Recent content by Bird-man

Good for you. Glad you got the dogs out and they did their job. Good hunt!

Quarter the bird, just like a chicken. Use a 12" cast iron skillet with a cover. Lightly brown in olive oil. Set aside. Saute a chopped onion, with 6 cups fresh mini-bella mushrooms, and 4-6 finely chopped fresh garlic cloves. Okay to add some chopped green pepper, if you like. Once the onions...

I shoot Improved on both barrels on my O/U, and use 6's exclusively. I hunt over a pointer so I have no trouble knocking down pheasant at just about any distance up to about 30 yards or so. Over 30 yards I just don't shoot. Quail I actually have to pause a heartbeat to allow them to get out a...

Quail are in the edges...edge of the field...edge of the wooded area....edge of the brushy area....unless they are nestled down in the middle of a wooded draw with lots of brushy cover in the center....they will surprise you, but usually they like the edges for the ease of escape...i think.

I pluck all my game birds. Lots of work....but worth it. Keeps them moist...well as moist as a pheasant can be...and the skin browns up nicely and looks great on the table. Try it first with Quail, and you will pluck them all.

I was being sarcastic....I realize people have differing opinions...but I have not called their chosen methods a joke. And I appreciate your jab, and the humor intended...but I would like to answer. Training, training, training.... With a pointing dog, the key, in my estimation, to having a...

Well, I guess I better get rid of my dog. I trained him using those old, outdated Wolters and Marti methods and he has pointed literally thousands of birds and retrieved hundreds in the 7 years I have had him. But, since I used those old fashioned methods, not the new fangled stuff that sells...

I assume by this that you have never read Wolter's book. It is exactly a step by step process. I have trained 5 setters using his methods and all are top notch hunting dogs. Good training methods can't be outdated. I have used the Burnt Creek book alongside "Gun Dog". Look at Jim Marrti's book...

Sorry to go on about this...but I love hunting dogs...and had such a great season with my setter that I still love thinking about it...and talking about it. I think it was a trainer at one of the hunt clubs out here in Colorado that talked about the "good enough" dog. His dogs were amazing. He...

Kis, KA and the Whisperer, All great advice. If you find yourself getting frustrated....and you will. Stop. Go back to something the dog knows how to do....I don't care if it is just SIT....do that and quit. End on something positive you can praise the dog for, and stop the training session...

Go immediately to Amazon and get "Gun Dog" by Richard Wolters. Written back in 1961 and still in print. Then go to www.huntsmith.com and get the command lead, and the video that goes with it. That is all you will need to train your pup right. Good luck. You have a world of fun ahead of you...

No, I didn't miss that at all. There are a couple steps in training a pointing dog that you don't use with a flusher...but the basics...hunt with you, hunt for you, sit, stay, come and retrieve...apply to all dogs. Makes no difference. I have owned both. And trained both. With a flushing dog...

Pigeons The key to teaching a dog to hunt properly is pigeons. Nothing works as well. They have a lot of scent. Dogs can find them by scent easily. They are strong flyers...and YOU control the situation. Go ahead and hunt this season. But, if you want to train a hunting dog to hunt with you...

Greg, Sorry you didn't have any luck. I was out on Thursday and Friday. Took 3 birds. None on point, but Murphy did get to make the retrieve. I was hunting in the Dunkley, Ripple Creek pass area at about 8-9000 FOE, right at the transition area where the aspens start to thin out and the...

Congrats on a good hunt. And a well deserved dinner. Give the bones to your dog...he will love them!