bird took off from a tree; I shot but was way behind. About ten minutes later, Tasha went on point again. She was only about ten yards off the trail, but the cover is still thick enough that it took a moment to get to her. We had two flushes—the first was a "hear-only," but I saw the second and took a shot, only succeeding in taking out some leaves.
I was already feeling overdressed, even though I was just wearing a thin waffle thermal shirt and a lightweight orange shirt. As we neared the halfway mark, we had a crosswind, and Tasha cast out about 100 yards before going on point. She stayed steady, but I couldn't flush a grouse. On the way back, she stayed mostly within 50 yards of the trail, which seemed fine considering how thick the cover still is. We ended with four more flushes and just one more shot that didn't connect. It was 70 degrees when I got back to the truck.
We drove to the next spot we had planned to hunt, but someone else was already parked there. We bagged the hunt for the day and just drove around, scouting some spots for next time.
After the hunt it was still early so we drove around looking at some new to us PLOTS land for hunting the next two days. It is a bit discouraging to have not gotten any birds today as last year we had filled out before lunch. I am vey happy with how the dogs worked and it was great to see how Sweep and Peach worked as it was my first actual hunt with them.
Decided to head to the trails near my house at Tamarack Park today. The past couple of years I have added in walks on these trails to help with my hunting. One of the reasons is that it helps with the range of motion. I do a fair amount of regular walks with the dogs but they are all on flat roads. I’ve started to add these trails back in a few years ago after I had rode my bike a fair number of miles but was more tired than I thought I would be when I started to hunt in the woods.
DeerFlyPatchStore.com
I use walking sticks that I have duct taped some additional weight to them to give my arms a bit of a work out.
One useful addition was that I am using a fly patch on my hat to keep them from biting me as much. Give them a try DeerFlyPatchStore.com
Here is an innate curiosity in us all, hunters especially. We are driven by the same question that drove early settlers deeper into the wilderness, just beyond that next ridgeline, to carve out their own place on the land. But having room to roam is increasingly challenging these days, as cities overfill and the hills that were once unspoiled succumb to blaze orange. However, if you have the grit to face a challenge, the boot leather to burn, and a little bit of luck, you can still find plenty of paths untouched. Here is a short list of ten often overlooked upland destinations.
Hunters journeying to Northeast Maine have public hunting access to vast privately-owned lands, mainly commercial timberlands. Known for its low hunting pressure and challenging terrain, Northeast Maine provides a rewarding experience for those seeking a bit of quiet beyond the more pressured and more accessible areas of central and western Maine. Utilizing onX can help identify productive areas by providing aerial forestry and habitat data. Make sure everything is available offline. Also, 10-ply tires and a good spare are recommended.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department provides detailed maps and regulations for the area, including large tracts of public land like the Kootenai National Forest. For those seeking a challenging mixed forest grouse hunt amid some of Montana’s most iconic, mysterious wilderness, Northwest Montana is a lesser-known but rewarding destination. Make sure to pack your bear spray.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department provides resources and maps for hunters to explore these areas. With the region’s mix of hardwoods, alder stands, and river corridors, the White Mountains offer upland hunters a unique experience, blending the thrill of pursuing wild birds with the beauty of some of New England’s most rugged terrain. Bring a good pair of boots.
The Texas Panhandle is an excellent destination for bobwhite and scaled quail, thanks to its combination of grasslands, agricultural fields, and brush habitats. This region offers both public and private hunting opportunities. Through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Annual Public Hunting Permit program, hunters can gain access to wildlife management areas and leased private lands.
The Panhandle’s mild winters support more consistent quail populations, while lower hunting pressure gives hunters more breathing room under a big Texas sky. Hunting quail here often means working with dogs in big, open terrain, where both large covey explosions are found just about as often as rattlesnakes. If you want a real Texas adventure, this is one region worth exploring.
The Big Horn Basin in Wyoming is an underrated upland destination for Hungarian partridge and chukar. With arid, rocky terrain and rolling sagebrush hills, the Basin’s habitat is ideal for these birds, which are commonly found near steep hillsides and ridges. Public lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), provide ample hunting areas for those willing to work for it in remote stretches of open country.
See all 10 destinations and the complete MeatEater article
Yesterday I grilled a a couple of Sharp-tail breasts from our hunt in Mid-Sept so today I had some leftovers to eat.
I didn't do anything fancy, just 2 types of cheese ( I like mine melted ) Mexican rice and the meat. It was pretty tasty.
Tasha and I met with our buddy, Tony, and his two shorthairs. For early December it was a balmy 45 degrees and a decent breeze. Tasha and I started by working the east edge of the field. She got a little birdie in a couple of spots but we didn’t move anything so we decided to head for the thicker cover. The wet sections including the pond are now frozen so we have access to the thickest cover on the property. I saw a fair amount of pheasant drippings in the cattails but all of the tracks looked a few days old but we kept moving from thick to thin cover hoping to move a bird to an area that we could get a good point. As we went to the North side of the thick cover I heard Tony take a couple of shots but saw the rooster flying onto the neighbors half of the property.
After pushing the thick stuff a bit longer we went back to the grass. My thinking is that with the warmer temps that we would see the birds in the thinner cover. We were rewarded a short time later with a nice point but it ended up being a hen. We worked the grass area for a bit longer but didn’t move anything. Back into the thick stuff we went.
Moving back into the thick stuff paid off as we moved six more birds, all hens. All of the birds were along the edge of the thick cover and not in the middle. I’m not sure if we were too early ( 2 pm ) to catch them moving to the food sources or if they had moved off of our side of the property.
Even though we didn’t see any roosters it was still nice to get out in the 40+ degree weather and it was fun for Tasha to get a good amount of bird stink in her nose. Tony and his dogs did and the one rooster and a number of hens also.
It was a good hunt considering that we were only in the filed for 90 minutes.
Gear Used.
Danner Sharptail boots
Final Rise Vest
15+ year old Columbia hunting pants.
Garmin Alpha 300
Dogtra t&b collars
It had been just over a week since our almost 7 yr old Val setter passed away after a hunt and I wasn’t quite ready to hunt again but our 12 yr old setter Tasha was tired of hanging around the house.
Gear:
Danner Vital Boots
CZ 12 GA Sharptail Target SxS Shotgun
Garmin Alpha 300 + T 5X Collars
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| Val with her pheasant 1 hr before she passed away on our way home |
Our wonderful gal Val ( 6yr 10 mos ) passed away last night on our way back from a hunt. We had been hunting by Albert Lea and she did great. Everything seemed normal after the hunt, she drank some water, ate a few biscuits while I loaded up everythingand field dressed her pheasant. I stopped about an hour into the drive to let her out to go to the bathroom. She was laying in her kennel, I thought she was asleep, I tried to rouse her but she didn’t get up. I couldn’t get her to come around. I took her to an emergency vet but she had passed. We did take her to the U of MN where they will do a necropsy on her. I have a suspicion that she drank some funky water. She came out of the cover a few times and was wet but none of the water that I saw looked weird or scummy.
We are crushed. She was just such a total sweet heart. On every hunt this year I was saying to myself I’d like to just copy her. She was a joy at home and out hunting.
