How To
Options
States
Topics | Hunter not CollectorA big difference is the attitude of our upland bird hunting members with our hunters seeking the quality of the upland bird hunting experience and not the number of birds in the bag. A nuance difference that means a lot. A quality upland bird hunting experience is one where dogs are not mixed with others. Rare to see another bird hunter in the field. Wild upland birds. Natural terrain/bird habitat. More places to bird hunt than time during the next ten years to cover. All the elements of a fair chase bird hunt. A collector seeks a trophy be it just a picture of many birds stacked next to a standing hunter. In this case the goal is the most birds in the shortest time and this kind of hunter typically never trained or hunted his own bird dogs. This bird hunter simply will never enjoy that special feeling of tranquility of a dog that is steady to point, wing, shot, drop, breaks on command and retrieves all the while working close to his master finding birds.
ProblemNot all things are perfect with our Iowa upland bird hunting or any of our hunts for that matter and we will never claim our approach to be perfect. Our approach fits a narrow band of upland hunters and those that do not fit that range we politely discourage from applying for membership. One problem amongst our hunters is they rarely hunt outside of their level of bird dog power. This makes for a lot of single hunters or small family groups of father and sons with similar dog power. An illustration that amply fits our Iowa upland bird hunting leases is the common difference between pheasant and quail hunters. A pheasant hunter may have a pointing, flushing or retrieving breed and each are typically hunted within their breed. After dog breed of choice most pheasant hunting pointing dogs are separate from quail pointing dogs simply by what happens after the flush. It is common for pheasant dog owners to allow their pheasant pointing dogs to break at wing or shot to ensure the dog has as great a chance to be on a downed bird, dead or runner, as soon as possible to ensure capture of the pheasant. It is common for pheasant hunters to hunt but one dog at the most per hunter and typically less. Quail pointing dog hunters typically hunt two dogs and each will be steady to wing, shot, drop, break on command and retrieve to hand. They will also strongly back another dog's point. This difference in dog power illustrates that those who hunt quail and pheasant do commonly have a difference in the value they have for the hunt itself. For the most part both the pheasant and quail upland bird hunting dog owner seeks the birds. After the bird is found is when the distinction shows as one seeks the full extent of dog performance and the other the capture of the bird. Our Iowa upland bird hunting lease land allows for each type of hunter and each may hunt that Iowa land and upland bird of choice without adversely impacting on the other. |
