31 Aug FamilyKeith and son Mark from their past season hunting trips.
Congratulations Keith on your deer and son, thank you for sharing your pictures.
Upland Bird ForecastFor any one that may have missed it, we published our 2006 Upland Bird Forecast back in early July. It is a long opening page as this year we included the data sets on May and June rainfall. The intent was to show that which was only described in earlier forecasts.
For those that watch such forecasts and offered their feedback over the years it seems this year is remarkable at how many of the more well known printed publications are holding back on their forecasts or stating more prominently at the front of their article a disclaimer that essentially boils their forecast down to a history of the previous season. In our case our area of concentration is very specific, our methodology is known and if there is a better method or technique we are all the more interested.
From all the forecasts we read last year from various sources the Iowa State DNR upland bird forecast was the most well supported and accurate state wide forecast. We look forward to the same this year.
More about bird dogs...Feedback on the earlier Traveling Wing Shooter dog concerns (29 Aug) includes that while we have porcupines they are not likely to be seen within the regions where we lease bird hunting land. A badger is more likely to be encountered and a badger will win any dog fight.
Barbwire cuts remain the most common injury for dogs while hunting and country veterinarians look forward to them each season. One told me this quote: "If I sew it up it will take a week to heal, if we let it go it will take about seven days to heal up." Another explained that the dog hunter will seek vet attention for his dog long before and country dog owner will. Many procedures [bird dog injuries] he performs are at the behest of the owner and not due to the dog's medical necessity. (In this latter case the discussion point specifically addressed through the skin barbwire cuts.) And, the most common dog injury overall is being hit by cars.
We have snakes to include rattle snakes both the prairie and timber, but they are not likely to be encountered. One example that brings this point home is that your MAHA land staff of two has seen one rattle snake over the years during summer land runs, spring turkey hunts and fall bird hunts and never has had a dog bit. That includes John's farm yard dogs.
29 Aug CrappieFrom this summer during the high heat, on one of the strip pits.
DuckFrom Andrew captured this summer. Ducks and a pheasant in the same frame.
Traveling Wing ShooterIt is that time of year our inquiries about first hunts come to surface. A recurring one for some is what beeper collar to use. We only offer that to use the one that works best for your own preferences. In the case of ours, we repeat these pictures of the one we use.
We bought ours from GunDogSupply.com and folks with smaller dogs report the model without the speaker on top and contained in the battery housing itself to be a better fit. The features (on/off and point/run modes) are easy to use and change without tools. Runs on an easy to purchase in the country and replace 9 volt battery that does last the entire season, point only mode for peace and quiet during the hunt and durability (I still have the earlier models dating back over 15 years ago and they still work).
Other concerns are of skunks and we have always advised the young dog owner to bring any one of the commercial skunk deodorizers such as SkunkOff.
A different dog than the ones shown above.
|
On 
