Outdoor Life - Squirrel RSS

The 35 Best Hunting and Fishing Towns in the US

Alex Robinson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:54:56 -0400

Now in its fifth year, our annual “Best Towns for Sportsmen” feature is an OL institution. Readers love to argue the merits of their burgs based on our rankings; local newspapers crow about the inclusion of their town; and realtors call to ask for extra copies of the issue.

This year we’re forgetting all the socio-economic data and focusing on what matters most: hunting and fishing. In the next few pages, you’ll find the 35 towns in the U.S. where we would live right now, based solely on the outdoor opportunities there. Some boast bass and deer, others elk and trout or ducks and redfish. Regardless, each of these towns is an outdoors mecca in its own right, and from sea to shining sea, they offer the best hunting and fishing in America.

#1 - Appleton, WI
More than 170 years ago, trappers and fur traders chased the promise of lucrative beaver pelts up the Fox River and settled the town of Appleton. Today, enormous whitetail deer draw outdoorsmen and -women to the Fox River Valley. The Boone and Crockett Club recently anointed Wisconsin the number-one trophy whitetail state in the country, with Cheesehead hunters logging 383 B&C entries in the last five years. In the last three seasons, three different bucks killed within 50 miles of downtown Appleton have either broken or threatened Badger State records. But there’s a lot more to do in Appleton than sit in a treestand.

Nearby Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, which runs through town, are premier walleye fisheries. Green Bay, 30 minutes to the north, offers some of the best smallmouth bass and muskie fishing in the country. Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area sits 70 miles to the south and is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the country. Hundreds of thousands of geese migrate through the region each fall. Sixty miles to the north, the 661,000-acre Nicolet National Forest, home to deer, bears, and grouse, is one of the last true wild places in the northwoods.

#2 - Salmon, ID

This town’s name should be your first clue as to why it attracts sportsmen the way a spawning run draws bears. Located right on the Salmon River—and bordering millions of acres of public hunting ground, including the largest wilderness area in the Lower 48 (the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness)—Salmon has, well, everything.

The Salmon and its tributaries offer world-class fishing for trout, steelhead, and other species year-round. On the crags and benches above the Salmon and other nearby rivers, wingshooters chase chukar and huns, while at higher elevations blue and spruce grouse predominate.

The big-game scene has changed in Salmon with the resurgence of wolves. But trophy elk, mule deer, and whitetails are still accessible, and the hunting for bears and mountain lions is second to none.

#3 - Venice, LA

If you like your saltwater rimmed by white sand beaches, palm trees, and tiki bars, this is not the place for you. However, if you live to hunt and fish, and yearn to do it 24/7/365, then this tiny community at the mouth of the Mississippi River beckons.

Despite its infamy as the epicenter of both Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Venice remains arguably the greatest place in North America to fish and hunt waterfowl.

In 2011, Bassmaster Classic competitors ran down the Mississippi from New Orleans to Venice—more than two hours by boat—to fill their livewells with largemouths. However, it’s world-class redfish and speckled trout fishing that draw the recreational fishermen. You will catch fish here every day that you hit the water, and you can’t say that about very many other places in the country.

If you get bored in the marshes, big-game fishing opportunities—from marlin to tuna, sailfish to swords—are plentiful around the offshore gas and oil rigs.
September marks the beginning of teal season in this waterfowler’s paradise, with more than 14 percent of the country’s wetlands located in this region of southern Louisiana.

#4 - Rapid City, SD

This gateway to the ruggedly beautiful Black Hills region of western South Dakota offers its 67,000 residents a wide variety of hunting and fishing opportunities. Mountain lakes and coldwater streams to the west of town are home to brook, brown, and rainbow trout. In the surrounding prairie, a constellation of reservoirs and stock dams hold largemouths, pike, and panfish.

Hunting opportunities are available nearly year-round. Whitetails, mule deer, elk, and Merriam’s turkeys prowl the mountains. A short drive will put you into pheasants, sharptails, and prairie chickens. Pronghorns, coyotes, and prairie dogs are plentiful in the grasslands.

#5 - Centerville, IA

They got the name right. Centerville is in the middle of a sportsman’s paradise. Epic whitetails get the headlines (the 307-inch Lovstuen Buck was killed just north of here), but south-central Iowa has plenty of four-season opportunity: abundant turkeys and waterfowl, plus great crappies, walleyes, and channel cats on Rathbun Lake north of town.

But it’s the human dimension of this place—the classic Midwestern courthouse square, the easy friendliness of its residents—that makes this a great town to call home. Plus, Centerville has some bona fide hunting pedigree: It’s the original home of groundbreaking Knight muzzleloading rifles.

#6 - Grand Junction, CO
Magnificent mesas and endless elk—Grand Junction’s breathtaking scenery makes the perfect backdrop for chasing public-land bulls. Numerous alpine trout lakes keep local anglers busy.

#7 - Georgetown, SC
Several rivers converge at the Intercoastal Waterway in this city in the Carolina Lowcountry. Famed lakes Moultrie and Marion are a short drive to the west.

The Francis Marion National Forest provides more than a quarter million acres of public-land hunting for deer, turkeys, quail, and small game.

#8 - Bend, OR
Drive less than an hour from Bend and you can be fishing a stream in a desert canyon, a high alpine lake, or a spring creek.

#9 - Bismarck, ND
If you’ve got your eye on walleyes, set your sights on Bismarck, on the banks of the Missouri River. Grouse, pheasants, ducks, and geese abound in fall and winter.

#10 - Saratoga, WY
With the North Platte River running through downtown Saratoga, your next trout is never more than a cast away. Elk, deer, and pronghorns roam the mountains and prairies around town.

#11 - Traverse City, MI
Glacial inland lakes hold perch and smallies, and Traverse Bay offers big-water angling opportunities. But the area’s four blue-ribbon trout streams get top billing. The Boardman, which winds through downtown, is the birthplace of the Parachute Adams fly.

#12 - Lake Placid, NY
Fish for brown trout on the famed West Branch of the Ausable River, and catch lake and rainbow trout on Lake Placid. Whitetail deer and black bears roam the quarter-million acres of state lands surrounding this quaint Adirondack mountain town.

#13 - Cody, WY
Cody is heaven on earth for big-game backcountry mountain hunters. Mild weather means more opportunities to chase bighorns, elk, mule deer, and pronghorns.

#14 - Islamorada, FL
Watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, where offshore fishing for everything from grouper and snapper to dolphin and swords abounds. Cast to tarpon, permit, and bonefish on the flats as the sun sets over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the west of town.

#15 - Ely, MN
Just miles from the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Ely is a pike and walleye fisherman’s paradise in the summer, and a whitetail mecca come fall.

#16 - Thompson Falls, MT
This secluded town west of the Rockies is surrounded by massive swaths of national forest. The two most accessible, the Kootenai and Lolo, hold elk, whitetails, ruffed grouse, and turkeys.

#17 - Show Low, AZ
You’ll find pronghorns to the north of town, and elk, deer, and lions to the south and east. The nearby White Mountains are the only place in the world to fish for Apache trout.

#18 - Russell, KS
Pheasants, quail, doves, turkeys, waterfowl, and deer provide hunters in the heart of the Smoky Hills a dizzying array of opportunities.

#19 - Toccoa, GA
Tucked into the southeastern corner of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Toccoa is 15 minutes from the Lake Russell Wildlife Management Area, home to deer, turkeys, bears, squirrels, rabbits, and wild hogs. Lake Russell is stocked with trout, and nearby Lake Hartwell has hybrid stripers, brown trout, and crappies.

#20 - Craig, CO
Craig offers access to a million acres of public land just 7 miles from town, and boasts two of the largest elk herds in North America.

#21 - Cadiz, KY
In less than 30 minutes, you’ll be into bass, crappies, and catfish on Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkley. Deer and duck hunting are vital threads in the local sporting fabric.

#22 - Logan, UT
Located in the Cache Valley, Logan is surrounded by marshland for waterfowl hunting and myriad blue-ribbon trout streams.

#23 - Homer, AK
Halibut, ling cod, salmon, and rockfish are plentiful in Kachemak Bay, while local rivers host spawning salmon runs, plus Dolly Vardens, grayling, and monster rainbows.

#24 - Wellsboro, PA
Nearby Pine Creek, which runs through Pine Creek Gorge—aka the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon—is a prime flyfishing destination. Surrounding that oasis is state land set aside for whitetails, black bears, rabbits, squirrels, and pheasants.

#25 - Rogers, AR
In the heart of the Ozark Mountains, Rogers is a short drive from 31,700-acre Beaver Lake and its epic striped and largemouth bass fisheries.

#26 - Montauk, NY
The Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound meet at this home of world-class saltwater fishing. Hook up with bluefish and stripers faster than you can count them during the spring and fall blitzes.

#27 - Goldendale, WA
Salmon, steelhead, bass, walleyes, perch, crappies, and catfish live in nearby waters. Duck, goose, and deer hunting starts at the edge of town.

#28 - Los Alamos, NM
Stay close to home for walleyes, catfish, bass, and trout, in waters like Abiqui Lake, Rio Chama, and Rio Grande. The nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve runs a lottery program for monster elk.

#29 - Sebago, ME
Sebago hugs the northwestern shore of Maine’s deepest lake (and the town’s namesake). Locals troll for landlocked salmon around rocky points and shoals.

#30 - Arnold, NE
With only 500 residents, tiny Arnold is home to more whitetails and mule deer than people. That game-rich environment has fostered a hunter-friendly culture in this north-central Nebraska town.

#31 - Mammoth Lakes, CA
Surrounded by dozens of fishable lakes and streams, this central California fishing hotbed is ringed by the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains.

#32 - Woodward, OK
Kansas’ big-buck cup runneth over the border into Woodward, in northwestern Oklahoma, where a number of 150- to 200-class bucks are tagged every fall.

#33 - Beckley, WV
The New River is a prime destination for smallmouths, walleyes, and muskies, and many of its tributaries teem with wild trout.

#34 - Harrisburg, IL
Though the nearby Shawnee National Forest is best known for its whitetail hunting, the area is also home to turkeys, waterfowl, upland birds, and small game.

#35 - Uvalde, TX
This beating heart of south-Texas deer country is also home to some of the best dove hunting in the nation. Lake Amistad sits on the Mexican border 70 miles to the west of town and offers excellent bass and catfish opportunities.

Worst Town - Camden, NJ

Little-known fact: The upper Delaware River’s fabled American shad run is caused in large part by the fish trying to get the hell away from downriver Camden as quickly as possible.

Who could blame them? Camden, a perennial favorite on any “Most Dangerous Cities” list, laid off half of its police force in January. Take a cue from the shad and stay far away from Camden.

Do you have any suggestions for other fishing and hunting towns not mentioned on this list? We'd love to hear from you, so enter your favorite town in the comments section below or click here to upload photos.

Flippin' Out Slingshots for the Small-Game Hunter

OL Editor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:04:15 -0500

Nathan Masters, creater of Flippinoutslingshots.com, creates hand-crafted sling shots for the small game hunter. From the more common, to the more exotic, any of Masters slingshots pack enough punch to take out a squirrel or rabbit. With the double-banded slingshot you can catapult a 50-caliber piece of lead about at about 250 feet per second.

Actor Chris Pratt talks about Hunting, Tanning and Squirrels

Alex Robinson — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:06:48 -0500

How/where did you first get into hunting?

Hunting is in my blood. My dad and uncles hunted. I didn’t hunt much as a teenager though I longed to. Since I played football and every weekend in the fall consisted of games or practice I was forced to listen to my friend’s hunting stories seething with jealousy.

I became passionate about big game hunting when I moved to Utah to shoot the television series Everwood in 2003. I lived there for four years, had the time and money to really get into it and became absolutely obsessed.

Where’s your favorite spot to hunt?—and why there?

I have a secret spot in Utah that is my favorite place to hunt. It borders a CWMU to the north and a county that prohibits hunting to the south. It is protected, private, beautiful, and abundant. Each year I get a combo bull-and-buck tag there and usually fill it.

What’s your favorite animal to hunt?—and why?

My favorite animal to hunt is probably elk. There’s nothing like the sound of a bugling bull splitting the cold air at first light. And that smell is unmistakable. Once you experience their musk in the wild there’s no going back!

A close second would be a varmint hunt. I love long distance shooting and I’m not sure there’s anything as exciting as calling in predators.

If you’re heading out for a hunt, what’s in your truck? (Snacks? Go-to gear items? Make/model of gun? Bow? Miscellaneous items? etc.)

I have an old beat-up compass I inherited from my dad. It is the last remnant of his hunting career. I take it with me on every hunt so a piece of him can be with me. In terms of gear I don’t mind paying an extra few bucks for hunting products made in the USA. I’ll always take my Leatherman Wave, Surefire LX2 Lumamax Flashlight and Danner boots. I have a beautiful J. Behring knife that was a gift from my wife also.

I shoot a Ruger Model 77 Mk II .338 Win Mag with Leupold Vari X III 4-12x50 mm glass. It packs a big punch and is dead to rights out to 500 yards. It’s the perfect gun for my combo hunt in northern Utah for Rocky Mountain Elk and big bodies Mulies.

If I’m hunting coyote, white tail or antelope I go with my Winchester Model 70 25 WSSM with Swarovski 4-12x50mm glass.

My favorite gun might be my Savage .22/.250 with a Nikon Monarch 6-24x50mm glass. It’s such a flat-shooting, fast, and accurate gun and you can shoot it all day without feeling it the next day. It’s perfect for ‘yotes and groundhogs. It makes for the perfect Big Boy whack’a mole hammer!

What would your dream trophy room be like?

I’ve spent plenty of time fantasizing about my dream trophy room. I’d probably start with a 20-foot tall stone fireplace. The stones would come from a river that runs through the property on which my home sits. (We’re dreaming here right?) I’d have a pool table, Big Buck Hunter Video game in the corner, a wet bar, big screen TV and a bunch of comfy couches. The walls would be covered with the trophies I already have but trust me, there’d have to be plenty of room for more!

With Parks & Recreation, Moneyball, etc…you’ve had a breakout year. Do guys in a hunting camp, or hunting/fishing buddies, treat you differently now that you’re a big movie star?

I hunt and fish with the guys I grew up with. They treat me like they always have. Thank God! It’s important to nurture the friendships you had as a kid. Especially when you have a high profile job that surrounds you with “yes” men. One of my favorite parts of hunting is getting away from it all. These days there’s a lot more to get away from. That’s probably why I cherish it so much.

Hollywood’s not exactly known for its outdoorsmen/hunters. Is it ever strange to be so into the outdoors/hunting, and yet involved in an industry that’s so non-outdoorsy?

It’s true that there aren’t a ton of hunters in Hollywood. That being said, the people I’ve talked to about it are actually fascinated with the subject. I think I’ve changed a few minds regarding the sport. It’s pretty incredible how little people actually know about hunting. Most people don’t even realize there are seasons or tags. They don’t understand the regulations or conservation benefits of hunting. I get a lot of, “Well as long as you eat the meat, I don’t care.” I have to be honest with them though. My passion for hunting is not simply the result of a need to feed myself. There’s grocery stores for that! I’m not eating ground hog or coyote! Sometimes people don’t understand and I don’t waste my breath trying to explain it. Either you get it or you don’t. But for the most part people aren’t judgmental about it. We just disagree and move on.

How do you balance it all—the fame, with also wanting to get away into the outdoors?

Being outdoors, listening to the world wake up around me, I shed all the stress that comes with my job. And I imagine it’s like that for everyone. Whatever stresses the regular world creates for any outdoorsman can be washed away for a while in a tree stand or duck blind. Some people fast, some people go on a cruise or visit a day spa. I get out in the woods with a rifle or a bow. That’s my release.

Your interview on Conan about hunting squirrel practically went viral (both at large, and among hunting circles). Is it safe to say that squirrel in an under-appreciated meat?...And what’s the best way to cook ‘em?

I love telling people that story! It freaks them out. Especially here in Hollywood! But I’ve definitely eaten more exotic meat than squirrel. Stories of possum are coming to mind but I’ll save that for another Conan appearance!

As far as cooking them, I brined them for a few days, then pan-fried them with spices.

You say, in that Conan clip, that you were a junior taxidermist as a kid. Still something you’re into?

It’s been a while since I tanned anything. The last thing I did was a coyote. It didn’t turn out great, and I felt like I wasted the pelt. Since then, I’ve taken all my trophies to a pro. But when I retire one day, I could see tanning being a craft I could really get into.

What’s a “good day of hunting” to you? (i.e., If you say to someone, “I had a good day of hunting,” what did that day entail?)

On a perfect day of hunting I hike into the woods an hour before first light with the wind in my face. I’m completely undetected. Darkness gives way to deep blue, the last stars twinkling. I hear the squirrels wake up, the birds chirp good morning. With months of preparation at my disposal I picked just this spot. I know they’re here. As the sun crests the horizon I find my preparation paying off. The perfect broadside shot on a monster trophy presents itself. I find the unsuspecting bruiser through my scope and take the shot. He takes two steps and falls dead in his tracks. I take a moment to feel it all: the pride, the excitement, the remorse and gratitude. I say a prayer and give thanks. I radio to my friends, who are all very jealous, and make my way toward the fallen beast. And on this perfect day, I smile, noticing he happened to fall not two feet from a well worn four wheeler track.

Top Ten Creatures You Hope To Stumble Across in 2012

OL Editor — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:36:29 -0500

Bigfoot, Loch Ness, mermaids, unicorns and dragons... I’ve never seen any of these creatures, and I’ve covered a lot of ground in my day. I’ve even been lost without a camera a few times. You’d think that would have been the perfect time to run into one of these! But, "Nope!", Chuck Testa’d. I’m not lucky enough. Question is what would a guy do? Shoot it? Probably.

There are a ton of myths out there, including whatever always swallows up that missing sock. I have no idea. And Da Turdy Point Buck--where’s he livin’? I definitely haven’t seen him and if I did, what would I do? Miss, most likely.

So, Happy New Year everyone! Let’s hear what critter you’d like to finally get an encounter with in 2012!

Here’s Mine: A Liger! If Napoleon believes--I believe!

Write your funniest ideas in the comments section for the chance to win an ASAP Survival Gear Pack. Last week’s Winner

Top Ten Christmas Gifts You Hope Fall Out of Santa’s Sleigh

10.) from pineywoods: Feral hog chia pet.

9.) from Buckshott00: A man bag. I don't care what the salesman told you, it's a purse!

8.) from Sven_Katur: A python.

7.) from Johnnie: Reindeer poop. I have three dogs and I pick up three dogs worth of poop all year long. The one gift that I hope Santa doesn't bring me this year is nine reindeer pooping on my lawn. I have enough poop to pick up as it is. Merry Christmas everybody!..... Johnnie and Family

6.) from pbshooter1217: A gift certificate to the mall, I was their long enough with my girl friend Christmas shopping.

5.) from Fishman24: A$$less Chaps, I just don't need them.

4.) from ishipley: naked Rosie O'Donell quote of the day calender

3.) from JM: Women's Lingerie...it's not the base layer I want to wear hunting.

2.) from Ric Waters: I carved a brook trout and wan't happy with it. My mom pulled it from my scrap heap, painted it, screwed brass hooks in the side and gave it to me for hanging my keys on.

1.) from drake_whisperer: A week long visit from my new mother-in-law...'nuff said...Anyone need company in a duck blind? The lab and I are ready to load up the wagon and peel out of here.....

Help Us Pick The Prize for Our Next Caption Contest!

Alex Robinson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:33:47 -0500

So Outdoor Life is part of a cool contest operated by Crown Royal, sponsor of Field & Stream’s Hook Shots show and maker of the whiskey that comes in a purple bag. The contest is called “Pass the Crown,” and it’s a variation on the Secret Santa gift exchange anyone who’s ever worked in an office is familiar with. Are you lucky enough to have never worked in an office? Then here’s how this works:

Each day from now until Dec. 15 Crown Royal is giving away a prize to a different web site to pass along to its readers. Today is Outdoor Life’s turn, but here’s the catch. Crown’s not telling us which prize they’re giving us right away. Instead, we get a clue, embroidered on one of their famous purple bags,* and we have to guess what prize the clue refers to. Based on that guess, we then get to decide whether to keep the prize in our bag or steal one of the prizes that have already been opened by a different site. Here’s a list of the prizes that have already been opened.

This is where we need your help. Do we keep our prize, or steal one from somebody else? You’ve got until 4 PM this afternoon to weigh in. Check out our clue (below), then post your best argument for keeping the prize in our bag or for stealing a specific prize from another site in the comments section here or on our Facebook post about the contest over at facebook.com/outdoorlife. If you can convince us your argument is best, we’ll go with your suggestion. If you’re not convincing enough, we’ll make the decision ourselves.

We’ll post an update here tomorrow telling you what prize was in our bag, and whether we decided to keep it or not. Keep in mind that any of the five sites who come after us can steal our gift, so don’t get too attached to whatever we end up with!

And last, of course; how will we determine which of our readers wins the prize we end up with at the end of the contest? It’ll be a caption contest, photo and date TBD. Stay tuned!

*Crown is running this contest is to get the word out about the custom-embroidered Crown bags ($9.95), and the free personalized Crown Royal bottle labels (21 and over, only) available at CrownRoyal.com. If you’ve got a Crown-lover in your family, this would make a great gift.

Man's Best Friend, Even in Death

Alex Robinson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:59:12 -0500

The web is abuzz with the loyalty displayed by one dog in China. It seems that the dog’s owner died a week or so ago and that the dog has stayed by his grave ever since. After a week, villagers began bringing it food and water, and now there are plans to build it a kennel.

It’s reminiscent of Shep from Ft. Benton, Mont., as well as the story of fallen Navy Seal Jon Tumilson and his Labrador, Hawkeye, who laid down near the serviceman’s coffin during the ceremony.

While the stories do pull at the heartstrings, especially the photos of Hawkeye at Tumilson’s funeral, I have to wonder: are the dogs really “mourning” as headlines and some people proclaim? Or is anthropomorphism blinding us and something else entirely is going on?

I don’t know the answer. While I will admit that I do get a little choked up at Tumilson’s photos and story, Shep and his latest Chinese incarnation create a passing sense of wonder and interest but not an outpouring of emotion (maybe this says something about me?).

While I will quickly acknowledge the extreme loyalty of dogs and their desire to please and fit in with a family, when I hear stories of one dog passing in a multi-dog household I often times wonder if what people are relaying is more of what’s inside them than what the dog is actually displaying.

As humans we continually misread our dogs. Just watch an episode any canine “fix it” show and you’ll see. As hunters and trainers we’re usually far ahead of average pet people when it comes to understanding canine psychology and picking up on body language. But even many amateur trainers I know slip into this sort of touchy-feely mindset after a dog dies and then talk of how bad it has affected the other dog(s) in the house.

I often wonder what’s really going on in the household. The dog might actually be mourning. But from what I’ve read and seen, any such mourning tends to be short lived. After all, if wild dogs or wolves were prone to mourning for any extended time, the livelihood of the pack would be put at risk because the attainment of resources (prey, safety cover, etc) would be interrupted.

I’m not discounting that mourning actually takes place, but I think there’s a human element that comes into play with anything lasting more than a few days or week. We see the dog adjusting to life without a pack mate and inject our human emotions (read: baggage) into the process, giving the dog cues and reinforcements. The feedback the dog receives often comes in the form of resources (food treats, a uniquely human pacifier) and physical praise (touching, petting); both are highly regarded by the dog and strongly reinforce the dog’s behaviors.

The sudden change in pack hierarchy combined with a human not acting normally (excessive petting and treats) has, from the dog’s point of view, turned his world upside down. Not only has a pack member disappeared, but the focal point of the pack and one responsible for providing resources has gone on the blink! The remaining dog is left to figure out how to stabilize the situation and if everything will be okay; that insecurity goes a long way to perpetuating behavior changes in dogs.

While there are many scientific reasons why a dog might behave in the manner of Shep, Hawkeye or this yellow dog from China, it’s nice (from an emotional human viewpoint) to think that they really are so attached to their owners that even death can’t interrupt their loyalty.

What say you, Gun Doggers? Do you think these dogs are really mourning? Or is something else taking place, too?

Saber-Toothed Squirrel Skull Found in South America

OL Editor — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:14:10 -0400

The thought of squirrel hunting 100 million years ago just got a lot more enticing, as scientists announced recently that they discovered skull remains from a saber-toothed squirrel, according to CNN.

Technically speaking, the creature was not actually a true squirrel, but rather a pint-sized mammal called Cronopio dentiacutus.

It lived in South America between 60 million and 120 million years ago. It ate primarily insects, and used its large front teeth to puncture and crush the bugs’ durable exoskeletons.

Present-day marsupials and placenta-birthing mammals (yes, that includes humans) can likely trace some of their genetic line to the ancient squirrel-like species, which lived alongside dinosaurs and other large reptiles—but, sadly, long before sportsmen.

"These [squirrels] were the tiny little guys that would ‘squirrel’ in between the toes of the dinosaurs, trying not to get stepped on," said Guillermo Rougier, a professor at the University of Louisville who played a hand in the discovery.

Introduction to Trailing

Brian Lynn — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:23:32 -0400

For a dog, the act of following a scent trail upon command is a very different behavior than that of following one during hunting. It's a learned behavior that cues the dog to act in an independent manner and not interdependently with the handler.

It's a cue and behavior that I'll be working with Kona on over the next couple of weeks, and I'll be laying scent trails all over the place as is described in the video above by Dan Hosford. Trailing was something I was worried about with Kona at our last NAHRA test, but wasn't something I trained on during the two-week hiatus before this week's test. This past weekend it came back to bite us in the butt.

While Kona nailed the sit-to-flush, which we thoroughly trained during the last couple of weeks (including walk-through sits at heel, flushed pigeons in the field and obedience drills in the fight pen with birds flying and walking directly in his face), when we moved from the upland exercise of quartering and flushing he was still in hunt mode and we didn't have cue cemented in his psyche that told him to stop hunting and start following the scent without regard to my distance.

As a dog that has done quite a bit of pheasant hunting, Kona keeps my location in mind and works as a team (most of the time anyway). When we're afield and looking for a cripple, he's either in hot pursuit or we're both working the cover for the downed bird.

His "dead bird" command holds him tight to the immediate cover and if he scents the bird he can track it down. In the hunting field when he gets on scent I'm usually following behind in case a follow up shot is required. In the NAHRA test, however, you show the dog the start of the trail and then he's on his own.

You can encourage him to follow, but you can't give hand signals or walk with him. Most trails take a turn or two and can stretch anywhere from a short 20 yards to 100 yards or more. Where Kona and I often run into trouble is that he picks up the scent and tries to puzzle it out but when I encourage him with a "dead bird" he stops and starts working the cover for more indications. If I use his "where's the birds, get 'em up" command, he thinks it's time to hunt and starts to quarter the trail eventually stopping and waiting for me to catch up into gun range. When I don't follow, he returns to me.

This past weekend the trail had broken down on Saturday morning and redrage in a different location was fair and Kona followed it. On Sunday, however, he was all messed up. Coming straight off the quarter and sit-to-flush exercise he was still in hunt mode and never even showed an indication of understanding what I was asking him to do. It was a very fair judgement to be disqualified.

So, our next couple of weeks will be filled with trailing, as well as sit to flush, marking, blinds and water work. When you get down to it, trailing is probably the easiest thing for the single trainer to work on alone, yet it's something that is often ignored for sexier things like technical marks, blinds and the like.

But that folly won't happen again. I'll be dragging a dead duck through the sagebrush and fields surrounding me every day from now on! Check out the above video to see how best to lay a trail and teach a dog to use his nose independently of the handler.

As I can attest however, use a separate command to initiate the behavior and after the dog starts getting good at it, make sure to train it with other dogs and people so he gets used to the multitude of scents and tracks laid.

War Dogs and the bin Laden Trail

Brian Lynn — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:52:17 -0400

In the wake of Osama bin Laden's assassination in Pakistan this week, the nature of elite military teams has captured the imagination of the public. We wonder who these brave, mysterious men are, what their daily lives are like, their families, training, etc.

The same sort of intrigue is taking place in the dog world. Canines have been used to detect IEDs at increasing rates in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that trend will continue and is a testament to the abilities of man's best friend, but one dog in particular has now piqued the interest of many in the public: the canine that accompanied Navy SEAL Team Six in the raid of bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

In this piece by the New York Times, the training of commando dogs and their role in detecting IEDs and hiding insurgents, as well as more a more mundane question: what breed of dog was with the SEAL team? It's a toss up between a German shepherd dog and a Belgium Malinois according to the article. If I had to guess, I'd lay my money on a Belgium Malinois.

While at a D.T. Systems seminar with George Hickox last year (where pros answered your questions), he mentioned some of the work that is being done by the Pentagon in regards to dogs. Different training techniques, timing, reinforcement and the like that the government is testing in order to improve the training and reliability of dogs and their handlers. As one of the few civilians that has been allowed to see some of the techniques and been privy to some of the statistical results, it was very interesting to hear his reports. In a more lighthearted moment, he mentioned that the baddest dog around was the Belgium Malinois. "The won't just bite you," he said. "They'll try to eat you!"

But as smart, athletic and tough as the Malinois is, the Labrador retriever is very popular with troops. Just as the dual-purpose dog excels at quartering and flushing ahead of the upland hunter, Labs also work more than 100-yards ahead of patrol troops searching out IEDs.

In this story by foreignpolicy.com, not only is the dog at the center of the bin Laden story examined but the history of dogs in war is looked at too. The pictures themselves are worth a quick scroll through, even if you don't read the fascinating history.

Of particular interest to me was the reclassification of war dogs. According to the article's fourth slide: "Military working dogs (MWDs in Army parlance) may not enjoy all the privileges of being full-fledged soldiers, but the U.S. military no longer considers them mere equipment. (The war dogs deployed to Vietnam during that conflict were classifiedas "surplus equipment" and left behind.) Today, MWDs are outfitted with equipment of their own -- a range of specialized gear that includes Doggles (protective eye wear), body armor, life vests, gas masks, long-range GPS-equipped vests, and high-tech canine "flak jackets."

I remember a conversation with John Satterwhite, the former US Olympic champion shooter and current exhibition shooter, while at a seminar at Wildrose Kennels, on what really sent him down the shooting road. While he enjoyed shooting in high school and was a state champion, it wasn't until Vietnam that he got really, really serious about it.

The impetus took place with his entrance to the Air Force during that war. "I put down that I liked to train dogs and got assigned to the canine unit," said Satterwhite, noting that the survival rate of dog handlers was about 10 percent. "That's something you never wanted to have happen back then."

His former high school coach called his commanding officer and told him about Satterwhite's skill with a shotgun. The officer told Satterwhite that as long as he could maintain a certain level of prowess with the firearm, he wouldn't have to enter the canine unit and deploy to Vietnam. From that moment on Satterwhite lived at the range and practiced every shot he could imagine. As you can see by his biography, Satterwhite not only shot exhibition, but represented our country in the Olympics and taught our troops how to shoot better.

It's nice to see that military intelligence isn't always an oxymoron and that canines have been reclassified and are now given the deserved attention and respect as team members (check out picture slide 10; man and dog living in a pack at its finest). With results like these, however, I guess it's hard to ignore the success, fiscal impact and the abilities of dogs:

"In October 2010, the Pentagon announced that after six years and $19 billion spent in the attempt to build the ultimate bomb detector technology, dogs were still the most accurate sniffers around. The rate of detection with the Pentagon's fanciest equipment -- drones and aerial detectors -- was a 50 percent success rate, but when a dog was involved it rose 30 percent."

If you're looking for more war dog stories, check out this book: "Always Faithful: A memoir of the Marine dogs of WWII". It looks like a very interesting read!

Gun Dogs: Training vs. Practicing

Brian Lynn — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:57:06 -0400

Back in my younger days I enjoyed skiing. A day on the mountain was filled with fresh, cold air and adrenaline rushes as my buddies and I pushed each other to do better. I used the mantra (sometimes it doubled as an excuse): "if you're not falling, you're not skiing hard enough."

The same might be said of training your dog: if you're not making adjustments, corrections or changes to your dog's performance, you might not be training hard enough. You might just be practicing. Now, I say might because with dogs it's very subjective and depends upon what you've already done with the dog.

If you haven't taught the dog what you expect and then suddenly throw him into a scenario that he has to figure out by trial and error, then corrections, be them verbal, physical or via e-collar, are woefully unfair.

However, if you've gone through the teaching phase, the dog understands what you're doing and what's expected, then pushing him to do better by challenging him mentally and giving him every opportunity to make the correct decisions is training the dog.

If you're simply running drills over and over or keep repeating the same scenarios in the same area, then the dog begins to pickup on what's happening and can react accordingly.

"So many people don't train, they just practice," said pro trainer Dan Hosford recently when I was out at his place. "They just go through the motions and the dog isn't really working or having to try."

Now, practicing can have it's benefits. It's great for building a dog's confidence and momentum, as well as re-establishing the basics, but repeating the same scenario or drill over and over in the same place doesn't train the dog to react accordingly in the future in a new setting.

"When people train in the same place, the dog begins to pick up on cues and anticipates what's going to happen next," said Hosford. "You need to get the dog out of its comfort zone a little bit and challenge it, or else you're just practicing and not training."

You can push a dog by changing locations or making a known drill/scenario more challenging by increasing the complexity, distractions, number of birds, suction, terrain or getting out in inclimate weather (after all, hunting rarely takes place during ideal conditions).

I've been guilty of lazy training (especially over the last couple of months) and have repeated training sequences that rarely challenge Kona. What about you Gun Doggers? What's your ratio of training vs. practicing?

How to Feed Your Hunting Dog

Brian Lynn — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:23:20 -0400

We've talked about feeding, how to keep pup at his ideal body weight and the benefits of feeding a performance formula before here on the Gun Dogs blog, but I thought you might want to hear about the best time to feed and how many times per day you should feed -- straight from the mouth (or pen, well, computer anyway) of an expert.

Brian Zanghi is a nutritionist with Purina and his latest release details why feeding your active sporting dog once a day will help him perform at optimal levels.

Will feeding twice a day ruin old Fido? Nope, but if he's a hard-working dog that hunts extensively, day after day, then you might consider switching his feeding routine to a once-a-day regiment. He'll feel and perform better in the field for you.

So when do you feed your dog during the day over the course of the hunting or performance season, and how many times a day do you feed? There are some concepts to consider in structuring a feeding strategy for your hardworking dog and we will discuss why they work. Some things to consider include, the optimal time to feed and how often to feed daily.

There is a variety of information that indicates feeding a hardworking dog is optimal when the food is provided after hunting or training for the day, and not before. Did you know that it takes 20-24 hours for your dog's meal to be completely digested and eliminated as a bowel movement?

Nutrition studies have revealed that a dog's endurance performance can be as much as doubled when on an empty stomach compared to having eaten 4 or less hours before exercising. There is also scientific evidence from dog nutrition studies that feeding 17 or more hours before exercise results in a much greater use of fat as energy; this is compared to feeding 6 hours before exercise, which results in a much greater use of carbohydrates for energy generation.

You might be asking: why is this important? Exercise metabolism for a hardworking dog is best when fat is used for producing energy for muscles. This is because fat is the best energy source for promoting and supporting endurance exercise, which is exactly what most hardworking dogs require for optimal performance.

For any sportsman or pet owner reading this article that has dogs that tend to sprint more often than quarter a field, this applies to you and your dog as well. Why? Because nutrition studies with greyhounds have even indicated that high fat diets, which promote fat metabolism for energy, result in faster run times than strictly high carbohydrate diets. Even though all the reasons for this are not well understood, it minimally demonstrates that fat metabolism is very important for short duration/high intensity, as well as long duration/moderate intensity, exercise in dogs.

Based on this information, it is recommended that intensely exercising dogs be fed approximately 24 hours before an intense exercise bout to help alleviate problems associated with a full colon. This can include bloody stool, believed to be associated with irritation of the intestinal lining by movement of fecal material in the large bowel because of intense exercise.

If the sporting activity is a multiple day event, then likely it will not be realistic to wait 24 hours before the next exercise bout. Therefore, most dogs should be fed 30-60 minutes after exercise or hard work is complete for the day so that they have the maximum amount of time to digest the meal before the next day's exercise bout.

Immediately after the dog stops working or hunting, it is best to focus on allowing the breathing rate to slow or generally return to normal, and provide fresh water in for rehydrating. Just be sure that the dog doesn't over-consume the drinking water all at once, as vomiting could occur.

DAILY FEEDING FREQUENCY

Consistent with feeding your hunting dog after a day's training or hunting is complete, as well as providing as much time for digestion, also leads to the suggestion that feeding once daily is more optimal than feeding twice daily.

Healthy adult dogs, unlike people, don't get hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) with short or multiple days of food deprivation, even when exercising, as they rely much more significantly on fat metabolism. Of course, feeding once daily would be considered optimal for performance of a hardworking dog, but this may not be feasible in some situations or for some dogs.

If very large quantities are required daily to maintain an ideal body condition, like 7-8 cups for a 50-60 lb dog, it would be recommended to consult your veterinarian to devise a custom feeding strategy for your dog's particular needs. This scenario can be typical of young adult dogs housed outdoors in cool to cold temperatures, particularly when they exhibit very active kennel behaviors, and are trained/hunted multiple times a week.

If you are feeding this large quantity of food on a maintenance formula, this is a good example of a need to switch to a performance food. Feeding 7-8 cups a day would also be a situation where feeding twice daily may be required, however feeding the bulk (~75%) of the food immediately after exercise, then the balance 4-6 hours later. Alternative options to consider would be to increase the caloric density and/or feed a food with higher digestibility as a strategy for reducing the amount needed to deliver adequate calories. Again, if you find yourself in this scenario with a high-octane dog, consult your veterinarian to work out a custom strategy to ensure adequate nutrient balance and feeding, as each extreme situation will require some customization.

Our hardworking dogs are nothing less than elite athletes in every way. We expect high performance when they are afield and we train them for success, so it is important that we consider how providing the best nutrition and feeding strategies support our canine athlete. This is critical to complement the training and breeding of your pet. Taken together, all these suggestions can contribute each in simple ways to develop an optimal feeding program for your hardworking dog. Good luck.

Dogs Can't Cram

Brian Lynn — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:35:04 -0400

Cramming with Kona:

Pushing deadlines and cramming isn't a good practice for anyone. When a dog is added to the mix, however, cramming definitely doesn't work.

Case in point: I entered Kona in a North American Hunting Retriever Association hunt test in Chewelah, Wash., despite not doing any serious training for months. We went 1-for-1 in the Senior Division, which is the highest of the organization's four levels. We passed on Sunday but failed to meet the standard on Saturday.

To add an ironic twist, the judge that ruled us out Saturday was my high school Vice Principal. I was sent or called to his office on more than one occasion and now nearly 20 years after graduation I find myself, not to mention my dog, once more disciplined by the man.Going into the weekend I feared two elements of the test the most: sit to flush and trailing. Some last-minute training, or cramming if you will, did nothing to alleviate my concerns. Arriving at the test as a late entrant, I found out my high school Vice Principal has been into dogs for 30 years and would be judging the Senior stake on the first day.

This man struck fear into even the biggest, baddest football players we had at school. Probably because he was bigger and meaner than they were. His bald head contrasted with his dark bushy moustache and only served to frame his penetrating eyes.

I found myself sitting in his office on three occasions that I remember: once for talking in class (not guilty, it wasn't me), once for getting into a fight in gym class (guilty, but I was sticking up for a smaller kid) and another for a Homecoming prank that apparently wasn't funny to some female members of the senior class (again, guilty. But it WAS funny). In all three instances the punishment fit the crimes. He was very fair and two decades later it was no different.

After nailing the land triple and one-whistling the land blind, we moved on to the quarter and sit-to-flush test. Coming out of the holding blind we worked down a thick hedgerow. Kona worked the cover perfectly. He stayed in range and zig-zagged back and forth hunting the cover, plowing through briars and crossing the small creek in search of birds.

And then the sit-to-flush portion came. The thrower tossed the bird into the air and shot it. At the toss I blew the sit whistle and Kona's butt dropped. The pigeon dropped too. About 7 yards in front of him. The mostly white bird flapped, flopped and rolled around. It was too much for Kona to handle even with a second whistle. He broke and had the devil bird in his mouth within two strides. Delivering it happily to hand, the man that had meted out discipline in 1992 again informed me of my punishment: "that's an out," he said.

I agreed with the decision (although I did say, "that was brutal!" to which my old VP agreed) and we ran as the test dog for the rest of the day.

On Sunday we did better but I think the only reason Kona didn't break on the sit-to-flush portion was because the gunner missed. When Kona realized the pigeon wasn't coming down his posture relaxed a bit and I no'd him off the flyaway and we continued quartering through the field. I can't say for certain, but I am pretty sure had that bird been shot that "The Black Booger" would have reared his head and he would have broke again. I bet you can guess what we'll be working on for the next couple of weeks.

After that Kona nailed the marks for both the land and water triples (despite a no-bird situation on the land test's live flyer), did so-so on the water blind, respectable on the land blind and looked like a Hoover vacuum on the trail.

Despite passing on Sunday, I'm not happy with either Kona's or my own performance. In addition to training sit to flush before the next test in two weeks, we'll be working on line manners (specifically: creeping), water blinds and practicing more trailing. He did great on the trail Sunday, but I'm not confident in Kona's confidence in himself on the exercise at this point.

I'm an idiot who has been extremely lazy in training this winter and obviously cramming doesn't work when it comes to dogs. The ony reason I got one ribbon this past weekend is because I just have a good dog that can handle most of what I throw at him on short notice and with little preparation.

It's the Why, Not the How

Brian Lynn — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:53:46 -0400

You can run drills all day long, day after day, and you will produce a hunting dog. It's not until you understand why you're running them and what effect they, and any subsequent corrections or praise, have on your dog that you start to really become a trainer.Plugging along from Point A to Point B and beyond will build a foundation for your hunting dog. It's vitally important that your dog have that foundation to build upon, and it's also one of the biggest problems amateurs have with training.

We get excited to "get to the fun stuff" and skip all the small steps that teach a dog to correctly carry out that fun stuff. When someone says their dog doesn't do something correctly or only does X, Y or Z incorrectly, you can almost always bet that the issue was caused by glossing over or altogether skipping a step in their foundation.

However, just plugging along and running drills, exercises, obedience and applying praise, corrections and the like in a more or less ordered sense isn't what it's all about.

The why is much more important than the how.

When you understand why you're carrying out a task and why you apply positive or negative reinforcement, praise, corrections or any other type of pressure and instruction, the how, when, where and what make so much more sense.

Going beyond just connecting the dots in a training manual allows you to truly understand what's happening in your dog's head and gives you the opportunity to anticipate what your dog is going to do next (before even he knows it) and also to shift gears, improvise or change your training tack altogether.

While it's very advisable to follow an established training program from start to finish, no program can serve the needs of every dog and amateur trainer. And when professional trainers put out books, DVDs and the like, it's a broad-sweeping generalization of how to train a dog using their methods. They can't incorporate every little nuance of training many different dogs and their personal quirks and issues. That's what makes a good trainer: adjusting the program to fit those "problem children" that have issues, whether they're genetic or learned it doesn't matter.

And you can only do this when you understand why you're performing a certain task, what ramifications it has on the dog both mentally and physically, how it fits within the program, when you will use the skill in the future and where the issues might arise by changing the program's sequence or training stresses.

When you hit that level of consciousness, not only you will be living in the moment with your dog but you'll be looking forward and backward at the same time. You'll truly be clicking along in your training. You and your dog will be on the same plane and it will all come together magically. Only, it's not magic.

It's understanding what's really going on from both your perspective and the dog's. It's knowing that the why is more important than the how.

Keeping Water Introductions Positive

Brian Lynn — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:17:40 -0400

Most dogs, even non-gun dogs, enjoy water. There are, however, a few precautions you should take when introducing your puppy to it for the first time. With just a little forethought you can ensure that your dog will always love working in and around water.First, make sure your puppy is mature enough to handle going into the water and that it's safe. Having her shots could help protect her from many water-based bacteria. Make sure that the area has a gently sloping bank that the pup can use to enter. You don't want her to explore water for the first time and suddenly step off into the deep blue yonder. Any bad experiences in the beginning can have severe repercussions for a long time.

Also make sure that the water is warm enough. It's a new experience for pup and you want that to be as pleasant as possible. Again, extremely a cold-water introduction could have a negative impact for a long time. In many parts of the country it's getting warm enough during the day and water temps are rising sufficiently enough to go ahead and start introductions, but in other areas it's still fairly chilly and those water temps are still pretty cold.

Once you find a good, safe spot that is warm enough, and you're sure your dog is ready to start swimming, the fun begins!

And fun is what you should make of pup's first experience. Make it very enjoyable for her and let her go at her own pace. Let her explore and ease down the gently sloping bank. Toss a favorite toy for her to go get; don't throw it into too deep of water, but just far enough that she goes a little bit deeper each time.

Get in the water yourself. As her primary focus in life, your presence in the water helps reassure her that everything is okay and that it's a pleasant and safe place to play. Splashing and playing with her toy will keep her confident and excited.

Don't try to do it all in the first session. If she only goes in up to her chest and is reluctant to go deeper, it's no big deal. Come back on another warm day after some playing, when she'll want to cool off, and try again.

If you're still having difficulties with her confidence around water, enlist the help of an older dog that enjoys it. Pick a warm day, do some playing and bring both dogs down to the water. Let the older dog lead the way and show her what's going on. Natural curiosity and pack mentality should help significantly.

Click here to see a gallery on force fetching.

A Keeper: Tri-Tronics' New Upland G3 Beeper

Brian Lynn — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:22:58 -0400

Tri-Tronics' new G3 Beeper:

Admittedly, I don't have a ton of use for a locator beeper. But there are times, even with a close-working flushing dog, when one comes in handy. On my trip to South Dakota this past season I used the Tri-Tronics G2 Beeper in conjunction with a Pro 100 G3 EXP e-collar. It worked passably well, but there were issues; mainly the fact that the collar kept spinning out of position while running and working the heavy cover of pheasant heaven.

The new Upland G3 Beeper from Tri-Tronics has eliminated that problem and has features that make it a must-have if you're looking for a locator ... especially if you're running multiple dogs.

The old G2 Beeper was much more bulky and sat horizontally on the collar, which put it at odds with the G3 receiver sitting opposite it. A continuous battle for balance ensued, which caused the G2 to constantly spin out of its top-of-neck position.

The new Upland G3 Beeper has a vertical design and is so much more lightweight and compact that the spinning issue has practically been eliminated. I've been playing with it on Kona's collar for the past couple of weeks while on walks and running drills, and even in the thick and steep terrain favored by ruffed grouse (not to mention elk and moose) on my buddy Woody's place in northern Idaho this past weekend, without having to re-adjust its position at all.

TriTronicsG2vG3:

Weighing in at only 3 ounces, with the battery installed, the Upland G3 Beeper is completely waterproof (a very good thing if you're hunting around water during the early season, in warm climates or have it strapped to a water-loving Lab) and features four hunting sounds (including silent) and two on-point sounds (including an improved hawk scream) for a total of eight possible audible combinations.

With an audible range of more than 1/4-mile, the various sound settings on the new beeper can be changed simply with one button. Unlike the old G2, which required that you take off the collar and unscrew the back to change settings, the new G3 allows you to make adjustments quickly and easily on the fly.

My favorite features of the new Upland G3 Beeper, however, are the remote operation and instant locate. Like I said, running a flushing dog doesn't usually require you to use a beeper in the same manner as a pointing dog, but in heavy cover and with multiple dogs running it's nice to be able to quickly discern which animal in the brush ahead is yours; especially if you're about to administer an e-collar correction.

The remote operation and instant locate allow an owner with a close-working dog in heavy cover to occasionally check-in on the whereabouts of their animal without having the beeper constantly sounding off. The remote operation, when paired with an e-collar, allow you to turn the beeper on or off from distance, while the instant locate feature allows you to simply press a button to hear a continuous series of beeps up to eight seconds in duration.

You can purchase the Upland G3 Beeper and an orange collar for $119 on the Tri-Tronics site or the beeper and an EXP receiver for $259.

Dogging the Periodic Table

Brian Lynn — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:54:08 -0400

Beyond answering an occasional question on Jeopardy, I've never used algebra, geology or the periodic table since leaving high school and college. I'm sure on some level it's good to know about those things, as I freely admit that I'll never fully understand any of them, but for day-to-day living (both personally and professionally) there's really no reason for me to know much about them.

Just as I haven't needed to know that stuff, my dog doesn't need to know anything that doesn't pertain to hunting or being a good citizen.

At outdoor shows, the park, while on walks and many other places, people will quite often ask: "Does he shake hands?" And before I can answer they're commanding Kona to "shake," "roll over," "play dead," or any number of other tricks that are common for household pets to perform.

After watching them desperately try to get my dog to do something while he just sits there with his head cocked looking at them like they're idiots, I tell them: "If it doesn't have to do with hunting, he doesn't know it."

Some people accept that, some go on to tell me how smart their dog is and some people seem rather taken aback. I don't really care. Kona is a working dog. He needs to know only certain tasks, but those tasks can be very complicated. Why would I muddy the waters of his thinking mind by introducing things such as tricks, commands or behaviors that could be construed as counter-productive in many circumstances?

I'll give you that learning to shake hands probably wouldn't mess his field training up in the slightest. He's probably not going to raise a front paw and wave it around in the air when sitting on the whistle during a 150-yard blind with a crosswind blowing scent from a poison bird to him. He'll have other things on his mind. But I don't see the need to even put it in his head to begin with.

Last time I counted, I came up with around 30 or so commands that he has to follow if you include verbal, whistle and hand/body signals. Those are the commands I have trained him to follow. Who knows how many cues, both verbal and non-verbal, he uses to decipher me on a day-to-day basis. I just don't see the need to add more entries to his mental dictionary. If he doesn't need it, it doesn't need to be there.

But what say you, Gun Doggers? Do you teach your dog "stupid pet tricks"? Have any of those tricks/commands interfered with your training or proved costly while in the field?

6 Pointers for Pointer Pups

Brian Lynn — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:18:38 -0400

Puppyhood provides a very pivotal time for the future of our gun dogs. It's a time that we can either look back on with fond memories of laying a foundation that paid dividends when our dog matured, or one that we might look back upon with a grimace at opportunities missed and the roots of bad habits that last a lifetime.

To keep your pup on the right track and ensure that the pointing dog in your life keeps you smiling and makes you proud for the next decade or longer, consider these tips from D.T. Systems pro Chris Larson at Six Oak Gun Dogs in Stillwell, Kansas.

No time frames: "It takes as long as it takes. Don't put deadlines and expectations on a puppy," says Larson, who notes that different breeds will mature at different speeds. "If you have a pointer puppy, it'll come along fairly quickly. A Brittany will come along a little slower and there are other breeds that will develop slower yet."

Regardless of the breed and bloodline, don't hold your dog to a schedule found in a book or DVD that says by a certain age your dog should be performing specific tasks. And definitely don't get into a race with your buddies about whose dog is ranging further, pointing, backing or whatever; they all develop at their own rate and pushing that time frame to meet another's expectation or to bolster your ego is a surefire way screw your dog up.

Be mindful of the future: When you play and train with your puppy, keep the end product in mind. "Don't ever let your puppy do anything that you don't want your three-year-old bird dog to do, as far as behavior," says Larson. "What's cute at 10 pounds is frustrating at 60 pounds. What's cute at 10 weeks sucks when he's two-years old and is playing keep away or tug-of-war with the only pheasant you've shot all weekend."

Think about what you want the dog to do in the field and begin filtering those habits into daily life where possible. If your pointer will need to retrieve, play fetch to encourage the habit. If he's to deliver to hand, decide if you want a squared-up front-facing delivery or at your side in the heel position. Use supper time to encourage standing still: just as retriever trainers make their dogs sit before receiving food, pointer trainers can encourage their young pups to stand still before eating.

No wing on a string: We've all seen great pictures of a very young puppy pointing a pheasant or quail wing dangling from the line of a fishing rod, but Larson disagrees with the approach. "It's awesome to see a little puppy stack up and have its tail straight up and quivering, it really is cool, but it will cost you a thousands shots in the future because you're teaching him to sight point," he said.

Larson said that as few as 10 or 15 repetitions can have a detrimental effect on a pup. In most cases, but not always, it's problem can be corrected but why train in a habit that you will later have to train out? Just don't do it to begin with and you won't have to worry about it.

The problem arises because the pup becomes used to seeing what it's pointing and will have a tendency to carry that behavior forward. With a bird dog you want him to stop and hold point as soon as he encounters scent.

A sight-pointing dog will use scent to locate the bird but then won't point until it has a visual on its prey. Bumping and pushing birds will result and because pointers range much further than flushing breeds, you're not going to get a shot off. If you're hunting a cagey three-year-old rooster or skittish grouse, you can forget about getting a sight point.

Instead of dangling a wing on a string, get your pup into the field, park or anywhere they can get out and explore and experience nature. Let them point butterflies, field larks or whatever else they find.

Gunshy goof-up: "Don't check to see if your dog is gunshy by shooting over their head. If they weren't before they probably will be afterwards," said Larson. "Build your dog's prey drive and get them fully engaged in chasing bird and then shoot. Use a small cap gun from Wal-Mart if you have to before moving up to blanks."

If your dog shows any sign of intimidation from even a low-level shot, Larson says to continue on as if nothing is wrong. If your bond and position of authority in your pup's eyes is solid, he'll see that you're not worried about anything and will take it as cue for him not to be concerned. Should he return to you out of fear, pitch a pigeon out for him to chase to ramp his prey drive back up and distract him from the negative thoughts in his mind.

Socialize them: "Get them out of the house and kennel, be it the local dog park or a nearby field. Don't leave them leave them in the kennel and then seven months later decide it's time to train," says Larson. "The more he's subjected to as a puppy, the better off he's going to deal with things in the future -- be it your buddy's dog box, hotels, kids, flora or fauna."

No rescues: Stay out of your dog's way; let him get himself into trouble and figure out how to get out of it. "No matter how hard we try as trainers, we can't teach them what certain things are...like cowpies, skunks and the like," says Larson. "If he goes into a skunk den and gets sprayed, well he's learned that skunks aren't to be messed with. Some things they have to learn on their own so that when it comes time to hunt, they know what's important and what's not and they're not going to waste their time."

Shed Hunting: Advanced Pattern Field

Brian Lynn — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:37:03 -0400

If you want a dog that can find shed antlers, then eventually you have to move past indoor puppy games and advance to more challenging training exercises. In these two videos, Tom Dokken discusses the training of Tank, owned by Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, stars of "The Crush" on the Outdoor Channel.As you can see in the video, Tank is hunting outside in the snow. He didn't, however, jump to this level of training overnight. It took time and started long before with much more simple drills.

What Tank is running in the video is an advanced pattern drill; very similar to teaching a dog to quarter in search of upland birds. Before a dog can make it to this level of training, however, you have to teach him that the shed antler is the object he should be searching out. This is done with puppy games of simple retrieves, easy hide-and-seek indoors, as in my last blog post, and eventually progresses to a simple pattern drill.

To start the pattern drill, you lay out sheds in the same simple pattern and teach the dog to seek these destinations out using their eyes and memory. Dokken has invented antler silhouettes to help speed the process (see photo above).

Using the silhouettes, you can pull a dog to the area of a hidden antler and from much greater distances. At first you would keep the antler close to the silhouette to ensure an easy find. As the dog begins to understand the game and uses his eyes to seek out the very visible silhouettes, you can begin to hide the shed antler further and further away -- forcing him to use his nose and teaching him perserverance.

Dokken also uses multiple silhouettes in combination to break through barriers and different cover. The first silhouette would pull the dog to the general area and upon reaching the spot he would see the second silhouette that can pull him into thicker/higher cover in search of a shed.

The reason behind this is that dogs are funny when it comes to changes in cover. They will "bounce off" thicker/higher cover and hunt the edge unless you train them to break through. The silhouettes can help pull them past that barrier and get them hunting an area.

Check out the two videos of Tank hunting up some shed antlers in an advanced pattern drill and how he delivers them to Dokken and then returns to the field upon cue.

Beginning Shed-Hunting Training

Brian Lynn — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:50:55 -0400

If you're interested in training a dog to pick up and retrieve shed antlers, then you'll want to watch this video I shot of Tom Dokken working with a young dog named Tank. The appropriately named pooch belongs to Lee and Tiffany Lakosky from the Outdoor Channel's "The Crush."

Like all dog training, teaching a pup to pick up shed antlers begins simply -- with easy and encouraging retrieves and games of search-and-find indoors. As Dokken notes in the video, food rewards are used in the beginning phases to add importance to the antler -- there's no way a bone can compete with the scent of feathers (or fur, if you were training a hound).

Before you can get to this point in training, however, you have to teach the dog that the shed antler is what you want him to focus on. Playing fetch to begin with and then moving to the dog picking up an easily visible antler on his own and delivering it are starting points. After the dog understands that finding a shed is the object of the game and he eagerly seeks them out, then you can progress to hiding them throughout the room -- under pillows, behind doors, in a corner or up/down a couple of steps.

Addendum:

Watch (or rather, listen) to how Dokken encourages the dog to stick with picking up the antler and making the retrieve in the video. The antler is hidden behind some waders and the dog is a bit intimidated by swinging boots and is puzzling out exactly how best to pick up the antler.

Tank is only 9 months old in these videos and, like all puppy retrieves and introductions, lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement needs to be used. Listen to Dokken's voice and how he keeps Tank digging for the shed.

World Shed Dog Hunting Championship

Brian Lynn — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:34:43 -0400

Shed hunting has gone to the dogs. Literally. The endeavor has grown in popularity over the last decade and several pro trainers are taking a cue from the public's interest and have started training dogs to assist would-be bone collectors.

One trainer, Tom Dokken of Dokken's Oak Ridge Kennels, has taken it beyond just training dogs to find shed antlers and has created an association, the North American Shed Hunting Dog Association, a World Shed Dog Hunting Championship event and a new website that covers not only the planned events but also offers tips and products to help you train your own antler-finding Fido (such as this step-by-step training handbook).

Dokken created the association about a year ago and just last week launched the companion website, sheddogtrainer.com, to help promote the events and championship efforts as well as to support do-it-yourself trainers interested in training their own dog.

The site features upcoming events, sells training aids and will soon feature tips and columns for trainers. A trophy room gives users a place to send in pictures of their pooch with found sheds.

The World Shed Dog Hunting Championship will be held on Dokken's property in Northfield, Minn., in April...hopefully. "We've still got a lot of snow on the ground here," said Dokken. "So we're shooting for April sometime but we have to be flexible."

The inaugural championship event will be an invitation-only affair, but Dokken is proposing two qualifying events for 2011 that will hopefully serve up a field of 15 to 20 dogs for a 2012 championship. The proposed events would be held in late summer and early fall. Ideally, Dokken sees qualifying events taking place throughout the country with regional events filtering the best shed-hunting dogs into the championship similar to the Super Retriever Series or other dog-related testing associations.

The events would be broken into three divisions: an Open Division, for professional and amateur trainers alike; an Amateur Division, for weekend-warrior-only participants; and a Junior Division, for dogs two-years old and younger.

Any breed of dog can participate in the events and judging criteria consists of points for the number of shed antlers found, and delivered to hand, within a specific time limit.

Dokken sees not only room for the events in the dog training world, but a need for them. "There’s been such a great interest in this new sport and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. This gives people a place to compete and develop shed dogs through competition; that’s normally how these things develop," said Dokken. "It gives people who are training and breeding shed dogs a place to showcase their dogs and exchange information."

Working Multiple Dogs

Brian Lynn — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:58:27 -0500

Multiple dog work:

When you add more than one dog to a training or hunting scenario, it can be a benefit or a detriment -- it all boils down to how you've prepared your dog.

In the retriever world, discipline is key to running more than one dog from a duck blind, while the all-out effort and pure joy a pack of hounds experiences on the hunt can teach a young dog much. Likewise, in the pointer world, the pack mentality surrounding the stake-out chain can embolden a gun- or bird-shy dog; however, discipline kicks in for the pointer when multiple dogs hit the field and backing is required.

If you haven't prepared your dog for the excitement of the scenario and extreme distractions brought about by other dogs, competition, prey drive and the like, then they're not going to perform as you might expect -- and you're the only one to blame.If you have two dogs, one of which isn't a working dog, like I do, you should leave the pet home while you head afield. It isn't always possible, however, to do so. I often bring my bulldog to the park or field when taking the Lab out to exercise and run some lines or drills.

The problem is: the bulldog isn't interested in discipline or drills. He likes to disrupt the party by stealing bumpers, play-attacking the Lab as he leaves the line (if you're into retrievers you can imagine what this does to an initial line), chewing bumpers or just being an annoyance. So, if he does come along, he gets a little time to free run and then he's tied up or left in the truck while the Lab works. I don't want his bad habits and play mentality to have an adverse effect on the Lab.

If you have two dogs, even if one is the same breed but isn't meant to work, consider separating them during training times.

Separation is another important discussion. Especially with young pups, and especially with retrievers, it's often a good idea to separate your pups for a large part of the day after about three months of age. If you don't, the two pups might develop such a strong bond as to relegate your importance to that of below the other pup's.

You want to be the center of that dog's universe, not the other dog. Good things happen for the pup when you're pleased -- and pleasing you should be the utmost goal in the dog's life. Another pup that they spend 24-hours a day with can make that much more difficult.

This brings us to the point of not putting a pup in a situation that it's not ready to experience. If you have two pups, there is much work you can accomplish together, but a majority of the work should be done separately. Allow enough time in your day to work each dog alone, so you have their full attention and can train, repeatedly, what is expected.

As the dogs mature and progress in their training lessons, with basics becoming second nature, you can up the ante by slowly bringing in the other dog as a distraction. As they learn that the same rules apply with another dog present just the same as they did when they were alone, you can begin to work both dogs together.

Putting pups, or mature dogs that have worked very little with other dogs, into a scenario that includes other dogs and lots of energy (i.e., hunting or an exciting training/test scene) has the potential to make for a very long day at best, create bad habits in your dog or to set your dog up for failure.

Your dog will only do what you've allowed and trained it to do. If you take a trial-by-fire approach with your dog, don't be surprised if you get burned.

If Charlie Sheen Were a Dog

Brian Lynn — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:40:20 -0500

Charlie Sheen:

If you haven't seen or heard the train wreck that is Charlie Sheen lately, then you're missing out (well, on second thought, maybe not). The troubled, yet highly entertaining, actor is letting loose with more one-line zingers than a proverbial stray dog has fleas. Everyone from his producer to CBS execs to the media are the target of his zany, hubris-filled citations. A slew of deranged passages ("they've picked a fight with a warlock") that are sure to be quoted for years -- or at least until the next Hollywood crazy comes along -- and delusional behavior made me wonder: If Charlie Sheen were a dog, what breed would he be?

Trying to determine where Sheen lies in the canine-personality spectrum, which is itself an insult to dogs everywhere, does come with one caveat: the unbalanced nature of both beings. While Sheen has only recently seemed to pass the tipping point, although his crazy exploits have been documented for decades in the tabloids, an unbalanced dog is almost always a result of its environment.

Actually, I guess both have that in common; an unstable environment invites destructive and unreasonable conduct. For only in Hollywood would Sheen's behavior be even remotely tolerated and only in a dysfunctional (from a canine's point of view) home are unstable actions rewarded.

That said, the point I'm trying to make is: dogs are generally balanced creatures and so when I put forth a couple of guesses as to what breed Sheen would be, you have to take into account that these are not only based upon stereotypes but also an unstable apparition of the breed -- those stereotypes perverted and that might also coalesce in behavior similar to Sheen's over-the-toppedness of the last couple of months.

Without further adieu, nominations for Charlie Sheen's canine alter ego:

Pit Bull: Popular among gang members and other toughs as a means to improve their own masculinity, pit bulls are notoriously tough, unpredictable and often don't follow the rules of society (or more accurately their owners don't, but sadly it's the dog that is saddled with the irresponsibility). Similarly, Sheen has taken part in bar brawls, frequents hookers and conducts business with drug dealers. As the Pit-Sheen sees it: rules don't apply to him because "he's special."

Miniature Schnauzer: Like Sheen's recent and incessant yapping on radio and television shows, miniature schnauzers yip and bark constantly. Demanding special grooming to maintain their regal looks, these dogs would fit perfectly in the self-promotion of Hollywood (and those are the stable ones!).

Stray/Mongrel: The tramp that he is, Sheen might not fit into any one specific breed or category of dogs. His shattered and unsettled self cannot be contained by any one place or woman (except of course, Hollywood, where this type of behavior is not only tolerated but often rewarded; so he's limited to southern California/L.A. for long-term survival, the odds of which are dropping rapidly anyway). With baby-mamas, ex-wives and live-in girlfriends, Sheen's uncommitted and unapologetic lifestyle lends credence to this canine alter ego.

While Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and Tiger Woods might be grateful for dog fight Sheen has stirred up in the media, it's clear the Hollywood progeny hasn't learned a lesson every dog inherently understands: don't bite the hand that feeds you.

For all his bad-mouthing of producers and CBS execs, Sheen risks losing his place as the highest-paid television actor -- he garners approximately $2 million per episode of "Two and a Half Men."

If he really were a dog, Sheen wouldn't have received more than one chance to bite the network hand that has fed him for the last eight years. Most of the dog guys I know would have taken him to the back-forty for a long walk from which he wouldn't have returned.

Of course, this is Hollywood we're talking about and the rules of reality don't apply to actors because they are indeed "special." There will always be another studio, producer or director willing to leverage Sheen's name and media draw to get their project noticed just as there will always be homes that reward dysfunctional behavior of their canine companions and then wonder why it continues.

Too Old to Train?

Brian Lynn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:00:06 -0500

Old dogs can learn new tricks:

A common question that I'm often asked is: "Can an older dog be trained?"

The short answer is: Yes, an older dog can be trained to do just about anything a younger dog can be trained to perform.

Of course, there's a longer answer too, and it pertains to what exactly you're wanting to train, how long it will take and if the stress that learning will place on the dog is worth it and if the outcome will be satisfactory to your standards.

A dog is never too old to train. They are learning, as are we, how to best adapt to their surroundings every second of every day. All training is, is teaching the dog what is expected of them in a step-wise process using combinations of positive and negative reinforcement. The dog can, and will to the best of its ability, adapt to lead as an advantageous life for himself as possible (think: survival of the fittest and satisfying drives).

Of course, the hard part about training an older dog is that you have to UNtrain all the bad habits that impede the attainment of your goal and then train them for what you have in mind. It will make your training much more difficult and it will take much longer. As we all know, bad habits are hard to break; the longer they've persisted, the harder they are to correct.

In some instances, a bad habit might be so engrained as to be near impossible to break, or it might be a genetic tendency or breed-specific issue if you're trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, so to speak (think: a pit bull gently holding a shot up pheasant).

You also have to consider the stress training will place on the dog. If they've been going through life for so long living a particular way and doing certain things and then suddenly you want a completely different animal and expect an extremely different behavior pattern, that dog is going to be very stressed. While all learning involves stress, you as an owner have to decide how much stress to your dog is worth the attainment of your goal.

If you're just looking to teach it place training or boundary limits, that's one thing. If you're looking to teach "hold" and force fetch an elderly dog that has been encouraged to chew and play tug-o-war for a decade, that's a whole other level of stress.

You have to ask yourself it it's worth putting the dog through the training process and if it has a reasonably good chance of succeeding -- and doing so in time frame that will be of benefit to you and the dog.

Sometimes, especially if it's a large task that has very stringent standards, if there's not a natural tendency to complete the task successfully or if habits are so cemented that only high levels of pressure will moderately reverse them, it's just easier for you and more fair to the elder statesman to just add a new puppy to the family that's meant to complete those chosen chores from the beginning.

My Favorite Dog Stories

Brian Lynn — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:48:54 -0500

The Big Book of Favorite Dog Stories:

Merry Christmas to Brian, from "Candy" Nana 12-25-1982

So the inscription reads on the inside cover of a book I remember receiving that holiday season when I was nine years old. It was from my great grandmother, with whom I added the moniker "Candy" in part because of the ever-present supply of sweets in various dishes found throughout her apartment. I recently rediscovered the book while perusing the bookshelf in my old room at my parents' house during the Super Bowl Sunday weekend.

The 334-page tome (including author bios), entitled "The Big Book of Favorite Dog Stories", has an Irish setter on the cover and was probably part of the impetus for its selection as a my gift. At the time I absolutely loved dogs, but Irish setters especially. This was due not only to their good looks, but in no small part to the borrowing of Jim Kjelgaard's novel "Irish Red" from the library of an elder cousin (from which I'd also borrow Desert Dog and Lion Hound).

As I type this, it's 29 degrees and snowing outside. There are no hunting seasons open. My plan for today included finishing up some social media commitments, writing this blog and then taking the dog out to play with the new Tri-Tronics G3 Beeper and Tracer e-collar light (for a future blog post) and a little exercise/training.

Now, however, I'm thinking that I'll do exactly what the month of February was invented for: staying in and reading a good book. The Big Book of Favorite Dog Stories is an anthology featuring such classic writers as Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Farley Mowat and John Steinbeck.

I recently watch the 1974 adaptation of Wilson Rawls' "Where the Red Fern Grows", an excellent story of a boy and his hounds. The slower pace, simple message and grainy film from the disco days is in stark contrast to today's high-definition and action-packed flicks. Sometimes I wonder if we're really advancing or just moving faster.

Yeah, I'm definitely in a mood to chill today, and a good book filled with dog stories sounds about right. But before I go, let me ask: What are some of your favorite dog stories and authors? Or heck, even just authors and books!

Downside of the Raw Diet

Brian Lynn — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:14:08 -0500

In addition to the all-natural processed foods hitting store shelves over the last couple of years, another dietary trend that has taken off is the "raw" diet. Instead of feeding processed pellets made of turkey, duck, deer, salmon or whatever else, the raw diet calls for the actual meat of wild fish and game, and sometimes cattle, sheep or other livestock, to be fed.

If you have the time, knowledge and resources, it can be a very healthy diet for your dog. There is more than one drawback, however; it goes beyond the preparation and storage of large quantities of meat and threatens to create a black market trade in wildlife.

As you can read in this USA Today article, dog owners' quest for raw, wild meat has led to the selling of natural resources online. Craigslist and eBay are used to solicit and/or sell meat from ducks, deer, elk, salmon or just about any other type of wild game.

As you can imagine, unlicensed harvesting of game for a profit is a slippery slope. Left unchecked, illegal trade could create a black market similar to China's demand for wildlife parts like black bear gall bladders or shark fins. Whenever money is involved, someone (and lots of someones at that...) will always abuse the system and resource, milking every last scrap of meat, drop of blood and red cent that they can rend from the rest of us.

The selling of illegal game meat can net you five years in prison and a $5,000 fine and buying the stuff can get you six months in the slammer and a $500 fine. A source in the article states that he doesn't know of any place you can purchase deer meat commercially due to FDA standards.

Just this past week I was talking with a guy that fees his Labs a raw diet that consists of moose meat, salmon, boil potatoes and mixed veggies. He has an advantage most of us don't: he was an outfitter that lives in the wilderness and has Europeans that come over to moose hunt. They can't bring the meat home with them, so he takes some for the dogs, his guides and then gives some to neighbors and food banks.

Beyond the suppy and legal issues, I don't think the raw diet is for me. Way too much hasssle. Even if I had a steady supply of game meat to feed the mutts, storing and preparation would be a pain in the butt. Think about the room a year's worth of meat for a couple of dogs would require. Granted, a nice-sized freezer would probably hold all you needed but still, that's quite an investment.

The preparation and time required to feed properly is beyond my patience. Heck, if my son isn't around I barely feed myself adequately. I've seen a few raw recipes and they're quite detailed in the amounts of various meats, veggies, etc, to ensure that the pooches are getting all the proper amounts of protein, fat and other building blocks of nutrition.

No, I think I'll stick with Purina Pro Plan. So much easier to scoop out three cups and know for sure that they're getting all the nutrients required to run, hunt and live a healthy life.